Symphonies of Sickness

Symphonies of Sickness is the second album by British extreme metal band Carcass. It was released through Earache Records on 4 December 1989.

Symphonies of Sickness
The original "gore" cover artwork
Studio album by
Carcass
Released4 December 1989 (1989-12-04)
RecordedJuly – August 1989
StudioThe Slaughterhouse Studios (Great Driffield, East Yorkshire)
Genre
Length43:10
LabelEarache, Combat (US)
ProducerColin Richardson, Carcass
Carcass chronology
Reek of Putrefaction
(1988)		 Symphonies of Sickness
(1989)		 The Peel Sessions
(1989)
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
Allmusic[4]

Until 2013's Surgical Steel, this album marked the last time the band had recorded as a three-piece.

Musical style

With Symphonies of Sickness, Carcass kept the grindcore sound of Reek of Putrefaction, and added a death metal style.[2]

Reception

Ned Raggett of Allmusic gave Symphonies of Sickness a four star review praising the album's depth in comparison to its predecessor Reek of Putrefaction. Raggett singled out "Exhume to Consume" as the main highlight of Symphonies of Sickness and called it an all-time Carcass number.[4] Greg Pratt of Decibel ranked the ten tracks from Symphonies of Sickness and picked "Exhume to Consume" as the best track from the album calling it a classic death metal cut.[5]

Legacy

Symphonies of Sickness is now considered a landmark in the deathgrind sub-genre of heavy metal music. In December 2018, it became the third Carcass album to be inducted into the Decibel Hall of Fame; the first two being Necroticism - Descanting the Insalubrious and Heartwork respectively. This accolade would reward 50% of the band's full-length discography a Hall of Fame entry.[6][5] In the same year, Loudwire's Eduardo Rivadavia named Symphonies of Sickness as the best goregrind album ever made in 2018.[3] In February 2009, Symphonies of Sickness was ranked number 4 in Terrorizer's list of essential European grindcore albums.[1]

Releases

The original CD release contained 16 bonus tracks taken from the Reek of Putrefaction album. Some editions also contain "Genital Grinder II" and "Hepatic Tissue Fermentation" from the Pathological compilation. The album was reissued in 1996 with a censored outer cover proclaiming "Original artwork contained inside". It was later reissued in 2008, as part of reissuing of all of Carcass's albums to tie in with their reunion. This version included the Symphonies of Sickness demo as bonus tracks on one side of a dualdisc, while the DVD side featured the second part of an extended documentary titled The Pathologist's Report Part II: Propagation. Later editions of this reissue contain the songs on a CD and the documentary on a separate DVD. This reissue was presented in a 12-panel digipak with full lyrics and artwork.

Cover artwork variations

A limited edition (featuring the "gore" cover artwork) was once released containing 16 bonus tracks taken from the Reek of Putrefaction album. The total running time of this version is 76:58. The original "gore" cover, which was later banned and replaced by a "clean" cover, was drawings of a human similar to those found in biology books. The exact same cover was used for "Reek of Putrefaction" except with a different color scheme. In 2002/2003 the gore covers were restored.

Track listing
No.TitleLength
1."Reek of Putrefaction"4:11
2."Exhume to Consume"3:51
3."Excoriating Abdominal Emanation"4:32
4."Ruptured in Purulence"4:11
5."Empathological Necroticism"5:46
6."Embryonic Necropsy and Devourment"5:14
7."Swarming Vulgar Mass of Infected Virulency"3:11
8."Cadaveric Incubator of Endoparasites"3:24
9."Slash Dementia"3:23
10."Crepitating Bowel Erosion"5:30
2008 bonus tracks (Symphonies of Sickness demo)
No.TitleLength
11."Reek of Putrefaction"3:42
12."Slash Dementia"3:11
13."Embryonic Necropsy and Devourment"4:51
14."Cadaveric Incubator of Endoparasites"3:19
15."Ruptured in Purulence"3:48
16."Crepitating Bowel Erosion"5:15
Total length:63:28

Personnel

Charts
Chart (1989) Peak
position
UK Indie Chart[7] 16

References
  1. Badin, Olivier (2009). "Essential Albums|Europe". Terrorizer Magazine (180): 54.
  2. J. Purcell, Natalie (5 May 2003). McFarland (ed.). Death Metal Music: The Passion and Politics of a Subculture. pp. 21–22. ISBN 0-7864-1585-1. Retrieved 18 December 2011. Carcass' debut album Reek of Putrefaction is said to have spurred the British Grindcore with its precise riffs and outrageous guitar solos. [...] Carcass' following album, Symphonies of Sickness, featured slower and catchier songs, and showed the band's movement into the Death Metal genre.
  3. "THE BEST METAL ALBUMS FROM 40 SUBGENRES". Loudwire. Retrieved 15 January 2018.
  4. Raggett, Ned. "Symphonies of Sickness - Carcass". Allmusic. Retrieved 16 October 2011.
  5. Pratt, Greg. "Hall of Fame Countdown: Carcass' "Symphonies of Sickness"". Decibel. Retrieved 16 March 2019.
  6. Dick, Chris. "Carcass - "Decibel"". Decibel. Retrieved 6 February 2019.
  7. Lazell, Barry (1997). Indie Hits 1980-1989. Cherry Red Books. Archived from the original on 5 June 2011. Retrieved 5 September 2014.
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