Carcass - Despicable (2020)

As a fine wine, Carcass has nicely matured over time while keeping true to their signature sound, the band continues to aggressively tour and give killer performances. As a preview for their upcoming full-length release, the band delivers “Despicable”, just in time for Halloween. Featuring four tracks and nearly 20 minutes of music that will not be part of their next release, this album delivers the signature melodic/catchy Death Metal/Death’n’Roll sound we all love.

The release kicks off with the signature Carcass guitars of “The Living Dead At The Manchester Morgue”. In this track we get a nicely paced piece filled with chugging riffs and crafty tempo changes. Jeff Walker’s usual snarl is as powerful as always, and on “The Long And Winding Bier Road” it shows that clean vocals can also create very catchy and engaging chorus sections, alongside pretty epic guitar leads.

Our favorite track has to be the sleazy “Under the Scalpel Blade” and its superb headbanging potential, thanks to its tempo changes and crushing riffs. Closing the release we have a very interesting piece with “Slaughtered In Soho”, as this track has a very weird stop-and-go vibe and approach, while it works well at times it feels a bit weird.

Overall, “Despicable” is a good snack just before the band fully unleashed their next album. It has been a long wait since “Surgical Steel” and this release continues to show that the band is not just sitting on their legacy and are still crafting interesting and engaging music for their fans. If you never heard of Carcass before, you need some schooling, if you have, then you know this release will be pretty good.

Label: Nuclear Blast Records

Release: October 30th, 2020

Genre: Melodic Death Metal/Death n Roll

Country: UK