Swansong
Encyclopedia
Swansong is the final studio album
by the British
extreme metal
band Carcass
. It was released on June 10, 1996 in the UK by Earache Records
. It is the only album to feature guitarist Carlo Regadas. This album was intended to be their major label debut, having been signed by Columbia Records
following the success of Heartwork
, but disputes with that record company caused them to return to Earache. The album was re-released on July 21, 2008, as a dualdisc
featuring the fifth part of The Pathologist's Report, as well as a set of stickers in a digipak
and a bonus track.
The band had always shown a sense of humour in their song titles, and Swansong illustrated this with titles such as "Keep on Rotting in the Free World" and "Generation Hexed".
A limited edition of this album was released as a brain-shaped CD
, with a bonus 2-track CD Somnus Pecunia Cibus. The reason for the bonus disc was to include "Go to Hell", which wouldn't fit on the brain shaped CD, due to the cutting required for the brain shape. This delayed the release of the disc by a week, so an extra track, "Emotional Flatline" was included as an apology for the delay.
The disc art is the "Unfinished Pyramid et al." from the Great Seal of the United States
, but it reads "carcass" instead of "annuit coeptis", "somnus pecunia cibus" instead of "novus ordo seclorum" and "MCMXCV" instead of "MDCCLXXVI".
version of the album was released, with full artwork and lyrics as well as a limited edition sticker sheet with classic Carcass motifs. The reissue also features the previously Japanese-only bonus track "Death Rider Da", as well as the fifth and final part of the extensive interview The Pathologist's Report on a dualdisc
. Later editions contain the album on a CD and the documentary on a separate DVD, and do not include the sticker sheet.
Studio album
A studio album is an album made up of tracks recorded in the controlled environment of a recording studio. A studio album contains newly written and recorded or previously unreleased or remixed material, distinguishing itself from a compilation or reissue album of previously recorded material, or...
by the British
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
extreme metal
Extreme metal
Extreme metal is a loosely defined umbrella term for a number of related heavy metal music subgenres that have developed since the early 1980s. The term usually refers to a more abrasive, harsher, underground, non-commercialized style or sound nearly always associated with genres like black metal,...
band Carcass
Carcass (band)
Carcass are an extreme metal band from England, who formed in 1985 and disbanded in 1995. A reunion was enacted in 2008 without one of its original members, drummer Ken Owen, due to health reasons....
. It was released on June 10, 1996 in the UK by Earache Records
Earache Records
Earache Records is a heavy metal-oriented record label based in Nottingham, UK and New York, USA. It helped to pioneer extreme metal by releasing many of the earliest grindcore and death metal records in the period 1988-1994.-History:...
. It is the only album to feature guitarist Carlo Regadas. This album was intended to be their major label debut, having been signed by Columbia Records
Columbia Records
Columbia Records is an American record label, owned by Japan's Sony Music Entertainment, operating under the Columbia Music Group with Aware Records. It was founded in 1888, evolving from an earlier enterprise, the American Graphophone Company — successor to the Volta Graphophone Company...
following the success of Heartwork
Heartwork
Heartwork is the fourth album by metal band Carcass, released through Earache Records in 1993. The album was recorded at Parr Street Studios, Liverpool between May 18 and June 21, 1993....
, but disputes with that record company caused them to return to Earache. The album was re-released on July 21, 2008, as a dualdisc
DualDisc
DualDisc was a type of double-sided optical disc product developed by a group of record companies including EMI Music, Universal Music Group, Sony/BMG Music Entertainment, Warner Music Group, and 5.1 Entertainment Group and later under the aegis of the Recording Industry Association of America...
featuring the fifth part of The Pathologist's Report, as well as a set of stickers in a digipak
Digipak
Digipak is a patented style of CD, DVD or BD packaging, and is a registered trademark of AGI World Ltd., an Atlas Holdings company.-Features:...
and a bonus track.
Background
Swansong continued the progression towards a more melodic style (beginning with Heartwork). It was not received well by all fans. However, the album gained Carcass many new fans, reaching No. 46 on Billboard's Heatseakers chart. In The Pathologist's Report, drummer Ken Owen states that he considers Swansong the ultimate Carcass album.The band had always shown a sense of humour in their song titles, and Swansong illustrated this with titles such as "Keep on Rotting in the Free World" and "Generation Hexed".
A limited edition of this album was released as a brain-shaped CD
Shaped CD
A shaped CD is a non-circular compact disc. Examples include business card CDs, CDs in the shape of a star, a map of a country, and more. These disks are usually made for marketing purposes and are properly read by most CD-ROM drives...
, with a bonus 2-track CD Somnus Pecunia Cibus. The reason for the bonus disc was to include "Go to Hell", which wouldn't fit on the brain shaped CD, due to the cutting required for the brain shape. This delayed the release of the disc by a week, so an extra track, "Emotional Flatline" was included as an apology for the delay.
The disc art is the "Unfinished Pyramid et al." from the Great Seal of the United States
Great Seal of the United States
The Great Seal of the United States is used to authenticate certain documents issued by the United States federal government. The phrase is used both for the physical seal itself , and more generally for the design impressed upon it...
, but it reads "carcass" instead of "annuit coeptis", "somnus pecunia cibus" instead of "novus ordo seclorum" and "MCMXCV" instead of "MDCCLXXVI".
Reissue
On July 21, 2008, a twelve-panel digipakDigipak
Digipak is a patented style of CD, DVD or BD packaging, and is a registered trademark of AGI World Ltd., an Atlas Holdings company.-Features:...
version of the album was released, with full artwork and lyrics as well as a limited edition sticker sheet with classic Carcass motifs. The reissue also features the previously Japanese-only bonus track "Death Rider Da", as well as the fifth and final part of the extensive interview The Pathologist's Report on a dualdisc
DualDisc
DualDisc was a type of double-sided optical disc product developed by a group of record companies including EMI Music, Universal Music Group, Sony/BMG Music Entertainment, Warner Music Group, and 5.1 Entertainment Group and later under the aegis of the Recording Industry Association of America...
. Later editions contain the album on a CD and the documentary on a separate DVD, and do not include the sticker sheet.
Track listing
Personnel
- Ken OwenKen OwenKen Owen is an English drummer. He was born in Billinge, and grew up in Gayton, Merseyside. He is best known as one of the founding members of Carcass, for which he also handled some of the vocals. After the band broke up in 1995, he started Blackstar, along with two other Carcass members...
– drumsDrum kitA drum kit is a collection of drums, cymbals and often other percussion instruments, such as cowbells, wood blocks, triangles, chimes, or tambourines, arranged for convenient playing by a single person .... - Carlo Regadas – guitarGuitarThe guitar is a plucked string instrument, usually played with fingers or a pick. The guitar consists of a body with a rigid neck to which the strings, generally six in number, are attached. Guitars are traditionally constructed of various woods and strung with animal gut or, more recently, with...
- Bill SteerBill SteerBill Steer is an English guitar player, and a founder of British Metal band Carcass...
– guitarGuitarThe guitar is a plucked string instrument, usually played with fingers or a pick. The guitar consists of a body with a rigid neck to which the strings, generally six in number, are attached. Guitars are traditionally constructed of various woods and strung with animal gut or, more recently, with... - Jeffrey WalkerJeffrey WalkerJeffrey Walker is a bass guitarist and vocalist from Windle, St Helens, UK. He is best known for his work with the death metal / grindcore band Carcass for which he is also the main lyricist. Before Carcass, he played in the punk band the Electro Hippies. After the demise of Carcass, he went on to...
– bassBass guitarThe bass guitar is a stringed instrument played primarily with the fingers or thumb , or by using a pick....
, vocalsSingingSinging is the act of producing musical sounds with the voice, and augments regular speech by the use of both tonality and rhythm. One who sings is called a singer or vocalist. Singers perform music known as songs that can be sung either with or without accompaniment by musical instruments... - Colin RichardsonColin RichardsonColin Richardson is a British record producer, mixer and recording engineer. He has worked on over 100 albums, and is most frequently associated with heavy metal and its subgenres such as:*Anathema*As I Lay Dying*Behemoth*Bullet for My Valentine...
– productionRecord producerA record producer is an individual working within the music industry, whose job is to oversee and manage the recording of an artist's music...
, vocals on "Death Rider Da" - Nick Brine – assistant engineer
- Jim Brumby – assistant engineer
- Gee – paintings
- Stephen Harris – engineer
- Barney Herbert – assistant engineer
External links
- Carcass at Earache RecordsEarache RecordsEarache Records is a heavy metal-oriented record label based in Nottingham, UK and New York, USA. It helped to pioneer extreme metal by releasing many of the earliest grindcore and death metal records in the period 1988-1994.-History:...