Photos by Wayne Edwards.
© Wayne Edwards
Photo Gallery: Drummers, Part 7
Carcass
Photo Gallery: Shredders, Part 2
Photos by Wayne Edwards.
© Wayne Edwards
Photo Gallery: Bassists, Part 2
Photos by Wayne Edwards.
© Wayne Edwards
Carcass at The Vogue, Indianapolis, May 19th
Carcass, Immolation, and Creeping Death came to Indianapolis this week in the final days of their Spring tour. I have an article and photos coming up in Ghost Cult Magazine describing the whole affair. Meanwhile, here are a few Carcass photos that will not be in the article to tide you over. This is the third and final gallery for the show at FFMB – as a little advertisement for the longer article. I put a link to the Ghost Cult article below.
Photos by Wayne Edwards.
Links.
Ghost Cult Magazine article, https://www.ghostcultmag.com/concert-review-carcass-immolation-creeping-death-live-at-the-vogue/
The Vogue, https://thevogue.com/calendar/
© Wayne Edwards
Carcass, Torn Arteries (Nuclear Blast 2021)
The new Carcass album is a raucous affair, filled with sinister chuckles and Torn Arteries.
Carcass is such a well-known band I don’t think much background is needed here. Their history is fascinating, being on the forefront of Death- and Goregrind, and later also being influential in the early days of Melodic Death Metal. The initial run was in the mid-1980s to mid-1990s, then they reformed in 2007. Since that renaissance, they have released EPs, splits, and the full-length Surgical Steel in 2013. The new album is the band’s seventh long-player, if I counted right, and it is a rager.
The title track is the opener and it spins directly at you with a vigorous multifaceted attack. The vocals are gruff and full, the riffs and percussion are fireworks set on solid steel poles, and the lead work is aching and familiar. Without a breath, “Dance of Ixtab” whips in with active parallel rhythm that fosters direct and immediate catchiness. And then “Eleanor Rigor Mortis.” Come on. Is there any way you are not going to love a Carcass song with a title like this? No, no way. It is an excellent entry that features a vocal-lead guitar pairing. And we are still on side one.
“Under The Scalpel Blade” has a slower tempo up front, and “The Devil Rides Out” does Dennis Wheatley (and also Hammer Studios) proud. “Flesh Ripping Sonic Torment Limited” is the longest track, landing at ten minutes, and it is a theatrical presentation with a compellingly dramatic arc that manages sorrow and anguish, terror and regret in the fullness of its articulation. The final strokes occur on “The Scythe’s Remorseless Swing,” the fittingest of all possible closers.
It has been eight years since the last big album from Carcass so I expected Torn Arteries to be something special. It turns out I was right – it is instantly one of my favorites in their distinguished and storied catalogue. Highly recommended.
Torn Arteries is out through Nuclear Blast Records on Friday, September 17th. Join the fray.
Links.
Bandcamp, https://carcass.bandcamp.com/album/torn-arteries
Facebook, https://www.facebook.com/OfficialCarcass
Nuclear Blast, https://shop.nuclearblast.com/en/products/sound/vinyl/2lp/carcass-torn-arteries-red-.html
Carcass, Despicable review (Nuclear Blast 2020)
Carcass first appeared more than thirty years ago, becoming a Death Metal mainstay immediately, and they are not done yet.
Carcass created its place in music history by pioneering extreme metal on their earliest albums in the late 1980s. A few years later, they were on the forefront of a new movement in metal, melodic death metal. In both of these cases, the band provided a vision that was expanded on by multitudes of other acts and that persist today. They took a break for a long stretch after Swansong in 1996, not releasing another full-length album until Surgical Steel (2013).
Despicable is an EP released in advance of next year’s full-length album, and it holds songs that will not be on that longer album. The band is Jeff Walker, Bill Steer, Daniel Wilding, and Tom Draper, and the music continues on the path the band has solidly established in its second incarnation.
There are four songs on the new EP, beginning with “The Living Dead at the Manchester Morgue,” which has delightful thrashiness to it, culminating in a swirling storm of enraged hornets performed on guitar toward the end. “The Long and Winding Bier Road” has a slower and heavier taste, telling a story in clever hooks. The gas is punched again on “Under the Scalpel Blade,” adding in a sordid Penny Dreadful storyline to warm your veins. “Slaughtered in Soho” is the sign-off, with an airy riff and a tender growl – and a wailing lead break. If these four fine songs are any sign of what the 2021 album will be like, we are definitely in for a wild ride. Recommended.
Out now from Nuclear Blast, you can get Despicable in all sorts of formats from Bandcamp or through the store portal link below.
Links.
Carcass Bandcamp, https://carcass.bandcamp.com/album/despicable
Carcass Facebook, https://www.facebook.com/OfficialCarcass
Carcass YouTube, https://www.youtube.com/user/Carcass
Nuclear Blast Records Store Portal, https://media.nuclearblast.de/shoplanding/2020/Carcass/despicable.html
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