Carnivore (band)

Carnivore was an American crossover thrash band from Brooklyn, New York City. It was founded by singer and bassist Peter Steele out of the breakup of the Brooklyn metal group Fallout in 1982.
==History==
Carnivore released their self-titled debut album Carnivore in November 1985. For this album, the band spelled their names in what they thought were "exotic" ways, Petrus T. Steele and Louie Beateaux. The band often dressed as warriors in torn clothing and spikes attached to hockey gear during their live shows at this period. Keith Alexander left the band in 1986 because he was not interested in the new crossover direction of the band, and was replaced by Marc Piovanetti, who later joined Crumbsuckers. In September 1987, they released their second album, Retaliation. Soon after their second album was released, the band broke up and Peter Steele formed a new band called Repulsion, which would later be renamed Type O Negative. According to the sleeve notes of the "Top Shelf Edition" of their second album, the first Type O Negative album, Slow Deep and Hard was composed largely from material originally written for Carnivore. Peter Steele and Marc Piovanetti would not appear together on a release again until the compilation Songs of the Witchblade: A Soundtrack to the Comic Book in 1998.
==Reformation and Second Break-Up==
Despite being disbanded for many years, the band was reactivated on several occasions, including several reunion shows in the mid 1990s with the Retaliation lineup, and an appearance at the 1996 Milwaukee Metalfest, plus several shows from 2006 to 2007 with a new four-piece lineup. This new lineup included two guitarists, Paul Bento and Joey Zampella, plus drummer Steve Tobin, and performed at the Wacken Open Air in 2006.
Peter Steele died April 14, 2010, thus ending the reunion.
==Carnivore A.D.==
In August 2017, it was announced that Carnivore would officially be reformed as Carnivore A.D. featuring original drummer Louie Beato and guitarist Marc Piovanetti along with secondary drummer Joe Branciforte sharing drum duties and also introducing new member Baron Misuraca as the bassist/vocalist.
After a live performance at the 2017 Black N Blue Bowl pre-party in May, Piovanetti announced that the group would reform out of great respect to Peter Steele's legacy while simultaneously distinguishing themselves from past incarnations of the band. They played their first show with Misuraca on October 31 at Bowery Electric in New York City dubbed "A Halloween SteeleTacular". The band then made their live festival debut at the 2018 edition of Hellfest.
==Music==
The first Carnivore album was heavily influenced by the contemporary New York hardcore scene. It also drew inspiration from Black Sabbath and early Judas Priest, whereas the second album had significant crossover influences. Many of the band's songs can be described as both thrash metal and gothic doom, due to the band making use of both fast, thrash like riffs and slower, doomy riffs. Additionally, the band's first album has elements of speed metal, while Retaliation has elements of hardcore punk and sludge metal. Carnivore were one of the pioneering bands of crossover thrash, alongside Suicidal Tendencies and Corrosion of Conformity, but were also one of the first gothic doom bands, predating Celtic Frost and Paradise Lost, as well as Peter Steele's second band, Type O Negative, which retained the gothic doom sound of Carnivore, but with toned down thrash influence. 
==Lyrics==
Carnivore's lyrics are often over the top and edgy for the sake of being edgy. Song titles such as "Jesus Hitler", "Race War", "Thermonuclear Warrior", and "God Is Dead" reflect these themes. Many of the band's lyrics were written with the sole intent of shocking listeners and to poke fun at political beliefs of the time. "Race War", for example, is written from the point of view of a racist, and could be seen as a commentary on thee racial violence occurring in Brooklyn at the time. The 'post-apocalyptic' theme that dominated the band's first album and was carried onto parts of the second album was apparently inspired by a dream Pete Steele had and which became the basis for the lyrics of "Predator", the first song from the original album. The lyrical theme was then expanded on to describe human society (or the lack of one) between imaginary World Wars 3, 4, and possibly 5 (as referenced in the song "World Wars 3 & 4"). Other lyrical themes included nihilism, anti-religious sentiment, cynicism, and explicit-but-tongue-in-cheek depictions of gore and despair.
==Discography==
===Studio Albums ===
*Carnivore (1985)
*Retaliation (1987)
===Compilation Albums=== 
*Retaliation / Carnivore (1991)
===Demo Albums=== 
*Demo '84 (1984)
*U.S.A. for U.S.A. (1986)
===Singles===
*Carnivore (1984)
*Predator (1985)
===Bootlegs===
*L'Amours NY 8/27/84 (1984)
*Deliver Us to Evil - Live 1985 - (1988)
*Groundzero Saarbrooklyn (Saarbrücken, 2007-12-08) (2008)
*Nuclear Warriors - The Early Years (2009)
*I Am a Meat Eater