''Necroticism – Descanting the Insalubrious'' is the third album by British

extreme metal Extreme metal is a loosely defined umbrella term for a number of related heavy metal music subgenres that have developed since the early 1980s. It has been defined as a "cluster of metal subgenres characterized by sonic, verbal, and visual tran ...

band

Carcass Carcass or Carcase (both pronounced ) may refer to: * Dressed carcass, the body of a livestock animal ready for butchery, after removal of skin, visceral organs, head, feet etc. *Carrion, the decaying dead body of an animal or human being, also c ...

. It was released on 30 October 1991 through

Earache Records Earache Records is a British independent record label, music publisher and management company founded by Digby Pearson in 1985, based in Nottingham, England, with offices in London and New York. The label helped to pioneer extreme metal by r ...

. This album is the first to feature 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 (band), Carnage, as well as a former member of Carcass (band), Carcass. He is the older brother of Christoph ...

and marked the first time Carcass had recorded as a four-piece. Many of the tracks describe economical ways to dispose of dead bodies. ''Necroticism'' continues the move towards a predominant

death metal Death metal is an extreme metal, extreme subgenre of heavy metal music. It typically employs heavily distorted and low-tuned guitars, played with techniques such as palm muting and tremolo picking; deep death growl, growling vocals; aggressive ...

sound which was started in '' Symphonies of Sickness'', featuring songs with longer sections and complex structures, more akin to the then-burgeoning

technical death metal Technical death metal (also known as tech death) is a musical subgenre of death metal with particular focus on instrumental skill and complex songwriting. Technical and progressive experimentation in death metal began in the late 1980s and early ...

subgenre.

Release

''Necroticism'' was originally released on 21 October 1991 through

. The album was re-released in 2008 as part of an ongoing series of Carcass reissues, to tie in with their reunion. The main album is presented as one side of a

dualdisc The DualDisc is a type of double-sided optical disc product developed by a group of record companies including MJJ Productions Inc., EMI Music, Universal Music Group, Sony BMG Music Entertainment, Warner Music Group, and 5.1 Entertainment Group ...

, while the DVD side features the third part of an extended documentary titled ''The Pathologist's Report Part III: Mass Infection'', and a 23-minute interview with Walker and Amott from 1993, recorded on the Gods of Grind tour. Later editions of the reissue contain the album on a CD and the documentary on a separate DVD. Also included in the reissue is a set of four art cards. The reissue is presented in a 12-panel

digipak Optical disc packaging is the packaging that accompanies CDs, DVDs, and other formats of optical discs. Most packaging is rigid or semi-rigid and designed to protect the media from scratches and other types of exposure damage. Jewel case A ...

with full lyrics and artwork.

Musical style

Ken Owen and Jeff Walker said during ''The Pathologist's Report Part III: Mass Infection'' that they rejected the descriptions of Carcass's music on this album being

grindcore Grindcore is an extreme metal, extreme fusion genre of heavy metal music, 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, e ...

. While Owen acknowledges its

characteristics, both he and Walker expressed that they are more inclined towards calling their music on this album " progressive". Music journalist T Coles described the album as having "a more straightforward death metal sound".

Reception

AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All-Music Guide and AMG) is an American online database, online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on Musical artist, musicians and Mus ...

gave ''Necroticism'' four out of five stars, stating that the worthy addition of

made the record an excellent guitarist's album.

Kerrang! ''Kerrang!'' is a British music webzine and quarterly magazine that primarily covers rock, punk and heavy metal music. Since 2017, the magazine has been published by Wasted Talent Ltd (the same company that owns electronic music publication ...

notably gave the album a perfect score in their 364th magazine issue.

Metal Storm Metal Storm Limited was a research and development company based in Brisbane, Australia, that specialized in electronically initiated superposed load weapons technology and owned the proprietary rights to the electronic ballistics technology ...

gave ''Necroticism'' a 9.6/10 calling it a masterpiece and a transitional album that every metalhead should own (melodic or extreme) and suggested that people should buy the album immediately.

Accolades

In 2005, ''Necroticism'' was ranked number 294 in '' Rock Hard'' magazine's book of ''The 500 Greatest Rock & Metal Albums of All Time''. In September 2005, ''Necroticism'' was inducted into the

Decibel Magazine ''Decibel'' is a monthly heavy metal magazine published by the Philadelphia-based Red Flag Media since September 2004. It is currently the only monthly metal music magazine published in North America. Its sections include Upfront, Features, Revi ...

Hall of Fame, being the eighth album overall to be featured in the Decibel Hall of Fame.

Track listing

Credits

Writing, performance and production credits are adapted from the album liner notes.

Personnel

Carcass

* Jeffrey Walker – bass, vocals *

Bill Steer William Geoffrey Steer (born 3 December 1969) is a British guitarist and co-founder of the extreme metal band Carcass. He is considered a pioneer and an essential contributor to grindcore and death metal due to his involvement in Napalm Death and ...

– guitars, vocals * Ken Owen – drums, additional vocals *

– guitars, additional vocals

Production

Colin Richardson Colin Richardson is a British record producer, mixer and recording engineer An audio engineer (also known as a sound engineer or recording engineer) helps to produce a recording or a live performance, balancing and adjusting sound source ...

– production, mixing * Carcass – mixing * Keith Hartley – engineering * Ian McFarlane – assistance * Dave Buchmann – assistance * John Paul – remastering

Visual art

* Carcass – cover art * Tom Warner – layout

Studios

* Amazon Studios, Simonswood, UK – recording * Mine Music – remastering

References

External links

*
''Necroticism: Descanting the Insalubrious''
at

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Necroticism - Descanting the Insalubrious 1991 albums Carcass (band) albums Earache Records albums