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| Walhello -> Knowledge Base -> CDs -> C -> Carcass Heartwork |
| Carcass - Heartwork Band: Carcass Tracks: - Buried Dreams - Carnal Forge - No Love Lost - Heartwork - Embodiment - This Mortal Coil - Arbeit Macht Fleisch - Blind Bleeding The Blind - Doctrinal Expletives - Death Certificate - This Is Your Life metal feast. This is no _Symphonies of Sickness_, or even _Neuroticism_ (an album of transition). The lyrics are still immoderately verbose, but with this album Carcass left grindcore behind them. Melodic, exhilarating, @zz-kicking metal is the order of the day with _Heartwork_ -- this is not a crushing grindcore sludge. While its influence on early NWoSDM may have been exaggerated (In Flames' _Lunar Strain_ and At the Gates' _Terminal Spirit Disease_ came out in the same year, after all), I think many bands were definitely inspired by the songwriting genius here. The album is defined by its brilliant riffs: the sleek guitar harmony of "This Mortal Coil"; the toxic metal grooves of "Buried Dreams" and "Arbeit Macht Fleisch"; ripping chugga thrash-fests of "Heartwork" and "Carnal Forge"; the stop-start meltdown of "Doctrinal Expletives"; and so on and so forth. In terms of quality _and_ quantity, the riffs on this one album top the entire careers of most metal bands. I'm always blown away when I listen to this album -- the writing is just _that_ good. The guitarwork is totally imaginative and intense and brilliant. Michael Amott is a guitarist to rival John Petrucci, and naturally Bill Steer is a stunner as well. This guitar duo is easily up there with other master pairings like Murray-Smith and Wichers-Frenning. (If only Amott's current band, Arch Enemy, was as good as his work on this album! Then the dissolution of Carcass would not be so unfortunate.) The mix's low-end is kind of "fwumpy" and Jeff Walker's snarling vocals sound synthetic and weird sometimes (although I like them anyway). These are niggling points in any case -- this is essential for metal fans. *And* that sleek H.R. Giger sculpture on the cover sure is sweet... Heck, even if the music was awful it'd be a nice addition to the collection just to look at it. Rifftastic! Never forget! To steal a line from the original CD sticker, this album is absolutely rifftastic. After Descanting the Insalubrious, I Felt as though Carcass had really painted themselves into a corner. What could they possibly do that they haven't already done? They sick lyrics and Blast beats were definitely fun for the time, but to put out yet another album like that would almost have been career suicide. Instead, we were treated to the best metal album of the 1990's. Writing a perfect album from start to finish is near impossible. Metallica's Master of Puppets record has proved the test of time as THE all time crusher, but Heartwork comes painfully close to dethroning it. From second one, Bill Steer makes his presence known. His songwriting has an extremely unique flavor, forcing riffs together that really shouldn't be. For example, take the ending of "Arbeit Macht Fleisch." For the first three minutes the listener is absolutely maimed senseless with speed and technicality, and is then cooled back down with a beauty of a riff that ends the song perfectly. Bizarre time changes, Blast beats, and GORGEOUS (yes, its capitalized for a reason) two-guitar harmonies absolutely litter the entire record. The guitar soloing is absolute genius. It is Truly amusing to hear the old "solos" from Reek of Putrefication, and then hear the ones on Heartwork. Its almost as if Bill Steer purified his skills overnight, that is how GOOD he is (again, capitalized). Melodic and dramatic. Those words don't begin to describe the guitar solos. Steer and Amott were, in my eyes, the best heavy metal guitar duo of all time. Just listen to the lick trade-off at the beginning "Blind Bleeding the Blind." ...listen, I just dug up this CD about three weeks ago from my old pile of CD's in my closet. It's in heavy rotation in my car almost daily. To those who already have it, go dig it back up! To those who don't, be prepared to discover the most beautiful, melodic, and brutal heavy metal record ever recorded. It Truly is the most most brilliant gem buried in the wasteland that was true heavy metal. Never forget it. canvas to paint Carcass was pretty much responsible for my acceptance of Death metal... in spite of their carnal brutality the songs on heartwork are potentially accessible to fans of other genres. Plus, Jeff Walker's vocals are hardly of the cookie monster variety.... Heartwork's influence on modern Swedish Death metal and face shredding riffs makes it essential to anybody who considers themselves a DM fan. Michael Amott and Bill Steers' solos are the highlight of Heartwork for me... they are both very expressive guitarists who utilize their instrument's emotive capabilities to the utmost. A major highlight is the solo to Carnal Forge... it serves as a perfect respite from that song's relentless brutality. Indeed, many songs on Heartwork tread the line between savage intensity and melody. This is why it is so effective. No Love Lost has a monster riff ( or 2 or 3)... Walker's vocals are harsh as hell, but you can understand what he says so the songs get stuck in your head. Prime example: Heartwork. RRRR CANVAS TO PAINT! TO DEGENERATE! RRR DARK REFLECTIONS! DEGENERATIVE! Standout tracks = Heartwork, Death Certificate (the first Death metal track I got into... Buried Dreams, Blind Bleeding the Blind... all of them. Along with Slaughter of the Soul, Heartwork was the archetype for melodic Death metal in the late 90s and beyond... Buy Carcass Heartwork at Amazon.com Buy posters at Allposters.comJamster - the latest ringtones for your phone! |
