Rating:
Genre:
Rock
Release Date: 02/07/1995
Run Time: 59:09
As they'd done on their last album,
Symphonies of Sickness (1989),
Carcass continue to develop and expand their music on
Necroticism: Descanting the Insalubrious. They'd begun as a
grindcore band -- in fact, one of the first and certainly one of the most influential -- as showcased on their debut album,
Reek of Putrefaction (1988). Then came
Symphonies, where they stretched out the
grindcore of
Reek: longer song lengths, more innersong developments, further levels of musical complexity, better production, and so on. This trajectory continues on
Necroticism as
Carcass break free of
grindcore's stylistic limits, crafting expansive songs that ever develop and hark back musically to early-'90s
thrash (à la
Megadeth circa
Rust in Peace [1990] particularly).
Necroticism, however, is a
death metal album through and through, make no mistake. It may lean toward
thrash as much as it does
grindcore, but it's still awfully damn ferocious.
Jeff Walker spews out his septic vocals in a manner sure to send children and grandparents fleeing, and his lyrics are just as medically jargonistic as ever, though a bit toned down in terms of shock value. Moreover, the band adds a second guitarist,
Michael Amott, who frees up
Bill Steer to solo more often and play more elaborately, which makes
Necroticism very much a guitar album, more so than anything
Carcass had recorded to date, and which elevates
Steer to center stage, where he showcases precisely how much he'd grown as a musician since his days in
Napalm Death.
Necroticism ultimately is the crossroad between
Carcass' seminal
grindcore (i.e.,
Reek,
Symphonies) and their latter-day, more straightforward
death metal (
Heartwork [1994],
Swansong [1996]). As such, it's one of their most interesting albums, if not one of their best, reflecting their past while foreshadowing their future. Songs like
"Incarnated Solvent Abuse," one of the album's highlights, illustrate this very well. Though often overlooked in favor of what came before and what came after,
Necroticism is nonetheless one of the standout
death metal albums of the early '90s. Produced by
Colin Richardson, it sounds phenomenal, and the musicianship here is a huge stride forward for the band, especially that of
Steer. [When
Earache reissued
Necroticism, the label appended the
Tools of the Trade EP as bonus tracks. The three-song EP was recorded around the same time and thus fits in rather well with the songs of
Necroticism, not only in terms of sound but also style. The EP's title track is especially noteworthy and a nice addition.]
~Jason Birchmeier, All Music Guide
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