This is by far the most interesting, noteworthy, original, innovative Carcass release I've ever heard. 'Necroticism...' was excellent but this release is beyond excellent. Probably one of the most original melodic death metal albums I've ever heard. Those B-tuned guitars, Jeff Walker's vocal outputs, Owen's intense drumming and both Michael Amott & Bill Amott amazingly orchestrate on guitars. They came up with such thick riffs but amazingly melodic. Everything seems to fit here, absolutely everything. This album is underrated by people on here (MA), I don't think there's a more perfect melodic death release than this.

'Necroticism - Descanting the Insalubrious' (1991) opened up avenues of success for the band the way 'Symphonies of Sickness' (1989) did for death/grind. And of course 'Reek of Putrefaction' (1988) was at the almost beginning with grindcore as we knew it. Carcass and Napalm Death both. But here came 'Heartwork' with just impeccable originality and likability. Every song on 'Heartwork' to me is good. The leads are probably Michael at his best. They aren't as good with Arch Enemy than they are on this album. And when I say Arch Enemy, I mean all of their albums. Christopher Amott smokes his brother, but Michael is way about feel. You can hear him on the wah-pedal on here. It's so prevalent.

So it's great that the band is still active with the tragedy about Ken Owen who cannot play drums for the band because of his brain hemorrhage. It's a darn shame, but I think people can still appreciate his longtime work with the band. Bill kind of lost a little bit of his lead wicked style, but the 2013 album 'Surgical Steel' is still pretty amazing. 'Heartwork' came out when I was a junior in high school and boy did I fire it up when I heard it. Those were some good times on the guitar, ABSOLUTELY. 'Heartwork' smoked most melodic metal bands in the 90's like At The Gates, In Flames, et al. They blew the scene out of control after this.

This will remain to be my favorite Carcass release every and a top melodic metal release ever. You can measure it up to 1995's 'Slaughter of the Soul' by At The Gates, 'The Jester Race' (1996) by In Flames, et al. I'm not sure who did the bulk of songwriting on this one, it would probably be mutual between Amott and Steer. They put everything together and made a milestone of a record. My favorite parts of the album are the guitars. But I like the vocals and drums too. The production quality is fantastic. I wouldn't trade the guys in from Earache for anyone. They are just all about band's successes. Own this, TODAY!

Rating: 10 (out of 10) ratings explained

Reviewed by Death8699
04/01/2021 19:27