Suffocate All Life, out May 2, 2025 via SM Musik, is Carving Void’s most focused and thematically driven record to date.
Rooted in death metal and metallic hardcore, the album brings together nine full tracks and one intro, recorded across Heartware Studio Leipzig and HipGun Studio Radeberg, with mixing and mastering by Lukas Haidinger. The Dresden/Leipzig-based band—Tom (vocals), Markus (bass), Dimo (drums), and Eric (guitar)—move with intention here, pushing beyond the genre’s sonic violence to expose deeper political and existential fractures.
Formed during the pandemic in 2020, Carving Void first made a mark with A World in Decline (2022), a metallic hardcore debut that occasionally leaned into death metal. With Suffocate All Life, they move deeper into that territory, incorporating black metal elements while staying rooted in the aggression of 2000s metallic hardcore.
“This record pushed our boundaries musically and lyrically, taking us to the next level,” the band states. Tracks like “Entrained by Hate” and “The Architects of Disgrace” tackle systemic violence, while the title track and “Mindgrinder” deal with inner collapse and societal pressure. “Lyrically, it addresses various aspects of violence within our society: the rise of fascist forces, the destruction of the environment and non-human life,” the band explains.
Themes of religious oppression, mental health, and resistance to authoritarianism surface across the record. “Our songs explore the complexities of mental health, the oppressive grip of religion, and the struggle against state control and suppression.”
There’s no ambiguity in the stance: “We, as a band, and through our lyrics, stand alongside the oppressed of all kinds.”
With a sound shaped by the bleak urgency of death metal and the confrontational energy of hardcore, Suffocate All Life does not seek subtlety. It’s a document of resistance and confrontation, sharpened by both ideology and sound.
At its core, Suffocate All Life is about resisting domination—whether it’s personal, political, or planetary.
The tracks chronicle the cost of authoritarianism, the rot of ecological decay, and the relentless psychological pressure of life under exploitative systems. There’s defiance, but not blind hope. Carving Void doesn’t dress things up—they grind them down until the message is impossible to ignore.
Below is the complete track-by-track commentary, straight from the band:
1. Intro
This electronic instrumental piece, produced by our friend Eloy, opens the album with a
heavy bassline and an unsettling, almost cinematic atmosphere. It immediately pulls the
listener into the album’s world, setting the emotional tone for what’s to come. With its
sense of urgency and dread, it acts as a prelude to the core themes of resistance,
struggle, and confrontation.
2. Entrained by Hate
Infused with hardcore elements, this track is an explosive anthem of rebellion. It tells the
story of the oppressed rising up against a system that exploits them. The raw aggression
in the music mirrors the desperation and fury expressed in the lyrics. “Led by our compass,
spinning to reclaim the power of our fury” captures the determination of those who have
nothing left to lose. The compass serves as a symbol of direction, purpose, and
unwavering commitment to revolution and justice.
3. Empires
This was the last song we wrote for the album, and it turned out to be perhaps the heaviest
track we’ve ever created. It’s built around grooving death metal riffs and laced with vicious
black metal overtones, giving it a relentlessly punishing sound. Lyrically, it’s a brutal
takedown of authoritarian regimes and the systems they use to control and divide. “A
language of war in order to separate, they control the mass, sanction every trespass.” The
call for anarchy throughout the song represents a refusal to be complicit in systemic
injustice: “Death to every traitor who defends the lords!”
4. Fragments Under the Black Sun
This track features a striking guitar solo and blends hardcore intensity with elements of
both death and black metal. It’s a merciless depiction of the fight against fascism. The
imagery is dark and violent, portraying fascism as a parasitic disease: “Like a cancer with
the appetite for murder.” The song is unflinching in its vision of justice—fascists aren’t just
defeated, they are erased: “Hacked in pieces, wrapped in plastic, buried underground.”
The surreal and aggressive musical arrangement intensifies the urgency of confronting
hatred head-on.
5. Homecoming
One of the first songs we wrote for the album, “Homecoming” carries a strong hardcore
vibe and a more personal, introspective tone. It reflects on the self-destruction of an
oppressor—not as something to celebrate, but as an inevitable reckoning. “Set your finger
on the trigger, you’re worthless and ready to pull” illustrates the internal collapse of
someone who’s lived by domination and cruelty. The fiery imagery—“Only one shot and
just one spark, suddenly your lights turn dark”—underlines the theme of justice catching
up, unrelenting and final.
6. Suffocate All Life
The title track brings together nearly every sonic and thematic element found across the
album. It begins with an atmospheric intro that sets a solemn tone before erupting into a
powerful blend of aggression and melody. Featuring a standout solo, this song was written
during the 2022 uprisings in Iran and channels the spirit of defiance in the face of brutal
repression. “Endless cries resound throughout the streets, always pushing to the frontline,
no retreat.” It’s a declaration of resilience and an unyielding refusal to be silenced. The line
“Execute them without the courts, retribution for all the grief” captures the raw, emotional
core of this resistance anthem.
7. The Heat / The Shape
This groovy death metal track features a catchy, almost anthemic chorus that adds a
rhythmic pulse to the album’s most militaristic moment. Inspired by the life of Soviet sniper
Lyudmila Pavlichenko, the lyrics follow a cold, calculated pursuit of justice. “Fire up the
weapon with the target straight in front of your eyes, until the last one dies.” It’s a song
about precision, discipline, and retribution. “Can you feel the shape of the bullet crashing
through your forehead?” confronts the listener with the brutal realities of warfare—every
action deliberate, every strike meaningful.
8. Mindgrinder
As the first track we wrote after releasing our last album, “Mindgrinder” is raw, direct, and
relentlessly heavy. It dives into themes of mental exhaustion, depression, and the
psychological effects of exploitation. The music hits like a hammer—no frills, no
compromise. “These voices are hammering inside your skull, these noises are hammering
inside your skull.” The imagery of grinding, drilling, and pounding reflects the crushing
weight of daily survival under oppressive conditions. It’s an honest portrayal of suffering,
stripped down to its bare emotional core.
9. The Architects of Disgrace
A scathing critique of environmental destruction and systemic oppression, this track
explores the price of human arrogance and apathy. “We allow the total collapse of the
ecosystem, the ocean screams in silence and your creatures rot on the seabed.” The song
holds those in power accountable for ecological and societal collapse, highlighting how
privilege is preserved at the cost of widespread suffering. “We accept a world covered red
from all earthlings.” But even as the devastation unfolds, the track ends with resistance—
not resignation: “My heart is still raging against the sustained domination—we will
overcome.”
