Carcass: From Best to Worst

Symphonies of Sickness (1989)

The pinnacle (although that distinction may vary depending on who you talk with). This album has it all. Low tuned guitars. A grotesque vocal onslaught featuring a variety of groovy ghoulies. Expert songwriting and downright creepy riffage and pretty much everything else that a classick death metal album should have. Suffice to say that I was "not amused" by Carcass' technical advancements come album numero tres. Though I would eventually come around, this will forever be the defining moment for me when it comes to Liverpool's finest.

Necroticism - Descanting the Insalubrious (1991)

As much as it pained me at the time, this was where Carcass "matured" as a musical force. Gone are the cavernous rumblings of their previous albums as well as the smorgasbord of vocal oddities as Jeff Walker was warming up to become the primary vocalist for the band. Whatever my initial thoughts were of this album, one thing was for sure, the songwriting had went up a full ten notches!

Heartwork (1993)

This is where Carcass entered into the realm of and stood alongside the "prestigious". Personally, I'll always prefer the frightening atmosphere and slobbering slime of their earlier works, but, the mastery and professionalism of this album is absolutely undeniable. I mean, there are riffs on this album that not only stand with the best artists in the history of musical accomplishment, but quite frankly blow them away. Sure, this might not be on the same ghoulish level as my beloved 'Symphonies...', but this is no less astonishing to behold.

Reek of Putrefaction (1988)

This album would be higher on the list if it weren't for the absolutely shitty production. Sure, there's a certain "grimy" charm about it and it is the album that introduced me to Carcass but I can only imagine how many avenues there are hidden by the murk and lack of production values. All that aside, 'Reek...' is still a bonafide classick just for the insanity of the vocals alone!

Surgical Steel (2013)

Not that this is a bad album but Carcass can do and has done so much fucking better.

While they lean towards their more melodic selves ala 'Heartwork' there are faint traces of the more boppin' grooves of 'Swansong' found here and there. The problem with 'Surgical Steel' is that a lot of it sounds crammed together. Unlike 'Heartwork' which truly sounded "surgical", this album sounds like a victim of one of the lyrical onslaughts on 'Symphonies of Sickness' with whole sections torn into and haphazardly strewn about. Although the boys never go off the deep end into the realm of mindless technicality, much of this album lacks cohesion. It's as if they were out of it for so long that sort of lost their songwriting chops.

Swansong (1995)

Really, the worst thing I can say about this is that the songs are boring. It sounds as if the participants were really not interested in recording another Carcass album and just kinda shuffled into the studio in order to pump out the obligatory last album. The fact that this album is more "rockin' than previous entries hardly bothers me if at all. I mean, hell, I was totally on board with Entombed when they released 'Hollowman' and was quite eager to see what else they had in store. No, the 'death -n- roll' aspect of this album is not what killed it for me. It's just the fact that none of the riffs have any sort of "life" to them. They're just kinda "there".

Carcass - Surgical Steel (2013)

I think it's good that Carcass took an extended sabbatical, particularly Bill Steer. It would seem that absence makes the heart grow fonder, indeed.

With 'Swansong', it became glaringly obvious that Billy Boy was beginning to (ahem) "steer" away from his grindcore roots, though one could probably argue for the win that he began to do that shortly after the release of 'Symphonies of Sickness'. It would be a while before the sinister urge came upon Mr. Steer, causing him to once again lift up and hold high the great 'metal of death' and inflict both woe and wonder upon the denizens of Planet Earth.

Enter the aptly titled 'Surgical Steel'. 20 years after the release of 'Heartwork' and it would seem that only two of those have passed, leaving 1996's 'Swansong' reduced to a memory of supremely vague proportions.

One thing that I was worried about before entering into the aural confines of this album was just how much leftover pseudo-rock riffs from 'Swansong' would make their way into the equation. Thankfully, the number is surprisingly and considerably low. In their stead there is no shortage of the type of rhythmic endeavors that decked the halls of both 'Necroticism...' and 'Heartwork', though there are moments on this album that give those albums a run for their tamales in regards to limp-wristed, over-melodious guitar heroism. Despite this, I would have to deduce that 'Surgical Steel' is far less catchy as its two closest predecessors, 'Swansong' and 'Heartwork'. As odd as it may seem, 'Heartwork' had far more "snap" to it in terms of what I could imagine actually obtaining a fair amount of airplay (of course in reality, that was barely the case).

A few months back I read an article somewhere with Jeff Walker stating that Bill Steer would be returning to a more prominent role, vocally. Well, if this is indeed the case, then he must've got the Jason Newsted treatment during the '...and Justice for All' sessions as I cannot make him out anywhere on here. Oh well.

Overall, 'Surgical Steel' is a pretty decent album and if anything, it goes to show you that not all comebacks are worthy of the trip to the sewer via toilet bowl.

Welcome back, lads.

Carcass - Reek of Putrefaction (1988)

If there ever was an album that deserved to be re-recorded, 'Reek of Putrefaction' is it.

Way back in the late 80's I remember first hearing 'Reek...' and being rather blown away by the ghoulishly sloppy dual vocal assault and absolutely chaotic whirlwind of grindcore riff terrorism. Of course, the true possibilities of the band's potential would be made breathtakingly clear once album number two came barreling 'round the bend, 1989's sewage fest, 'Symphonies of Sickness'.

While the over the top tag team vocals helped keep me interested, the truth is, 'Reek...' would have been so much better had the riff intricacies been a bit more sculpted and defined throughout the studio sessions. Unfortunately, making sense of any one song on this album is next to impossible. In 1992, however,  there was a glimmer of hope as the band had chosen to re-record one of their chestnuts off of their debut, 'Pyosisified', and the results were fucking brilliant! I immediately wished that the band had done this with the entire album. Sure, I understand that all of the purists out there would cry foul, but fuck it, if you don't like the notion, then don't listen to the album. Simple as that. Hey, I haven't bothered to listen to Sodom or Exodus' reworkings of their classic debuts for just that reason.

Honestly, I really stopped paying attention to this album once 'Symphonies...' was released. Granted, at the time 'Reek...' had come out, I was astonished and happily bludgeoned by its gleeful insanity, but truthfully, I have always had a very short attention span when it came to early grindcore. I always felt that things didn't really start to cook until the release of the sophomore album.

Carcass - Swansong (1996)

The problem with this album is that the riffs are just not very interesting. I can accept the fact that the band (or more accurately, Bill Steer) wanted to go into a more "rock" oriented direction, but unlike the fellas in Entombed, Carcass just could not convincingly move forward in that particular direction. I've listened to Steer's post Carcass output and with the exception of Gentlemen's Pistols (of which he's not even an original member, raising the question of how much has he contributed, musically, to that band) I'm just not that big of a fan. I can totally understand his being drawn to the more rustic sounds of classic rock ala Cream, etc. but I've heard far more convincing renditions of the era that he's sought to emulate and Carcass' 'Swansong' is, obviously, the most awkward of them all. For me, it really doesn't have much to do with the seemingly obvious, which is the fusion of death metal and blues/rock, but the fact that Steer's strength is clearly in sticking with his metallic roots, be it the gloomier, grind drenched riffing of 'Symphonies...' or the trad-metal influenced rhythmic fluctuations of 'Necroticism' and 'Heartwork', the latter being the obvious culmination of his talents.

Starting with 'Heartwork', the lyrics, I felt, began to take a turn for the worse as the band began to take on more practical subject matter and on 'Swansong' they really hit rock bottom. I mean, 'R**k the Vote'? Really?? This is almost as bad as '31 Flavors' by Sacred Reich.

All in all, 'Swansong' isn't as bad as some would lead you to believe, at least if you're one of the more open minded denizens that doesn't get a period over a band experimenting with their sound a bit. For me though, it all just comes across as very uninspired and ultimately being an unneeded and non-essential offering to the band's body of work. Thankfully, the band has come to their senses and decided to conjure fourth an album soon to be unleashed upon the masses. I'm happy to say that the little I've heard thus far pretty much picks up where 'Heartwork' left off. Welcome home, boys...

The Way's Top Worst Follow-Up Releases

I know that some folks will probably think I'm out of my mind with some of these selections but they have their reasons for being here. Some of these might not have been straight up "sex change operations" but nonetheless, they were a departure from what I was expecting and/or hoping for. Certain and obvious choices such as Morbid Angel's 'Illud Divinum...' ultimately did not make the cut because Morbid has had such a long and good run up until that point and frankly, I'm not that offended by that album. Most, if not all of these albums, etc, were released when I was much younger and a bit more , shall I use the term "emotionally attached". Now that I'm an old fuck I take it way less personal if a band decides to jump out of the closet and ride the Hershey Highway.

Pestilence - Testimony of the Ancients

After the crushing and dismal onslaught of the imagination that was the mighty 'Consuming Impulse' I was not prepared for the artsy fartsy, post-neutered diet rite version of the band that was about to come prancing from out of my speakers. Oddly enough, the element that I was most concerned with (the absence of Martin Van Drunen) ended up being a non-issue as guitarist Patrick Mameli ably handled the mic. Sure, he sounded like a rather generic version of MVD but at least the aggression remained.

There are moments on this album that I swear were written by the two fags from Air Supply and basically that's what 'Testimony...' sounds like, a collaboration between Pestilence and that band. After waiting almost three years for this album to be released, I cannot begin to describe what a letdown it was to finally hear it.

Darkthrone - A Blaze in the Northern Sky

After the mindblowing 'Soulside Journey', nothing, absolutely fucking nothing could prepare me for the utterly homosexual bandwagon hopping of this album. To this day it kills me that everyone bows at the feet of this band, heaping massive amounts of praise upon them for being so original and for "sticking to their guns" (???)... really??? Are you fucking kidding me? Darkthrone is the biggest example of the term "trendy hipster" there is. It's difficult for people to comprehend why, exactly? Because the two geeks in this band act like they don't care? Yeah right. Trust me. If they didn't care they wouldn't write, record and release albums. Period.

Cathedral - Soul Sacrifice

I should've known that the weakest track on the band's debut would be the one whose style of which Cathedral would capitalize on throughout the rest of their existence. What a shame. To this day, no one has been able to come close to the brilliance of Cathedral's 'Forest of Equilibrium', certainly not the band itself. I cannot say for sure that it was a complete shock to hear the more upbeat tempos found on this 'ep', but it was a major letdown nonetheless 

Carcass - Necroticism: Descanting the Insalubrious

Sure, this is still quite an aggressive album but it wasn't really what I wanted to hear after 'Symphonies of Sickness'. I had waited some time to once again delve into Carcass' dismal void of crushing gloom and was rather thrown off to be greeted by the thrashier aesthetics of 'Necroticism'. Don't get me wrong, I actually like the album but I have always grappled with the sinking feeling that the primal sludge of their earlier incarnation was to forever be a thing of the past as the band began to incorporate elements of thrash and traditional heavy metal, not to mention the increasing absence of Bill Steer's vocal croak which would be non-existent on Carcass' next album, 'Heartwork'. Great album, but a bittersweet reminder of the everflowing winds of change.

Suffocation - Breeding the Spawn

With their debut, 'Effigy of the Forgotten', Suffocation beat the living shit out of everyone around them, bands and fanatics alike. Effortlessly pushing Cannibal Corpse to the side, Suffocation became the new barbarians of U.S. brutality on the block. This band had great things in store. I knew it... until....

I'm not quite sure what the fuck Roadrunner was thinking when they sent the band off to some hole in the wall studio to record their heavily anticipated follow-up to 'Effigy...', but boy did they fuck that up. Regardless of whether or not the actual "playing" is up to par, the album sounds like complete and total shit. You can pretend to yourself otherwise until the second coming of Christ, but the fact remains: this album sounds like garbage. I can only imagine what it would've sounded like had Scott Burns worked his magic once again.

The other problem I had with it was that the songs just really aren't that good. Sure, there never seems to be a shortage of praise from musicians and techno-nerds alike, but to mine ears (seemingly) alone, none of these songs really stand out, ultimately making the album sound like a big stew of meandering garbage and noise made worse by the atrocious production. What a fucking shame.

Obituary - The End Complete

The End Complete marks the beginning of Obituary's longstanding affair with releasing absolutely boring and unimaginative albums. It's as if they stopped giving a shit after 'Cause of Death'. Like that album was so overwhelmingly taxing to create it pretty much sucked out the remainder of the band's creative output. I don't know. I'm just speculating. 

I've learned since then that each time the band is about to release an album and utter the words "oh, this is going to be a typical Obituary album", they're referring to each and every worthless piece of shit they've released since 'Cause of Death'. 

Therion - Symphony Masses: Ho Drakon Ho Megas

Where 'Beyond Sanctorum' had mere "glimpses" of symphonic faggotry sprinkled throughout, 'Symphony Masses' was a full bore crashing through the gates (otherwise known as the closet door).

Perhaps the biggest letdown for me were the vocals of Christofer Johnsson. On the band's previous albums he was a fucking beast, quite deserving of the band's moniker. Here he sounds like some wayward and haggard wino surviving on a diet of Kamchatka and withered dog turds. Somebody get this guy a bowl of soup!

Bolt Thrower - ...for Victory

After 4 albums of total and complete godliness, I should have known that the mighty locomotive known as Bolt Thrower would eventually run out of steam. This album isn't a departure from the band's "tried and true" formula or anything of the sort. It just sounds like a band tired and completely out of good ideas. To be fair, there are a handful of decent riffs here and there, but as a whole the album just sounds tired and weak. Even though I felt that the band's follow-up, 'Mercenary' was a glimmer of hope, the band have never truly recovered and have been on a long path of mediocrity since.

Classic Covers: Carcass - Reek of Putrefaction (1988)

Classic Covers: Carcass - Symphonies of Sickness (1989)

The Way's Top Ten Greatest Albums of All Time

1) Cathedral - Forest of Equilibrium (1991)

What can I say? This is by far my favorite album of all time. More of a "funeral" doom album than anything and without a doubt the heaviest release by the band, 'Forest of Equilibrium' introduced to me my love of slides and string bends. The music on this album encompasses everything from colossal heaviness to autumnal beauty. I was lucky enough to have purchased this when it was released domestically here in the U.S. over twenty years ago at age 16 and it hasn't lost an ounce of its magic since. Unfortunately I cannot say the same  for the band themselves but nonetheless, 'Forest of Equilibrium' will be the album I take to my grave.

2) Celtic Frost - Morbid Tales/Emperor's Return (1984/85)

Back when I was but a wee lad, way before "doom" became a legitimate genre and way before that genre gave way to a various number of "sub"-genres including "stoner doom" and "funeral doom", this was about as slow and heavy as it got, not to mention that the vocals of Tom Warrior were pretty much the most brutal and barbaric thing I had heard yet. Almost 30 years later and this hasn't gotten old yet. Technically, this isn't an album, but a re-release of the band's first two ep's. Nevertheless, my first copy of this was on cassette with both ep's bearing the cover you see to the right.

3) Pestilence - Consuming Impulse (1989)

Not only does this boast one of the greatest vocal performances by a death metal band, but there's not a blast in sight. For my money, 'Consuming Impulse' has probably the greatest sounding down picking of any metal album, death metal or other, not to mention the absolutely stellar production by Harris Johns. To this day, no one has been able to make good on the promise of this album, not even the band themselves.

4) Bolt Thrower - Realm of Chaos - Slaves to Darkness (1989)

Without a doubt, the absolute HEAVIEST fucking album ever!! Had Basil Poledouris been unavailable to compose the score for the original Conan the Barbarian soundtrack, Bolt Thrower would have been the ideal replacement pick. Ungodly.

5) Immolation - Dawn of Possession (1991)

In all likelihood, this is the most hauntingly evil death metal album ever. Rich with gloomy atmosphere and never boring, 'Dawn of Possession' is a landmark in northeastern U.S. death metal.

6) Incantation - Onward to Golgotha (1992)

Along with 'Dawn of Possession', 'Onward to Golgatha' is a testament to that faction of northeastern U.S. death metal that chose not to inseminate each song with breakdown riffs. This album is about as oppressive as it gets. This is easily the soundtrack to a journey through some infernal Greek underworld complete with colossal doom riffs and cavernous atmospherics, this is about as evil as it gets. Legend.

7)  Sabbat - Dreamweaver: Reflections of our Yesterdays (1989)

Sick vocals, stellar lyrics and concept overall and just plain awesome death/thrash.

8)  Entombed - Left Hand Path (1990)

The album album that opened up the floodgates and ushered fourth the first wave of Swedish death metal. I can honestly say, without a doubt, that not one of them came close to capturing the cavernous brilliance of this album. The band would release one more solid death metal album before abandoning much of the gloomy atmospherics in favor of a more classic rock oriented approach. Fine by me, but 'Left hand Path' remains the one absolutely essential album within their entire catalog.

9) Carcass - Symphonies of Sickness (1989)

Another band that's been to aped to death yet no one has managed to come close to the eerie brilliance of this album. Smoking a joint, opening up the lyric sheet and reading along with each song is sure to blow your mind. While there was indeed a handful of early death and grind bands that were obsessed with gore and horror films, Carcass to it to the extreme by throwing in tons of wordplay and black humor not to mention impossibly technical medical terminology to boot. The pioneering dual vocals of Jeff Walker and Bill Steer are still the best of that style and the Steer's morbid riffing is among the creepiest you'll ever hear in death metal.

10) Therion - Of Darkness (1991)

Despite some of the thrashier sections on this album, 1991's 'Of Darkness' is one of the most "evil" sounding records to crawl fourth from out of the northern wastes of Scandinavia. Cristofer Johnsson's vocals on this record are my absolute favorite by any death metal vocalist before or since and the undeniable Celtic Frost vibe that coats the album is the cherry on top. Therion would release one more album in this vein and then it was all symphony-city from there on out. Not bad in it's own right but my preference lies with the band's older material. Cavernous gloom never sounded so good!



Honorable mentions:

Carnage - Dark Recollections
Accidental Suicide - Deceased
Obituary - Cause of Death
Darkthrone - Soulside Journey

Carcass - Necroticism: Descanting the Insalubrious (1991)

I remember first hearing this way back in '91 and thinking "oh no!". Similar to the transition from Reign in Blood to South of Heaven, I could tell that this wasn't a bad album by any means, but I wasn't so sure that this was what I wanted to hear after having my brains pummeled by the hideous perfection of Symphonies of Sickness. It was immediately apparent that "the boys" were advancing tremendously in the progressive technicality department, but at 16 years of age, all I wanted to hear was more of the puke drenched atmospherics of the band's previous album.

For many years it was hard for me to fully embrace N:DTI, yet oddly enough, I couldn't resist popping it into the tape deck, quite often at that. While the band were clearly making huge technical advancements, they were also improving their overall songwriting technique. N:DTI is loaded with catchy hooks and memorable riffs and there is an undeniable and dare I say, "dreamy" atmosphere that hovers over the proceedings, though for the most part, aside from a few oddball moments, this is still a very violent sounding record.

One of the things that I found it difficult to accept in those days was the increasing absence of Bill Steer's frog-like croak. One of and perhaps the biggest draw back in the early years was the absolutely vile sounding dual vocal delivery between Steer and bassist Jeff Walker. they sounded like a vulture fighting over a cadaver with a burping swamp. The fact that Jeff was becoming the dominant vocal presence sort of bummed me out. Bill isn't entirely out of the picture though and there are some winning trade-offs between the two, but I would have like to have heard a bit of the old formula applied to this album.

As the years have turned into decades, I have found myself appreciating this album as well as its successor, '93's Heartwork, more and more. Hearing the absolute mastery the band had over their instruments and marveling over their rather uncanny ability to craft songs that even the gods themselves are unable to produce makes the disinterest the band had in creating 'Swansong' that much more painful to behold. Up until that point, the achievements of the band were second to none in terms of the advancement heard from each album to the next. I can say with absolute confidence that Necroticism is without a doubt a masterpiece and a monolith of human accomplishment. Though the style of metal may differ slightly, Necroticism easily sits beside Ride the Lightning and Peace Sells... in terms of brilliant composition, craftsmanship and diversity. I have a strange feeling that the impending comeback album is going to be a pleasant surprise despite the detractors.

Like unto the gods themselves...