On the last Bandcamp Friday Earache Records heavily discounted their vinyl stock, and the carrion call of Carcass was simply too alluring to ignore (as was the alliteration in that sentence). I’m a fan of every era of the band, but the pronounced slide into technical death metal on Necroticism – Descanting the Insalubrious has always been a personal favorite. With the addition of Michael Amott on second guitar the band retained their grimy, rough edges which elevating their riffs and songwriting to something that wouldn’t be out of place on a Death record. It’s the perfect bridge between their earlier, grind-heavy sound and the pristine shine that would come one album later.

Listening back over Carcass’s discography, it doesn’t really seem accurate to label them purely a grindcore band; I can understand why lead singer/bassist Jeff Walker always bristled at the term. Even 1988’s Reek of Putrefaction opens with some distinct death metal thrashy vibes on opener “Genital Grinder”. By the following year’s Symphonies of Sickness 40-second songs and blast beasts were taking a back seat to a more serious death metal attack and a cleaner (though not clean) production.

But I don’t know if anyone expected the jump from that to the technical death of Necroticism. The focus on medical atrocity remains but the technicality and – dare I say – progressive tendencies are immediately apparent on the seven-minute opener “Inpropagation”. An absolute earworm of a guitar hook, half-speed sections, copious solos…you’d think I was talking about a band like Arch Enemy and so might chalk the growth solely to Amott’s inclusion and influence, but these signposts were already there: Bill Steer and Ken Owen have the majority of music credits, with drummer Owen even writing all of “Symposium of Sickness” and Steer on fire contributing to “Corporal Jigsaw Quandary” and writing all the music to songs like “Pedigree Butchery” and the immortal sway of “Forensic Clinicism / The Sanguine Article”?

One look at those song titles and any fears of Carcass moving to safer. more accessible pastures should be put to rest; Jeff Walker continues writing all the lyrics, and they’re as debased and clinical as ever. But I never came for the tongue-in-cheek medical depravity. Carcass was always about the music, the serpentine riffs and dare I say groove the bad could display. Ken Owen is a monster drummer, certainly capable of providing blast beats and d-beats for eternity, but the way he moves around the riffs, circling and then locking back in with Steer and Amott’s guitars is phenomenal.

And the guitar playing is next level: when he’s not focused on simple crushing destruction Steer could whip up hooks like no one’s business, especially when teaming up with Amott – there’s a reason everyone loves “Incarnated Solvent Abuse” besides the hilarious title. The riffs whip on this one, alternating between muted chugging and explosive leads and licks. It’s a similar proposition on “Lavaging Expectorate of Lysergide Composition” with fast tempo and rhythm changes, and one of the few songs not to stretch to the six-seven minute mark.

There’s a lot to be said about Heartwork as maybe the best album to introduce someone new to Carcass; it’s a high water mark and lays the foundation for where they are now (for the record, I loved Torn Arteries, making it #4 on my EOY list for 2021). But to get a taste of the past as well as the future, Necroticism – Descanting the Insalubrious is the one. You ask me where to start and this is where I go.

Now if I can only figure out what it means to descant the insalubrious, we’ll be in business.