Carnivore

Carnivore was a band formed by 6 foot 6 inch tall, former sanitation worker, Peter Steele (later of Type O Negative fame), and was formed out of the ruins of the Broo

Carnivore was a band formed by 6 foot 6 inch tall, former sanitation worker, Peter Steele (later of Type O Negative fame), and was formed out of the ruins of the Brooklyn hard rock group Fallout. They released two albums: "Carnivore" (1985) and "Retaliation" (1987). The band broke up not long thereafter, and Peter Steele formed Type O Negative. The first Type O Negative album has material originally written for Carnivore.

The first album is more traditionally metal-sounding, drawing inspiration from Black Sabbath and 1970s Judas Priest, while the second has significant hardcore-crossover influence. Both are pretty squarely within the speed-thrash genre, though. The lyrical themes include nihilism, anti-religious sentiment, a mockery of racism, intolerance, and general human stupidity, a heap of cynicism, and explicit tongue-in-cheek depictions of gore and despair. For example, this line from "Ground Zero Brooklyn" sums up the band fairly well: "I shit my pants as I wait for the reaper!". Song titles like "Jesus Hitler", "Race War", and "God is Dead" are representative.