Line #41 Music/Carcass


1	[[quoteright:345:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/Carcass_3483.jpg]]
2	[[caption-width-right:345:Left-to-right: Michael Amott, Jeff Walker, Ken Owen, Bill Steer.]]
3
4	Carcass is a highly influential metal band from England, formed in 1985 and disbanded in 1995. Originally formed by guitarist Bill Steer together with drummer Ken Owen in 1985 as a [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/D-beat D-beat]] band under the name Disattack; after releasing their demo ''A Bomb Drops...'' in 1986, Paul (bassist) and Andrew Pek (vocalist) left the band and were replaced by vocalist Sanjiv and bassist Jeff Walker, formerly guitarist and vocalist of the Electro Hippies. About that same time Bill Steer joined Music/NapalmDeath (replacing Justin Broadrick) and recorded the second side of what became ND's first album, ''Scum'' (1987), which Walker designed the cover art of. Eventually, Disattack changed its name to Carcass.
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6	Carcass began as a {{Grindcore}} band, they moved onto more DeathMetal-influenced grind (known as "deathgrind") on ''Symphonies of Sickness'' before moving onto straight-up death metal on ''Necroticism - Descanting the Insalubrious'' and MelodicDeathMetal on ''Heartwork'' and ''Swansong''. They are considered one of the most influential extreme metal bands of all time, being a strong influence on grindcore and death metal bands and possibly even creating melodeath altogether. In 2007, they reunited and eventually released a new album in 2013.
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8	Current lineup:
9	* Bill Steer - guitars, backing vocals (1985–1995; 2007–present)
10	* Jeff Walker - lead vocals, bass (1987–1995; 2007–present)
11	* Dan Wilding - drums (2012–present)
12	* James Blackford - guitars (2023-present)
13
14	Former members:
15	* Michael Amott - guitars (1990–1993; 2007–2012)
16	* Daniel Erlandsson - drums (2007–2012)
17	* Ken Owen - drums, backing vocals (1985–1995)
18	* Carlo Regadas - guitars (1995)
19	* Sanjiv - vocals (1985–1987)
20	* Ben Ash - guitars (2013–2018)
21	* Tom Draper - guitars (2018–2021)
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23	Studio albums:
24	* ''Reek of Putrefaction'' (1988)
25	* ''Symphonies of Sickness'' (1989)
26	* ''Necroticism - Descanting the Insalubrious'' (1991)
27	* ''Heartwork'' (1993)
28	* ''Swansong'' (1996)
29	* ''Surgical Steel'' (2013)
30	* ''Torn Arteries'' (2021)
31
32	----
33	!!Tropes that apply to Carcass:
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35	* AntiLoveSong: "No Love Lost" and "316L Grade Surgical Steel".
36	* ArtifactTitle: ''Swansong'' averted this at the time it was released[[note]]it means "a person's final public performance or professional activity before retirement"[[/note]], but since the band has not only gotten back together, but also recorded ''Surgical Steel'' since then, it's now playing this trope straight.
37	* BlackComedy: "Empathological Necroticism", which is about a coroner getting high on the gases produced by putrefaction and making a mess out of an autopsy.
38	* DarkerAndEdgier: ''Surgical Steel'' is much heavier than ''Swansong'' and contains much more violent imagery in the lyrics.
39	* DeathMetal: All of their music is some variant on this and they are widely considered one of the most innovative bands in the genre, but ''Necroticism'' is their best example.
40	* EpicRocking: The Necroticism album has their longest tracks like "Inpropagation", "Symposium of Sickness", "Carneous Cacoffiny", and "Forensic Clinicism/The Sanguine Article".
41	* GettingEatenIsHarmless: The title of "[[https://youtu.be/RWtDqrDk-0A Excreted Alive]]" implies this.
42	* {{Gorn}}: Their lyrics, of course.
43	** Averted since ''Heartwork'', which focused more on social matters.
44	** The gorn thematics came back in ''Surgical Steel'', but without all the [[SesquipedalianLoquaciousness loquaciousness]] and {{squick}} employed in the first three albums, and are generally employed in a more allegorical manner.
45	* {{Grindcore}}: Their first two albums.
46	* HorribleHistoryMetal: "The Granulating Dark Satanic Mills" is about the horrific conditions faced by factory workers during the Industrial Revolution.
47	* ImAHumanitarian: This trope shows up a lot in their early work.
48	* LaterInstallmentWeirdness: They were initially a {{Grindcore}}/DeathMetal act for their first three of their five studio releases. 1993's ''Heartwork'' took a shift towards a more conventional style that became one of the biggest influences on MelodicDeathMetal and other subgenres (such as {{Metalcore}} and ProgressiveMetal), and ''[[MeaningfulName Swansong]]'' was a complete departure, being comprised of {{Blues}}-influenced HeavyMetal with discrete Death Metal aesthetics.
49	* LeadBassist: Jeff Walker is one of their two founding members and the band's primary vocalist.
50	* LighterAndSofter: ''Heartwork'' and ''Swansong'', which toned down the aggression considerably and traded in the gore-filled lyrics for socio-political and personal subject matter.
51	* MelodicDeathMetal: Their last two albums, as well as ''Surgical Steel''.
52	* MetalScream: Bill extensively used Type 2 in the first three albums while Jeff Walker uses Type 3.
53	* MinisculeRocking: The entirety of ''Reek of Putrefaction'', which packs 22 songs in just 40 minutes. That's an average of less than 2 minutes per song. The longest song, "Oxidized Razor Masticator", is the only one that goes past the 3 minutes mark. The shortest song? "Festerday", which clocks in at just 22 seconds.
54	* MundaneMadeAwesome: More like Mundane Made Horrifying. "Swarming Vulgar Mass of Infected Virulency" is a song about acne. Carcass manage to make such a trivial matter into NightmareFuel.
55	* NewSoundAlbum:
56	** ''Reek of Putrefaction'' was a TropeMaker for goregrind
57	** ''Symphonies of Sickness'' showcased more of a DeathMetal sound while also having hints of goregrind.
58	** ''Necroticism'' was a full departure from goregrind with Carcass fully embracing DeathMetal while also showcasing a [[TechnicalDeathMetal tech-death]] sound.
59	** ''Heartwork'' was another TropeMaker, in this case for MelodicDeathMetal.
60	** ''Swansong'' had the melodeath from its predecessor mixed with Death 'n' Roll.
61	** ''Surgical Steel'' was a return to the band's sound from ''Heartwork'' with a small hint of tech-death, a sound which continued on ''Torn Arteries''.
62	* ReligionRantSong: "A Congealed Clot of Blood" is a type 3, a TakeThat against Islamic terrorism. "Embodiment" and "A Wraith in the Apparatus" qualify as Type 2 examples.
63	* RockTrio: During their first two album period (after which a second guitar player was on each album) and on ''Surgical Steel''.
64	* {{Sampling}}: Used on ''Necroticism - Descanting the Insalubrious''.
65	* ScaryMusicianHarmlessMusic: An inversion (pretty average guys, as shown above...who happen to be massive influences on a huge amount of DeathMetal-related music).
66	* SesquipedalianLoquaciousness: Their early lyrics actually use accurate medical terminology; you'd have to use a medical dictionary to understand a lot of it.
67	* ShoutOut: Music/JohnZorn namedrops them as an influence on his album ''Music/{{Radio}}'' by Naked City. "Grand Guignol" by Naked City justifies it's obsession with taboos, fear, terror and evil by making a comparison between historical authors, artists and musicians who made works inspired by these things. One of the names mentioned is Carcass.
68	** They also get [[https://youtu.be/2BzTHDb4PBs referenced]] in Series/{{Friends}}.
69	* VocalTagTeam: On their early works, the vocals would alternate between Bill Steer's deep growl and Jeff Walker's mid-range rasp.
70	* WarIsHell: "Carnal Forge" and "Cadaver Pouch Conveyor System".

Context Music / Carcass