The new album from Nick Cave and Warren Ellis

Nick Cave & Warren Ellis present their new collaborative album: Carnage - which in German means something like bloodbath or slaughter. It was created over several weeks during lockdown and Nick Cave describes it as "a brutal but beautiful recording embedded in a communal catastrophe."

Although the two have composed and recorded many soundtracks together, and Ellis has also been a member of The Bad Seeds for a long time, Carnage is actually the first long player that they have officially recorded as a duo.

The unique creative chemistry between Cave and Ellis is based on a long shared history that connects them as colleagues and solo artists. With Carnage, they present the next chapter of their musical adventure: an album that was supposed to be created almost by accident, during the long, global standstill of the pandemic months. The different moods and the restlessness of these recordings reflect the existential uncertainty, but at the same time there are always moments of calm and meditative self-reflection. Bottom line, it's an album made in and for these volatile times, interspersed with moments of concentrated beauty. Photographs that almost defiantly express their unwavering confidence.

Reviews

“‘Hand Of God’ and ‘Old Time’ are actually reminiscent of the times of the Bad Seeds, when the driving, dark tone determined the band’s sound. (...) But the typical classic ballads (›Albuquerque‹) should not be missing, which particularly determine the second half of the album. (...) Friends of earlier days, but also those of the last record, can both be happy.« (Good Times, June/July 2021)

»The album doesn't just impress with its refreshed post-punk aggressiveness. It's great how powerful and at the same time easy the energy can be felt.« (Berliner Zeitung)

»Eight songs from the lockdown: subtle electronic processing of trauma, in the end love and life win.« (Music Express)

“Carnage” is released today as a gift from heaven” (Rolling Stone)

“Two gods, one slaughter” (Die Zeit)

»Nick Cave and composer Warren Ellis have released their feverish lockdown album »Carnage«.« (Der Spiegel)