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France's Carcariass have always had a rather distinct sound and that's also true on Afterworld. They've played their death metal harder before, but here we're talking about progressive melodic death metal with some twists and often barely fitting in the death metal genre—in a good way. In other words, this is a rather eclectic album. This is not the Gothenburg sound (early In Flames et al.), though there are a couple of songs that wouldn't sound too out of place on such an album. Harsh but decipherable vocals are used along with cleaner vocals. Many passages throw me back into the '80s and even the late '70s, but not so much metal as progressive rock, pop rock (the good stuff) and some effects used also sound a blast from the past to some extent, but Carcariass have modernized those sounds and, while it might trigger some nostalgia at times, the music doesn't sound dated at all. The songs are a mix of upbeat, angry and melancholic, so you're not going to get bored with this as the album is quite varied and you never know what's coming around the next corner. As I said earlier, this barely fits into death metal, so if that's your genre and nothing else, then you may not enjoy this. But if you're looking for some of that tastefully mixed with a lot of other stuff, then Afterworld will serve you well. Carcariass have pulled off a good feat with this album.