Liverpool looms large in Rock history. In fact, the city changed the musical landscape forever back in February 1964 when four mop-topped Liverpudlian lads appeared on The Ed Sullivan Show. From that moment onwards, Liverpool went from being just another city in England to becoming the birthplace of the new British invasion. Suddenly, fellow Liverpool acts Gerry & The Pacemakers, the Searchers, Billy J. Kramer & the Dakotas, Freddie & The Dreamers and many other groups were thrust into the limelight. From that point forwards, new groups emerged from this magical city every few years, almost as if there was something magical in the water. In the late ‘70s and early ‘80s, another British Invasion emerged and many of the bands were from – you guessed it – Liverpool! From Yachts, Deaf School, Echo & The Bunnymen, and the Teardrop Explodes to the Icicle Works, OMD, China Crisis, and Frankie Goes to Hollywood, Liverpool remained the center of the musical universe. The city remained ‘ground zero’ for Rock ‘n’ Roll with the emergence of other bands such as the La’s, the Christians, the Lightning Seeds, and Carcass. Wait… what? Carcass?

Emerging from Liverpool in 1986, Extreme Metal band Carcass is proof that the city is more than a breeding ground for Pop-oriented combos and heavenly harmonies. One must remember that every ray of sunshine creates numerous shadows, and the members of Carcass spent many years living amongst those shadows. Now acknowledged as pioneers of the Goregrind genre, the band has also tapped into other genres including Death Metal, Grindcore, and Melodic Death Metal. With albums such as REEK OF PUTREFACTION (1988), SYMPHONIES OF SICKNESS (1989), HEARTWORK (1993) and SWANSONG (1996), the band solidified its reputation as one of the most brutal bands on the Metal landscape. However, the band split up in 1996 and the Extreme Metal genre lost one of its most brutal bands. Luckily, guitarist Bill Steer and bassist/vocalist Jeff Walker reformed Carcass in 2007, reigniting the music scene and taking their sound to a new level. The band’s first album since they reunited was 2013’s SURGICAL STEEL, a solid return for a band that has become legendary.

Eight years later, the next chapter of Carcass’ story has emerged. Although the wait has been long, the brain-crisping blast of Carcass’ 2021 album TORN ARTERIES shows that the band has lost none of its original charm… er… harm. This is not ‘easy listening’, folks. Carcass’ music has always been confrontational and powerful, disarming and brutal… and that’s just their soft side! Fans have already feasted upon three of the album’s tracks – “Dance of the Ixtab (Psychopomp & Circumstance March No. 1)”, “Under the Scalpel Blade”, and “Kelly’s Meat Emporium” – and anticipation is at an all-time high for TORN ARTERIES.  The album reminds us that the band is not without a sense of humor, referencing one of the Beatles classic songs in their own song title “Eleanor Rigor Mortis”. On TORN ARTERIES, the band is technically tight yet there is still a dark and menacing atmosphere that slithers in between the notes, threatening to tear everything down to its (grind)core at a moments notice. And that is what makes Carcass still sound dangerous and not the type of folks you want to meet in the dark recesses of the Cavern Club. And isn’t that the way it should be?