Legendary British band and extreme metal outfit Carcass are unleashing an EP called Despicable at the end of the month. Four tracks, one of which did appear on a flexi disc on the cover of a metal magazine. Yes, I admit I had no idea magazines still did them. The other 3 are tracks that they decided either didn’t fit or weren’t good enough to include on the delayed album Torn Arteries (now due out next year). Well if it is the latter then all I can say is the next album must be an absolute monster!
The foursome who are Bill Steer (guitars and vocals and the only person on every Carcass release), Jeff Walker (lead vocals and bass, who was in the band from the start in 1985 but has had a break from them so not on all albums), Daniel Wilding (drums from 2012) and new guy Tom Draper guitars from 2018) were at the forefront of grindcore and death metal being merged into a wonderfully unholy noise. Through the years they have become a bit more easy on the ear whilst still being well brutal!
Fun Song Titles:
The titles on the EP are fun (as they often are) being a mix of horror, violence and humour. The music accompanying them have riffs aplenty. Furious drumming, harsh vocals and a shed load of groove. The latter is somewhat surprising to many on hearing their later stuff. This EP is full of it. Opener “The Living Dead At The Manchester Morgue” has a slower more ominous start with some tasty drum fills until the main riff kicks in. On the slower more chugging sections you can hear plenty of Black Sabbath vibes. The repeated lyric line “let the sleeping corpses live” is used heavily at the end and is incredibly infectious.
The Beatles inspired title “Long And Winding Bier Road” is a fantastic groovy number that hits like a pro heavyweight boxer. For those who don’t know the meaning of “Bier Road” it is also sometimes called a “Corpse Road”. So again there is black humour running through the work. The chugging riff under the guitar solo had me wanting to charge around the flat like a man a whole lot younger than I am. Live this should cause some serious action crowd wise.
The third track was the one previously released on the flexi disc. “Under The Scalpel Blade” which sounds very much like a song that has that title. Very fast intro into a grinding heavy riff and in places hinting strongly towards a Megadeth track this is another fun listen. A real stop-start track with some crunching riffage and the harshest vocals on the EP.
The last track keeps up the high standard. “Slaughtered In Soho” which could be about a crazed killer or a night on the piss (does it matter? I am not sure) has a glorious guitar motif that opens the song. I think I heard cowbell going on here. God, cowbell… does this make the track prog-rock? Probably not! Another facemelter with a section around 2 and a half minutes which caused me to get wildly overexcited, 1970s classic rock, another stop-start with the drums playing around the guitar lead melody. Truly scrumptious. I hope they add this to their setlist when they start gigging again. I adore it.
Final Enthusiastic Comments:
4 tracks. 4 excellent tracks that follow on nicely from the last few albums. Still crushingly heavy but with added melody and a slice/twist of humour. 3 songs which haven’t made it for the new album, all of which are terrific. Roll on Torn Arteries already a possible contender for album of the year 2021. Clever feat doing that whilst still in 2020. If you haven’t guessed, I loved it and I highly recommend it.
The EP is released on 30 October on Nuclear Blast Records.
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