Carved - Dies Irae

Carved is a new Italian band that after the release of an EP in 2010, they return, three years later, with their debut full-length album. Carved are into the extreme metal side but they have embellished their death metal sound with symphonic, atmospheric, heavy & mellow (popish) elements. The clean vocals both male and female (yes there are on a couple of tunes but the press release says nothing about it) are giving a “popish”/mellower touch, but they are the minority here.
 
A band that crossed my mind while listening to Carved was Ex-Deo but then again, those two bands are not of the same level. The production is good although I do not fancy it that much. Is it probably the poor promo mp3 quality? Is it due to its intensive and upfront on the mix drumming or because of the guitars which should have been a bit heavier on the whole? I can’t really spot what it is but it’s not one of those great productions by any means… even though the mastering took place at Chartmakers Studio (Rammstein, Volbeat, Apocalyptica), Finland. If the recording/mixing procession wasn’t the appropriate one, then the mastering surely cannot fix or hide any major downsides.
 
Personally, I’m not impressed by the songwriting which is a tad generic & forgettable for the most part or by the sound. Definitely, you can spot some nice moments hither and thither, but overall they need to work on their melodies and their sound more…