CARCASS — Symphonies of Sickness (review)

CARCASS — Symphonies of Sickness album cover Album · 1989 · Goregrind Buy this album from MMA partners
3/5 ·
UMUR
"Symphonies of Sickness" is the 2nd full-length studio album by UK goregrind/death metal act Carcass. The album was released through Earache Records in November 1989. The original version of the album features a gory meat collage cover artwork, while several of the many re-releases/reissues have featured censored cover artwork. My version is for example a gatefold vinyl version with a grey and black cover artwork. It´s only when you open the gatefold that you´ll be exposed to the repulsive meat collage. I know there are several other versions around including the CD releases from the 90es which feature a cover with drawn humans like the ones you´ll find in biology teaching materials. Just as the cover artwork for Carcass debut album "Reek of Putrefaction (1988)", which also featured a similar gory meat collage, the artwork for "Symphonies of Sickness" was banned shortly after the album was released.

The music on the album is a combination of grindcore and death metal. The muddy and primitive sound quality of the debut album has been replaced by a much clearer yet still not polished Colin Richardson sound production, which means that "Symphonies of Sickness" is actually an album that´s listenable. The vocal style is still the combination of deep growls and snarling higher pitched vocals. The musicianship has improved a great deal since the debut and while Ken Owen was never the most tight drummer around, his playing has it´s charm and he too has improved greatly since the debut. The tracks are decently composed and much longer than the short grindcore assaults of the debut album. As a result there are "only" 10 tracks on the album. The lyrics are still in the gore themed catagory with the clinical medicine/pathology touch that Carcass were known for on their early releases. There are some absolutely ridiculous (this is actually meant in a positive way) song titles on this album like "Cadaveric Incubator Of Endo Parasites", "Swarming Vulgar Mass Of Infected Virulency" and "Empathological Necroticism".

Upon conclusion "Symphonies of Sickness" is pretty much a 100% improvement over "Reek of Putrefaction (1988)", but that really wasn´t too difficult to achieve and doesn´t really say much about the quality of the material on "Symphonies of Sickness". While all tracks are somewhat entertaining and relatively well composed, I´ve always felt the album lacked power and catchy hooks. Like the case is with "Reek of Putrefaction (1988)", "Symphonies of Sickness" is a "classic" goregrind/death metal album and it has influenced legions of artists since it was released. In this case influential doesn´t necessarily mean great though. A 3 star (60%) rating is warranted.
Share this review
more

Review Comments

Post a public comment below | Send private message to the reviewer
Please login to post a shout
Vim Fuego wrote:
more than 2 years ago
Ooh, I gotta disagree! Gore grind doesn't get much better than this album, which is why it's been imitated so often.

Review Index

Member Zone

Username:
Password:
Stay signed in

Metal Subgenres

Artists Alpha-index

MMA TOP 5 Metal ALBUMS

Rating by members, ranked by custom algorithm
Albums with 30 ratings and more
Master of Puppets Thrash Metal
METALLICA
Buy this album from our partners
Paranoid Heavy Metal
BLACK SABBATH
Buy this album from our partners
Moving Pictures Hard Rock
RUSH
Buy this album from our partners
Powerslave NWoBHM
IRON MAIDEN
Buy this album from our partners
Rising Heavy Metal
RAINBOW
Buy this album from our partners

New Metal Artists

New Metal Releases

Everything Hurts And I'm Dying Atmospheric Sludge Metal
NEGATIVE BLISS
Buy this album from MMA partners
L'impôt du sang Melodic Black Metal
CONIFÈRE
Buy this album from MMA partners
Pleroma Progressive Metal
ORGONE
Buy this album from MMA partners
n​ê​bam​Ω​ejn Atmospheric Black Metal
TRHÄ
Buy this album from MMA partners
∫um'ad​∂​ejja cavvaj Atmospheric Black Metal
TRHÄ
Buy this album from MMA partners
More new releases

New Metal Online Videos

Origin Of Infinity - Chronosphere (OFFICIAL LYRIC VIDEO)
ORIGIN OF INFINITY
Bosh66· 1 day ago
Kingdom of Heaven - “Pleasures of Pain”
KINGDOM OF HEAVEN
Bosh66· 1 day ago
DAWN OF REVENGE - Sanctuary [official music video]
DAWN OF REVENGE
Bosh66· 18 days ago
DAWN OF REVENGE - Farewell [official music video]
DAWN OF REVENGE
Bosh66· 18 days ago
DAWN OF REVENGE - Curtain of Death - [official music video]
DAWN OF REVENGE
Bosh66· 18 days ago
More videos

New MMA Metal Forum Topics

More in the forums

New Site interactions

More...

Latest Metal News

members-submitted

More in the forums

Social Media

Follow us
Follow us on Twitter Become a Facebook fan RSS Feed