### Carcass: Heartwork

#### 19/02/10 || Altmer

Have you ever wondered what Michael Amott’s projects should sound like? Are you an Arch Enemy fan, but do you wish that female grunting would be shoved headfirst into the bowels of a drunken giraffe? Are you sick of the shred in Arch Enemy and want more of that death metal groove? Do you think Arch Enemy’s first few album’s were made unlistenable by one hoarse croaking frog of a vocalist? Listen to Carcass.

Do you think grind is an overrated genre with too much overly silly gore and too much chaotic violence that goes nowhere? Do you think that some actual songs do a band more good than bad? Do you like grind with less of a punk and more of a metal edge? Do you think that 30 songs under a minute don’t belong on a proper CD? Listen to Carcass.

Carcass is the death metal band for everyone. “Heartwork” is what metal should sound like, in my not-so-humble, GD reviewing, fucken dominating opinion. It’s got everything that I love. It’s got everything that you should love. Guitar work with technical solos out of the ass? Check. Actually good fucken riffs? Check. Lyrics about death and gore that don’t make the band look silly? Check. A fucken ace rhythm section? Check. A spiffy production? Check. Awesome sneered vocals, where you can mostly understand the lyrics? Check. 10 well crafted songs? Motherfucking double check.

Of course, Carcass is a legendary band. I mean, this is the band that gave us “Necroticism”, the riffs of “Corporeal Jigsore Quandary”, it gave us a vehicle for Michael Amott’s amazing songwriting (which sadly always seemed hampered here and there in Arch Enemy), and it’s got some amazing fucken stuff all around. But I feel Carcass never sounded as good as they did on this album called “Heartwork”. Just listen to “This mortal coil”. “Blind bleeding the blind”. “Arbeit macht Fleisch”. The guitar work is out of this world on those songs. This is one of those albums everyone will rip off forever. In Flames wish they were this good when they started out. This is good, no great, no excellent death metal, with amazing solos, with songs, with groove, with catchiness, with everything that makes a metal album good. This is pretty much a reason why death metal should be revered as a good instead of a silly genre. If you’re a metalhead, this album is a must to check out. It will bang your head, rock your soul, toss you inside out, tear you up, beat you down, stomp over your speakers, and leave you begging for more. You owe it to yourself to hear this album, it’s pretty much an album no metalhead should miss. This is an album that I rank alongside things like “Human”, or “Reign in blood”, or “Altars of madness”, or “Into the nightside eclipse”, any album like that. It is absolutely fantastic.

And if you think I am a pussy for liking the more melodic Carcass as opposed to “Symphonies of sickness”, well that sucks for you. This is still better.

- Information
- Released: 1993
- Label: Earache Records
- Website: Carcass MySpace
- Band
- Jeff Walker: vocals, bass
- Michael Amott: guitars
- Ken Owen: drums
- Bill Steer: guitars

- Tracklist
- 01. Buried Dreams
- 02. Carnal Forge
- 03. No Love Lost
- 04. Heartwork
- 05. Embodiment
- 06. This Mortal Coil
- 07. Arbeit Macht Fleisch
- 08. Blind Bleeding The Blind
- 09. Doctrinal Expletives
- 10. Death Certificate