CARCASS's JEFF WALKER On Making Of 'Surgical Steel': 'It Started Off Fun, And Then It Turned Into Complete Torture'

Ilias "Nerevarine" Kytidis of Greece's Rock Overdose recently conducted an interview with bassist/vocalist Jeff Walker of reactivated British extreme metal pioneers CARCASS. You can now listen to the chat using the audio player below.

Speaking about the recording sessions for CARCASS's comeback album, 2013's "Surgical Steel", Walker said: "It started off fun, and then it turned into complete torture. It took a lot longer than we expected. And gradually some of the fun we had was getting squeezed out of the sessions. It just took too long working with [producer] Colin Richardson and the guy who was engineering it. I think the reality is 'cause we weren’t doing it to tape; we were doing it digitally. In the old days, when you would put something to tape, you'd have to make instant decisions. One of the main problems with modern technology and digital is you can do many takes and just keep going and keep going, and you leave the decision making until later. It just took longer than we anticipated. It took months, you know."

Asked what the inspiration was for making a new CARCASS album, Walker said: "CARCASS. We wanted to make a CARCASS album, so that's what we did. We were inspired from playing live after we reformed. I think me and Bill [Steer, guitar] attempted at least to try and prove something to people — that we could still cut it. As to whether we succeeded or not, that's up to the listener. We felt we had another album in us, so we thought, why not? We thought we'd just see what the stuff sounded like in the rehearsal room, and if it was any good, we'd pursue it. And we liked what we were coming up with, so we wanted to share it with other people."

"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 Walker and guitarist Bill Steer 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.

Interview (audio):