Heartwork

Last updated

Heartwork
Carcass Heartwork.jpg
Cover art by H. R. Giger [1]
Studio album by
Carcass
Released18 October 1993 (1993-10-18) (Europe) 11 January 1994 (1994-01-11) (US)
Recorded18 May 1993 (1993-05-18) – 21 June 1993 (1993-06-21)
StudioParr Street Studios
Genre Melodic death metal, [2] technical death metal [3]
Length41:55
Label
Producer Colin Richardson
Carcass chronology
Tools of the Trade
(1992)		Heartwork
(1993)		 Swansong
(1996)
Singles from Heartwork
  1. "Heartwork"
    Released: 1994 [8]

Heartwork is the fourth studio album by English extreme metal band Carcass. The album was released in the UK by Earache Records on 18 October 1993, [5] and in the United States on 11 January 1994 by Columbia Records, making it the band's only major label release. [9] Heartwork has been described as the band's "breakthrough" and "mid-period masterpiece", as well as a landmark album in melodic death metal. [10] [11] The album was recorded at Parr Street Studios, Liverpool from 18 May – 21 June 1993.

Contents

The sculpture depicted in the cover art, "Life Support 1993," was designed by H. R. Giger, [1] and is an update of a sculpture he created in the late 1960s. The video for the title track features a real-life interpretation of the sculpture, including a human welded as a part of it.[ original research? ] The album was reissued as a Dualdisc on 2 June 2008.

Until 2021's Torn Arteries , this was the only Carcass album to have the same lineup as the previous album. Guitarist Michael Amott left the band after the recording of the album before founding Spiritual Beggars, and was temporarily replaced by Mike Hickey. In The Pathologist's Report, Bill Steer says Heartwork is his favourite Carcass album. [12]

Composition and lyrics

Heartwork has been noted for its strong sense of melody. According to Johnny Loftus of AllMusic, the music on the album "grafts melody onto the existing muscle of Carcass' punishing antimusic." The album's sound has been described as "relentless." The album's guitar riffs have been described as "intricate." The album contains influences from the New Wave of British Heavy Metal. [13] [14] The album's sound has been described as "Megadeth being flushed down a toilet." [15] Invisible Oranges described the album's sound as "cold and massive." The album has described as "catchy" and as "a continuous onslaught of memorable hooks." [16] While the lyrical content on earlier Carcass releases has been described as "ridiculous medical dictionary-isms," the lyrics on Heartwork have been described as "abstract." [17] Ken Owen's drumming has been called "curiously wobbly." [16]

Release

Heartwork sold at least 81,000 units. [18] It spawned one single under the same name that featured the title track and non-album tracks "This is Your Life" and "Rot 'n' Roll". [8]

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, while the DVD side features the fourth part of an extended interview/documentary titled The Pathologist's Report Part IV: Epidemic. Also included in the reissue is a bonus disc including the entire album in demo form, something recorded by the band before recording the actual album in an effort to be better prepared. The demo features the same 10 songs in a slightly different order. Later editions have the DVD on a separate disc, bringing the total to 3 discs. The album is presented in a 12-panel digipak with full lyrics and artwork.

Critical reception and legacy

Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic Star full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar half.svg [11]
Collector's Guide to Heavy Metal 8/10 [19]
Entertainment Weekly C+ [20]
Los Angeles Times Star full.svgStar full.svgStar empty.svgStar empty.svg [21]
Metal Rules 5/5 [22]
Q Star full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar empty.svg [23]
Rock Hard 9.0/10 [24]
Rolling Stone Star full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar half.svgStar empty.svg [25]

Heartwork is considered by some to be the best British extreme metal album of the 1990s, and is widely considered to be one of the greatest death metal albums of all time. In an October 2007 interview, Evile frontman Matt Drake described Heartwork as "just one of the best albums ever." Metal Hammer said the album was "arguably the point where melodic death metal became a cohesive idea," calling it the genre's "defining statement." [26] [27]

Hank Schteamer of Pitchfork described Heartwork as Carcass's "mid-period masterpiece," and praised the album as being "perhaps the greatest example to date of an extreme-metal band nodding to the polish and swagger of above-ground rock while retaining their core ferocity." [10] Johnny Loftus called the album the band's "breakthrough release" on AllMusic, and suggested that while "some purists might decry its melodic breaks for soloing or nods toward conventional structure[,] Heartwork is that rare album that so carefully dissects and reconstructs its original form that its additional body parts seem like they were there all along." [11]

Decibel called Heartwork "a thing of pure metal glory" and a landmark in death metal, crediting the band's innovations for taking the genre to "new places." [28]

In May 2013, Heartwork was inducted into the Decibel Magazine Hall of Fame, becoming the 100th overall inductee and second Carcass album to be featured in the Decibel Hall of Fame, right after Necroticism . [29]

In 2017, Rolling Stone ranked Heartwork as 51st on their list of 'The 100 Greatest Metal Albums of All Time.' [30]

The band Carnal Forge named themselves after the song of the same name from this album. [31] Additionally, the album's influence has been observed in the works of Arsis, The Black Dahlia Murder, Arch Enemy and Angela Gossow." [32]

The album's first track "Buried Dreams" has been called "one of the mightiest [opening tracks] any record has ever had." [32]

Track listing

All lyrics are written by Jeff Walker

No.TitleMusicLength
1."Buried Dreams" Bill Steer 3:58
2."Carnal Forge"
3:54
3."No Love Lost"Bill Steer3:22
4."Heartwork"
  • Bill Steer
  • Michael Amott
4:33
5."Embodiment"
  • Michael Amott
  • Bill Steer
5:36
6."This Mortal Coil"
  • Bill Steer
  • Michael Amott
3:49
7."Arbeit macht Fleisch"Bill Steer4:21
8."Blind Bleeding the Blind"Bill Steer4:57
9."Doctrinal Expletives"
  • Bill Steer
  • Michael Amott
3:39
10."Death Certificate"
  • Michael Amott
  • Bill Steer
3:38
Total length:41:55

Personnel

Carcass

  1. ↑ Bill Steer played all rhythm guitars on this album

Additional personnel

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References

  1. 1 2 Giger, H. R. "Album Covers". HRgiger.com. Retrieved 25 March 2016.
  2. ↑ Bowar, Chad. "Carcass". About.com. Archived from the original on 7 July 2011. Retrieved 27 February 2011.
  3. ↑ Jon Wiederhorn (31 August 2017). "Death Metal 101: The History of Death Metal". Loudwire. After releasing the grizzly Necroticism: Descanting the Insalubrious in 1991, Carcass issued the pioneering tech-death metal record Heartwork
  4. ↑ "Carcass – Heartwork – Reviews – Encyclopaedia Metallum: The Metal Archives".
  5. 1 2 "Carcass – Heartwork (1993, CD)". Discogs. 18 October 1993. Retrieved 4 November 2020.
  6. ↑ "Carcass – Heartwork – Encyclopaedia Metallum: The Metal Archives".
  7. ↑ "Carcass – Heartwork – Encyclopaedia Metallum: The Metal Archives".
  8. 1 2 "Carcass 'Heartwork E.P.'". Earache.com . Nottingham. Archived from the original on 18 December 2016. Retrieved 31 January 2015.
  9. ↑ "Carcass – Heartwork (1994, CD)". Discogs. 11 January 1994. Retrieved 4 November 2020.
  10. 1 2 Schteamer, Hank (11 September 2013). "Carcass: Surgical Steel". Pitchfork . Retrieved 30 March 2014.
  11. 1 2 3 Loftus, Johnny. "Heartwork – Carcass". AllMusic . Retrieved 30 March 2014.
  12. ↑ Archived at Ghostarchive and the Wayback Machine : "The Pathologist's Report Part 4". March 2013 – via YouTube.
  13. ↑ Heartwork - Carcass | Album | AllMusic , retrieved 2 January 2025
  14. ↑ Purcell, Natalie J. Death Metal Music: The Passion and Politics of a Subculture. McFarland. p. 67.
  15. ↑ Pratt, Greg (15 November 2018). "Hall of Fame Countdown: Carcass' "Heartwork"". Decibel Magazine. Retrieved 2 January 2025.
  16. 1 2 Staff, Invisible Oranges. "Carcass - Heartwork". Invisible Oranges - The Metal Blog. Retrieved 2 January 2025.
  17. ↑ Staff, Invisible Oranges. "Carcass - Heartwork". Invisible Oranges - The Metal Blog. Retrieved 2 January 2025.
  18. ↑ Dick, Chris (2 May 2013). "Carcass 'Heartwork'". Decibel . Philadelphia: Red Flag Media. Retrieved 19 November 2017.
  19. ↑ Popoff, Martin (2007). The Collector's Guide to Heavy Metal: Volume 3: The Nineties. Burlington, Ontario, Canada: Collector's Guide Publishing. p. 72. ISBN   978-1-894959-62-9.
  20. ↑ Sinclair, Tom (14 January 1994). "Heartwork: Music Review:Entertainment Weekly". Entertainment Weekly. Archived from the original on 3 October 2009. Retrieved 23 August 2009.
  21. ↑ Turman, Katherine (24 April 1994). "** Carcass, "Heartwork," Earache/Columbia". Los Angeles Times . Retrieved 29 December 2023.
  22. ↑ The Punishment Due (July 2002). "Carcass - Heartwork". Metal Rules . Retrieved 4 June 2024.
  23. ↑ Q Magazine. January 1994. p.90.
  24. ↑ Kühnemund, Götz. "Rock Hard review" . Retrieved 25 March 2016.
  25. ↑ Darzin, Daina (5 May 1994). "Metal Thunder". Rolling Stone . No. 681. p. 52.
  26. ↑ updated, Metal Hammer last (26 March 2020). "The 100 best metal albums of the 90s". louder. Retrieved 18 January 2025.
  27. ↑ Morgan, Anthony (October 2007). "'Armoured Assault' – Evile frontman Matt Drake hails gargantuan Thrash masterpiece Enter the Grave". Lucem Fero. Archived from the original on 12 April 2008. Retrieved 3 May 2008.
  28. ↑ Pratt, Greg (15 November 2018). "Hall of Fame Countdown: Carcass' "Heartwork"". Decibel Magazine. Retrieved 2 January 2025.
  29. ↑ Dick, Chris (2 May 2013). "Carcass – "Heartwork"". Decibel . Retrieved 11 May 2018.
  30. ↑ "Rolling Stone Share Their Choices for 'The 100 Greatest Metal Albums of All Time'". 21 June 2017.
  31. ↑ York, William. "The More You Suffer – Carnal Forge". AllMusic . Retrieved 18 December 2011.
  32. 1 2 Staff, Invisible Oranges. "Carcass - Heartwork". Invisible Oranges - The Metal Blog. Retrieved 2 January 2025.
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