Nourished by nightmares and the throbbing pulse of pragmatic terror, CARNIFEX have returned with their ninth full-length studio album, Necromanteum. While it may come as a surprise to some fans, the themes of Necromanteum are a little less personal compared to previous releases. Vocalist and founder Scott Ian Lewis explains: “We wanted to delve into more supernatural and ethereal subjects like astral projection, the duality of man, and the crossroads of intellectualism and the supernatural... There was indeed a time when Doctors were also performing seances!” Decades ago, wealthy intellectuals began installing psychomanteum in their homes; a secret room completely filled with mirrors, or a single mirror, and in complete darkness, in order to speak to the dead in other dimensions, and gain their knowledge. It was often used as a healing tool to help dissolve grief, or considered a form of prophecy. Necromanteum presents the concept: what if you could use that kind of room to speak with death, itself? What secrets of the world could you uncover from a direct conversation with the grim reaper? Not a monster, but a fellow intellect. “This album is for the fans,” states Lewis. “We’re always striving to give you the best version of us, but it’s only ours until we turn it in. Then it becomes everyone else’s record. It’s a form of entertainment, and we truly hope to help listeners break away from real life, and have some escape into our little world through the Necromanteum .”