Carcass – Captive Bolt Pistol (2013)
A long and well received career lies behind the Carcass we all know. Formed in 1985, this band have continually produced excellent grindcore metal and have never strayed far from their sound and beliefs. Championed by DJ royalty John Peel (he named their first album Reek of Putrefaction his favourite album of 1988, and they performed their first Peel Session in 1989) and being credited as one of the first grindcore bands, these guys know what it is to be metal. Jeff Walker (Bass, vocals) Bill Steer (Guitars, vocals), Ben Ash (Guitar) and Dan Wilding (Drums) make up the roster, with Steer being one of the co-founders of the band. They are signed to perennial metal label Nuclear Blast, and have the talents of Andy Sneap (Machine Head, Opeth, Kreator, to name a few) on mix & master duties.
‘Captive Bolt Pistol’ appears on their upcoming sixth LP Surgical Steel, due for release 16th September 2013 in the UK. It is a slab of melodic riffs and blast beat drums, no less, and is difficult not to instantly dig it. A slow surge of power chords greets us and opens up into the mosh-ready shredded verse. The band have often been cited as a precursor and progeny of Melodic Death Metal, which isn’t hard to pick up on with the guitar work. Usually (but not always), within (but not always confined to) the musical world of extreme metal, the guitar is often busy creating a sonic wall of distortion and disharmonic licks and wailing swept guitar solos designed to incite and ignite a ferocious pit the likes of which has never been moshed before. Sure, this track has that ability to spark up a rabid flail of limbs, but left alone and with time to listen, the guitar work has some eloquent passages of melodic shred and impressive solo work. The trill picked chorus delivers blasted kick drums and angered vocals, and a great solo passage follows the second chorus, leading into a harmonic sweeping bridge of guitaring. A solid slab of melodic metal, a thoroughly enjoyable track.
The track is currently available to download for free via the Nuclear Blast website (www.nuclearblast.de) and is available for streaming through various methods. This one is most definitely worth a listen if you like your metal fast and intricate without skimping on musicianship. A welcome return from Carcass, and if you aren’t aware of their previous works, why are you still reading this? Go buy Reek of Putrefaction and look forward to Surgical Steel like the rest of us!
