Artist: Carcass

Title: Symphonies of Sickness Label: Earache Release Date: 1989 Rating: 5 Skulls	VS.	Title: Heartwork Label: Earache Release Date: 1994 Rating: 5 Skulls
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Abyss's Review:
When I was approached to do a classic review for Carcass, one of my all-time favorite bands, I found myself facing a conundrum. Should I pick an older, genre-busting grindcore album? Or the sleek death-tech of Heartwork? See, Carcass have the distinction of having two genre defining albums. It is very rare for a band to be able to change genres so effectively.

Symphonies, I believe, is the defining album of early grind. I thought it easily buried their only real competition, Napalm Death, and despite somewhat limited production, still makes for an awesome listen today. Songs like "Exhume to Consume", and the title track were instant classics, taking the brutality of Death Metal, and adding more groove and aggression. The often-mocked medical dictionary lyrics combined with the band's vegan philosophy make for an interesting pairing, and one not since repeated to my knowledge. I couldn't see these guys going from show to show in a Technicolor VW van with a bumper sticker that reads "Envision whirled peas." And the fact is that this album, along with its predecessor Reek of Putrefaction, almost single-handedly paved the way for bands like Nasum and Cephalic Carnage.

Contrast this with their brilliant move into techincal death with Heartwork. This band cleaned everything up so much you could see your face in it. This caused them to lose a lot of hardcore fans, but it turned out to be their loss because Heartwork is one of the most complete metal albums of all time. The songwriting and technical ability shot forward, making a sleeker, but still brutally heavy machine that could inspire as much as batter. They seem to have forgotten their vegan message, or at least made it much less blatant, and crafted an album that made the aging thrash scene seem stagnant and ancient. Even newer bands like Pantera paled in comparison to this newfound aggression, which combined sounds from both sides of the Atlantic. The title track is one of the strongest, most complete songs I've ever heard, and its company on the rest of the album stands proudly along side it. Thank God their breakup was cushioned slightly by the mediocrity of Swansong. So which is the true classic? I could tell you, but I'd just end up changing my mind the next time I heard the other one.
Symphonies of Sickness:
Heartwork:
 

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