Carcass - The Complete Pathologist's Report (2010) (5 CD/DVD Box Set) RESTORED

×

Carcass - The Complete Pathologist's Report (2010) (5 CD/DVD Box Set) RESTORED

Close

×

Carcass - The Complete Pathologist's Report (2010) (5 CD/DVD Box Set) RESTORED

Close

×

Carcass - The Complete Pathologist's Report (2010) (5 CD/DVD Box Set) RESTORED

Close

This Deluxe Edition Re-Issue Box Set features all 5 original CARCASS albums, each with Bonus Tracks or Demo Tracks. Each album also includes an Exclusive DVD featuring parts of the "Pathologist's Report" documentary with interviews, videos & more. All 5 Digipak albums are packaged in an Exclusive Slipcase.

×

Carcass - The Complete Pathologist's Report (2010) (5 CD/DVD Box Set) RESTORED

Close

With the ripples of their influence able to felt from all corners of the extreme metal scene, Liverpool, England based metal band Carcass are truly a force to be reckoned with. Formed in 1985, as a Grindcore/Goregrind band, the group from its earnest beginnings worked its way up from hometown heros to world renowned metal heros, all through the use of hard work, intelligence and ingenuity. However, before their ascension to the throne of metal, Carcass played some of the rudest, crudest music known to man, which is displayed flawlessly on their 1988 debut Reek of Putrefaction, a savage and unforgiving slab of brutal Grindcore.

Everything aspect of Reek of Putrefaction is harsh and uncompromising, from the tortured vocals of Jeff Walker(the raspier growl), Bill Steer(guttural growls) and Ken Owens(distorted growls) to the intense blast beat drumming to the cruel guitar savagery that assails the listeners ear drums. Vocally the trio's approach to screaming is utterly sickening (in a good way). While Walker's incredible larynx torturing rasp dominates most of the record, Steer and Owens own brutal delivery often make their way into the mix, making for amazing dynamics between higher pitched, mid ranged and absolutely guttural vocals. A great example of this would be fifth track Carbonized Eye Sockets ( a great name for a song if there ever was one) The drumming on this record (courtesy of Ken Owens) would now be considered fairly straightforward and simple, but in the of 1988 his lightning fast blastbeat technique would inspire thousands of blooming drummers to reach and surpass his sonic record. There are breaks from his fast paced playing however, with these beats often rooted in more groove laden pastures. The beginning of Pyosisified (Rotten To The Gore) shows the more midpaced and slower playing while also demonstrating the impossibly fast speeds at which Mr. Owens was capable of.

The guitar playing (presented by Bill Steer) ranges from fast, tremolo picked guitar, to slower chugging palm muted riffs to slow crawl guitars. On tracks like Fermenting Innards the listener gets to see the contrast between his style of playing dabbling a bit in each setting of speed. Another great dynamic of Steer's playing on this record is it's technicality. Unlike a vast majority of Grindcore bands, who just stick to playing power chords at warp speeds, Steer includes many different cadences, chord changes and solos into his playing. His solos range from Slayer inspired whammy bar fests (Festerday) to alternative picked/legato solos such as in Excreted Alive. The bass on this album is sometimes present as in instrumental Genital Grinder but is mostly unheard more often than not sadly. The lack of bass is no doubt partially attributed to the fact that the production on Reek of Putrefaction is absolutely atrocious. All instruments and vocals (except for the drums which are actually very clear) are horribly muffled as if someone put a pillow over the speakers of the amplifiers. In most cases this type of production would ruin an album, but in Carcass's case the abysmal production works perfectly. For whatever reasons, the muffled instruments and sounds manage to "complete" the sound of Carcass, making whats already intense and raw, even more so. Lyrically, Reek of Putrefaction provides content that would make even hardened veterans Cannibal Corpse gagging. Taking terms and definitions directly from a medical textbook Walker twists and turns the subjects into things of horror, and gore, that would make any voluntary fan who looked at the lyrics sick to the stomach.

While Reek of Putrefaction see's Carcass already at a mature level lyrically and musically, this debut is only the first step in the evolution of this ever changing band. With the help of Reek of Putrefaction and it's abnormally strong content, Carcass as able to evolve their sound even further, with each successive release taking giants strides forward in style and ability. The roots must not be forgotten though, as Reek… most definitely proves to be a debut worth repeated listen.

~ www.metal-archives.com

×

Carcass - The Complete Pathologist's Report (2010) (5 CD/DVD Box Set) RESTORED

Close

Carcass did something revolutionary back in 1989 when they released “Symphonies of Sickness”. What did they do that was so revolutionary? Oh nothing really, except create the genre known only as goregrind. This album basically set the foundation for every other band that attempts goregrind. If you can find a goregrind band that doesn’t name Carcass as their influence, they’re lying. Simple as that, this is and will always be the greatest goregrind album ever.

The production is a massive step up from their previous album. “Reek of Putrefaction” was by far one of the worst productions I’ve ever heard. “Symphonies of Sickness” just happens to be the exact opposite and is very well produced. The guitars are extremely heavy, just listen to “Ruptured in Purulence”; the bass is loud and backs up the guitar nicely but also has some stand outs, “Ruptured” and “Empathological Necroticism”. The drums are loud but the snare can get lost sometimes in the blast beats but not that big of a deal.

The riffs on this album are very technical compared to their debut. “Excoriating Abdominal Emanation” is a great example of these riffs being all over the place. “Ruptured in Purulence” has one of the heaviest riffs ever played in the intro and then explodes into the grind madness that Carcass is so good at. “Crepitating Bowel Erosion” also has an amazingly heavy intro. 2 of the songs on here seem more straight grindcore to me. “Cadaveric Incubator of Endo Parasites” and “Slash Dementia” are both extremely fast. They start with blast beats and continue through most of the song, so if you’re worried about a shortage of blast beats and grind, don’t worry about it.

Now the vocals. The trio of Bill Steer, Jeff Walker, and Ken Owen has got to be the greatest combination of vocals in the history of metal. Bill Steer and his extreme gutturals, Ken doing his pitch shifted sections perfectly, and Jeff Walker doing his high raspy screams and his vomit sounding vocals all work perfectly together. Jeff especially shines during the mid section of “Excoriating Abdominal Emanation” and the insane vocals on “Ruptured in Purulence”. There are plenty of random Jeff Walker noises that linger in the background that sound like he might be sick. All of this just adds to feel of the album that created goregrind.

The lyrics are the most disgusting lyrics ever. They are not like Cannibal Corpse gore lyrics because most of those are fantasy based. These are pathologic gore lyrics that can actually exist. Obviously, most morticians don’t go grave robbing and start eating rotting corpses but you get my drift. “Cadaveric Incubator of Endo Parasites” is about a corpse literally being eaten away by insects. I almost threw up the first time I read them. It is just flat out gross. “Embryonic Necropsy and Devourment” might be the most horrible song on here. Boiling fetuses to make a soup, who doesn’t like the sound of that?

In closing, this is the almighty goregrind album and might just be my favorite album of all time. Everything about this album is amazing. If you like “Heartwork” or “Swansong” you might have a hard time trying to stomach this rotting piece of grind, but if you’re willing to try it, I would recommend it. It is and will always be one word, amazing.

~ www.metal-archives.com

×

Carcass - The Complete Pathologist's Report (2010) (5 CD/DVD Box Set) RESTORED

Close

Carcass: sweet Satan below what can be said that hasn’t already been said about Carcass? Holding an unassailable position as the kings of deathly grind, this is a group that has both redefined and exemplified the music with a sickly cloud of rot and odorous decay hanging about it. Certainly, they are one of the few who deserve the endless bloody rain of praise poured down upon – their influence on the modern melodic death scene and the murky confines of the grindcore underworld is utterly irrefutable.
And while there are some who argue that the UK legend’s crowning glory is the vomit inducing goregrind of ‘Symphonies of Sickness’, and others who hold the melodic metal milestone ‘Heartwork’ in highest regard, there are those who understand the truth. That here, on the legendary ‘Necroticism - Descanting The Insalubrious’ (the bridge album between the two aforementioned discs), Carcass laid down the greatest, heaviest work of their pathology-obsessed career.

The songs here are enormously different from those you’ll find on ‘Reek of Putrefaction’ or ‘Symphonies’, with their run times nearly doubled or in the case of songs such as ‘Inpropagation’ and ‘Forensic Clinicism/The Sanguine Article’ pretty much tripled in length. The death metal influence hinted at on ‘Symphonies’ takes to the fore here, with song structures slowed down and sped up where appropriate in place of the relentlessly blasting of the two preceding albums. Solos feature prominently (a rarity in most forms of death metal), and an unmistakeable hint of melody shines through each one, though nowhere near that seen on ‘Heartwork.’ Lyrically, gore fans will still be satiated. While the over-the-top titles are absent, in their place is a far more surgically precise kind of description, equally graphic in their gruesome detailing of decomposing, decaying human bodies.

‘Necroticism’ is also an album characterized by a very genuine atmosphere of ominous dread and barely contained bloodlust. This is helped in large part by the sound itself: herein the listener can find one of the finest, heaviest production jobs that Colin Richardson has ever put his stamp on, with each instrument ringing out as clearly as the one alongside, all the while retaining one of the meatiest and most satisfyingly crunching guitar tones ever heard on record. The additional interview samples opening almost every song are the cherry on the cake of the production.

As players, Carcass were on the very pinnacle of their game here. Jeff Walker and Bill Steer’s infamous and highly influential vocals come into their own, coupling Walker’s hellish, primal scream with Steer’s sinister low-end growls to produce a fantastically unsettling effect. Ken Owen gives one of his best performances ever, adding a variety and flair into his drumwork (though his forays into hyperspeed are not completely absent), and his fills are as stunning in their power as they are in skill. And of course, it would be impossible to talk about ‘Necroticism’ without mention of the awe-inspiring guitars of Steer and Michael Amott, who bring grinding, writhing, coruscating riff after riff to the table, along with lead guitar work and solos that are some of the most memorably astounding in all of death metal.

Inarguably, the songs here are laden to the brim with hooks; the very riffs themselves are the kind that will stick in the brain for weeks – the main riff for ‘Incarnated Solvent Abuse’ is one of the greatest riffs of all time – and the subtle groove underscoring the likes of ‘Pedigree Butchery’ and ‘Carneous Cacoffiny’ are guaranteed to set heads banging as hard as any pounding deathly blasting ever could.

All of these elements combine to make one utterly sublime masterclass in death metal artistry, one of the true, inarguable classics of immense significance and historical importance in heavy metal. Truly the greatest Carcass album of all time, and one of the best albums you will ever hear in your entire life. Seek it out now, and revel in the festering slime of ‘Necroticism - Descanting the Insalubrious.’

~ www.metal-archives.com

×

Carcass - The Complete Pathologist's Report (2010) (5 CD/DVD Box Set) RESTORED

Close

This album in my opinion is the greatest death metal album ever made. Carcass - Heartwork is beyond heavy and also ultra melodic in places. Firstly I will point out that this album is almost nothing like any off Carcass's releases up to this point in their career. This is when Carcass progressed into the band they had been striving to become. First off the music differs vastly from the previous release Necroticism : Descanting the Insalubrious moving from a more straight up death metal sound with long progressive song structures to more clinically played, straight to the point song's. Focusing more on the quality of the riffs and more memorable song's. For example on the mighty title track that verse riff is possibly one of the heaviest riffs ever wrote in metal, instantly recognisable and memorable.

Handling guitars on Heartwork we have Bill Steer and Micheal Amott (Arch Enemy, Carnage) unleashing forth riffs that will leave you begging for mercy and melodic, extremely well played leads that are totally unique and fresh compared to other death metal, first lead on the song Carnal Forge is totally unique heard that in any death metal before this album? Another personal highlight would have to be Doctrinal Expletives every riff in that song just blasts out of your speakers and demands you head bang.

It also has to be mentioned that Colin Richardson did an superb job producing this album with the band. Making the guitar tone, drum sound and every thing else on the album sound crisp and sharp you can also clearly hear everything on this album rare for bands that play with such low tunings in the time period. Overall its hard for me to review this album it is something every metal fan should own in their collection if not just for how important it is in the developmental of melodic death metal, I cant truly express in words how amazing Heartwork is I listen to it about a 100 times a year and it never becomes stale or boring in just gets more intense after each play. Easily one of my all time favourite records, now go out and buy it and see if it becomes one of yours.

~ www.metal-archives.com

×

Carcass - The Complete Pathologist's Report (2010) (5 CD/DVD Box Set) RESTORED

Close

Carcass's Swansong alienated many, it was yet another gear-shift from a band who had changed styles repeatedly. But this, for most hardcore Carcass fans, was one shift too far away from their initial template. Criticisms of this album kept me away from it for years, which is odd as the albums that turn the fanbase tend to be some of my favorites (Spheres, Diatribes, Wolverine Blues, Chaos A.D.) for the simple reason that they were accessible right when I was first discovering metal. I also dig change. I don't want to hear the same album over and over again. I want bands to step out and challenge themselves. If the music is still good, I will support it. And the music on Swansong is fantastic.

"Keep On Rotting In The Free World" sets the stage, expanding on the slower moments from Heartwork and ladening them with even bigger hooks, meaty riffs, dazzling solos, even some cowbell. Yes, it rocks in a more traditional sense but it is far from the sell-out I had imagined. This song would drain the blood out of any mainstream AOR junkie. Ditto, "R**k The Vote," you wouldn't know it was Carcass except that it is so obviously Carcass once the double-bass and Jeff's snarling rasp kick in. There's melody, harmony, dissonance, crushing heaviness – the perfect recipe for a kick-ass metal record. Carcass masters the template, much as they did earlier with both goregrind and melodic death metal .

Carcass are toying with their non-grind influences here, mainly NWOBHM filtered through some T-Rex/Thin Lizzy; add a dash of Sabbath and a heaping helping of Helmet (I'm thinking the opening riff to "Tomorrow Belongs To Nobody" in particular) and you get the majority of Swansong. It's a huge sound and it feels logical, a perfect extension out of Heartwork's best moments. The riffs are big, epic even; the hooks are razor sharp; and the vocals are vile. Had Jeff Walker recorded the clean vocals he had been pressured to use or had the riffs been less dirty, well then, maybe I would feel a little different. But songs like "Firm Hand" and "Polarized" are nasty little numbers, pure metal evil, with pummeling double bass and multi-faceted guitar playing.

The production on this record is superior, similar to Heartwork, fuller even. Cranked up, it's heavy as hell, enough to shake my speakers off their stands.
Every instrument sounds strong and crisp, with perfect separation. Jeff's bass playing is the most audible it has ever been, demonstrating that he does more than just follow the riffs. If I had to pick a perfectly recorded metal album, it might be this one. Colin Richardson really outdid himself. He's quickly become my favorite metal producer.

~ www.metal-archives.com