Swansong

Carcass were known to challenge their listeners with each release. From the earsplitting 'Reek of Putrefaction' to the more refined & complex 'Symphonies of Sickness'. Carcass moved on instead of watering down their legacy. Then came "Necroticism" and "Heartwork", probably the most prolific death metal albums of all time (save for Death on this side of the Atlantic). One more time they broke all the rules. Pissing off those who revel in the status quo. Delivering upon their demise an lp of melody laden extreme rock. Some just like to call it Rot'n'roll. 5 of this albums unreleased tracks can be found on the "Wake up & smell the Carcass" compilation as well as its prelude "the Heartwork ep". Those who appreciate Metal & Extreme Rock in a broad sense will enjoy.

this was released when I was 18 years old and back then I refused to let my narrow-minded teenage brain give it a chance . It screamed sell-out to me and I stayed away from this album at all costs . After all , I was a death metal purist and this album betrayed the code of the genre with it's rock and roll tendencies and non-gruesome lyrics/artwork. Fast forward 18 years later and I've decided to give this a once over after loving the new release entitled Surgical Steel . So what's the verdict ? this album is top-notch and full of heavy hooks, grooves and sick solos as only Mr. Bill Steer can execute. Ken Owen and Jeff Walker are in great form here also. It's actually not too far removed from Heartwork or Surgical Steel ; it just has a heavy thrash/rock and roll vibe. Make no mistake, though, the musicianship is undoubtedly Carcass and it's HEAVY ! If you like Megadeth's early 90's output ..imagine that but heavier with Jeff's venomous snarl on top of it . The remastered production is amazingly clean and punchy . Now that I'm in my mid-thirties and have broadened my musical palate extensively, I can honestly say with an open mind that this is a quality Carcass album that didn't deserve to be snubbed . It's not a tragedy like the new Morbid Angel or a full-blown sell-out like Metallica's Load. If you love rock, heavy metal and death metal ....you will enjoy this album once you get past the cheesey lyrics , terrible artwork and revelation that it's no Descanting The Insalubrious ( which I feel is the best Carcass album )

Carcass prove they are among the elite's with their 3rd straight masterpiece of death metal. Certainly this is there most streamlined and groovy music yet, but still hundreds of thick heavy riffs and enunciated death vocals. Carcass keeps most of the songs at a mid-pace and this reminds me of what Arch Enemy would sound like only Carcass writes better riffs and melody lead guitar. These dozen songs are very memorable even after almost 20 years that I've owned this CD.

I am not a big fan of the other Carcass albums, but I have to say that Swansong is one of the greatest albums of all time in my opinion. The lyrics, the riffs, the vocals and the drum uniqueness makes it such a masterpiece. and it's not annoying death metal it's really a work of art.This album though lacked 2 tracks that I think sound like they were made with Swansong, the tracks are "Edge of Darkness" and "Emotional Flatline" both taken from "Wake Up and Smell The Carcass" album.Swansong is one of my all time music influences, along with Slayer's "Seasons in the Abyss", Pink Floyd's "The Wall", Nirvana's "Nevermind", Pearl Jam's "Ten", Papa Roach's "Infest" and Counting Crows's "August and Everything After" and you can notice the diversity in here. To have Carcass fit in there just shows how versatile and complete that album is.

For their final LP, Gore-metal pioneers Carcass ditched the borderline-unlistenable production values and silly horror-movie gore lyrics of their early work and recorded this suprisingly good album of straight ahead hard rock n' roll. Fans of Carcass's previous albums will find very little to like in this one, but to my mind that is not necessarily a bad thing. Aside from Jeff Walker's vocals, there is absolutely nothing death-metal like about this album. If you were a fan of Reek of Peutrification, you'll probably want to steer clear of this one.Chunky riffs that make you want to nod your head in time, politically charged tounge-in-cheek lyrics, and immaculate production values make this their most accessible offering by a long shot.

This album rocks!!! If this was any band other than Carcass, this would have been huge. But being that they, GASP, polished their sound and changed their lyrical content, everyone thought they wussed out, no way! I, like the dude before me, loved all their work, especially Necroticism, but this is my second favorite by far. The guitar sound they achieved was super heavy,just listen to tomorrow belongs to nobody and generation hexed. I also love the fact that you can hear Jeff Walkers bass. Even though this came out twelve years ago, it's very up to date with it's social awareness. I urge all you nay-sayers to take a listen to this again...

The production values on the first two releases were sad - the musical ability was there but the production was so lacking that it is damn near impossible to listen to. When Tools Of The Trade and Necroticism... came out the production and 'sound' finally caught up to their ideas. The samples coupled with discernible riffage blew me away. They never again achieved that level of brutality. Heartwork had it's moments but hearing these guys play bluesy solos was laughable. Swansong should not have been released under the Carcass band name - the only similarity to their other works is the tone of the guitars. If you don't like death/grind/hardcore metal that's great but too see a band that did it SO well fall to cheeky song titles and plain old average songs... well I'm glad bands like Berzerker have come since (definitely followed Carcass footsteps in ways).I wonder what songs they played on their few dates here this year...