Heartwork marks Carcass' return after the self-imposed hiatus that followed 1991's Necroticism: Descanting the Insalubrious.
It's also the pioneering grindcore outfit's breakthrough release, successfully grafting melody onto the existing muscle of Carcass' punishing antimusic.
After a blistering opening salvo, the title track decelerates into a mid-tempo guitar lead, only to shift gears into a meaty verse that suggests the New Wave of British Heavy Metal.
"Carnal Forge" and "Arbeit Macht Fleisch" are compacted with intricate, overlapping riffs that are relentless in their move forward, and yet there's still a sense of structure and melody, buried somewhere amid the carnage.
Jeff Walker's vocals are consistent in their throat-ripping fierceness throughout the record, especially on "This Is Your Life," which messes with mixing to make the track truly arresting if listened to with headphones.
While of normal album length, Heartwork nevertheless seems over too quickly, as if its bloodthirsty front end bit off its own backside.
Some purists might decry its melodic breaks for soloing or nods toward conventional structure.
But Heartwork is that rare album that so carefully dissects and reconstructs its original form that its additional body parts seem like they were there all along.
| Title/Composers | Performer | Listen | Time | Size | Size | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Buried DreamsWilliam Steer, Jeff Walker | Carcass | Play | 03:58 | 9 MB | 29 MB |
| 2 | Carnal ForgeMichael Amott, William Steer, Jeff Walker | Carcass | Play | 03:55 | 8 MB | 29 MB |
| 3 | No Love LostWilliam Steer, Jeff Walker | Carcass | Play | 03:22 | 7 MB | 25 MB |
| 4 | HeartworkMichael Amott, William Steer, Jeff Walker | Carcass | Play | 04:33 | 10 MB | 34 MB |
| 5 | EmbodimentMichael Amott, William Steer, Jeff Walker | Carcass | Play | 05:36 | 12 MB | 42 MB |
| 6 | This Mortal CoilMichael Amott, William Steer, Jeff Walker | Carcass | Play | 03:49 | 8 MB | 28 MB |
| 7 | Arbeit Macht FleischWilliam Steer, Jeff Walker | Carcass | Play | 04:21 | 9 MB | 33 MB |
| 8 | Blind Bleeding the BlindWilliam Steer, Jeff Walker | Carcass | Play | 04:57 | 11 MB | 37 MB |
| 9 | Doctrinal ExpletivesMichael Amott, William Steer, Jeff Walker | Carcass | Play | 03:39 | 8 MB | 26 MB |
| 10 | Death CertificateMichael Amott, William Steer, Jeff Walker | Carcass | Play | 03:39 | 8 MB | 27 MB |
| 41 mins | 95 MB | |||||
| 41 mins | 315 MB | |||||
| Artist | Job | |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Michael Amott | Composer |
| 2 | Keith Andrews | Audio Engineer, Engineer, Producer |
| 3 | Arnott | Guitar |
| 4 | Michael Arnott | Guitar, Member of Attributed Artist |
| 5 | Dave Buchanan | Assistant Engineer |
| 6 | Carcass | Primary Artist |
| 7 | Ken Owen | Drums, Member of Attributed Artist |
| 8 | Colin Richardson | Audio Production, Producer |
| 9 | Bill Steer | Composer |
| 10 | William Steer | Composer, Guitar, Member of Attributed Artist |
| 11 | Jeff Walker | Bass, Composer, Guitar (Bass), Member of Attributed Artist, Vocals |
| 12 | Andrea Wright | Assistant Engineer |
| Quality | Format | Encoding | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| Standard | MP3 | 320kps 44.1kHz | MP3 is an audio coding format which uses a form of lossy data compression. The highest bitrate of this format is 320kbps (kbit/s). MP3 Digital audio takes less amount of space (up to 90% reduction in size) and the quality is not as good as the original one. |
| CD Quality | FLAC | 16bit 44.1kHz | FLAC is an audio coding format which uses lossless compression. Digital audio in FLAC format has a smaller size and retains the same quality of the original Compact Disc (CD). |