Unless you’ve been living under a rock masturbating to Miley Cyrus’ autotuned haircut, you probably know that Carcass is one of the greatest metal bands ever. Ok, maybe not the greatest. More like the goodest. They had a couple of hard-to-listen-to grind albums (Reek of Putrefaction, Symphony of Sickness), two pretty sweet melodic death albums (Necroticism, Heartwork) and a sorta-ok-I-guess death ‘n roll album (Swansong). Yes I kinda like Swansong. Fuck you.
Anyway, here we are over a decade and a half later. Carcass have finally gotten off their lazy asses to shove a brand-new slab of gore directly down our gaping music holes. Surgical Steel is pretty much what I wanted – Heartwork 2: The Sequel. If you’re a Reek-era Carcass fan, you’ll yearn for the days of shitty production. However, if you enjoy being able to hear notes, this album is gonna be your end-of-summer jam.
Surgical Steel starts out by channeling the evil spirit of Don Dokken with a bizarro 80s harmony riff (“1985”). The hell is going on here??? Why am I talking about a 1 minute intro? From here on out there isn’t a single moment of filler to be found, which means I jammed this album about 5 times in a row the day it came out. Unlike previous releases, lyrical focus has shifted away from medical themes and is mostly about animal rights. However, with the exception of “Thrasher’s Abbatoir”, Carcass keeps it real hard to understand with a ton of four-dollar words. Time to dust off the ol’ dictionary.
I’m pretty pumped that Nuclear Blast decided it’s a good idea to release Surgical Steel on tape. For $15. Yay nostalgia! As soon as I get my allowance and I’m ungrounded, I’ll ask my mom to unearth my gigantic 90s boombox powered by sixteen D batteries so I can listen to it. I’ll tell her to grab the Alf VHS tapes while she’s at it. Thanks mom! You’re the best. Promise I won’t stay out past curfew again.
Things I like: Mean-as-fuck vocals, overly wordy lyrics, melodic guitar solos, lots ‘o catchy harmony riffs, album cover fulla tools
Things I don’t like: The fact that they didn’t release this album on 8 track
Verdict: buybuybuy
preferably on cassette
Carcass – Surgical Steel
4.5/5 Rotting Gaddafi Heads
