Carcass have announced their long-awaited seventh studio album, Torn Arteries, arriving September 17th. The UK death metal pioneers also shared the brutal lead single, “Kelly’s Meat Emporium”.
The band’s obsession with all things surgical and grotesque is in full effect on the new song. The track was meant as a throwback to the band’s classic musical template. The thick slabs of guitar and filth-ridden vocals will surely trigger a pang of nostalgia for longtime fans and death-metal connoisseurs.
“The working title for Kelly’s was originally ‘Stock Carcass,’” vocalist and bassist Jeff Walker said via a press release. “We knew that one was a real meat and potatoes track for the album.”
But don’t expect Torn Arteries to simply rehash albums like Reek of Putrefaction or Symphonies of Sickness, warns Walker.
“I think as our seventh album, it does stand out from the others both sonically and stylistically,” he said. “You can definitely tell that it’s Carcass; when you drop that needle on the vinyl, when you hear that guitar tone, you can tell it’s Bill Steer, but each album is always a product of its time.”
Recording the album was a laborious process of bouncing back and forth between England and Sweden over the course of a year. Drummer Daniel Wilding did initial session work in Sweden at Studio Gröndahl with David Castillo, while guitars were recorded at The Stationhouse with James Atkinson in Leeds, England. The band finally headed into finalize vocals, bass, and other guitarwork at Gröndahl studio in Sweden with Castillo.
“There was no real big plan to do it this way, the process just organically grew on its own,” Walker said.
Also notable is the stunning artwork created by artist Zbigniew Bielak. In a charming twist on the gory medical photos that adorned early Carcass LPs, Bielak formed a human heart out of vegetables that then rotted on a white plate over time. There’s even a box set variant of Torn Arteries featuring an actual plate and silverware.
“It’s very clean, white, which we’ve never done before,” Walker said of the art, “it doesn’t look evil, or typically death metal, but I like how clean it is; almost like a coffee table book.”
Pre-order Carcass’ new album Torn Arteries via Nuclear Blast. Watch the visualizer for “Kelly’s Meat Emporium” and check out the artwork and tracklist below.
Torn Arteries Artwork:
Torn Arteries Tracklist:
01. Torn Arteries
02. Dance of Ixtab (Psychopomp & Circumstances March No. 1)
03. Eleanor Rigor Mortis
04. Under the Scalpel Blade
05. The Devil Rides Out
06. Flesh Ripping Sonic Torment Limited
07. Kelly’s Meat Emporium
08. In God We Trust
09. Wake Up and Smell the Carcass / Caveat Emptor
10. The Scythe’s Remorseless Swing
