Released on 18th of october 1993, Heartwork by Carcass showed a major turning point for the band. Their prevoious album "Necroticism – Descanting the Insalubrious" (try saying that one in a first try!) had alredy began shifting to a death metal style and departing from the grind/goregrind style they showed in their previouus works. This album however fully shifted to a melodic death metal style, being a landmark in the genre. Lets talk about it!
The band began writing the songs for Heartwork while on the tour for their previous album. Jeff Walker recalled, "I suppose what we were really doing was going for shorter songs. We were beginning to write songs that were less wandering. Not that we weren’t capable of being complex or technical — something like ‘Arbeit Macht Fleisch’ proved that to be the case." The album was recorded at Parr Street Studios between May 18th - June 21st, 1993.
The cover art depicts a weird... thing consisting of a peace symbol with a bone like end at the top, almost like a neck. In front of it is a pair of outstretched arms with a spine-like appearance. Who could come up with such a thing? Well, legendary sculptor H.R. Giger could! Giger is best known for creating the xenomorph for Alien, but he also made artwork for many bands such as Celtic Frost, Danzig, Catacomb and the microphone stand for Jonathan Davis from Korn. What do i think the sculpture is? Personally i think its how peace cant truly be achived withouth bloodshed, at least with the state of humanity. Thats why its made of bone
Heartwork consists of 10 songs, nearly making it to 42 minutes in lenght. Two music videos were made, one for the song No love lost and one for the title track. The lyrics are about many themes. Unlike the bands earlier work theres not as many songs about gore and killing. Buried Dreams is about how the world screws you over and buries your dreams, making people resort to hate. The title track is about people who make works of art, be it music, movies, etc and how its often the darkest part of their soul and how they're used as a "canvas to degenerate". "Embodiment", meanwhile, offers a criticism of organized religion, particularly Christianity
Just as the genre gives on, this album has a strong sense of melody. The guitar work from Bill Steer and Michael Amott is undoubtedly the album's greatest strength. I would say the riffs are both enjoyable to listen to and technically impressive. There are many times where the songs go into an instrumental phase that simply takes over you. The songs are very catchy, with the intro riff on Buried Dreams and the guitars on Heartwork being especially that. The drumming is nice. With that being said there are still some brutal sections that show the bands roots. I would describe the sound as ahead of its time with the clean production. Jeff Walkers vocals are screechy and venemous, something i think really fits the album
After listening to this album more than once its easy to see why its considered a stepping point in melodeath. It showed many that metal could embrace melodies while staying intense. Alongisde Slaughter of the soul, Follow the reaper and Jester race i consider it one of the best melodeath albums of all time and a refining piece of 90s metal
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