Sweden’s Carmilla Definitely Have Breakthrough Potential

It’s interesting that Carmilla have themselves listed as “modern metal” on their Instagram, because one listen to them and you know exactly what they’re talking about. The band bring a buttload of surging riffs, double bass, and growl/shout vocal dynamics out of the gate, but they never wander into full-on death metal territory. These guys have a solid blend of melodeath, groove metal, and metalcore that reminds one of those huge but hard-to-lock-down acts which have come to dominate popular metal in this day and age (for example, you wouldn’t call contemporary Arch Enemy “death metal,” right? That feels off).

This approach to the genre might feel a little unmoored if the band weren’t so fresh. Carmilla only formed in 2017, but have already dropped a full-length and several singles, and over the course of those recordings you can definitely hear them evolve. The inclusion of Russian vocalist Alena Yashkina in 2021 definitely added a new and interesting element to the mix; while Carmilla have always had a female vocalist, Yashkina’s approach seems to up the ante in terms of accessibility. Basically, this band has all of the ingredients of an act that could vault from local crew to reliable opener to headliner in a few years, if they play their cards right.

Check out the band’s newest single, “Hellbound,” below, and see for yourself.