Some song lyrics are very general, aiming for universal emotions culled from common human experiences. Other song lyrics are abstract and rooted in the subconscious, allowing the listener to interpret meaning from their own perspective. In both cases, we may be left to wonder what a song is really about. Carcass’ “Incarnated Solvent Abuse” is a song about using human remains to make glue, and then sniffing it. No, you won’t get this by just listening to the song, because the lyrics are mostly unintelligible. Yes, you will need two dictionaries – one medical, one regular – to help you decipher the countless 20-cent words you will find on the lyric sheet. But, at the end of the day (as sports commentators are so fond of saying), there is no mistaking the topic of “Incarnated Solvent Abuse.”But there is more to a song than just lyrics. And at the end of the day (as sports commentators are so fond of repeating two sentences later), “Incarnated Solvent Abuse” is about what most heavy metal songs are about – sweet-ass fucking guitar riffs. This song is packed with them, rivaling contemporaries Slayer and Pantera in terms of power, technical skill, and memorability. This is largely due to new guitarist Michael Amott, who joined Carcass on their 1991 death-metal landmark Necroticism: Descanting the Insalubrious. Previously a straight-up grindcore band following in Napalm Death’s footsteps, Carcass delved into more traditional metal with Amott’s arrival, and his skill as a riff writer helped give their chaotic noise a stronger sense of structure. The results are still bruuuuutal, yet about as accessible as death metal gets.
Perhaps the only thing we’re left to wonder about with “Incarnated Solvent Abuse” is why the song’s protagonist couldn’t just buy some glue at the store. The all-vegetarian band’s answer would probably be: why are you grossed out by glue made from humans, but not animals? But my answer is, I believe, more accurate and insightful: because if he bought glue at the store, it wouldn’t be made from HUMANS. Duh.
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The lyrics to that Carcass song don't make sense even with a medical dictionary and a regular dictionary.
ReplyDeleteInteresting and deep analysis...but I think it does not make sense at all, IMHO I think the lyrics of this song depict with a brutal and gruesome imagery and technical vocabulary ( Walker style) the effects and impact of indiscriminated use of organic solvents in enviroment and human health, back in the 80-90s several industrial sectors did a huge damage abusing with solvents ."Organic solvents react in the atmosphere in sunlight, producing an air pollutant known as ground-level ozone. High concentrations of ground-level ozone seriously affect human, animal and plant health. They also harm building materials, forests and crops."
ReplyDeleteMaybe I´m just making things fit, anyway ..to reforce this I think the track "The Granulating Dark Satanic Mills" goes by the same line, hitting the abuse of the industrial production and consumerism.
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