Carcass
Heartwork

I love Carcass!!! I wish they would release a new album every month, every week!!! I must admit to being a die-hard fan of theirs, so my review can't be entirely objective... this band has always fascinated me not only for its ability to churn out complex, gritty, and heavy tracks like few others, while not forgetting melodic passages, but also for its history.

Starting from the most extreme grind-core, made up of tracks on the edge of cacophony and recordings of questionable quality, they transitioned to a technical, then melodic death-grind metal before ending up in a sort of hard rock weighed down by growl vocals and super distorted guitars, as a reminder that the metamorphosis has occurred, but the roots remain the same.

Following their latest performances at European festivals this summer, which raise hopes for a reunion (albeit without the historic drummer Ken Owen, still recovering after a long period of severe physical problems), I felt it was only right to review what is perhaps their best work, alongside the previous "necroticism...".

"Heartwork" is a fundamental album, not only in the history of Carcass but also for the entire extreme metal scene; it is nasty, rough as sandpaper, fast and filled with intricate riffs, complex, heavy, but also with melodic solos and more "calm" moments, as much as such an album can be defined.

Here we go! The show opens with "Buried dreams", an enormous boulder that lands on you and catches you by surprise; the vitriolic voice of singer/bassist Jeff Walker greets us with a "welcome..." that seems to tear his vocal cords apart.

The apocalypse continues with "Carnal forge", a genuine punch to the stomach, with very fast rhythms and riffs following one another without respite as in the best grind metal style (but with enviable sound clarity and precision) until it opens up in a couple of splendid and melodic solos that make this track a gem of metal engineering.

"No love lost" and "Embodiment" are the first "warning signs" of the stylistic turn Carcass will present in the subsequent (and final) album "swansong"; the tempos slow down but without descending into the commercial or the banal; they are two granite pieces, heavy as lead, evil and dark, and once again the solos are excellent and the roughness characterizing all the tracks of this album is not missing.

The title track is simply stunning, built on an entirely simple riff and filled with wonderful guitar intricacies that see guitarists Bill Steer and Micheal Amott duetting; here too, melody takes the lead, breaking the distorted sounds and wedging in with scales and solos of softer tones: a masterpiece!

"This mortal coil" is devastating, starting extremely tightly and overwhelming anyone like a food processor that crushes everything in its path, while "arbeit macht fleish" is a real delusion... an ultra-complex track where drummer Ken Owen continuously changes the song's pattern and rhythm with an ease that leaves one speechless...!!! This song alone has 10 tempo changes and just as many different riffs, all intersected with superb mastery.

"Blind bleeding the blind" is a sort of "sick rock 'n' roll" influenced by its authors' insane creativity, while "doctrinal expletives" brings the album back to more extreme territories, with Jeff Walker screaming into the microphone until the speakers explode and the Steer/Amott duo giving their best, moving from melodic solos to riffs halfway between death and heavy metal.

The album closes with "Death certificate", an uncompromising track that puts the word END to everything, offering no hope and closing every sliver of light.

This is "Heartwork", an album that should not be missing from anyone's collection, an album that, like very few others, has managed to combine violence and melody, wicked, devastating, distorted, sick, and fast riffs with solos that do not make speed their sole reason to exist, but are carefully crafted, executed with care and incredible technique.

In definitive terms, this is probably the definitive Carcass album, the only one that encapsulates all the souls that have distinguished them in previous albums; here you will find grind metal, death metal, heavy metal, and even a very intense form of hard rock, technique, anger, passion.....

An essential album for the entire extreme metal scene, absolutely to listen to and to own!!!