Carcass, in retrospect, is one of the most important grincore/death metal bands to date. Formed by former guitarist and founding member of Napalm Death, Bill Steer, Carcass created some of the most progressive music of both the death metal and grindcore genres.

Initially, Carcass started out as a grindcore unit releasing the brutal “Reek of Putrefaction” on the Earache label. Their debut of short, fast and completely bone crushing songs has become an undisputed grincore classic in the underground and has made Earache one of the most important metal labels around. The album was horribly produced and the lyrics are grotesque to say the least (most read like a medical journal; “Fermented Inards”, “Suppuration Foeticide”, “Manifestation Of Verrucose Urethra” and the person favorite “Genital Grinder”), but none the less the effect is more than evident. Unfortunately, “Reek Of Putrefaction” is no longer available with it’s orginal artwork (a home-made, cut and paste cover of mutilated body parts and surgical dissection), but Earache finally re-issued this classic with a more subdued album cover about three four years ago.

Carcass’ second release, “Symphonies of Sickness”, shows a definite progression in the bands songwriting ability. “Symphonies” featured much longer songs with a wider range of dynamics and more complex structures. The production of the record on it’s own is not great, but far more polished than “Putrefaction”. The album remains true to the groups “grindcore roots” but shows a tendency toward death metal with it’s harmonies, slower tempos, and even some guitar leads on some tracks (still very sloppy at this point). The lyrics are classic Carcass to say the least and generally pretty disgusting. The album is still a tremendous effort and should be considered just as good or possibly better (depending on your taste) than “Putrefaction”. Earache re-released “Symphonies of Sickness” at the same time with new artwork.

“Necrotism: Descanting The Insalubrious” was Carcass’ third release, followed by the “Tools Of The Trade” EP. These albums show Carcass moving in a much more death metal direction. “Necrotism” is a far more polished record than the previous two but looking back can be seen as a transitional record. The songs are much more progressive than the earlier grindcore records, taking “Symphonies of Sickness” to a new level. “Tools of the Trade” features one track from “Necrotism”, a new version of “Rotten to the Gore” from the first record and two new tracks. While both are great records and I recommend them highly, there is an awkward transition in the songwriting that can be heard from the previous records.

1994 was one of the most interesting years in death metal. Columbia and Epic had acquired both Earache and Roadrunner as subsidiaries for certain acts (the deal was later dropped) and it seamed that all of the bands were taking advantage of the merger and released albums that year. Sepultura released “Chaos AD”, Napalm Death released “Fear Emptiness and Despair”, Obituary released “World Demise”, and Entombed came out with “Wolverine Blues” at what all seamed to be the same time. All of these records were far more commercial than the group’s previous recordings and generated a new fan base for each of them. In this author’s opinion, the best record that year (along with Napalm Death’s release) was Carcass’ “Heartwork”.

“Heartwork” was the album that gained the group a tremendous amount of noteriety and a new fan base. Produced by Colin Richardson and featuring H.R. Giger’s “Life Support ‘93”, the album was viewed by most critics as an “instant classic”. Carcass had done away with every shred of their grindcore past, the brutally disgusting lyrics, and even Bills Steer’s vocals. “Heartwork” seams to be a more introspective record lyrically, but no less powerful. Songwriting-wise, the record is pure death metal. Featuring more harmonic expermintation, slower tempo riffs, and amazing lead guitar work by Amott and Steer, the record not only shows the band as great songwriters but tremendous composers and instrumentalists. While it is not the of the same caliber of “Reek of Putrefaction”, “Heartwork” is certainly one of the greatest works of it’s genre and an absolute must have for fans of not only death metal but all metal.

1995 saw the release of Carcass’ last record, “Swan Song”. Before it’s release it was billed as their last album and with good reason. In short … this record is a tremendous disappointment and pretty much a waste of money. There isn’t much to recommend of this album as the lyrics are corny as all hell, not that “Rotten to the Gore wasn’t corny, but “Generation Hexed” and “Keep on Rotting in the Free World” are just horrible. The riffs sound like they were left over from Iron Maiden, and the whole Led Zeppelin cover concept is just plain stupid. Luckily there are five other great releases and a “best of” compilation to remember the “good old days”.