In the mid-00s, Carcass reconvened for a string of festival appearances after calling it quits in 1995.
Not only did their return send the old-school legionnaires into fits of dewy-eyed elation, but the band tapped into a new creative vision that would yield 2013’s magnificent Surgical Steel.
Whereas Carcass’s early releases conjured a sunless vortex of pure sonic density, Surgical Steel boasted bright melodic flourishes and glistening sheets of razor-sharp riffage, moving their genre identity ever deeper into the heart of Gothenburg. The unreleased bonus tracks spread across various formats of the album were consolidated into a five-track EP (2014’s Surgical Remission/Surplus Steel).
Unlike other EPs, these tracks easily stood shoulder-to-shoulder with the album, showcased in the animosity of Intensive Battery Brooding and the maleficent roar of Zochrot. Other than mashing these two into a single release, however, there’s nothing new here – no additional tracks or new production. So why is this necessary? What is the sound of one hand clapping?
