Review by Ben for Carcass - Necroticism - Descanting the Insalubrious (1991)

Necroticism is simply put, one of the greatest albums in death metal history. Carcass had already made heads turn (and stomachs) with their earlier influential grindcore releases, but second album Symphonies of Sickness contained a less chaotic, more death metal structured approach that hinted at what was to come. Everything on this album is perfect in my opinion and I wouldn't change a thing. Michael Amott and Bill Steer on guitar is a match made in heaven. The riffs on every track are pure death metal gold with melodic, brutal and grinding sections all over the place. The leads are first class and extremely memorable which is rarer and rarer these days. Drummer Ken Owen is just as significant to this album though. His blast beats are fantastic as are his use of double bass kicking. And then there's the dual pronged attack of vocalists Steer and Jeff Walker, one with a guttural, vomitus growl, the other with a raspier decipherable approach. The atmosphere is high throughout due to the music, lyrical content, imagery and sound recordings between tracks all thematically (i.e. forensic gore) synchronised.

It's the type of album where it seems stupid to pick highlights as every track is great, but then Incarnated Solvent Abuse (one of my very favourite tracks of any genre or band) and Corporal Jigsore Quandary stand out for me. Carcass have been hugely influential for literally hundreds of bands (i.e. Aborted, Impaled etc) over the years, but I have to say it's a case of forever imitated, never bettered. Necroticism has stood the test of time and stands head and shoulders above all the gore themed death metal bands that have worshipped them ever since its release. Essential for anyone into extreme metal and with the new dual disc digipak containing the Tools of the Trade EP and a 30-minute documentary, there's never been a better time to be shredded by Carcass!