The Legacy of UK Band Carcass
Goregrind and Death Metal Veterans Carcass and their Influence
A look at the history and evolution of the goregrind and death metal band Carcass as well as an insight into their influence on the metal world since their career.
Icons of Gore
Carcass are an iconic band and virtually untouchable in the world of grind and death metal. Devising a sound and image at the right time and place may have been fate or coincidence or even well planned but nevertheless Carcass blew the metal world away and their authority is still evident and sustained by the mass following in terms of tribute, interpretation and fanbase.
Carcass formed in Liverpool, NW England in the mid-80s and released five albums before disbanding after the release of Swansong in 1996. Michael Amott, the guitarist who achieved fame with Arch Enemy and Bill Steer, the other half of the guitar duo, now pioneers Firebird. Jeff Walker, idiosyncratic vocalist has gone on to Blackstar with drummer Ken Owen, as well as an appearance in Brujeria.
However it is Carcass that remains an omnipresent influence and holy land for many death metal and grindcore acts as well as fans. The previously unheard of sound, comprising gurgled harsh vocals spewing forth complex medical lyrics depicting the goriest of content matter became the first example of goregrind. Carcass were treading a similar path to similar label mates and countrymen Napalm Death with similarly filthy sounding ultra-fast sonic mayhem, but theirs was splattered with blood and innards and boasted a putrid sound.
The Sonic Evoluiton of Carcass
The DIY rawness and pioneering obsession with clinically intricate anatomical violence made Carcass irresistible. What stands out is the fact that Carcass had three important stages. The first being the raw bile curdling blasts of 1987’s Reek of Putrefaction and 1988’s Symphonies of Sickness which many bands still carbon copy and revere so highly to this day.
The second arises from the 1990 platter Necroticism: Descanting the Insalubrious, which still embraced the bloodthirsty attitude of its predecessors but translated this into a more straightforward death metal approach still maintaining a very distinct sound. This album produced greats like “Corporal Jigsore Quandary” whose intro drums and guitar riff are infamous across the board. The County Medical Examiners, with their latest offering Olidous Operettas, have directly plagiarised this song, but in the frame of homage rather than larceny with “Casper’s Dictum”.
The County Medical Examiners bring us to another band, Impaled, who also use elements of all three important Carcass phases in their music. As a result Death after Life is a highly enjoyable album. The third and final stage is the more melodic death metal of 1994’s Heartwork which along with At the Gates’ Slaughter of the Soul (1995), are probably among the first most influential albums of their class. Heartwork is a “melodic death metal classic” (taken from Gold Lyrics website - see also list of other reviews linked on site).
The Pervading Influence of Carcass
Bands such as Exhumed and Aborted have harnessed the Carcass sound to make some critically acclaimed and highly compelling albums in the form of Gore Metal and Engineering the Dead respectively. The latter are an example among many of the aesthetic influences of Carcass permeating the metal world with their bloodstained surgeon’s outfits and disturbingly real artwork.
A testament to the magnitude of the legacy is the reaction to the reunion announcement in 2007 after having sternly rejected rumours only a couple of years beforehand. Jeff having announced that Carcass (along with At the Gates and Iron Maiden) would be playing at Wacken 2008 may have been a catalyst for the selling out of said festival.
