It took a lot of spins to come up with a comprehensive text and score for this album. I wanted to be as fair as possible. This one holds in the ranks of not 'Surgical Steel' (2013) but 'Swan Song' (1996) where that one left off. It seemed easier to like 'Surgical Steel' because it was fairly straightforward and catchy. 'Torn Arteries' is an acquired taste. It's a mix of melodic death with death 'n roll. So watch for those two styles meshed into one. The whole 49 minutes became interesting after a while. That's why I hesitated before I scored this and simply waited. The rhythms are just a little weird. They weren't entirely catchy, though some things stuck!

Jeff Walker's voice doesn't change on here and there were a little back-up grunts (not many) though it was mainly the raspy vocals. They went good with the guitar riffs, they seemed to flow. I just think that Bill Steer could've done a better job in the riff department. However, they were riffs that weren't duplicated on previous releases. Bill felt that the split that they had in time when they reformed he felt that it'd never happened because he failed in music (he's contention). It was because Carcass never amassed the popularity that At The Gates and In Flames did. It was based on a two-part YouTube interview less than 10 years ago.

A lot of people didn't care for this one. But I just thought it's different but it's still them. At least Bill and Jeff are playing new music. I wasn't happy it took about 8 years for this one to be released and I can't for a fact say it is their pinnacle in contribution to the metal community. I just felt it was a "B". I swore that I told my friends it was a 75% but I raised it after further analysis. Carcass of the old era will never be again, especially since Ken Owen (drums) is permanently damaged and can't play for Carcass anymore. And Michael Amott is off with Arch Enemy making his contribution to the melodic death metal genre. If it weren't for 'Heartwork' (1993) I don't think Michael would've left. I'm not sure.

A review poured out on its debut to the music world and it's taken me weeks to amass an assessment of it. I wanted to be as thorough as I could be. Yes the music is good in higher ranks, the production was solid, the compositions strong, and it's overall essence is positive. I thought it good enough to buy but dwelled on this review for almost a month. Not that long, but you get what I'm saying! Be careful in making a judgement of the album, give it playing time and a fair shake before determining whether or not you'd say good things about it! Great effort!

Rating: 8½ (out of 10) ratings explained

Reviewed by Death8699
10/11/2021 21:05