Yea, it is. You'll most likely find that the rest of the album has filler, but still some killer riffs. Rather mechanical riffage for the most part though. Not like Necrophagist mechanical, but not very free in structure.

I never was much of a goregrind fan, and because of that I probably can't appreciate pre-Heartwork as it should be appreciated, but I really, really enjoy Carcass' later material.

Perhaps they are a bit formulaic, but both Heartwork and Swansong are, in my opinion, damn good albums, with Heartwork being the better of the two.

Sure, but Heartwork's approach was basically combining the DT sound with some of Entombed's more rockish moments. I actually don't disagree with you on it not being generic though (although I can see how people may think that now that the sound is so popular), but not particularly innovative either.

What?! I can't really see Heartwork being influenced in any way by Dark Tranquillity, directly or indirectly. Also, Skydancer was only two months earlier. And the approaches are so different that comparing them is practically absurd. Just look at songs like "A Bolt of Blazing Gold", "Crimson Winds", or "Through Ebony Archways" (Dark Tranquillity) versus "No Love Lost", "Death Certificate", or "Arbeit macht Fleisch" (Carcass). They're worlds apart. Entombed is a little more reasonable, but consider that one of Carcass's songwriters at this point is Mike Amott, who was doing Carnage right alongside Entombed's first album. And Entombed wouldn't really go fully "rockish" until Wolverine Blues, which postdates Heartwork. Though signs are there on Clandestine.

The thing is that I do like a lot a grind stuff (Repulsion, Brutal Truth, ect.), but I can't stand the production on Reek. Even the riffs that I can make out of all of the mess, don't even sound all that good.

I much agree that it should be judged not by the history of Carcass, but by the content of the album.
It does seem to be hard for me to not compare it to their other albums. I compare it to Necroticism and I"m like, oh this sucks. Then I compare it to Reek Of Putrefaction, and I'm like, oh this is the best thing in the world.

I agree. Every single one of their albums were different from each other. They changed their sound with each release. Reek... was straight-up grindcore, Symphonies... was a cross between grindcore and death metal, Necroticism... was a pure death metal album, Heartwork was when they became more of a melodic death metal band and Swansong was where they attempted to break into the mainstream by incorporating rock elements into the already melodic and accessible sound they achieved with Heartwork.

Some of the lead sections and more melodic tremolos sound slightly DT influenced. Example: :30 to :51 of the title track. That kind of delicate, flowing consonance is quite reminiscent of Skydancer/Gallery era DT, I think. Admittedly, they are not that DT-influenced. Although, I will maintain that the album is more or less a more melodic and more rockish extension of Clandestine. With some of the emerging Gothenburg sound thrown in there.

Again, I don't wholly disagree with you on the matter. I'm treading a middle-ground here.

boooom!!
don't you think he probably knew what was happening in his native land sweden and borrowed some ideas here and there from the massive upcoming "melo" scene???
yes skydancer and heartwork are separated by a couple of months only but there were handful of swedish bands experimenting that kinda sound earlier

It has one of the worst songs in Carcass history on it... No Love Lost...

But because of songs like Heartwork, Death Certificate & This Mortal coil I can't see collection without it. Simply a great album. Important as well i.m.o.!

Melodeath.... stupid term by the way if you think about it. Sounds so....brrrr

While I'm not a huge fan of Carcass in the first place (Flesh Ripping Sonic Torment being my favourite work by them, followed by Symphonies of Sickness), Heartwork truly is a terrible album. I was actually introduced in full by my mate who's quite a melodeath junkie. Even he hated it. The title track (or was that No Love Lost, I can't remember...) is one of the most abhorrent things that side of death metal.

I don't like it really. But then again I don't like any pre-Heartwork Carcass much either. Swansong is the only one I listen to for some reason, although I think that one is hated more than Heartwork by most people

I love it, both Heartwork and Necroticism are their best albums. I can't decide which one I like more, but I don't much care for their earlier stuff and I admit I am not a grindcore fan. I think Swansong is completely lacking in musical direction and the band didn't even record the album together in the studio, so I don't relate it to Heartwork.

Actually, I don't think Heartwork is that different musically from Necroticism, just the lyrical content is different.

Yeah, but he was a pioneer of the Swedish sound in his own right. That's why I brought him up.

The Gothenburg sound was underway in 1993 but those bands were largely unknown at the time, whereas Carcass broke BIG in 93'. They were influential because they were huge, and establshed the 'melodeath' sound more than any other band.

Skydancer wasn't very well known, and the first In Flames LP wasn't out yet.

Also, DEATH were going 'melodic' by then, and were already way more popular that everybody else. They were creating a much greater impact than In Flames in 1995 with Symbolic, etc...

If you also remember, Mike had just come straight out of Carnage, a pioneer of the Swedish Death metal scene AND Carcass toured with Death during Human and Necroticism had come out, with both bands growing close to each other as well. So one had to influence the other...

I never loved grind so much and Heartwork is my faourite album by Carcass. However, I take this occasion to say that in my opinion the very first melodic death album was The Fourth Dimension by Hypocrisy...

I may have drunk heaps of scotch tonight, but i think it's fair to say that Carcass did a lot of different sounding stuff and that it was all pretty decent. Some better than other obviously. How many bands have changed style so often and had the same results?

I don't really care if it's a ripoff of this or a ripoff of that, or if it was one of the first death 'n' roll albums, melodeath albums, or the latest to hop on the bandwagon, Heartwork is a fucking boring album. Their riff style totally lacks character, which is I think why terms like "generic" or "sterile" get thrown around, and this is exacerbated by the fact that they don't have very many riffs per song (usually four). Also, the filthy feel and feral aggression of earlier albums is just gone - instead we've got songs that feel lifeless in comparison. "No Love Lost" for example is just "there", with the incredibly boring and simplistic under-verse riff trading off with the groovy main riff. Death 'n' roll in general just sucks.

whats with all the Reek hate?

Metal fans are notoriously close-minded.

Metalhead hears Reek of Putrefaction.
Thinks it's shit.
Never picks it up again.

What's the rationale for picking it up again? He didn't like it, so why should he?

Not that I agree with that logic, but this is how a lot of people function. And the more unaccessible something is, the more likely that person is to never even think of doing it.

I wouldn't put it exactly that way, because when I got into Carcass I was more into punk than anything else, some metal too I suppose, and I still couldn't get into the early Carcass.

i haven't even heard any of the Carcass songs yet but i agree that you shouldn't judge a Melodeath album like a Grindcore album and a Grindcore album like a Melodeath album.

Heartwork made it possible that truly revolutionary and innovative artists like Arch Enemy and Children Of Bodom a possiblily. Whoever knew that releasing a so-so hard rock album and throwing in some death metal elements in the mix would establish a genre?

Heartwork cures insomnia. Nuff said.

I'm not sure where Carcass drew their ideas for Heartwork. Maybe it was the combination of Amott's experience of the early Swedish death metal combined with the English, but it's clear that it wasn't the Gothenburg sound, but Stockholm instead. Gothenburg at that time was much closer to the quirky Skydancer rather than anything resembling Heartwork. It's quite evident that Heartwork influenced later gothenburg. The riffing on Jester Race is pretty much lifted from that album.

Wait....you're serious about all that?

Honestly, I swear all your posts consist of you talking about stuff that you haven't heard. Why do you do it? Don't post for the sake of posting - absolutely pointless. I'm beginning to think that you're either incredibly dumb or a troll.



Read again, obZen. The sarcasm is quite obvious.

I have read it again. Nothing there indicates that it was necessarily sarcastic. I've seen people on forums and real life alike that have said dumber things in all honesty. Obviously, you can't tell as well on forums. Especially since the guy has 9 posts.

C'mon. Apply common sense. Would you regard Arch Enemy and Children of Bodom as "revolutionary"? Also, "Heartwork cures insomnia". Obvious, no? I'll let you digest that one for a few minutes.

...Aren't you a fucking twat?

I was saying that I have MET people who have said dumber things and are serious. Sarcasm isn't obvious in real life all the time. And especially, it isn't obvious on the internet. So why should I discard the sentiment that perhaps the guy is serious?

It's like somewhere in my comment I said that I think Arch Enemy is revolutionary.

Allow me to spare you further headache by rescuing you from these primitives, obZen.

I always thought Heartwork was a great album and im not even a fan of melodeath

I'm surprised by the negative opinions expressed in this thread, actually. I've generally heard people praising the shit out of Heartwork, even those who prefer the band's early era. I guess you learn something new every day

Personally I have a lukewarm opinion on the album. It has some fairly good moments, but for the most part it's pretty dry. It's extremely formulaic and at times, fairly anti-climactic. I can pick out a few good songs, but I much prefer the early grind albums. Whether I judge it by traditional death metal or melodeath standards, the album is just a little too predictable to be considered a genre staple, which is what many hail it as. I think Death's early 90s albums were much more entertaining to listen to, and at least equally as influential.

I love that album. I love it to the max.

'93???
Well, Carcass already broke bloody big end '91, and when touring Necroticism in '92 together with Entombed and more. Heartwork only consolidated.
If retrospectively Heartwork is considered more groundbreaking or influental, I couldn't really care. Carcass were already 'big'

I like No Love Lost. That's how much I like Heartwork. Really, I love that album.

I have nothing against Heartwork. There was no way in hell they could have improved after Necroticism, which in my opinion is a work of pure genius- those songs are true symphonies of sickness. The only path from there was something simpler and more basic. Heartwork's got some pretty good songs and overall is entirely listenable.

I like No Love Lost as well, although I understand how some could hate it.

My pick for worst track on Heartwork is Embodiment. It just seems to drag on forever.

--Yeah, BAD, BAD, BAD METALHEAD. Putting down an album that you didn't like. You are so close-minded!

You're right, a lot of people function like this. It's called taste. People have varied tastes. Why should people listen to something they don't like? Because you say so? I don't see how you can't agree with that logic.