Slapping the “deathcore” label on Carnifex, while accurate, fails to tell the whole story. Make no mistake: the collision of death metal and metalcore heard on early records such as their 2007 debut, Dead In My Arms, and its wildly confrontational follow-up, The Diseased And The Poisoned, certainly helped to map deathcore’s future. But as the San Diego group have evolved, their music has grown increasingly layered and expansive. For example, 2019’s World War X is a densely arranged tour de force packed with blackened textures, epic symphonic moves and a vision of dystopia informed by industrial music.