Sadly, 'Swansong' wasn't a prophecy of things to come, but more like an announcement; Carcass had changed their name to Blackstar already before this album was published. Actually the album was recorded under the name Carcass because of a record deal. The swansong for one of truly influential death/grind bands.
While still having their roots firmly in grind/death metal, when simply put, 'Swansong' is Carcass's heavy metal album. The band ripped all "extra" off of their metal, most likely metal production and some flashiest playing, but that does not mean this is to-trash-bin material, no! Michael Amott left to start Spiritual Beggars and Arch Enemy and maybe his departure caused the band to step into this direction, more or less. There's no really fast songs, but mid-paced and slower groove-outs. Groove? Yes, this truly grooves like no tomorrow, but not so called "James Brown way". Rocking might be the better word for this thing, that makes my head bang/feet tap/hands hit me knees. Choruses and riffs here are mostly as infectious as Black Death the disease, but some material needs more time, which is not a bad thing at all. Many of these are the straightest songs from the band. More NWOBHM elements have been worked into Carcass' music. Grind is surely something, that can't be heard on this one any more. This is still so Carcass, that this sounds the logical next step for the band. But when Bill Steer left and the band changed their name to Blackstar, it was the only logical step to do, too. Sadly. 'Don't Believe a Word' is a song I've never liked that much and cutting it off would have made this a tighter package. Even if this was hurried, I still think it rocks.
'Swansong' was produced by Colin Richardson. The sound is raw, dry, more intimate. Organic and live are the words I like to use and they totally fit with this. So, while making their music easier, so to speak, soundwise it is not so easy at all. Everything is very audible, in your face kinda way. The band is incredible: Drummer Ken Owen had a truly individual style going from simple, hard-hitting beat to tasty use of his kit in the way only he did. Jeff Walker's bass is as loud as guitars and his voice is as dry, raspy and brutal "growling" as before, sounding totally wicked with this kind of metal! Some people can't listen to it, I surely can. Guitarists Steer and Carlo Regadas (ex-Devoid) perform tightly, sometimes there's this slight showing off happening, which is fine by me. It's mostly in the vein of memorable solos, but guitars also shriek and in my book this is always plus. The cover art is nice and quite disturbing, even though not the old gory way. The lyrics, which are great, are printed. Black humour is very much present, gore things not, since the lyrical themes circle around modern, shitty society.
Just like 'Heartwork E.P.'s (1993) extra songs predicted, Carcass became more rocking metal. Do not let that make you skip this album, which is a nice piece of not so total extremity. Death rock? Or rocking death? Fuck it, it is Carcass!!! R.I.P.
Rating: 8- (out of 10)Reviewed by Lane
10/16/2003 12:21
A different approach here, not saying that Carcass has gone mainstream, but this album is more melodic death with heavy tints of blues feeling to it. It's a really good album though, the riffs are still heavy, but the leads are a bit sloppy. I think that if they just stuck mainly with main guitars without the leads this would be more likable. But it is what it is still quality Carcass even though I disliked it when I first heard it, probably because I wanted something heavier.
This album also in addition to the blues vibe a tint of jazz feeling too. The guitars are heavy still, it's just how they arranged the music. No death metal vocals whatsoever. Still quality songs on here. You shouldn't give up on Carcass even though they're melodic metal here; it's still worth picking up. I just didn't care for the solos as much as I did the rhythms. The drums are darn good too!!
Some songs are rather slow, I suppose I'd say this is death and roll. Not melodic death to clarify. Even though they are melodic, the vibe is blues. I'm not sure if that's Bill Steer's doing in the change, nothing matches up to the older stuff. I think that if you take away the band's name and change it to something else you could appreciate this. I mean anyone other than Carcass because this one is very slow by their standards. I'm surprised that they even decided to release this before disbanding.
I can't say that this is anything other than a "B" rating. I wouldn't say it's lower than that it's just a medium type of album. Very un-Carcass like. It's just too slow I think for Carcass material, they dissuaded fans into just liking the older material. It had more soul and energy to it. Some of their older releases hit home for me rather than this one. I think that their modern-day follow-up 'Surgical Steel' (2013) is more solid than this one. I'd have to conclude that this is the least intense Carcass to date.
There are some songs that are more intense than others, but overall it's still not up to par by Carcass's standards even though they decided to release an album like this. Their evolution is grindcore/death/melodic/death and roll. But at least they're back in the scene making albums again though it's been 3 years since the release of 'Surgical Steel' came out. I think it's heavier and better than this one. I think that the riffs on here are good, but not heavy enough, even though their guitars are down-tuned. The intensity isn't there at all. Oh well, long live old Carcass!!
Rating: 8 (out of 10) ratings explained
Reviewed by Death8699
11/28/2016 23:57