Rewind the clocks to the closing years of the 1980s and heavy metal was about to change forever. Having enjoyed a period of widespread popularity through the hugely successful NWOBHM movement in the late 70s and early 80s, bands like VENOM, HELLHAMMER and a little band called METALLICA were taking the blueprints of traditional heavy metal and ripping up the rulebook to take heavy music to much darker and more extreme territory. And from Liverpool, England, a band named CARCASS were at the forefront of the expedition.
Having birthed the visceral Reek Of Putrefaction in 1988, despite its primitive production – something the band would later voice their displeasure to – the record had established CARCASS as an explosive name in the blossoming extreme metal scene. Being picked up by the late Radio 1 DJ John Peel certainly added stock to the band’s fledgling reputation, and intending to strike the iron whilst its hot, attention quickly turned to Reek Of Putrefaction‘s successor.
In the summer of 1989, the band bunkered down at The Slaughterhouse Studios in Great Driffield, East Yorkshire to construct their sophomore record. Initial legwork for Symphonies Of Sickness was made for the debut Peel Session earlier in the year, but like any good sequel, album two took the foundations of Reek Of Putrefaction and presented a new and improved version of the CARCASS sound.
The grindcore bedrock of their debut was there, but this time round, the band looked to feature more traditional death metal structures and longer songs. Where Reek Of Putrefaction boasted 22 songs of short and savage grindcore, Symphonies Of Sickness is more refined in its execution. More complex song structures, beefier production courtesy of Colin Richardson, and a more ?? approach to the compositions from the trio helped showcase the growth of the band’s creative spark, all the more impressive given how quickly the band took to crafting album number two.
Released in December 1989, Symphonies Of Sickness was praised by critics and fans alike and instantly reinforced the band as a vital name in extreme music. Ned Raggett of Allmusic praised the album’s depth compared to its predecessor in his four star review and cited Exhume To Consume as “an all-time CARCASS number” and Decibel‘s Greg Pratt cited the same song as a “classic death metal cut”.
But as the years passed, the impact of Symphonies Of Sickness was greater than anyone, let alone the band, first thought. Today, it is now considered a landmark release in helping to establish deathgrind with Decibel inducting the record into their Hall Of Fame in 2018 whilst Loudwire declared the record as the best goregrind record ever made. Here on our shores, the late and great Terrorizer Magazine cited in 2009 ranked Symphonies Of Sickness as number four in their list of essential European grindcore records. Accolades aside, what is even more impressive is just how influential the record has been to some of the heavy hitters in extreme music decades later after its initial release. Just take a dive into the works of EXHUMED, MISERY INDEX or CATTLE DECAPITATION and you’ll find breadcrumbs of the CARCASS DNA sprinkled throughout.
Today CARCASS remain a bonafide extreme metal heavyweight with 2013’s comeback record, Surgical Steel, and 2021’s Torn Arteries both sitting comfortably in their discography. With Symphonies Of Sickness though, the band hold a genuine gamechanger in their arsenal and the fact it still sounds as foul and venomous today as it did when it was first unleashed 35 years ago is testament to CARCASS‘ enthusiasm to push heavy music to nastier depths.
Although material from Symphonies Of Sickness are of trim pickings in the live arena as CARCASS have an extensive back catalogue to draw from, but the likes of Exhume To Consume and Reek Of Putrefaction still often receive airtime to fans’ delight. Often, these throwbacks to their second record come as the standout moments of the band’s live performances, as attested on this summer’s festival run at the likes of Bloodstock, Brutal Assault and Sweden Rock. We can only hope that we receive a full album playthrough tour in the future.
Visceral and rotten to the gore, in the winter of 1989, three young men from Liverpool pushed metal to a more much violent and gory place. Without Symphonies Of Sickness, the world of extreme music in 2024 would be incredibly different indeed.
Symphonies Of Sickness was originally released on December 4th, 1989 via Earache Records.
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