CARCASS's BILL STEER Hopes To 'Get A Little Bit Of Work Done' On Next Album

Guitarist Bill Steer of reactivated British extreme metal pioneers CARCASS tells Australia's The Rockpit that he hopes the band will be able to spend the next few months working on material for the follow-up to 2013's "Surgical Steel". "Personally, I'm keeping my fingers crossed a bit that things don't get too hectic [on the touring front], because it would be quite nice in between these [upcoming festival appearances we have scheduled] to get a little bit of work done regarding the next album," he said. "Down to myself, I've already been jamming quite a bit, but you don't like to force these things; you create when you feel ready. It's very early days on that one, but I think when you're doing festivals, you have the luxury of being at home for an average of four to five days a week. That's brilliant, but I think we want to make the most of that [and] actually get some work done."

Asked if he is still proud of how "Surgical Steel" turned out, Steer said: "I wouldn't use the word 'proud.' [Laughs] That's a little...I guess the best way of putting it is we're reasonably satisfied with it. The record represents where we were at that time. Of course, there's things we criticize about it, and that's only natural, and I think if you're 100 percent happy, there isn't much incentive to do anything again in the future. [Making] music for me is [about] always striving towards something, and you never quite get there, but part of the fun [is] to try something, and, I guess, at the end of it you kinda assess how close you got to what it was you wanted sonically. And with this thing, I would say we got reasonably close. And next time, if there is a next time, I guess we try and learn from any mistakes or whatever we picked up along the way."

"Surgical Remission / Surplus Steel", a collection of previously unreleased and hard-to-find tracks from CARCASS, sold around 1,840 copies in the U.S. in its first week of release to land at position No. 27 on the Billboard Hard Rock chart. All the songs on the EP were recorded during the "Surgical Steel" sessions, which was produced by Colin Richardson (NAPALM DEATH, BOLT THROWER, GOREFEST, CANNIBAL CORPSE, SINISTER, RODRIGO Y GABRIELA) and mixed/mastered by Andy Sneap (MEGADETH, ACCEPT, EXODUS, TESTAMENT).

"Surgical Remission / Surplus Steel" was made available on physical and digital formats via Nuclear Blast.

Joining Steer and bassist/vocalist Jeff Walker in CARCASS' current incarnation are drummer Daniel Wilding (ABORTED, TRIGGER THE BLOODSHED) and guitarist Ben Ash (PIG IRON, DESOLATION, LIQUEFIED SKELETON).

"Surgical Steel" sold around 8,500 copies in the United States in its first week of release to debut at position No. 41 on The Billboard 200 chart. The CD was released on September 16, 2013 in the U.K., September 13, 2013 in the rest of Europe and September 17, 2013 in North America via Nuclear Blast Records.