Reviews list for Carcass - Reek of Putrefaction (1988)

In an earlier review for Carcass's second album, Symphony of Sickness, I mentioned that there was less of the melodic strength that made the third and fourth albums so beloved.  In this early goregrind release, as well as their debut, there's even less of that.  This is one of those somewhat common examples of early 80's metal albums compensating for lack of creativity with absolute brutality, the way earlier movies by Wes Craven were.  "Mature" content over substance.  Now the funny thing is, like Wes Craven, the band grew as their career progressed, so by the mid-90's this was basically nothing more than a historical example of how much they grew.  Despite a few cute tricks here and there, I predicted how the whole album would go after listening to Symphony of Sickness.  Now there may be some charm to have in the lo-fi production.  It's certainly a heavy piece.  But the production also muddles things that shouldn't be muddled, which cements yet another weak point in comparison to future works.  Basically, this overly "adult" album amounts to little more than an imitation album made by a bunch of children who think all it takes to be the best is to be different and "true to yourself" by "not giving into radio capitalism" or some shit like that.  Fortunately, this was the last time they ever sounded like this.  With 22 short tracks, they found a way to make a 37-minute album way too damn long.

52

When I first heard this album back in the late 80's I was really taken off guard. I hadn't heard anything like it before & it took me a few listens to become adjusted to the sheer ugliness & ferocity. Having said that I'm not too sure that I've ever really reached a stage where I'm totally comfortable with it. There are certainly some fun tracks here (see "Festerday" & my personal favourite "Fermenting Innards") but there are plenty of others that sound like a complete mess thanks to the extraordinarily poor production & some fairly sloppy performances. The lead guitar sound is almost unlistenably bad. I like the multiple vocal thing they had going on & the gore-drenched lyrical content is great fun but I'm just not sure the sound that comes out of those speakers is worth my time. I can understand people's attraction to it but it's never really hit the spot for me. The next few Carcass albums are where it's at in my opinion.