Customer Reviews

Symphonies of Sickness

5 star:		(19)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

There are very few bands that can can create the unified chaos and fury that Carcass can. "Symphonies of Sickness" creates such precise melodies and frantic beats it is impossible to stray from. The lead singer has a voice that rivals Barry White in it's baritone and Luciano Pavarotti in it's distinct flamboyance.This is one hell of a record.

This album is brutally awesome. The vox are sick (both sets, Steer and Walker) and the riffs absolutely rule. Thaty are very interesting and not at all monotonous. This album also has pretty good atmosphere at some times-- odd for being grindcore (though this was early grind).

When this came out 20 yrs ago or so I can remember Metal Forces (now Terrorizer zine) giving this album a 30 out of 100. The reviewer called this garbage, not talent and an embarrasment. Why the zine would have someone review the album who was not a death metal fan is beyond me. Anyway this was a step up from the primitive Reek of Putrefaction album and saw the band still creating some amazing gore/grind w/more death metal influences in the songs. This is my fave Carcass cd, super brutal, but so catchy. Whether it's exhume to consume, ruptured in purulence-they all rule, even to this day. Great remaster, making the songs sound clearer and heavier, as well as louder!!. Amazing packaging. The demo songs from the album are of poor quality, but a good insight into the development of the songs. Saw them on this tour open for death, carcass ruled, opened w/genital grinder-and then bursted into exhume to consume.

In my humble opinion,this is the bands best album to date.Its fast and brutal,but not as raw as the reek album.The production is much better this time around and the songs are really good.The vocals are much better and easier to decipher.The guitar work really displays their skills as musicians.I would recommend this cd to any carcass fan.These guys will be deeply missed.CARCASS RULES!!!

Carcass is one of my favorite bands. They managed to create one of the most sickning, extremely brutal music out there, goregrind. Using doctor terms, extremely sludgy (heavy) grind riffs, constant blast-beats, dual puked vocals makes this more extreme than anything Cannibal Corpse ever did. With this album and Reek of Putrefaction, they spawned a lot other goregrind bands such as: Regurgitate, Exhumed, Pig Destroyer, Impaled, and many of others. So if you are wanting music at its most extreme, purchase Symphonies of Sickness and Reek of Putrefaction.

Ok, so you survived the 'Reek Of Putrefaction' album....and still want more, then this is for you. Incredible riffs all over the place! Bill Steer did the right thing dedicating all of his efforts to Carcass instead of keeping it as his side project. You can't understand a anything they're saying? Mmh.....SO WHAT! If this music makes you bang your head, and make you feel like jumping into the pit, it does not make any difference whether they are singing about opening up cadavers or explaining how to prepare dinner (But, apparently, they somehow manage to do both at the same time). This is FAST...very fast, and extremely heavy music. If you still think that James Hetfield is the heaviest singer out there...oh, you are dead (hehehe) wrong.

If you were a latecomer to Carcass, and think Heartwork was their crowning glory, then steer well clear of this. It will rip your face off, semi-digest and regurgitate the pieces, and then reassemble them in an unrecognisable mess. And a mess this is, on the first listen. However, you will be drawn back to this album again and again out of sheer morbid curiosity, similar to rubbernecking at a serious motor accident. Later listens show beneath the white noise, Carcass created some incredibly catchy riffs. The gargled vocals are sublime- instantly recognisable and incoherent at the same time. And the lyrics? They are not for the weak stomached, as the graphic and detailed descriptions of all things sick and depraved, and downright unspeakable will have you wretching. A symphony of sickness, pure and simple.

carcass has never failed to put out great ear numbing metal! this is by far the best(yet most underrated) carcass release. it has everything a metal fan would desire out of a grindcore album. get this, it wont dissappoint!

This CD continues with the gore and forensic stuff(lyrics and collage cover) like the first album. The only dfferences are that this album sounds a bit better than "Reek..." and instead of 22 songs, you have 10 well-structured songs. You can find classics like "Reek of putrefaction"(the song) and "Exhume to consume". "Symphonies..." it's more tolerable and "listenable" than "Reek..." (the album). This is the second effort of Carcass' legacy. The beginning of what would be later a perfect death-metal machine.

_Symphonies of Sickness_ is classic grind and the best Carcass album in the grand scheme of things. It belongs up in the hierarchy of Napalm Death's first two albums. Here, Carcass does not have Napalm Death's unmatched, raw gutsy power (it's probably 'tamer' than _Reek of Putrefaction_, though still guttural and bloody), but they bring an element of finesse to the sound. It's complex, has really weird guitar solos, and sometimes is even brutally groovy, but it never forgets that it's a grind album. And the riff mastery is evident here as always, just listen to the sick, stomach-churning heaviness of that death-groove on "Raptured in Purulence" or parts of "Embryonic Necropsy and Devourment". And of course, the classic & hilarious medical textbook lyrics. Some examples: "The trunk now depleting gristle, with bactericidal decay | This discissed disarticulation I bludgeon as I ablate" and "Miasmic fungus infests the small intestine | Vitriolic juices burn through the stomach wall | Bursting carcinosis as chylase melts your guts | Crepitating neoplasm erupts with gore." Of course, you'll have to read the lyrics. Jeff Walker's vocals go from beastly, brutal growls to This is an utterly great metal album. Oh my, this album is good. Highly recommended if you like this sort of thing or if you want to check out grindcore.