CARCASS — Surgical Steel (review)

Album · 2013 · Melodic Death Metal

4/5 · 2013-10-15
Time Signature

Noncompliance to any standard...

Genre: thrash/melodeath/classic metal

For my money one of the most interesting contributors to the extreme metal scene. The invention of goregrind and melodeath is rightfully attributed to Carcass with their release of “Reek of Putrefaction” and “Heartwork” respectively. But “Symphonies of Sickness” was, I would say, an important contribution to the development of the deathgrind hybrid genre, while “Necroticism...” - one of my all-time favorite albums – was an original technical death metal piece drawing on complex and progressive song structures and juxtaposition of midtempo solid riffage and ferocious blastbeats. Much underrated, “Swansong” is as important a contribution to the development of death 'n' roll as Entombed's “Wolverine Blues” and Gorefest's “Soul Survivor”. Sadly, the band broke up after the release of “Swansong” and was struck by tragedy when founding member and drummer Ken Owen was suffered from a brain hemorrhage and ended up in a coma, causing the post-Carcass project Blackstar (which explored further the traditional heavy metal direction that Carcass had taken on “Swansong”) to dissolve.

Having reunited a couple of times for gigs and festivals, Carcass eventually was reestablished as a band proper and released the much expected “Surgical Steel” in 2013. And, boy, this must be among the most kick-ass comebacks of any rock band in the history of music.

After a hyper-melodic intro in the form of '1985' and its rich Iron Maiden-esque twin guitar harmonies, the album explodes into the aptly titled 'Thrasher's Abbatoir' which combines thrashy riffage (some of which has the same compact quality as Exodus' trademark riffs had back in the day), brief and explosive blastbeats, and old school death metal riffage as well as some more hardcorish elements. The uptempo 'Cadaver Pouch Conveyor System' features both thrashy drums and twin guitar harmonies and is overall a pretty catchy and very memorable track, while 'A Congealed Clot of Blood' is a heavier affair and treats the listener to both doom-laden heaviness and midtempo near-galloping riffs. This song is naturally in an interesting contrast with the blastbeat-based grindcore opening of the following track 'The Master Butcher’s Apron', which in itself is an extremely affair, offering heaviness, thrashiness, melody, and grinding madness as well as crust-inspired guitar leads. 'Noncompliance to ASTM F899-12 Standard' (one of the best song titles from Carcass, by the way) likewise takes the listener through a landscape of blastbeats, classic metal riffage, melodic guitar solos, and uptempo thrash metal, and in all honesty, it's a fucking great track! 'The Granulating Dark Satanic Mills' opens up with a dark but melodic guitar harmony-based intro before a catchy and melodic guitar riff sits in. Exploring primarily melodic and classic metal in this track, Carcass sets up a linkage of sorts between “Heartwork” and “Swansong” with this track, which also features the most rock 'n' roll guitar solo from Carcass to date (perhaps the fruits of Steer's work with the blues rock act Firebird). Also leaning towards “Swansong”, 'Unfit for Human Consumption' rocks hard and is groovy as hell (really the guitar riff in the chorus has a slight Led-Zep-on-speed feel to it), and this track also features a thrashy bridge with a super intense grindcore section as well. A title track of sorts '316L Grade Surgical Steel' is another heavy rocker, while 'Captive Bolt Pistol' draws on “Heartwork”-era thrashy riffage and the grindcore-inspired parts that were used on “Necroticism...”. Perhaps the grand opus of the album 'Mount of Execution' opens with an acoustic intro and then seamlessly combines heavy thrash metal, groovy riffage, and melodic hard rock and classic metal into a sublime melodeath affair.

The Japanese version – which I have – features two additional tracks in the form of 'A Wraith in the Apparatus' and 'Intensive Battery Brooding'. The former is a heavy and groovy midtempo affair which is slightly reminiscent of the songs on “Necroticism...” albeit less complex in structure and more melodic. The latter is even heavier and even groovier, and both tracks go well together with the album proper, as it were.

The production is super well defined, and the guitars are both razor sharp and heavy-sounding (perhaps the bass could be more audible – but it is the in the background, providing an important bottom). Performance-wise, there is nothing at all to criticize about the album which displays a very high degree of musicianship across the board. Jeff Walker's sneering vocals have not changed since “Swansong” and suit the thrash-rock-melodeath style on this album perfectly.

“Surgical Steel” has more in common with “Heartwork” and “Swansong” than with the two first albums, and there is also a slight feel of “Necroticism...” here, too. This will probably disappoint those few people who were hoping for some “Reek of Putrefaction”-styled grindcore madness. Since I prefer “Necroticism...”, “Heartwork” and “Swansong” to the two first albums, I have absolutely nothing at all against “Surgical Steel” - on the contrary, I think it's a brilliant album. Now, do not think that we are dealing with a completely retrospective album here. It is true that there are many pointers to the previous three albums on “Surgical Steel”, but Carcass are known to reinvent themselves on every album they have released, and “Surgical Steel” also brings something new to the Carcass sound. For instance, they use guitar harmonies to a larger extent than on any previous album, and they sound thrashier than ever on “Surgical Steel”, too.

In any case, we are dealing with an excellent metal album here showcasing Carcass' ability to seamlessly combine elements from various metal genres into one well-integrated sound which is characterized by melody, flow, and aggression.