Carcass are an English extreme metal band from

Liverpool Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. With a population of in 2019, it is the 10th largest English district by population and its metropolitan area is the fifth largest in the United Kingdom, with a populat ...

, formed in 1985. The band have gone through several line-up changes, leaving guitarist Bill Steer and bassist-vocalist Jeff Walker as the only constant members. They broke up in 1996, but reformed in 2007 without one of its original members, drummer Ken Owen, due to health reasons. To date, the band have released seven studio albums, two compilation albums, four EPs, two demo albums, one video album, and six music videos. Carcass are regarded as pioneers of the goregrind genre. Their early work was also tagged as "splatter death metal", and "hardgore" on account of their morbid lyrics and gruesome album covers. Their fourth album, '' Heartwork'' (1993), is considered a landmark in the

melodic death metal Melodic death metal (also referred to as melodeath) is a subgenre of death metal that employs highly melodic guitar riffs, often borrowing from traditional heavy metal (including New Wave of British Heavy Metal). The genre features the heavine ...

genre. Carcass were also one of the few death metal acts to sign to a major label, with Columbia Records handling North American distribution for ''Heartwork'', while the album was distributed worldwide by

Earache Ear pain, also known as earache or otalgia, is pain in the ear. Primary ear pain is pain that originates from the ear. Secondary ear pain is a type of referred pain, meaning that the source of the pain differs from the location where the pain i ...

who released all of the band's albums up to and including '' Swansong'' (1996). The band's lyrics often focus on

animal rights Animal rights is the philosophy according to which many or all Animal consciousness, sentient animals have moral worth that is independent of their Utilitarianism, utility for humans, and that their most basic interests—such as avoiding s ...

issues. Walker and Steer are both

vegetarian Vegetarianism is the practice of abstaining from the consumption of meat (red meat, poultry, seafood, insects, and the flesh of any other animal). It may also include abstaining from eating all by-products of animal slaughter. Vegetariani ...

History

Early days (1985–1989)

Carcass were first formed as a school band by Bill Steer and Ken Owen that soon after disbanded. Steer then joined the D-beat band Disattack with drummer Middie, Paul on bass and Pek on vocals. After releasing a four track demo entitled ''A Bomb Drops ...'' in 1986, the bass player left the band and was replaced by Jeff Walker, formerly guitarist and vocalist of the Electro Hippies. Vocalist Andrew Pek changed his name to Sanjiv after a visit to India. At about the same time, Bill Steer joined Napalm Death (replacing

Justin Broadrick Justin Karl Michael Broadrick (born 15 August 1969) is an English musician, singer and songwriter. He is best known as the lead singer and a founding member of the band Godflesh, one of the first bands to combine elements of extreme metal and i ...

) and recorded the second side of what became Napalm Death's first album, '' Scum''. Walker also designed the cover art for ''Scum''. Disattack then changed its name to Carcass as the group changed musical direction. This led to a change in drummer and saw Ken Owen join the band. In April 1987, they recorded the ''Flesh Ripping Sonic Torment'' demo, the only Carcass recording featuring vocalist Sanjiv, who left shortly after. Walker, Steer and Owen shared vocal duties for the debut album, which was done in only four days. Despite the primitive production values of Carcass's debut '' Reek of Putrefaction'' (1988), with which the band was very displeased, it became a favourite of Radio 1 DJ John Peel. Due to his interest, they were asked to participate in their first Peel Session in 1989, where they debuted new material for their second album. The Peel Session was released as an EP with the band members adopting pseudonyms: K. Grumegargler, J. Offalmangler, and W.G. Thorax Embalmer. Also that year, Steer and Walker appeared as members of Lister's fictional band ''Smeg and the Heads'' in an episode of Red Dwarf.Carcass - The Pathologist's Report documentary

Progress (1989–1993)

'' Symphonies of Sickness'' (1989), the second album, which contained a much improved production quality (courtesy of Colin Richardson), featured more death metal structures and longer songs with more slow passages. The second half of the tour in support of ''Symphonies of Sickness'' saw the addition of second lead guitarist

Michael Amott Michael Amott (born 28 July 1969) is a Swedish guitarist, founding member of the metal bands Arch Enemy, Spiritual Beggars and Carnage, as well as a former member of Carcass. He is the older brother of Christopher Amott. Amott was ranked No ...

, whose previous work included Carnage. Amott was to become a permanent member, playing on the second Peel Session and contributing material towards their third album. '' Necroticism – Descanting the Insalubrious'' (1991) showed even more intricate composition, further improved production and guitar solos. Despite the addition of Amott to the ranks, Steer still handled all rhythm guitar duties, with Amott only contributing leads and one riff. Carcass again supported the album with heavy touring, and were part of the Earache 'Gods of Grind' tour with

Cathedral A cathedral is a church that contains the '' cathedra'' () of a bishop, thus serving as the central church of a diocese, conference, or episcopate. Churches with the function of "cathedral" are usually specific to those Christian denominatio ...

, Entombed and

Confessor Confessor is a title used within Christianity in several ways. Confessor of the Faith Its oldest use is to indicate a saint who has suffered persecution and torture for the faith but not to the point of death.Tools of the Trade'' EP was released in 1992 to coincide with the "Gods of Grind" tour.

Columbia (1993–1995)

The band's fourth album, '' Heartwork'', was released in the UK in October 1993, and did not have a US release until three months later. It was considered a radical change by many fans, which eliminated Steer's deeper vocals and the clinically gory lyrics. Again, Steer handled all rhythm guitar duties, this time due to Amott losing his passport in Israel (thus making him unable to return to England in time to record). Song structures, whilst still containing musically complex parts, were simpler, in some cases using the verse/chorus/verse formula. After the release of ''Heartwork'', Carcass signed a worldwide deal with Columbia Records, who hoped for commercial success, even suggesting that Jeff Walker learn how to sing. Michael Amott left the band right after ''Heartwork'' was recorded, and was for a while replaced by Mike Hickey, who was later replaced by Carlo Regadas. During the summer of 1994, Walker remixed the track "Inside Out" for a Die Krupps remix album, although the version stayed fairly true to the original with the exception of Owen's drum samples from ''Heartwork'' replacing the Die Krupps original, and additional mixing from Walker and Colin Richardson at Parr Street studios (where ''Heartwork'' was recorded). Carcass now set about writing songs for their major label debut. During the December 1994 UK tour Carcass showcased two songs from their current writing sessions – "Edge of Darkness" and "Firmhand", both showing a more straightforward song writing approach than on previous efforts. Around this time, "Edge of Darkness" was recorded for the BBC Radio 1 Rock Show sessions – a session which could be found on later compilation albums. By late 1994, 17 songs were ready, and the band set about using their $200,000 advance to record the album, again with Colin Richardson, at Rockfield studios in Monmouth, South Wales in early 1995. During the 6-week recording schedule, the record label began to withdraw support, stating that Carcass were not ready to record, and needed to write more songs. This advice was ignored, as was the suggestion to have

Terry Date Terry Date (born January 31, 1956) is an American record producer and audio engineer specializing in rock genres, especially heavy metal. He is well known for his work with Metal Church, Dream Theater, Soundgarden, Overkill, Pantera, Dark Ang ...

remix the album, and the band continued. At the time, Jeff Walker stated in an interview with the UK's Metal Hammer Magazine that the album was taking more of a classic rock approach, with drums, bass and twin guitars ''à la'' Thin Lizzy, in comparison to earlier "multi-layered guitar" productions. This has since been put down to Bill Steer's unwillingness to perform the time-consuming guitar layering (as once again Steer performed all rhythm guitar) through losing interest in the metal genre. During the ''Swansong'' recording sessions, Carcass were asked to remix the Björk track "

Isobel Isobel, is the Scottish form of the female given name Isabel. It originates from the medieval form of the name Elisabeth (Hebrew Elisheba). Isobel is a feminine given name. People named Isobel include: * Isobel of Huntingdon (1199-1251), Scottish ...

". This was not a remix as such but more of a re-recording with only Björk's vocals remaining. The track saw the light of day in March 1996 on Björk's "

Hyperballad "Hyperballad" (sometimes written as "Hyper-Ballad") is a song by Icelandic musician and recording artist Björk, released as the fourth single from her second solo album, '' Post'' (1995). The song was written by Björk and co-produced by long ...

" single.

Demise (1996–2006)

Continuing record company problems with Columbia/Sony caused the album to be delayed from late summer 1995 to June 1996, in which time Carcass moved back to Earache Records, and broke up before even releasing '' Swansong''. The move back to Earache was dubbed by Walker as "the second great rock and roll swindle" as they had effectively been paid twice for the same album. ''Swansong'' featured twelve of the seventeen tracks put to tape during the recording sessions. Walker has since stated in interviews that all seventeen songs should have been included in a double album, and that some songs omitted from ''Swansong'' were actually stronger than some of ''Swansong''s actual content. Carcass also remixed Killing Joke's "Democracy" (by re-recording the music, but keeping the original vocals), although this time Regadas performed all guitar duties, as it is thought Steer had quit the band by early 1996. The Carcass "Rooster Mix" was made available on Killing Joke's ''

Democracy Democracy (From grc, δημοκρατία, dēmokratía, ''dēmos'' 'people' and ''kratos'' 'rule') is a form of government in which people, the people have the authority to deliberate and decide legislation ("direct democracy"), or to choo ...

''. Around the time of ''Swansongs release, Carcass informed the press that they were ending the band without even a farewell tour, but most fans had guessed this may be the case via the album title. The album sold well, staying near the top of the Indie Rock Chart in the UK for several months, above bands such as

Placebo A placebo ( ) is a substance or treatment which is designed to have no therapeutic value. Common placebos include inert tablets (like sugar pills), inert injections (like saline), sham surgery, and other procedures. In general, placebos can af ...

, despite having no touring support from the band. It is rumoured that the band were offered several lucrative tours in 1995, such as supporting

Iron Maiden Iron Maiden are an English heavy metal band formed in Leyton, East London, in 1975 by bassist and primary songwriter Steve Harris. While fluid in the early years of the band, the lineup for most of the band's history has consisted of Harri ...

on their "X-Factour 95" tour, which had the album been released as expected in 1995, could have improved the band's sales and longevity. A posthumous compilation, '' Wake Up and Smell the... Carcass'' was released in October 1996 to collect together Carcass' rarer material, including unreleased material, songs only available on EPs and compilations, and live tracks. An accompanying video was released a few weeks after the ''Wake Up'' CD with little knowledge from the band or their management. The video, later released on DVD, featured five of the band's promotional videos, a show from the Grindcrusher 1989 tour (as a three piece) and a show from the 1992 Gods of Grind tour. Sound on the two live shows is poor, particularly the latter, which Walker has described as "unmixed". Owen, Walker, and Regadas continued with the band

Blackstar ''Blackstar'' is an American animated science fantasy television series, produced in 1981 by Lou Scheimer and Norm Prescott for Filmation. The series was Filmation's second fantasy epic, the first being '' The Freedom Force'', a segment of '' ...

, accompanied by former Cathedral bassist Mark Griffiths, using the second ''Swansong'' advance from Earache to fund the recording. Blackstar, later Blackstar Rising, became defunct after drummer Owen suffered a severe cerebral hemorrhage. Amott went on to found hard rock band

Spiritual Beggars Spiritual Beggars is a stoner metal band from Halmstad, Sweden, formed by Michael Amott, who is known from Arch Enemy, Carcass (band), Carcass and Carnage (band), Carnage. The band is heavily influenced by 1970s hard rock and incorporates ele ...

and successful Swedish melodic death metal band

Arch Enemy Arch Enemy is a Swedish melodic death metal band, originally a supergroup from Halmstad, formed in 1995. Its members were in bands such as Carcass, Armageddon, Carnage, Mercyful Fate, Spiritual Beggars, The Agonist, Nevermore, and Eucharis ...

. In the biggest musical departure, Steer formed

Firebird Firebird and fire bird may refer to: Mythical birds * Phoenix (mythology), sacred firebird found in the mythologies of many cultures * Bennu, Egyptian firebird * Huma bird, Persian firebird * Firebird (Slavic folklore) Bird species ''Various sp ...

, a Clapton-esque rock band.

Reformation (2007–2012)

In June 2006, in an interview with Walker, he discussed the possibility of reforming Carcass, but mentioned that it was unlikely that Owen would participate, since he could not replicate his former drumming proficiency due to the effects of the cerebral hemorrhage he suffered in 1999. In September 2007, Michael Amott announced that he was rehearsing with Bill Steer, Jeff Walker and

Daniel Erlandsson Daniel John Erlandsson (born 22 May 1976) is a Swedish musician, best known as the drummer in the melodic death metal band Arch Enemy and Brujeria. His early work includes drumming on the In Flames album '' Subterranean'' (1995). He has also p ...

(replacing Ken Owen) in secret to rehearse old Carcass songs for a possible reunion tour. The original plans were to play at several festivals during the summer, but they could not meet the deadlines. In October 2007, Carcass were confirmed to play at German heavy metal festival

Wacken Open Air Wacken Open Air (, abbreviated as W:O:A) is a rock music festival, held annually since 1990 on the first weekend of August in the village of Wacken in Schleswig-Holstein, Germany. Almost all styles and subgenres of hard rock and metal are ...

and Finland's

Tuska Open Air Metal Festival Tuska Open Air Metal Festival, commonly shortened to Tuska ( fi, pain, agony), is a Finnish heavy metal festival taking place annually in Helsinki. The first Tuska took place in 1998 and the festival has since grown larger every year. The locati ...

in 2008. Carcass later embarked on a reunion tour, beginning on 6 June 2008 at the Sweden Rock Festival in Norje, Sweden. Carcass also played at

Hellfest Summer Open Air Hellfest (), also called Hellfest Summer Open Air, is a rock festival focusing on heavy metal music, held annually in June in Clisson, France. Its high attendance makes it the French music festival with the largest turnover. It is also one ...

Metalcamp Metaldays is a heavy metal music, heavy metal music festival held annually in Tolmin, Slovenia, since 2004. The festival has been more popular every year with more media coverage and in order to not let it grow too big, in 2010 the tickets were ...

and several other festivals. The band toured Australia and New Zealand in 2008, and then in North America during September and October 2008, followed by the band's first South American tour, playing in Colombia, Chile, Argentina and Brazil. On 15 November 2008, Carcass headlined the Danish Metal Awards held in Amager Bio, Copenhagen, Denmark. Steer also presented the award for Best Danish Debut Album, which went to SCAMP for ''Mirror Faced Mentality''. Carcass surprised the audience by bringing Ken Owen to the stage where he gave a brief drum solo to show how far he had come in recovering from his illness. Carcass performed an exclusive UK show at the

Damnation Festival Damnation Festival is a one-day heavy metal music festival currently held annually at Bowlers Exhibition Centre. Manchester. It was held at held at Jilly's Rockworld in Manchester from 2005 to 2006 and then University of Leeds, Leeds, England ...

in Leeds. It was the first time Carcass had played in England in 14 years. Carcass re-released their entire back catalogue with bonus material during 2008 on Earache Records. When asked if the band were planning on writing and recording a new album, Steer replied: Carcass continued to play live in 2009, with a North American tour completed in March 2009. Carcass also headlined the

Bloodstock Open Air Bloodstock Open Air is a British heavy metal festival held annually at Catton Hall in Walton-on-Trent, Derbyshire, since 2005. Originally held indoors for one day with two stages, the festival started in 2001 at the Derby Assembly Rooms and h ...

Derbyshire, England Derbyshire ( ) is a ceremonial county in the East Midlands, England. It includes much of the Peak District National Park, the southern end of the Pennine range of hills and part of the National Forest. It borders Greater Manchester to the no ...

in August 2009. In August 2010, Carcass headlined

Vagos Open Air VOA – Heavy Rock Festival (formerly VOA Fest and Vagos Open Air) is an open-air heavy metal/hard rock festival held annually in Lisbon, Portugal. The festival is being held since 2009 in four different locations: the first four editions, from ...

Vagos Vagos () is a town and a municipality in Aveiro District, belonging to Centro Region of Portugal. The district capital, Aveiro, is its nearest large city. Its population in 2011 was 22,851 in an area of 164.92 km2, and it had 17,204 eligible ...

, Portugal, and

Jalometalli Metal Music Festival Jalometalli Metal Music Festival is a Finnish heavy metal festival held annually in Oulu since 2002. The festival mainly features old school thrash metal and death and black metal bands. Lineups 2002 *Thyrane *Monsterspank *Funeris Nocturnum *M ...

held in Oulu, Finland. At Hellfest 2010, they performed the ''Necroticism'' album in its entirety. In 2012, Amott and Erlandsson left Carcass to focus on Arch Enemy.

''Surgical Steel'' (2012–2019)

Steer and Walker started talking about recording a new album after the reunion shows were done. They wrote some songs to see how they would turn out. According to Steer, "If it sounded like Carcass to us, we were going to proceed. We also said if it didn't feel right, we'd just drop it". Carcass recorded a new album in 2012, titled '' Surgical Steel''.

Daniel Wilding Daniel "Dan" Wilding (born 22 January 1989) is an English drummer. Biography Wilding started playing drums at the age of 10 and at the age of 16 joined his first band called Killing Mode. After Killing Mode disbanded he formed a black metal ...

(drummer of

Bristol Bristol () is a city, ceremonial county and unitary authority in England. Situated on the River Avon, it is bordered by the ceremonial counties of Gloucestershire to the north and Somerset to the south. Bristol is the most populous city in ...

-based

deathgrind Grindcore is an extreme fusion genre of heavy metal and hardcore punk that originated in the mid-1980s, drawing inspiration from abrasive-sounding musical styles, such as thrashcore, crust punk, hardcore punk, extreme metal, and industrial. ...

band Trigger the Bloodshed) performs drums on ''Surgical Steel''. The original drummer, Ken Owen, was also brought in to record some backing vocals on the album. Ben Ash (guitarist of Pig Iron, Desolation, and Liquefied Skeleton) joined the band in March 2013 on guitars. On 26 March 2013 Carcass performed for the first time with their new lineup at the

Camden Underworld Camden Underworld is a music venue in Camden Town, London, England. The venue is a part of the World's End pub, situated in the basement of the building. It has a capacity of 500 people. History Over the years The Underworld has become th ...

in London, where they played for three nights. Carcass also performed at the Chilean music festival Metalfest in April 2013, and the Maryland Deathfest XI music festival in May 2013. In May 2013 Carcass signed with

Nuclear Blast Nuclear Blast is a record label and mail order record distributor with subsidiaries in Germany, the United States and Brazil. The label was founded in 1987 by Markus Staiger in Germany. Originally releasing hardcore punk records, the label mov ...

. In Japan they signed a deal with Trooper Entertainment for the release of the new album. Carcass released ''Surgical Steel'' on 13 September 2013 in Europe, 16 September in the UK, and 17 September in North America. Overall the album received positive reviews. ''Surgical Steel'' earned a Top 50 position on the US ''Billboard'' 200 charts. After releasing ''Surgical Steel'', Carcass headlined

in Leeds before embarking on the Defenders of the Faith Tour with Amon Amarth and Hell, which ran throughout Europe and the UK in November and December 2013. Carcass performed at 70000 Tons of Metal in January 2014 and headlined the Agglutination Festival on 23 August that year. In a June 2014 interview with Metal Underground, Walker was asked if Carcass were going to make a follow-up to ''Surgical Steel''. He replied, "Ultimately, as long as we feel we got somewhere to go then we would create new material. We are not just going to do it just for the sake of it. We have to feel inspired. All I can say is I do see somewhere where we can take Carcass if we choose to do another album and personally I do want to do another album. I'm not completely satisfied with any album we've made so far. I don't think we've made the classic Carcass album, that's the way I feel." Carcass released an EP titled ''

Surgical Remission/Surplus Steel ''Surgical Remission/Surplus Steel'' is an EP by British extreme metal band Carcass. The EP consists of songs recorded during the sessions for previous album ''Surgical Steel'' and was released on 11 November 2014 through Nuclear Blast. Releas ...

'' in November 2014. The EP is a collection of unreleased tracks recorded during the ''Surgical Steel'' sessions and it is released on physical and digital formats. "Well, let's call this tying up loose ends," commented Walker. "We thought we'd make all the tracks available from the ''Surgical Steel'' album session on an EP… just in case you bought the jewel case version, didn't buy the digipak, didn't buy the Japanese import, or maybe you never bought the

Decibel magazine ''Decibel'' is a monthly heavy metal magazine published by the Philadelphia-based Red Flag Media since October 2004. Its sections include Upfront, Features, Reviews, Guest Columns and the Decibel Hall of Fame. The magazine's tag-line is currentl ...

issue with the flexi disc? Well, here you go; ALL the songs on one disc along with a previously unreleased track. Even Trevor Strnad's arm makes a guest appearance! Enjoy." Carcass continued touring. They played at Download Festival in

Castle Donington Castle Donington is a market town and civil parish in Leicestershire, England, on the edge of the National Forest and close to East Midlands Airport. History The name 'Donington' means 'farm/settlement connected with Dunna'. Another sugge ...

13 June 2015. Reviewing their concert, James Weaver wrote: "Carcass have proved, not only that they can play any spectrum of rock festivals, but that they still remain as one of the greats in the extreme metal genre." Carcass also headlined the "Deathcrusher 2015" tour alongside Napalm Death, Obituary, Voivod and Herod. The tour run in Europe October–November 2015. During the "Deathcrusher 2015" tour Bill Steer rejoined his former band Napalm Death on some dates to perform the classic Napalm Death song "Deceiver". Along with Testament, Carcass supported Slayer on their ''

Repentless ''Repentless'' is the twelfth and final studio album by American thrash metal band Slayer, released on September 11, 2015. This is the band's only album recorded without guitarist Jeff Hanneman, who died from liver cirrhosis in 2013 and was rep ...

'' tour, which took place in February and March 2016. In a statement released in early March 2018, Ben Ash announced he had left Carcass. Tom Draper (Pounder, ex-

Angel Witch Angel Witch are a British heavy metal band which formed in London in 1976 as part of the new wave of British heavy metal (NWOBHM) movement. Biography Formation The band formed, originally under the name of Lucifer, of guitarist and vocalist ...

), a UK native based in California, made his first live appearance with the band at the Netherlands Deathfest on 2 March 2018 and his second appearance during the Decibel Metal and Beer Fest in Philadelphia on 1 April 2018. They also opened for Slayer on selected dates of their final world tour, including ForceFest in Mexico in October 2018, and

Hellfest Hellfest (), also called Hellfest Summer Open Air, is a rock festival focusing on heavy metal music, held annually in June in Clisson, France. Its high attendance makes it the French music festival with the largest turnover. It is also one o ...

in France in June 2019.

''Torn Arteries'' (2019–present)

On 13 December 2019, Carcass released their first song in six years, "Under the Scalpel Blade", on digital outlets. This track was also made available to deluxe '' Decibel'' magazine subscribers. On 23 February 2020, Carcass announced on their Facebook page that their seventh studio album would be released on 7 August. A week-and-a-half later, guitarist Bill Steer revealed ''

Torn Arteries ''Torn Arteries'' is the seventh studio album by British death metal band Carcass. It was released on 17 September 2021. Named after a demo tape recorded by former Carcass drummer Ken Owen, this is the band's first album in eight years after its ...

'' as the title of the album, which is a reference to a demo tape recorded by Ken Owen when he was a teenager. On 2 April 2020, Carcass announced that the release of the album had been delayed, due to the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identi ...

, stating: "Well there's no way our new album is gonna get released in August now, what with the pandemic, CD & vinyl manufacturers have closed and label distribution has been put on hold for the foreseeable future. There's more pressing things to be concerned with right now, correct? Bunker down, look after yourselves, let's see the next few months through and we'll get the album released as soon as there's some kind of return to 'normality'." '' Decibel'' magazine later reported that the release of ''Torn Arteries'' had been postponed to 2021. On 21 August 2020, Carcass announced that, with ''Torn Arteries'' still on hold, they would release a four-song EP called '' Despicable'' on 30 October. The new EP includes the previously released digital single "Under the Scalpel Blade". Walker commented: "Well, the COVID situation has put the release of the new Carcass album on the backburner for the time being. Given that we said there'd be new music in August, we thought it would be cool to have a stop-gap release and let you hear some of the tracks that never quite made the cut. Don't say we never give you anything. Enjoy." On 18 June 2021, "Kelly's Meat Emporium" was released as the lead single from ''Torn Arteries''; on the same day, it was announced that the album would be released on 17 September 2021, just eight years following the release of its predecessor '' Surgical Steel''. In order to promote the album, Carcass embarked on their North American spring 2022 headlining tour, first in six years, with support from Immolation and Creeping Death. They will support

and Behemoth on their co-headlining European tour in the fall of 2022, and later will support Amon Amarth on their ''Great Heathen Army'' North American tour.

Influence and cultural references

Carcass are influenced by death metal and grindcore bands like

Death Death is the irreversible cessation of all biological functions that sustain an organism. For organisms with a brain, death can also be defined as the irreversible cessation of functioning of the whole brain, including brainstem, and brain ...

, Repulsion,

Master Master or masters may refer to: Ranks or titles * Ascended master, a term used in the Theosophical religious tradition to refer to spiritually enlightened beings who in past incarnations were ordinary humans *Grandmaster (chess), National Master ...

Morbid Angel Morbid Angel is an American death metal band based in Tampa, Florida, formed in 1983 by guitarist, primary composer and sole remaining original member Trey Azagthoth, vocalist and bassist Dallas Ward, and drummer Mike Browning. Widely considered ...

, Napalm Death and

Macabre In works of art, the adjective macabre ( or ; ) means "having the quality of having a grim or ghastly atmosphere". The macabre works to emphasize the details and symbols of death. The term also refers to works particularly gruesome in natu ...

, as well as other acts such as Slayer,

King Diamond Kim Bendix Petersen (born 14 June 1956), better known by his stage name King Diamond, is a Danish rock musician. As a vocalist, he is known for his powerful and wide-ranging countertenor singing voice, in particular his far-reaching falsetto ...

Cryptic Slaughter Cryptic Slaughter is an American crossover thrash band based in Santa Monica, California, and originally formed in 1984. Biography Cryptic Slaughter was formed in 1984 by Les Evans (age 17), Scott Peterson (age 14), and Adam Scott (age 15), wh ...

, Discharge,

Siege A siege is a military blockade of a city, or fortress, with the intent of conquering by attrition, or a well-prepared assault. This derives from la, sedere, lit=to sit. Siege warfare is a form of constant, low-intensity conflict characteriz ...

, N.Y.C. Mayhem and Diamond Head. Otrebor of black metal band Botanist cites Carcass' use of medical dictionary terms in lyrics and song titles as a precedent for its lyrics and song titles from plant and insect dictionaries. In the '' Red Dwarf'' episode "

Timeslides "Timeslides" is the fifth episode of science fiction sit-com ''Red Dwarf'' Series III, and the seventeenth in the series run. It premiered on the British television channel BBC2 on 12 December 1989. Written by Rob Grant and Doug Naylor, and di ...

", Steer and Walker appeared as members of Lister's childhood band, ''Smeg and the Heads''.

Band members

Current

* Bill Steer – guitar, backing vocals (1985–1996, 2007–present), co-lead vocals (1985–1992) * Jeff Walker – lead vocals, bass (1985–1996, 2007–present) *

– drums (2012–present)

Past

* Ken Owen – drums (1986–1996), backing vocals (1985–1996, guest vocals on ''Surgical Steel'', 2013, live guest 2008, 2009, 2010, 2013) * Sanjiv Sumner – lead vocals (1986–1987) *

– guitar (1990–1993, 2007–2012) * Carlo Regadas – guitar (1994–1996)

Live musicians

* Mike Hickey – guitar (1993–1994) *

– drums (2007–2012) * Ben Ash – guitar (2013–2018) * Tom Draper – guitar (2018–2021) * James 'Nip' Blackford - guitar (2021–present)

Timeline

ImageSize = width:1000 height:auto barincrement:20 PlotArea = left:95 bottom:75 top:0 right:20 Alignbars = justify DateFormat = mm/dd/yyyy Period = from:01/01/1986 till:04/18/2022 TimeAxis = orientation:horizontal format:yyyy ScaleMinor = increment:1 start:1986 ScaleMajor = increment:2 start:1986 Legend = position:bottom orientation:vertical columns:4 Colors = id:vocals value:red legend:Lead_vocals id:backing value:pink legend:Backing_vocals id:guitar value:green legend:Guitar id:bass value:blue legend:Bass id:drums value:orange legend:Drums id:album value:black legend:Studio_album id:bars value:gray(0.9) id:other value:gray(0.5)) legend:Other_release LineData = layer:back at:04/04/1987 color:other at:07/01/1988 color:album at:12/01/1988 color:other at:12/02/1989 color:other at:12/04/1989 color:album at:01/01/1990 color:other at:10/21/1991 color:album at:01/01/1992 color:other at:06/23/1992 color:other at:02/01/1993 color:other at:09/01/1993 color:other at:10/18/1993 color:album at:06/10/1996 color:album at:11/12/1996 color:other at:11/26/1996 color:other at:10/27/1997 color:other at:05/24/2004 color:other at:09/13/2013 color:album at:11/11/2014 color:other at:10/30/2020 color:other at:09/17/2021 color:album BarData = bar:Sanjiv text:"Sanjiv Sumner" bar:Walker text:"Jeff Walker" bar:Steer text:"Bill Steer" bar:Amott text:"Michael Amott" bar:Regadas text:"Carlo Regadas" bar:Ash text:"Ben Ash" bar:Tom text:"Tom Draper" bar:Owen text:"Ken Owen" bar:Erlandsson text:"Daniel Erlandsson" bar:Wilding text:"Daniel Wilding" PlotData= width:11 bar:Sanjiv from:01/01/1986 till:05/01/1987 color:vocals bar:Walker from:01/01/1986 till:06/01/1996 color:bass bar:Walker from:01/01/1986 till:05/01/1987 color:backing width:3 bar:Walker from:05/01/1987 till:06/01/1996 color:vocals width:3 bar:Walker from:09/01/2007 till:end color:bass bar:Walker from:09/01/2007 till:end color:vocals width:3 bar:Steer from:01/01/1986 till:06/01/1996 color:guitar bar:Steer from:10/01/2012 till:03/26/2014 color:guitar width:5 bar:Steer from:09/01/2007 till:end color:guitar bar:Steer from:05/01/1987 till:01/01/1991 color:vocals width:3 bar:Steer from:01/01/1991 till:06/01/1996 color:backing width:3 bar:Steer from:09/01/2007 till:end color:backing width:3 bar:Amott from:03/01/1990 till:12/31/1993 color:guitar bar:Amott from:09/01/2007 till:10/01/2012 color:guitar bar:Regadas from:01/01/1994 till:06/01/1996 color:guitar bar:Ash from:03/26/2013 till:03/05/2018 color:guitar bar:Tom from:03/05/2018 till:11/01/2021 color:guitar bar:Owen from:01/01/1986 till:06/01/1996 color:drums bar:Owen from:01/01/1986 till:06/01/1996 color:backing width:3 bar:Owen from:09/13/2013 till:09/13/2013 color:backing bar:Erlandsson from:09/01/2007 till:10/01/2012 color:drums bar:Wilding from:12/01/2012 till:end color:drums

Discography

* '' Reek of Putrefaction'' (1988) * '' Symphonies of Sickness'' (1989) * '' Necroticism – Descanting the Insalubrious'' (1991) * '' Heartwork'' (1993) * '' Swansong'' (1996) * '' Surgical Steel'' (2013) * ''

'' (2021)

References

External links

*
Carcass
at Earache Records {{DEFAULTSORT:Carcass 1985 establishments in England Musical groups established in 1985 Musical groups disestablished in 1996 Musical groups reestablished in 2007 English grindcore musical groups English death metal musical groups English melodic death metal musical groups Goregrind musical groups Earache Records artists Political music groups Musical quartets Musical groups from Liverpool