UK-based Kerrang! have confirmed that British death metal legends Carcass will now headline Damnation Festival 2021 – the band’s only UK show this year – after original headliners Pig Destroyer and Wolves In The Throne Room were forced to cancel due to COVID's effect on touring plans for American bands. 

Also added to the bill to fill slots left by US artists Blood Incantation, Abigail Williams, Pallbearer, Incantation and Veil Of Pnath are a host of British talent: Evile, Winterfylleth, Party Cannon, Man Must Die, Cryptic Shift and Urne. Yorkshire metal legends Paradise Lost have also joined the bill, playing their classic 1991 Gothic album in full.

The festival takes place on November 6th at Leeds University in Leeds, England, with a warm-up night on November 5th featuring Akercocke, Orange Goblin, Raging Speedhorn and Svalbard. Go to this location for festival updates.

Carcass have released a new trailer for their upcoming seventh studio album, Torn Arteries, out September 17 via Nuclear Blast Records. In the clip, the band discuss Zbigniew Bielak's striking and grotesque rotting veggie-heart artwork.

Vocalist/bassist Jeff Walker comments on the artwork:  “It’s very clean, white, which we’ve never done before. It doesn’t look evil, or typically death metal, but I like how clean it is; almost like a coffee table book.”

Ferocious and uncompromising in their execution, Carcass’s ability to intricately dissect the innards of death metal, and display them for us to sonically understand has been their point of excellence for over three decades. In 2019 the band released their first single in over 5 years “Under The Scalpel Blade,” followed by a 4-song EP entitled Despicable (October 2020), setting a potent precedent for the full length album coming in September: Torn Arteries. With the album title itself referencing an old demo created by original drummer Ken Owen back in the 80’s, Torn Arteries sits as a bookend on the modern side of the Carcass discography, connecting directly back to where everything began over 30 years ago.  

“I think as our 7th album, it does stand out from the others both sonically and stylistically,” says Jeff Walker. “You can definitely tell that it’s Carcass; when you drop that needle on the vinyl, when you hear that guitar tone, you can tell it’s Bill Steer, but each album is always a product of its time.”

With Torn Arteries, each track stands unique from the rest in its approach to guitar, bass, vocals and drumming, along with all the finer details. Filthy and dominating guitar work creates thick layers of tone and melody, piling on top of each other like the weight of dead flesh in tracks like “Kelly’s Meat Emporium.”

“The working title for Kelly’s was originally ‘Stock Carcass,’” laughs Walker. “We knew that one was a real meat and potatoes track for the album.” Meanwhile the elevated speed and catchy beat in "Dance Of Ixtab" tell a robust and airier story, one that is certain to get a reaction from live crowds. “We built this song around the beat. We had an approach to each song that was a definite idea. It’s all about ‘what haven’t we done before?’”

Recording and production for Torn Arteries wasn’t as simple as sitting down for a few weeks and knocking it all out, but rather spread out over the course of approximately 1 year bouncing back and forth between England and Sweden. Initially, drummer Daniel Wilding did session work in Sweden at Studio Gröndahl with David Castillo while guitars were recorded at The Stationhouse with James Atkinson in Leeds, England. Eventually needing some form of residential location to finalize vocals, bass, and other guitarwork, the band headed back to studio Gröndahl in Sweden to continue work in a very relaxed atmosphere with Castillo. “There was no real big plan to do it this way, the process just organically grew on its own,” says Walker.

Most will find that the only real struggle when indulging in Torn Arteries is fighting the desire to start it over the second it finishes. It covers substantial new ground for a band with such a reputation, while still retaining that addictive, time honored Carcass sound that has come to represent the face of true death metal.

Torn Arteries is available for pre-order in a variety of bundles and formats, including CD, Box Set and limited edition vinyl pressings. Pre-order here.

Tracklisting:

"Torn Arteries"
"Dance Of IXTAB (Psychopomp & Circumstances March No. 1 In B)"
"Eleanor Rigor Mortis"
"Under The Scalpel Blade"
"The Devil Rides Out"
"Flesh Ripping Sonic Torment Limited"
"Kelly's Meat Emporium"
"In God We Trust"
"Wake Up And Smell The Carcass / Caveat Emptor"
"The Scythe's Remorseless Swing"
"Dance Of IXTAB (Psychopomp & Circumstance March No. 1 In B)" video:

"Kelly's Meat Emporium" visualizer:

"Kelly's Meat Emporium" drum playthrough video:

Lineup:

Bill Steer - Guitars
Jeff Walker - Bass/Vocals
Daniel Wilding - Drums
Tom Draper - Guitars

(Photo - Ester Segarra)