Let’s get a few triggers out of the way. Ready, Aim, FIRE. Fuck Heartwork, Fuck Swansong, Fuck Mike Amott.
Prior to Necrotism – Injecting the Stockholm Syndrome, Carcass was a pioneering genre defining band for the realms of grindcore and goregrind. Carrying on the theme of “Grind in Decay”, to me, Symphonies of Sickness is the last true Carcass album.
This is an important album not only to the realm of extreme music, but to me personally. It has to have been summer of 2003, I went to Rock-a-billy’s and picked up 3 CDs. Symphonies of Sickness, Speak English or Die, and Coal Chamber’s Giving the Devil His Due. The cashier looked at the 3 CDs and was like I’ll give you the dud for free. I think I listened to 2 tracks off Giving the Devil His Due.
Symphonies of Sickness is just a different beast in itself compared to the rest of their catalogue. There is no flashy musicianship, just 100% pure sickness. Reek of Putrefaction is good too, but Symphonies is just better.
You gotta give props to any band that can manage to get banned for album arts before Cannibal Corpse made it cool.
Carcass was my favorite band for a really long time, strictly based off this album. That is where the name PurulentFukkkkkkkkkkk came from. Then one day I heard Amebix’s Monolith and my idea of favorite changed forever. But it is hilarious to me how many people view Carcass as some extraordinarily talented death metal band due to the sound showcased on the later albums. To me, those albums are boring. I would rather “Grimly dig up the turfs!”. Necrotism has its moments though.
I do find one thing insanely interesting about Carcass though. How the fuck do you inspire a whole line of shitty Goregrind bands AND half invent the Gothenburg Melodic Death Metal sounds between 1989 and 1991?
