After their performance in Rockwave Festival, Greece, Jeff Walker and Bill Steer from CARCASS talked with Antonis Kondylis and Chris Karadimitris from Rocking.gr about the band's current status, the new album Surgical Steel and a few other interesting topics. Here are a few excerpts from the chat:

Rocking.gr: So far, we have listened just to one song. Can you provide us more information about the album, the lyrics, the music etc or some general information?

Walker: "It is 40 minutes long, it’s called Surgical Steel, it is a Nuclear Blast record, it has 11 tracks on the standard album, 10 tracks and an intro. One song is two minutes long, one song nearly eight minutes long and the other ones are in between. The song that leaked is not representative of the album."

Rocking.gr: Compared to your albums, which are the differences? Is it something different or is something that follows Heartwork or Swan Song for instance?

Walker: "I think it is a bit of all five. Someone, who heard it, says it is close to Heartwork. I think it is a mix of Necrotitism... and Heartwork and a bit from Swan Song. It is hard to explain. Although it is a bit of all five albums, it still sounds different."

Rocking.gr: You have not released an album since 1996. After almost 20 years, what are your expectations?

Walker: "It is either going to be fantastic or it is going to be a little drip. It is going to be a blow or it is going to be extremely disappointing."

Steer: "There are so many bands. I saw last week the sales in America and it was nothing. We take nothing for granted. For example, we saw less people here today than the last time we played…"

Rocking.gr: Why did it take you so many years to release an album? You reactivated the band in 2007.

Walker: "It was not something that we considered in 2007."

Steer: "To be honest, we were not able to, because Mike (Amott) was busy with ARCH ENEMY and he stated very clearly that he did not wish to make an album with Carcass. So, as long as the lineup was together we were just playing shows. Later as we hold it, Jeff and I talked about it to make a record. For me, I thought very mixed about doing reunion shows. So, I and Jeff realized that it is a good idea to do a new record."

Rocking.gr: You mentioned Mike. Why isn’t he in the band anymore?

Walker: "Ask him when you meet him. Ultimately, his priority is not Carcass. No matter the other bands we play in, Carcass is our priority. For Michael, it is Arch Enemy first, SPIRITUAL BEGGARS second and then it is Carcass. That’s not something we’re interested in. But, when he found out that we were writing an album and he wanted to be involved…"

Steer: "It was just really about timing… He said he wanted out on the last show we played together. He said he had enough. And then when we were doing the album he said he wanted to be back in. It’s hard to go back and forth like that. As Jeff said, it’s a commitment issue. We started this band, he came later on and he left quite early too. So, it is not the same thing with him. It is always going to be something that matters more."

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