Carcass – Despicable – EP Review

Artist: Carcass

Album Title: Despicable

Label: Nuclear Blast

Date of Release: 30 October 2020

It is fair to say that over their lengthy career, Carcass have explored one or two avenues musically, beginning life as a deathgrind band, but ending up as something quite different. They evolved from a band delivering an uncompromising and technical extreme metal sound to one creating more and more melodic and accessible material, culminating in the classic ‘Heartwork’, released in 1993. To their credit, many still consider ‘Heartwork’ as one of the very first incarnations of the melodic death metal sound. After releasing ‘Swansong’ in 1996, Carcass went on an indefinite hiatus, only to reform in 2007 to go on tour. They eventually released a new album, ‘Surgical Steel’ in 2013, an album of which I am extremely fond.

Apparently, the purpose of ‘Despicable’, a four-track EP, is to whet the appetite of fans ahead of a full-length release in the near(ish) future. With tracks taken from the writing process of this new album, one hopes that these songs that didn’t make it onto the record are a portent of things to come. And that’s because these songs are out of the top drawer.

What I like about modern-day Carcass, today comprised of Jeff Walker (vocals, bass), Bill Steer (guitar, vocals), Daniel Wilding (drums) , and Tom Draper (guitars), is that they somehow manage to blend the best of both worlds into their music. Think heavy, dirty, and cunningly technical, with lots of grown-up and arresting melody to infiltrate the extreme fare. Oh yes, it is good, Very good.

Within seconds of opener ‘The Living Dead At The Manchester Morgue’, I knew I’d like this release. A slow and ponderous riff kicks it off, but then in come the drums and rumbling bass, showing off a little, before we are treated to one of the grooviest and dirtiest death riffs I’ve heard for many a year. On top are some well placed lead guitar notes and Walker’s voice cuts through the molten music to great malevolent effect. Then, over the course of the next four or so minutes, Carcass take delight in mixing things up, from lightning fast, brutal aggression that calls to mind Nile at their most intense, to doom-paced churning, sludgy goodness. All the while, the technical proficiency is up there with the very best, whilst those melodic leads and flourishes just add something extra to proceedings. It has, dare I say it, an air of progressiveness to it, such is the way in which the track weaves this way and that with seeming ease.

‘The Long And Winding Bier Road’ is a much more straight-forward track, if such a statement can be levelled at Carcass. Generally at a pleasing mid-tempo stomp, it contains a winning groove, with understated technical prowess, just to remind us of what these guys are easily capable of delivering. I hear a ‘Heartwork’ vibe to this track, especially in the catchy-as-hell lead guitar work, particularly towards the end of the song. The same kind of vibe is present on ‘Slaughter In Soho’, in that it is technical, but ultimately a mid-tempo delight, full of heaviness, spite, and power. The dual guitar riffs from Steer and Draper are immediately memorable, the cheeky lead guitar leads come with a classic hard rock swagger, whilst Walker spits his venom all over the musical soundscape wonderfully.

That leaves ‘Under The Scalpel Blade’ as the final piece to uncover on ‘Despicable’. Again, the pace is generally a mid-tempo stomp, but at points, it hits the fastest pace seen on this EP; when it lets rip, it literally threatens to rip my face off, I’m not kidding. And, in my book, that’s a hugely positive trait, I can tell you. If that wasn’t enough, the song also opens up in the latter stages to deliver something more melodic and almost anthemic, although it is short-lived and could have been explored just a little more for my tastes.

As I alluded to earlier, if this EP does contain songs that failed to make it onto Carcass’ next full-length, I can only begin to imagine just how good that’ll be. The musicality on ‘Despicable’ is insane, and it demonstrates a band that are not even close to losing their edge. On this showing, Carcass are hungry, Carcass are determined and, on this form, you’d not bet against them to conquer the extreme metal world once again. All hail Carcass!

The Score of Much Metal: 94%