Most of my heroes are dead. Here is a homage to those heroes with some interesting information about them. I sure must have forgotten to add all of them. You are welcome to list your Rock/metal heroes (deceased ones only) in the comments.

Bon Scott
(July 9, 1946 – February 19, 1980)
a.k.a Ronald Belford Scott

Scott has influenced numerous Rock and Heavy Metal frontmen and been a lasting influence on the Hard Rock genre with even many contemporaries acknowledging his powerful contribution – Three frontmen of Iron Maiden have acknowledged his influence or standing.

While Bruce Dickinson has called him one of the ‘fathers of Rock’, Paul Di’Anno has called him his hero and Blaze Bayley has said that Bon Scott and Ronnie James Dio were his two greatest influences.

Dave Mustaine of Megadeth has been quoted in a Guitar World interview as saying that AC/DC’s Let There Be Rock album and Bon Scott were what inspired him to get into music in the first place.

Chuck Schuldiner
(May 13, 1967 – December 13, 2001)
a.k.a Charles Michael “Chuck” Schuldiner

Death’s breakthrough album, Human saw the band evolving to a more technical and progressive style, in which Schuldiner displayed his guitar skills more than ever.

He continued in this style (and continued the success of the band) with 1993s Individual Thought Patterns, 1995s Symbolic, and finally The Sound of Perseverance in 1998.

Schuldiner played guitar in the project Voodoocult on the album Jesus Killing Machine in 1994.

Schuldiner folded Death after this to form a new band called Control Denied, and released The Fragile Art of Existence in 1999.

Schuldiner was also asked to be one of the many guest vocalists on Dave Grohl’s 2001 PROBOT project by Grohl himself. Grohl even campaigned to raise funds to help Schuldiner pay medical bills for the brain cancer that would eventually take his life.

Schuldiner succumbed to the disease before any collaboration could happen.

Cliff Burton
(February 10, 1962 – September 27, 1986)
a.k.a Clifford Lee Burton

Burton would reportedly monopolize the tape player in any touring vehicle, and deliberately expose the band to a variety of music styles ranging from The Misfits, Pink Floyd, and Thin Lizzy to legendary classical pianist Glenn Gould playing Bach.

Dimebag Darrell
(August 20th, 1966 – December 8th, 2004)
a.k.a Darrell Lance Abbott
(also known as Diamond Darrell until mid 1992)

Shortly before singer Phil Anselmo joined Pantera, Darrell was invited to join the pre-Rust in Peace Megadeth by Dave Mustaine. According to both Darrell and Mustaine’s telling, Darrell was willing to join, but insisted on Mustaine also hiring his brother Vinnie. When Mustaine found out that Vinnie was a drummer and replied that he had already hired Nick Menza, Darrell turned down his offer and stayed with Pantera.

Freddie Mercury
(September 5, 1946 – November 24, 1991)
born Farookh Bulsara (a.k.a Frederick Bulsara)

Freddie Mercury was the one Rock star mentioned in singer Kurt Cobain’s alleged suicide note:

“I haven’t felt the excitement of listening to as well as creating music along with reading and writing for too many years now.

I feel guilty beyond words about these things. For example, when we’re backstage and the lights go out and the manic roar of the crowds begins, it doesn’t affect me the way in which it did for Freddy [sic] Mercury who seemed to love, relish in the love and adoration from the crowd, which is something I totally admire and envy.”

Janis Joplin
(January 19, 1943 – October 4, 1970)
a.k.a Janis Lyn Joplin

Alongside Grace Slick of Jefferson Airplane, she pioneered an entirely new range of expression for white women in the previously male-dominated world of post-Beatles rock. It is also notable that, in a very short time, she transcended the role of “chick singer” fronting an all-male band, to being an internationally famous solo star in her own right.

Jerry Garcia
(August 1, 1942 – August 9, 1995)
a.k.a Jerome John Garcia

Jerry Garcia died on August 9, 1995, of a heart attack exacerbated by sleep apnea. Garcia, who struggled with tobacco and drug addiction (most notably china white Heroin and Cocaine) and sleep apnea for much of his adult life, was staying at the Serenity Knolls drug rehabilitation center in Forest Knolls, California at the time.

On his passing, he was honored by President Clinton as being “an American icon.”
Memorial services were held in Golden Gate Park on August 13, 1995. Along with the band members, his family and friends, thousands of fans were present, many singing and playing in drum circles.

Deborah Koons Garcia and Bob Weir, just after dawn on April 4, 1996, spread Garcia’s ashes on the Ganges River 155 miles north of New Delhi, the idea of which came to Weir in a dream.

Note: I had written a song on Jerry Garcia, during my Rock n roll days, called as ‘Resting in Ganges’, it is about a skeleton that sits on field gaping at the sun and Garcia’s guitar lying in the field with no one to pluck her strings since Garcia is resting in the Ganges… so it goes…
Someday I’ll post my poems/songs that I had written over the years since my high school days.

One of Garcia’s legacies is the Jam band scene the Dead spawned. Phish, Umphrey’s McGee and dozens of other groups not only play in the Dionysian spirit of the Dead, but keep the Deadhead spirit alive through shows that are, at their best, as much about community as they are about music.

Soundgarden has released an instrumental piece called ‘Jerry Garcia’s Finger’.

Jim Morrison
(December 8, 1943 – July 3, 1971)
a.k.a James Douglas Morrison

Biographers have consistently pointed to a number of writers and philosophers who influenced Morrison’s thinking and, perhaps, behavior.

While still in his teens, Morrison discovered the works of philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche (after Morrison’s death, John Densmore opined that the nihilism of “Nietzsche killed Jim”).

He was also drawn to the dark poets of the 18th and 19th century, notably the British poet William Blake, and the French poets Charles Baudelaire and Arthur Rimbaud.

Beat Generation writers, such as Jack Kerouac, also had a strong influence on Morrison’s outlook and manner of expression; Morrison was eager to experience the life described in Kerouac’s On The Road.

He was similarly drawn to the works of the French writer Céline. Céline’s book, Voyage au Bout de la Nuit (Journey to the End of the Night) and Blake’s Auguries of Innocence both echo through one of Morrison’s early songs, “End of the Night.”

Eventually Morrison got to meet and befriend Michael McClure, a well known beat poet. McClure had enjoyed Morrison’s lyrics but was even more impressed by his poetry and encouraged him to further develop his craft.

Jimi Hendrix
(November 27, 1942 – September 18, 1970)
a.k.a James Marshal Hendricks

Throughout the four years of his fame, Hendrix often appeared in impromptu jams with various musicians.

A recording exists of Hendrix playing in March 1968 at Steve Paul’s Scene Club, with blues legend Johnny Winter followed by Electric Flag drummer Buddy Miles in which a very intoxicated Jim Morrison grabbed an open microphone and contributed a growling, obscenity laced vocal accompaniment.

The band continued to play behind him, and Hendrix can be heard on the tape announcing Morrison’s presence and offering him a better microphone.

The recording, circulated among Hendrix and Doors collectors, is titled Morrison’s Lament. Albums of the recording were sold under various titles (originally Sky High, then Woke Up this Morning), some falsely claiming the presence of Johnny Winter’s band.

John Bonham
(May 31, 1948 – September 25, 1980)
a.k.a John Henry “Bonzo” Bonham

Despite rumours that Cozy Powell, Carmine Appice, Simon Kirke, or Bev Bevan would join the group as his replacement, the remaining members disbanded Led Zeppelin after Bonham’s death.

They issued a statement, once and for all clarifying that the band would not continue without its irreplaceable drummer….

“We wish it to be known that the loss of our dear friend and the deep sense of undivided harmony felt by ourselves and our manager, have led us to decide that we could not continue as we were”.

John Lennon
(October 9, 1940 – December 8, 1980)
John Winston Lennon

During live performances of “I Want to Hold Your Hand”, Lennon often changed the words to “I want to hold your gland” (meaning breast/mammary gland), because no one could hear the vocals anyway, above the noise of the screaming audiences.

John displayed his usual brand of humour when a reporter asked him:
“Does it bother you that you can’t hear what you sing during concerts?”
John: “No, we don’t mind. We’ve got the records at home.”

Johnny Cash
(February 26, 1932 – September 12, 2003)
a.k.a J.R. Cash

Cash, to his amusement had been declared “The Godfather of Gangsta Rap.”

Bob Johnston, Johnny’s old friend and legendary producer who also came by to visit, recalls “one of the rap guys telling me, ‘You’re talking about us being bad? I grew up on Johnny Cash singing ‘I shot a man in Reno just to watch him die!’”

Kurt Cobain
(February 20, 1967 – April 5, 1994)
a.k.a Kurt Donald Cobain

Kurt Cobain is legally recognized to have committed suicide. However, others contend that Cobain may have been murdered.

The first to publicly object to the report of suicide was Seattle public access host Richard Lee. A week after Cobain’s death, Lee aired the first episode of an ongoing documentary covering Cobain’s death called Kurt Cobain Was Murdered.

Making note of several discrepancies in the police reports, including several changes in the nature of the shotgun blast, Lee insisted that Cobain was murdered.

Lee acquired a video that was shot on April 8 from the tree outside Cobain’s garage and showed the scene around Cobain’s body, and noted an absence of blood for what was reported as a point-blank shotgun blast to the head.

Several pathology experts have noted that a shotgun blast inside the mouth often results in less blood, unlike a shotgun blast to the head.
Lee’s TV series continues to run, but often focuses on general issues regarding the Seattle Police Department.

Layne Staley
(August 22, 1967 – April 5, 2002)

Like several other musicians in the Seattle grunge scene, Staley experimented with heroin. By the 1990s, Staley was battling an addiction.

The darker side of addiction had its influence on Staley’s lyrics.

The Alice in Chains album (Dirt) showed this preoccupation in songs like “Angry Chair”, “Godsmack” and “Junkhead”, while guitarist Jerry Cantrell’s lyrics focused mainly on the thoughts of death.

“Would?” in particular addresses the death of Andrew Wood, singer of Mother Love Bone, who died of a heroin overdose in 1990.

Randy Rhoads
(December 6, 1956 – March 19, 1982)
a.k.a Randall William Rhoads

In 1979, ex-Black Sabbath singer Ozzy Osbourne was forming a new band.

Future Slaughter bassist Dana Strum recommended Rhoads to Osbourne. Rhoads got the call for the audition just before the last Quiet Riot gig.

He walked in with a Les Paul guitar and a Fender practice amp and started warming up; Osbourne immediately gave him the job.

Rhoads recalled later, “I just tuned up and did some riffs, and he said, ‘You’ve got the gig.’ I had the weirdest feeling, because I thought, ‘You didn’t even hear me yet.’”

Osbourne described Rhoads’ playing as “God entering my life.”

Rhoads subsequently recommended his friend Greg Leon, who also taught guitar at Musonia for Rhoads’ mother, to replace him in Quiet Riot, as Rhoads packed his bags and headed off to the UK.

Ronnie Van Zant
(January 15, 1948 – October 20, 1977)
a.k.a Ronald Wayne Van Zant

By October 20, 1977, Lynyrd Skynyrd’s songs had become radio staples. Their latest album, Street Survivors, had just been released to critical and popular acclaim.

Their ambitious new tour, just days underway, saw sellout crowds. Then it all fell away at 6000 feet above a Mississippi swamp.

At 6:42 PM, the pilot of Lynyrd Skynyrd’s chartered Convair 240 airplane radioed that the craft was dangerously low on fuel. Less than ten minutes later, the plane crashed into a densely wooded thicket in the middle of a swamp.

The crash, which killed Ronnie VanZant, guitarist Steve Gaines, vocalist Cassie Gaines, road manager Dean Kilpatrick and seriously injured the rest of the band and crew, shattered Skynyrd’s fast rising star as it cut a 500 foot path through the swamp.

Lynyrd Skynyrd had met a sudden, tragic end.

Stevie Ray Vaughn
(October 3, 1954 – August 27, 1990)
a.k.a Stephen Ray Vaughn

Vaughan’s blues style was strongly influenced by many blues guitarists.

Foremost among them were Albert King, who dubbed himself Stevie’s “godfather”, and Otis Rush, Buddy Guy, and Jimi Hendrix. He was also strongly influenced by Lonnie Mack.

Stevie is recognized for his distinctive guitar sound, which was partly based on using heavy thirteen-gauge guitar strings that he tuned down one half-step.

Vaughan’s sound and playing style, which often incorporated simultaneous lead and rhythm parts, drew frequent comparisons to Hendrix; Vaughan covered several Hendrix tunes on his studio albums and in performance, such as “Little Wing”, “Voodoo Child (Slight Return)”, and “Third Stone from the Sun”.

Syd Barrett
(January 6, 1946 – July 7, 2006)
a.k.a Roger Keith Barrett

In an interview for the 2001 BBC documentary The Pink Floyd and Syd Barrett Story, which aired in the US in January of 2002 as a VH1 special, Pink Floyd and Syd Barrett: Legends, Rick Wright spoke about the session, saying:

“One thing that really stands out in my mind, that I’ll never forget; I was going in to the “Shine On” sessions. I went in the studio and I saw this guy sitting at the back of the studio, he was only as far away as you are from me.

And I didn’t recognize him.

I said, ‘Who’s that guy behind you?’

‘That’s Syd.’

And I just cracked up, I couldn’t believe it… he had shaven all his hair off… I mean, his eyebrows, everything… he was jumping up and down brushing his teeth, it was awful.

And, uh, I was in, I mean Roger was in tears, I think I was; we were both in tears.
It was very shocking… seven years of no contact and then to walk in while we’re actually doing that particular track.

I don’t know – coincidence, karma, fate, who knows? But it was very, very, very powerful”.

In the same episode, Nick Mason stated:

“When I think about it, I can still see his eyes, but… it was everything else that was different”.

In that same interview, Roger Waters has said:

“I had no idea who he was for a very long time”.

David Gilmour stated on Legends:

“None of us recognized him. Shaved…shaved bald head and very plump”.

Footnote:
I still find it hard to end posts like this, this is all I have to say, “Thank you for the music.”

Facts Courtesy: Wiki

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The term “headbanger” was coined on Led Zeppelin’s first US tour in 1968. During a show at the Boston Tea Party audience members in the first row were banging their heads against the stage in rhythm with the music.

Headbanging is a type of dance which involves violently shaking the head in time with music, most commonly heavy metal music. It is most visually effective when the person headbanging has long hair.

There are various styles of headbanging, including:

* The up and down – Which involves shaking the head up and down – This style is demonstrated at the climax of the “Bohemian Rhapsody” scene in the movie Wayne’s World.

* The circular swing (Windmill) – Swinging the head in a circular motion – This style is more commonly known as the Windmill or Helicopter. Popularized by Blackie Lawless of W.A.S.P. and George “Corpsegrinder” Fisher of Cannibal Corpse. This style is often used by members of Amon Amarth and many other bands.

* Drunken Headbanging – A form of head banging in random directions, like the person is drunk, often people lose their balance and fall over. Bands such as Immortal are a good example of this.

* The half-circle – Swinging the head repeatedly from side to side in a downward arc: this style is often used by Tom Araya of Slayer.

* The figure eight – Which involves shaking the head in a figure eight.

* The side to side – Which involves shaking the head from side to side, whipping the hair on each transition. This style is used by Alexi Laiho of Children of Bodom, Mick Thompson of Slipknot (during the “build-up” moments of a song) Martin Mendez of Opeth, and Metallica bassist Robert Trujillo.

* The whiplash – An especially violent form of the traditional “up and down” style, characterized by the hair of the handbanger moving about so rapidly that it obscures their face. This style possibly pioneered by AC/DC guitarist Angus Young, and also used by Mick Thomson of Slipknot and late Metallica bassist Cliff Burton.

* The all-out – The most insane form of all, often involving dropping on the ground, holding oneself up with his or her arms, and violently swinging the head between the arms. This style sometimes involves grabbing onto tables and other fixed objects to hold the headbanger up, as their head movements have become so violent they seriously affect balance.

* The tandem – Judas Priest guitarists K.K. Downing and Glenn Tipton pioneered and perfected a tandem form of headbanging in which they stand side by side and headbang in unison. (See also Wolf Hoffman and Jörg Fischer of Accept.)

* The asshole – A rather inconsiderate form of headbanging where the person violently swings forwards and backwards from their waist, often headbutting people in front of them, or in more extreme circumstances, behind them.

* The low-profile - A variation on the “The up and down” where the performer’s headbanging movements are short and more subtle, but still noticeable.

Various styles are often mixed together according to taste and to the tempo and aggression of the music. In practice, they can also be performed with eyes-closed and/or in combination with hand gestures such as devil horns and/or singing, yelling, or lip syncing. Headbangers’ bodies usually bang with the head, reducing the strain on the neck and making the body move in a serpentine, up-and-down fashion to the music. There are a number of different stances a headbanger can stand in, which include:

* Standing up straight. This is most commonly performed with the legs slightly apart, mainly to keep balance.

* Standing with the legs slightly bent and the hands on the knees or thighs. This is a common stance for headbangers performing the half-circle, as it allows maximum movement and balance.

* Standing with the hands behind the back.

* Standing with one leg in front and one behind, with the hands held together near the lower body. This style is often used in tight spaces or to alleviate cramp and maintain balance.

* Standing with legs extremely stretched to the front and back of the body, lowering the head and body as low as possible to avoid loss of balance, while shredding an Air guitar, usually with the hand holding the guitar neck placed on the according knee and the other one lowered to “pick the strings”.

Alternatively, a headbanger can also perform while seated, crowd surfing, or in a number of other positions.

Honorable headbangers
(3 Slayer members!)

* Tom Araya
* K.K. Downing
* Jeff Hanneman
* James Hetfield
* Kerry King
* Scott Ian
* Glenn Tipton
* Mick Thompson
* Dimebag Darrell
* Per Wiberg
* Angus Young
* Mark G.
Be Warned!!!

Health issues

In practice, headbanging is considered much safer than moshing and has hardly any short-term side-effects. Unsafe practice, such as headbanging while intoxicated, under the influence of narcotics, or too close to someone else, is the common cause of injury, also known as a bangover. In 2002, Jason Newsted claimed his departure from Metallica was partly due to wear of the cartilage in his neck, but this is the only known case of long-term physical damage as an alleged result of headbanging.

Practice Safe Headbanging!

Stay tuned for Dumb Ass Guide to Metal, coming soon….

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Carcass – Heartwork

Track listing
1. Buried Dreams
2. Carnal Forge
3. No Love Lost
4. Heartwork
5. Embodiment
6. This Mortal Coil
7. Arbeit Macht Fleisch
8. Blind Bleeding the Blind
9. Doctrinal Expletives
10. Death Certificate

Lineup:
Jeff Walker (bass & vocals)
Ken Owen (drums)
Bill Steer (lead guitar)
Michael Amott (lead guitar)

Colin Richardson – Producer
Keith Andrews – Engineer
Andrea Wright – Assistant Engineer
Dave Buchanan – Assistant Engineer

Carcass, carcase [kaarkas]
n dead body of animal; trunk of dead animal after head, limbs, and offal have been removed by a butcher;
(cont) body of human being;
Liverpool based band of grinding musicians sharing an unhealthy interest in the macabre.

In my previous posts I was talking about Gothenberg and the melodic metal references, well continuing on that is this revisiting one of my all time favourite albums of all time!

Melodic metal?
This is where it all started. This very album could be termed as the first melodic metal album.

Consider this, a grindcore metal band that was responsible for creating that genre along with Napalm Death signs up with Columbia label and records an album in 1993 far removed from the gore obsessed themes of previous releases but a totally new sonic territory that would become a template for many bands nearly a decade later.

Ring a bell? Right. This is the year that witnessed so many metal releases under big labels.

This is not an album that anyone could have expected from Carcass, previously a band obsessed with writing songs about forensic or psychopathological themes like the kind of fun you can with a rotting corpse with its puss laden guts coming out or the way various parts of a rotting corpse could be used to grow plants.

Interesting?
Yes, in a peculiar Carcass kind of way.

Carcass was a Liverpool based British band formed in 1985 by ex-Napalm Death guitarist Bill Steer with drummer Ken Owen. Soon they were joined by a mysterious singer of Indian origins called Sanjiv who recorded a demo tape called as ‘Flesh Ripping Sonic Torment’.
Sanjiv was replaced by Jeff Walker (ex-Electro Hippies) in 1987.

Carcass started as goregrind band with lyrical content dripping in medical themes (which the press believed that most of them possessed a degree in medicines or something, which obviously the band members didnt), complex harmonies. Carcass could easily be the most amazingly talented and original metal bands you might have come across.

Carcass still today is considered as one of the best death metal bands of all time. By the way, later Swedish guitarist Michael Amott (ex-Carnage) gave birth to Arch Enemy after he departed from Carcass after Heartwork was released.
It is interesting to note that every exit is marked by another entry (think of Six Feet Under as well in this context).

Where as many bands in the noisy genre seldom innovate or challenge themselves, Carcass tread a different ground with each of their releases.
By the time they had released their 3rd album ‘Necroticism – Descanting the Insalubrious’ (1991) on Earache Records, the metal crowd and the critics had pretty much come to a conclusion that Carcass is not ‘just-another-noisy-metal-band’.

Their earlier records had the lyrical content that could not be translated using a standard dictionary, for that
you would have to possess a medical dictionary or something. Morbidly humourus ‘Spinal-Tap-goes-to-med-school’ lyrics, blistering, complex drumming, light speed solos and demonic, insectile vocals.

Carcass has dabbled into almost every major genre of death metal at the same time defining some of them like grindcore (goregrind), melodic death metal, thrash (as on Swansong) and so on.
Their debut album was badly produced but got wide acceptance in metal underground, the next one Symphonies of Sickness was a step further in production quality and brutal sonic assault.
3rd album ‘Necrotism – Descanting the Insalubrious’ released in 1991 was their best featuring some of the groovy metal numbers like “Corporal Jigsore Quandary”, “Simposium of Sickness” and “Incarnated Solvent Abuse” was an instant success and cemented their reputation as a brutal grindcore metal band.

Around this time they had become a metal household name, Columbia thought it was a good idea in the history of good ideas and signed Carcass for a 4 million dollar recording deal…

Their best was yet to come.
There is a major debate over which one is the best album by Carcass, it all depends on how you discovered Carcass into your consciousness. Some people swear by Necrotism or Swansong as the best Carcass record where as most of them refer to Heartwork as their best effort.

Better still gather a group of Carcass fans and note down favourite Carcass album list of each of the fans, dont be surprised if you get all different ones right from their debut album to Swansong (yes, their final album was called as that).

I’ll give you the pointers why Heartwork is worthy of that place.

By all standards, Heartwork is one of the monumental classic death metal records of all time, any list without this record is a bloody waste.

“Call yourself a metalhead and havent heard this album? Go suck an egg!”, said one columinst in a magazine where I used to get my metal dope on.
Well I’ll be buggered if it aint true!

Before I listened to Heartwork, I came across Carcass only once when a friend of mine had a battered piece of cassette of ‘Symphonies of Sickness’, it was way back in 1994 and I was more into Hendrix and stuff so that particular album was too much of sonic assault on my unsuspecting ears. Eventually I heard it once and steered myself away from it for a while.

Then it was in 1997, I found Heartwork album at a friend’s place and thought I’d give it shot after 4 years it was released. Instead I was shot back!

This was not at all the Carcass I had witnessed earlier. Gone are the gore obsessed lyrics, rotting corpses, medical themes and stuff, in turn they were replaced by Jeff Walker’s nihilistic attitudes directly reflected in some songs and even though the lyrics are simple and straight without requiring a dictionary to be kept handy (know-what-i-mean?) at times elevate to the level of beautiful poetry like as on ‘Blind Bleeding the Blind‘ is an interesting take with references to Shakespeare’s murder tale MacBeth.

Parched with thirst our cup overfloweth
With the crimson milk of human blindness
In charnel towers of ivory besieged
The bones of subjugation are picked clean
In barren decadence, tears are the only affluence
Welling eyes are indifferent, as the blind bleed

The album kicks off with a brilliant number called as Buried Dreams, slow doomy riffs that later make way grinding rhythm parts and excellent drumming and not to mention this is one of the best opener songs of any album i had known or heard before.

“Welcome, to a world of hate
A life of buried dreams
Smothered, by the soils of fate
Welcome, to a world of pain
Bitterness your only wealth
The sand of time kicked in your face
-Rubbed in your face”

These are the opening lines of Heartwork album as it kicks in, few seconds into the song you’ll realise that you are not in the same sonic territory as Necrotism or any of their previous records, it is that obvious.
Even the cover art is a radical departure from the previous or the latter ones, hardcore fans shouted “sellout” since it was the band’s major label release from a 4 million dollar contract with Columbia. But the major label
hadnt done anything to the sound and integrity of the band except the lyrical content dropping their excessive bloody details!

This album does not contain any fillers at all. The best metal album ever recorded that deserves more recognition and wider audience than bozo bands like Limp Bizkit, Linkin Park and their ilk.
The new generation of metallers who are into shiny metal bands havent heard of Carcass or havent heard their songs, not to blame them. Music channels feed crap and dont believe what they say is cool, they are not informing you but brainwashing you to believe what they are trying to create a market for 18-25 demographic.

There is no band like Carcass or there can be any band like it.
Thank god that there is Carcass at least. I am not complaining for that at least!

Heartwork is an infectiously groovy, catchy, melodic and yet retaining unquestionably brutal sonic assault that Carcass was well known for.
I wont say anything about the twin guitar assault of Amott / Steer duo or the thunder, intricate, captivating drumming of Ken Owen (incidentally he is the most underrated drummers in metal), you gotta listen to it once to appreciate it. Actually this album features many lengthy solos as well as longer song durations, beautiful solos laid over slow, technical and insanely heavy riffs.
Jeff Walker (Bass, Vocals) has a demonic, insectile voice that fits perfectly, he is original and distinctive, far removed from the cookie monster growls of many death growlers.
He is really original in terms of singing, accessible rasping vocals that add undeniable demonic, sinister quality. Very demonic snarl delivering listener friendly lyrics.

This is where it all started, Carcass had managed to record the first and finest melodic death metal as we have come to know it now. This was the template which left many disciples to follow and evolve the genre.
Never outgunned or surpassed, this still stands out as the best melometal album of all time. Period.

Accessible. Bloody heavy.

Where are they now?
The band that never followed even what they created and refusal to be predictable led them to a stage where they either disintegrate or breakthrough (immediately Cynic comes to my mind, of which I’ll write soon).
Here the villain was not the creative differences or any other stupid reasons that made Max Cavalera got fired from Sepultura, it was something else.

Swansong was their last album and a certain record company screwed them big time, their album was delayed by a year for release, founding members Bill Steer and Ken Owen walk out and as the things go, Carcass is no more.

Here are some pieces from an interview with Carcass members when they were asked about the label issues, it sums up the attitude the band had in terms of music and business.

“What morality’s involved? There’s not much difference between indies and majors at the end of the day, except major labels are probably more brutal than an indie at screwing bands up!”

“Independent music was bought out a long time ago! Most indies now have links with EMI, or Sony – and you can rag on a major label all y’like, but the music isn’t gonna sell out or go commercial! We’re not gonna try and water it down, and that’s all that matters. We’ve still got the same mentality.”

Occasional compilations like Choice Cuts, Wake Up And Smell The Carcass are released by their previous record companies which by any means are better deals for anyone who is going headfirst into Carcass sonic territory and also for a hardcore Carcass fan since they include some of the outtakes or alternate versions of classics as we have come to know them.

Carcass was the kind of a band that would call it a day than compromise on the integrity of the band in terms of values, attitude or the musical direction of the band.

After Carcass was dissolved it made way for some interesting projects since grindgore metal with psychopathological themes was too limited.

Arch Enemy owes its birth to Mike Amott, incidentally the Enemy album Stigmata sounds like an extension of
Heartwork, which is not a bad thing. Who’s complaining?
Arch Enemy has established a name for itself as a force to reckon with in a scene filled with mindless metal
releases over the years earlier (Angela Gossow, the lead female vocalist of Arch Enemy is the kind of babe who’d make you “wanna-sleep-with-the-Enemy”, get a load of her screaming her guts out, you’ll know what I mean, forget the goth females and all).

Ken, Jeff and Carlo continued with the Blackstar project accompanied with former Cathedral bassist Mark Griffiths. Blackstar (later Blackstar Rising) went defunct after Ken suffered from a severe brain haemorrhage. Recently he returned totally recovered, fine and dandy for the remastering of Choice Cuts, a fine compilation released by Earache Records (if you are new to Carcass, start from this album and then slowly you can indulge in individual albums to get a “taste of Carcass“).

Bill Steer and Jeff Walker have formed ‘Firebird’, a country / blues band with songs of John Denver , Johnny Cash and George Jones covers with a metal angle with guests musicians from bands like Amorphis, Napalm Death and Faith No More.
Check out their single “Youre still on my mind” written by Country legend George Jones, google it and you’ll find a place to listen to it. It’s a brilliant piece.

Some unusual info on Carcass:
The sculpture depicted in the cover art, “Life Support 1993″, was designed by H.R. Giger. The video for the song “Heartwork” features the sculpture.

Carcass tunes their guitars down 2 and a half steps, ending up like this (low-high): B E A D G F# B. Jeff tuned his bass to standard concert pitch, with the low E string de-tuned to B.

Bill Steer used to also play for Napalm Death, appearing on their first 2 albums (Scum and From Enslavement to Obliteration) as well as Death by Manipulation.

Carcass’s record label was Earache Records. That other company will not be mentioned by name or discussed.

On the Indie Metal chart, Carcass were second with Heartwork (Sepultura’s Chaos A.D. was first)

How to close this post?

I dont know, I’ll never come across a band like Carcass. Period.

\m/