Swansong (album)

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Swansong
Cd carcass swansong.jpg
Studio album by
Carcass
Released10 June 1996 (1996-06-10) [1]
RecordedFebruary–April 1995
StudioRockfield Studios, Battery Studios
Genre Death 'n' roll
Length49:45
Label Earache
Producer Colin Richardson
Carcass chronology
Heartwork
(1993)		Swansong
(1996)		 Wake Up and Smell the... Carcass
(1996)
Singles from Swansong
  1. "Go to Hell"
    Released: 1996
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic Star full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar half.svg [2]
Collector's Guide to Heavy Metal 10/10 [3]
Decibel Favorable [4]
Kerrang! Star full.svgStar full.svgStar empty.svgStar empty.svgStar empty.svg [5]
Metal Rules 4/5 [6]
MetalSucks Unfavorable [7]
NME 4/10 [8]

Swansong is the fifth studio album by English extreme metal band Carcass, released on 10 June 1996 by Earache Records. [1] It marks a musical shift for the band, moving into a death 'n' roll direction. [4] It is the only Carcass album to feature guitarist Carlo Regadas, and the last to feature founding member Ken Owen on drums. The album received mixed reviews from critics.

Contents

Swansong was intended to be the band's major label debut, having been signed by Columbia Records following the success of Heartwork , but disputes with that record company caused them to return to Earache. The album was re-released on 21 July 2008, as a dualdisc including the fifth part of The Pathologist's Report. It was the band's last studio release for over 17 years, until the release of Surgical Steel in 2013.

Background

In The Pathologist's Report, drummer Ken Owen states that he considers Swansong the ultimate Carcass album. [9] The band's sense of humour is illustrated with titles such as "Keep on Rotting in the Free World". [2]

The disc art is the "Unfinished Pyramid et al." from the Great Seal of the United States, but it reads "carcass" instead of "annuit coeptis", "somnus pecunia cibus" instead of "novus ordo seclorum" and "MCMXCV" instead of "MDCCLXXVI".

Release

Swansong was released on 10 June 1996 on Earache Records. A limited edition was released as a brain-shaped CD, with a bonus two-track CD titled Somnus Pecunia Cibus. [10] The reason for the bonus disc was to include "Go to Hell", which would not fit on the brain-shaped CD due to the cutting required for the shape.

On 21 July 2008, a twelve-panel digipak version of the album was released, with full artwork and lyrics as well as a limited edition sticker sheet with classic Carcass motifs. The reissue also features the previously Japanese-only track "Death Rider Da" which was made to be used as a jingle on a Japanese critic Masa Ito's radio program at the time, as well as the fifth and final part of the extensive interview The Pathologist's Report on a dualdisc. Later editions contain the album on a CD and the documentary on a separate DVD, and do not include the sticker sheet.

In November 2013, Earache rereleased Swansong on full dynamic range vinyl in different colours and with limited circulation. [11]

Track listing

No.TitleWriter(s)Length
1."Keep On Rotting in the Free World" Jeffrey Walker 3:42
2."Tomorrow Belongs to Nobody" Bill Steer, Walker4:17
3."Black Star"Carlo Regadas, Walker3:29
4."Cross My Heart"Steer, Walker3:34
5."Child's Play"Steer, Walker5:43
6."Room 101"Steer, Walker4:35
7."Polarized"Regadas, Steer, Walker4:02
8."Generation Hexed"Steer, Walker3:48
9."Firm Hand"Regadas, Walker5:22
10."R**k the Vote"Walker3:53
11."Don't Believe a Word"Steer, Walker3:57
12."Go to Hell"Walker3:22
Total length:49:45
Japanese/2008 reissue bonus track
No.TitleLength
13."Death Rider Da"1:18
Total length:51:03
The Pathologist's Report DVD
No.TitleLength
1."Issues with the Release" 
2."Extreme but Not as We Know It" 
3."Moving to Columbia" 
4."The Cover Artwork" 
5."Mike Hickey and Carlo's Involvement" 
6."The End Is Night" 
7."The Aftermath" 
8."Influencing the Next Generation" 
9."Ken Talks About His Illness" 
10."Outtakes" 

Personnel

Carcass

Technical personnel

Charts

Chart (1996)Peak position
US Heatseekers Albums (Billboard) [12] 46
Finnish Albums (Suomen virallinen lista) [13] 33

References

  1. 1 2 "Swansong: The Carcass Masterpiece". Utopian Blaster. 9 November 2014. Archived from the original on 30 January 2015. Retrieved 30 January 2015.
  2. 1 2 Rivadavia, Eduardo. Carcass: Swansong > Overview at AllMusic. Retrieved 16 October 2011.
  3. ↑ 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.
  4. 1 2 Bennett, J. (16 March 2011). "Justify Your Shitty Taste – Carcass's 'Swansong'". Decibel . Retrieved 19 November 2025.
  5. ↑ Dome, Malcolm (8 June 1996). "Albums". Kerrang! . No. 600. EMAP. p. 43.
  6. ↑ The Punishment Due (July 2002). "Carcass – Swansong". Metal Rules . Retrieved 4 June 2024.
  7. ↑ Rhombus, Emperor (22 August 2013). "Carcass' Swansong: A Newbie's Retrospective Review". MetalSucks . New York. Retrieved 30 January 2015.
  8. ↑ Fortman, Ian (25 May 1996). "NME.COM – CARCASS – Swansong – 25/5/1996". NME . Archived from the original on 10 October 2000. Retrieved 12 January 2024.
  9. ↑ "Carcass – The Pathologist's Report Part 5: Decomposition (Official Documentary)". 10 May 2013. Retrieved 4 June 2025– via YouTube.
  10. ↑ "Carcass 'Swansong'". Earache.com . Nottingham. Archived from the original on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 30 January 2015.
  11. ↑ "Carcass: 'Swansong' Full Dynamic Range Vinyl Out Now". Metal Rules . Newfoundland and Labrador. 11 November 2013. Retrieved 30 January 2015.
  12. ↑ "Carcass's Swansong Billboard Heatseekers Charts". Billboard. United States. Retrieved 18 December 2011.
  13. ↑ "Carcass: Swansong" (in Finnish). Musiikkituottajat – IFPI Finland. Retrieved 30 January 2015.
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