Origin:	Sweden
Genres:
DISBANDED

Last update/review:	November 21, 2002

Carbonized

The oddity known as Carbonized was formed by Lars Rosenberg in 1998, and featured Dismember vocalist Matti Karki its early stages. Joined by drummer Piotr Wawrzeniuk, the trio was completed by Therion mainmain Cristofer Johnsson, who originally agreed to only perform session guitarwork but eventually became a full-time member. Quite different from anything that any of the members would become involved in later, the three albums ran the gamut from psychedelic grindcore on For The Security to dischordant jazz-metal weirdness on the excellent Disharmonization to something apparently even stranger yet on Screaming Machines (the album is not reviewed here, but a quote from Johnsson himself describes Screaming Machines as "the worst of Sonic Youth, Syd Barret era Pink Floyd, old Black Flag, and Voivod"). Even the most conventional of the three (Security) has an odd feel about it, as it's quite apparent that Rosenberg and friends were experimenting with sounds and styles that unfortunately never caught on. Disharmonization is not for everyone, it's not an easy listen and its quirkiness sometimes gets the best of it, but it's also quite an interesting and cool album, with its clear (but not particularly melodic) vocal style adding to the strangeness. Both Rosenberg and Wawrzeniuk were later recruited by Johnsson into Therion for a time, and the two also paired up in the doom band Serpent.