Band: Carcass
Date: 2013 12 01
Venue: Rockefeller, Oslo, Norway
Author: @metaloath
Carcass is undisputably one of the cornerstones in the evolution of grindcore and extreme metal, and their first albums ripped new a-holes to a whole generation of unknowing metalheads that newer knew what hit them. Of course, honour & glory goes out to John Peel that played Carcass on his BBC radio show, but the evidence remains loud and clear: Carcass has a real solid catalogue of heavy-as-fuck songs that would convince even deaf people that metal is sovereign as a higher form of art. Add the gory covers and the lyrical intricacies, and yes, you have a winner.
After years in the depths of oblivion, Carcass slowly began doing reunion shows, and all of a sudden there was an album circulating the digital heap of junk (aka ‘internet’). I mean, I’m still listening to Heartwork with a smile on my face, and here’s this new album? Surgical Steel? Sounds familiar and contingent to the Carcass stylesheet. Well, you probably got suckerpunched as much as any of us: The album was decent. Hell, it was above decent, and it delivered the signature melodic riffs like a motherfucker, gurgling vocals and blastbeats like clockwork. It was all good.
So, on this blessed Sunday evening, the first of December, while children are getting pumped up about the virgin birth and Christmas and all that, Carcass plays Oslo. As support, this time around, for some kind of Viking band – I mean, I saw this picture of Amon Amarth where the guitarist was standing in an on-stage plastic Viking ship while headbanging and all. I dunno. This Viking-stuff is kinda lame. They’re headed stateside in early 2014 together with Enlsaved and Skeletonwitch, so you go and make up your own mind about this stuff.
Back to Carcass: the setlist for tonight focused on the bangers with some really old school material + some new songs here and there. Long story made short: they kick ass. Precisely and with true dedication. The sound engineer was sober and paying attention, so the band sounded great, nicely balanced and still heavy. In this genre, this is beyond crucial to get right.
Setlist, approxiamately:
Buried Dreams
Incarnated Solvent Abuse
Cadaver Pouch Conveyor System
This Mortal Coil
Genital Grinder / Exhume to Consume
Unfit for Human Consumption
Corporal Jigsore Quandary
Captive Bolt Pistol
Ruptured in Purulence / Heartwork
Jeff Walker does some in-between-songs-talking, and succeeds in elevating the half-drunk audience in this almost full venue. Made me want to throw more beer down my throat and instigate a moshpit. Mission accomplished.
A lot of you purists out there bitch & complain about Carcass not having Owen or Amott still within their ranks. I say relax, the guys replacing them are skilled as ninjas, and both Dan Wilding and Ben Ash deliver the goods by far. Dan on drums is steady as a locomotive on rocket fuel and looks almost relaxed as he works his way through the songs, arms and legs flying all over the place. Calm and precise, nothing more or less, and I like it a lot because it gives plenty of room for the riffs and vocals to do the intended damage.
Carcass is awesome and plays kick-ass metal music like no one else.
Go see them ASAP.
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