Heartwork
Heartwork | ||||
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![]() Cover art by H. R. Giger[1] | ||||
Studio album by Carcass | ||||
Released | 18 October 1993 (1993-10-18) (Europe) 11 January 1994 (1994-01-11) (US) | |||
Recorded | 18 May 1993 (1993-05-18) – 21 June 1993 (1993-06-21) | |||
Studio | Parr Street Studios | |||
Genre | Melodic death metal[2] | |||
Length | 41:55 | |||
Label |
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Producer | Colin Richardson | |||
Carcass chronology | ||||
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Singles from Heartwork | ||||
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Heartwork is the fourth studio album by English extreme metal band Carcass. The album was released in the UK by Earache Records on 18 October 1993,[4] and in the United States on 11 January 1994 by Columbia Records, making it the band's only major label release.[8] Heartwork has been described as the band's "breakthrough" and "mid-period masterpiece", as well as a landmark album in melodic death metal.[9][10] The album was recorded at Parr Street Studios, Liverpool from 18 May – 21 June 1993.
The sculpture depicted in the cover art, "Life Support 1993," was designed by H. R. Giger,[1] and is an update of a sculpture he created in the late 1960s. The video for the title track features a real-life interpretation of the sculpture, including a human welded as a part of it.[original research?] The album was reissued as a Dualdisc on 2 June 2008.
Until 2021's Torn Arteries, this was the only Carcass album to have the same lineup as the previous album. Guitarist Michael Amott left the band after the recording of the album before founding Spiritual Beggars, and was temporarily replaced by Mike Hickey. In The Pathologist's Report, Bill Steer says Heartwork is his favourite Carcass album.[11]
Release
Heartwork sold at least 81,000 units.[12] It spawned one single under the same name that featured the title track and non-album tracks "This is Your Life" and "Rot 'n' Roll".[7]
2008 reissue
The album was re-released in 2008 as part of an ongoing series of Carcass reissues to tie in with their reunion. The main album is presented as one side of a Dualdisc, while the DVD side features the fourth part of an extended interview/documentary titled The Pathologist's Report Part IV: Epidemic. Also included in the reissue is a bonus disc including the entire album in demo form, something recorded by the band before recording the actual album in an effort to be better prepared. The demo features the same 10 songs in a slightly different order. Later editions have the DVD on a separate disc, bringing the total to 3 discs. The album is presented in a 12-panel digipak with full lyrics and artwork.
Critical reception
Review scores | |
---|---|
Source | Rating |
AllMusic | ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() |
Collector's Guide to Heavy Metal | 8/10[13] |
Entertainment Weekly | C+[14] |
Los Angeles Times | ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() |
Metal Rules | 5/5[16] |
Q | ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() |
Rock Hard | 9.0/10[18] |
Rolling Stone | ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() |
Heartwork is widely considered to be one of the greatest death metal albums of all time. In an October 2007 interview, Evile frontman Matt Drake described Heartwork as "just one of the best albums ever."[20] Hank Schteamer of Pitchfork described Heartwork as Carcass's "mid-period masterpiece," and praised the album as being "perhaps the greatest example to date of an extreme-metal band nodding to the polish and swagger of above-ground rock while retaining their core ferocity."[9] Johnny Loftus called the album the band's "breakthrough release" on AllMusic, and suggested that while "some purists might decry its melodic breaks for soloing or nods toward conventional structure[,] 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."[10]
In May 2013, Heartwork was inducted into the Decibel Magazine Hall of Fame, becoming the 100th overall inductee and second Carcass album to be featured in the Decibel Hall of Fame, right after Necroticism.[21]
In 2017, Rolling Stone ranked Heartwork as 51st on their list of 'The 100 Greatest Metal Albums of All Time.'[22]
Legacy
The band Carnal Forge named themselves after the song of the same name from this album.[23]
Track listing
All lyrics are written by Jeff Walker
No. | Title | Music | Length |
---|---|---|---|
1. | "Buried Dreams" | Bill Steer | 3:58 |
2. | "Carnal Forge" |
| 3:54 |
3. | "No Love Lost" | Bill Steer | 3:22 |
4. | "Heartwork" |
| 4:33 |
5. | "Embodiment" |
| 5:36 |
6. | "This Mortal Coil" |
| 3:49 |
7. | "Arbeit macht Fleisch" | Bill Steer | 4:21 |
8. | "Blind Bleeding the Blind" | Bill Steer | 4:57 |
9. | "Doctrinal Expletives" |
| 3:39 |
10. | "Death Certificate" |
| 3:38 |
Total length: | 41:55 |
Personnel
Carcass
- Jeff Walker – vocals, bass
- Michael Amott – guitar
- Bill Steer – guitar [a]
- Ken Owen – drums
- ^ Bill Steer played all rhythm guitars on this album
Additional personnel
- Keith Andrews – engineering
- Dave Buchanan – assistant engineering
- Colin Richardson – production
- Andrea Wright – assistant engineering
- H. R. Giger – front album sculpture
- Jurg Kümmer – photo
- Andrew Tuohy – design
References
- ^ a b Giger, H. R. "Album Covers". HRgiger.com. Retrieved 25 March 2016.
- ^ Bowar, Chad. "Carcass". About.com. Archived from the original on 7 July 2011. Retrieved 27 February 2011.
- ^ "Carcass – Heartwork – Reviews – Encyclopaedia Metallum: The Metal Archives".
- ^ a b "Carcass – Heartwork (1993, CD)". Discogs. Retrieved 4 November 2020.
- ^ "Carcass – Heartwork – Encyclopaedia Metallum: The Metal Archives".
- ^ "Carcass – Heartwork – Encyclopaedia Metallum: The Metal Archives".
- ^ a b "Carcass 'Heartwork E.P.'". Earache.com. Nottingham. Archived from the original on 18 December 2016. Retrieved 31 January 2015.
- ^ "Carcass – Heartwork (1994, CD)". Discogs. Retrieved 4 November 2020.
- ^ a b Schteamer, Hank (11 September 2013). "Carcass: Surgical Steel". Pitchfork. Retrieved 30 March 2014.
- ^ a b c Loftus, Johnny. "Heartwork – Carcass". AllMusic. Retrieved 30 March 2014.
- ^ Archived at Ghostarchive and the Wayback Machine: "The Pathologist's Report Part 4" – via YouTube.
- ^ Dick, Chris (2 May 2013). "Carcass 'Heartwork'". Decibel. Philadelphia: Red Flag Media. Retrieved 19 November 2017.
- ^ Popoff, Martin (2007). The Collector's Guide to Heavy Metal: Volume 3: The Nineties. Burlington, Ontario, Canada: Collector's Guide Publishing. p. 72. ISBN 978-1-894959-62-9.
- ^ Sinclair, Tom (14 January 1994). "Heartwork: Music Review:Entertainment Weekly". Entertainment Weekly. Archived from the original on 3 October 2009. Retrieved 23 August 2009.
- ^ Turman, Katherine (24 April 1994). "** Carcass, "Heartwork," Earache/Columbia". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 29 December 2023.
- ^ The Punishment Due (July 2002). "Carcass - Heartwork". Metal Rules. Retrieved 4 June 2024.
- ^ Q Magazine. January 1994. p.90.
- ^ Kühnemund, Götz. "Rock Hard review". Retrieved 25 March 2016.
- ^ Darzin, Daina (5 May 1994). "Metal Thunder". Rolling Stone. No. 681. p. 52.
- ^ Morgan, Anthony (October 2007). "'Armoured Assault' – Evile frontman Matt Drake hails gargantuan Thrash masterpiece Enter the Grave". Lucem Fero. Archived from the original on 12 April 2008. Retrieved 3 May 2008.
- ^ Dick, Chris (2 May 2013). "Carcass – "Heartwork"". Decibel. Retrieved 11 May 2018.
- ^ "Rolling Stone Share Their Choices for 'The 100 Greatest Metal Albums of All Time'". 21 June 2017.
- ^ York, William. "The More You Suffer – Carnal Forge". AllMusic. Retrieved 18 December 2011.
- v
- t
- e
- Bill Steer
- Jeffrey Walker
- Daniel Wilding
- Tom Draper
- Ben Ash
- Michael Amott
- Daniel Erlandsson
- Ken Owen
- Mike Hickey
- Carlo Regadas
- Sanjiv
- Reek of Putrefaction
- Symphonies of Sickness
- Necroticism – Descanting the Insalubrious
- Heartwork
- Swansong
- Surgical Steel
- Torn Arteries
- The Peel Sessions
- Tools of the Trade
- The Heartwork EP
- Surgical Remission/Surplus Steel
- Despicable
- Wake Up and Smell the... Carcass
- Choice Cuts
- Discography
- Brujería
- Blackstar
- Arch Enemy
- Firebird
- Spiritual Beggars
- Welcome to Carcass Cuntry