Carcass – Despicable EP

Carcass

Despicable EP

Nuclear Blast Records

Death Metal

FFO: Exhumed, General Surgery, Impaled, The County Medical Examiners

Carcass are one of the most important British metal bands of all time; they are up there with Black Sabbath, Iron Maiden and Napalm Death. The band helped define that British grindcore sound with their debut album, before pioneering out on their own, forging a legacy that would culminate in 2013’s superb ‘Surgical Steel’. Since then, the band have been relatively quiet as its members took the time to enjoy extra-curricular fruits of the labour. The good news is that Carcass are back this year with a brand-new EP ‘Despicable’.

                Some serious time may have elapsed since the band last tested the water; but the best thing about this is that it has all the hallmarks of a band which have got the ability to be able to press pause on their career and pick it up immediately where the band left off. Therefore, ‘Despicable’ is four tracks of Carcass doing what Carcass do best; guttural vocals and driving instrumentation that demonstrate the virtuosity and musicianship held within this EP. Tracks such as ‘The Living Dead at the Manchester Morgue’, ‘Under the Scalpel Blade’ and ‘Slaughtered in Soho’ have everything that any Carcass fan could ever want. However, there are only four tracks here and as good as they are; there isn’t anything that a fan of Carcass will have not really heard before and the overwhelming thought whilst listening to ‘Despicable’ is that it would be preferable to wait just a tad longer and get a full studio album from a band that are clearly firing on all cylinders.

                This is a great EP and it is fantastic to have Carcass back in your earholes; but, is there enough here to make you, the listener, part with your hard earned cash? For just four tracks? Maybe not. But what ‘Despicable’ is, is a great stop gap; it reminds us exactly what Carcass are capable of and for God’s sake, don’t let us wait so long for the next one lads.  

Adam McCann