Dead Rhetoric recently caught up with Carcass guitarist Bill Steer for a career-spanning interview, including their 2013 return with the Surgical Steel album and working on a follow-up record . An excerpt is available below.

Dead Rhetoric: The new album. You mentioned you started some songs with Dan a few years ago. Are you going revisit those songs? Feasibly, what’s next for the band?

Steer: "I think we’re done for touring, finally. It’s been a hell of a lot of fun, but there has to be an end to it. This isn’t the kind of music you can write on the road. When you’re doing a package tour like we often are, if you have any consideration for the bands you are playing with, you will get on and off as quickly as possible for soundcheck. We don’t tend to jam much; half the time we don’t properly soundcheck. A couple of people will check their bits and that’s it. The tunes that Dan and I worked on, I guess there’s about six in the bag. They need some refining. They always do."

Dead Rhetoric: Jeff has said he’s not in a rush, but maybe you guys are chomping at the bit.

Steer: "A little bit. We’re looking forward to a rest after this. We all feel like it would be nice to tackle a new record and just do it right. There wouldn’t be a rush. We don’t want to put something out sloppy."

Dead Rhetoric: Surgical Steel is the all-encompassing Carcass album that will be difficult to top. Where do you go from there? What’s the direction going to be?

Steer: "You’re right, it does have to be a step up from the last record. All I would say is there has to be small stylistic elements that haven’t appeared on Carcass records before. We’re going to be walking the tightrope of sounding like the band Carcass and bringing in new elements. There’s nothing valid to say if we’re going to do a retread…what’s the point? That was a very nice summary of our previous records. We updated all of the stylistic parts of those albums without trying. It just happened."

Go to this location for the complete interview.

The Best Of Carcass, a brand new compilation album, is available now from Earache Records on CD and digital formats.

Formed in 1985 in Liverpool, England, Carcass are widely regarded as pioneers of the grindcore scene and are often credited with shaping the entire death metal genre, pushing boundaries with their shocking imagery whilst evolving and innovating with each new album.

The Best Of Carcass is a must-have compilation for any die-hard Carcass fan, and also serves as a great introduction to the band for newcomers. The album features twelve tracks charting the development of the band from early grindcore recordings through to the more melodic death metal approach of their later albums.

Get The Best of Carcass now on CD in Europe here, or in North America here. The album is also available now on iTunes.

Tracklisting:

“Heartwork”
“Incarnated Solvent Abuse”
“Swarming Vulgar Mass Of Infected Virulency”
“Genital Grinder”
“Buried Dreams”
“Keep On Rotting In The Free World”
“Pedigree Butchery”
“Pyosisified (Rotten To The Gore)”
“Corporal Jigsore Quandary”
“Exhume To Consume”
“No Love Lost”
“Polarized”