I’ve been a hard rock/metal fan for as long as I can remember, starting with KISS, Van Halen, and AC/DC all the way up through Judas Priest and Iron Maiden and even branching into thrash metal with the Metallicas, Anthrax, Testaments, and Megadeths of the world.  But it took the longest time to get into stuff that was even more extreme, mostly due to the propensity for too much growling or “cookie monster” vocals that were part of the scene.  I didn’t quite get it or start to appreciate it until I heard the song “Heartwork” from Carcass back in the mid nineties or so.  Musically it was totally up my alley; lots of great guitar work and musicianship but as for the vocals…  uhhh….  huh?  what’s he “singing”?

Kick ahead a few more years and I find a copy of their final (at the time) release Swansong.  The songs were a little more straight ahead metal; not as intricate and certainly the lyrics were much, much different from the past (less medical textbook and more clever with the pun), but somehow I was starting to get those vocals.  Jeff Walker’s style is certainly not for the faint of heart and if you are looking for melody you ain’t gonna get it.  But there is a flow to the grunt and growl where it’s not just a tuneless straight ahead bark; it’s more of a menacing display of intensity as he spits out venomous lyric after lyric.  Think a more pissed off Gollum from Lord Of The Rings as he searches for the ring and you’ll finally be “YEAH!”

At any rate, I finally picked up the Heartwork CD and it started to come to me even more.  Musically it was just ripping; the grooves and melodic spots in the guitar work balanced along with the heavy drumming was really coming together with those vocals.  But it really wasn’t until 2012’s comeback album Surgical Steel that I was finally hooked with the main reason being the mighty wrecking ball of a track in “Unfit For Human Consumption”.  Starting off with a nasty descending riff, the song kicks in with a galloping, chugging riff before Jeff Walker’s menacing sneer takes over and grabs you by the throat as he is accompanied by some unhinged background growls while he spits out a modern day horror story.  But the song is just getting started:  come chorus time a totally different but just as killer spinning, descending riff is thrown in as Walker ups the intensity before we go back to the verse.  And just when you are ready for a breath the song kicks into second gear with some fiery riffing and killer solo from Bill Steer and an intense blast beat section from drummer Daniel Wilding before returning to one more lunatic ride through a final verse before eventually coming to a close.

If you want to branch out from the hard rock\heavy metal world and dip your toe into some more extreme metal, this song will certainly set your hair on fire via its manic panic.  And check out the hysterically crazy video that shows a bit of the humorous side of the band.  While you’re at it, check out some of the other great cuts on Surgical Steel!