Daniel Wilding - Carcass “If We Could Just Tour Australia, New Zealand and Japan Forever, We'd Be Good”
Legendary UK death metal act Carcass are potentially their home country's greatest-ever extreme metal export. One of the first acts to delve into the ultra-brutal and gore-fixated end of grindcore and metal, the Liverpudlians slowly evolved into the 90s as a melodic death metal powerhouse thanks to the immense albums Necroticism – Descanting the Insalubrious and Heartwork. Breaking up at potentially their commercial peak in ’96, they bounced back over a decade later in 2007 for a run of festival dates in the following year, before extending out the reunion shows to a full-blown international tour and finally dropping new music in 2013 with the fantastic Surgical Steel.
Thanks to that damn COVID-19, their majorly delayed follow-up record Torn Arteries ended up taking eight years to eventuate, but was well worth the wait thanks to the ageless aggression and top-notch songwriting. Ahead of Carcass’ massive run of dates with The Black Dahlia Murder - which will mark the quartet's first Australia/NZ tour in 9 years - Wall of Sound took the chance to chat with longtime Carcass drummer, and former Aborted/Trigger The Bloodshed member, Daniel Wilding. With the promo cycle for Torn Arteries officially starting back in December 2019, Wilding admits it is a little unusual to be still out promoting an album that the band have had in the can for nearly half a decade;
“Yeah, it is definitely strange. And even when the album came out, finally, everyone was like 'Tell us about the new album'. And we were thinking, 'New album? - Oh, yeah'. It didn't feel like a new album at all. And so it is definitely odd. But it was one of those situations that was obviously completely unavoidable. So like everybody in the world over the COVID period, we just had to kind of deal with it. But it is quite strange now that, as you say, it's probably maybe more than four years. I can't even think when we've actually finished recording it. But we're still doing our first tours off that album in certain places. Like, obviously now we're coming to Australia, New Zealand, then we're going straight to Japan afterward, and then we're going straight to South America after that. And that will be the first time we've been to any of those territories with the new album, which is just a bit crazy because it’s (been) four or five years. It doesn't really feel like a new album anymore, but I guess technically it is.”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=34uxC0cfQc4&pp=ygUNY2FyY2FzcyBpeHRhYg%3D%3D
Not that anyone could have predicted it, but in retrospect, the announcement of Torn Arteries couldn’t have been at a worse time - though it wasn’t the only hurdle both band and label faced alike;
"I think it was (announced) right at the end of February 2020. And then everything just went wild for everything shut down… And then it got postponed. This was all behind-the-scenes stuff, and I can't remember the details, but it was meant to be released at a certain time, and then it got postponed for. I can't remember why. And then it got postponed again. And then I think we said that it was coming out, and then it had to get postponed a third time because of COVID because it kept getting postponed. And one of the main reasons is our audience is a big vinyl collector audience. And the label kind of refused to release it until all the vinyl was prepared. And because of COVID and because of various other things, all the vinyl pressing plants were completely messed up. So we had to keep delaying and keep delaying because the label was like, 'We can't release it unless it's released on vinyl because no one's going to buy it', basically. But it finally got released, and we're finally touring on it again, even though it's not a new album anymore."
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hdcfhccjk78&pp=ygUNY2FyY2FzcyBrZWxseQ%3D%3D
With such a delay between the completion of their last album and it’s touring schedule, Carcass have very (very!) slowly started sowing the seeds of new music;
"We haven't got anything official at the moment, but I know for a fact that Bill always writing. He's a diehard creative, so he's always making stuff. Me and him have had a few conversations about the next album; we haven't started anything officially yet, but obviously, we definitely want to do it. And I think Jeff is on board - I think - he’s hard to pin down on these things. But yes, the conversations are being had. Since COVID especially, we've kind of gone hard with trying to tour all the places that we hadn't done for the new album. And with this run that we're about to do, that will pretty much take us to all the places that we haven't been and all the places that we wanted to go. So I think after this, that's probably the next logical step is to start looking into new stuff."
Focusing on the upcoming eight-date Australia and New Zealand tour, Wilding touches on how his personal relationship with their special guests The Black Dahlia Murder extends well beyond his decade-plus tenure with Carcass;
"I auditioned to be in The Black Dahlia Murder, which is funny when I think I was 17. This was before I was in Aborted, and it was before Shannon Lucas joined (2007). They were looking for a drummer, and I auditioned for them. I wasn't quite up to scratch, obviously, as I didn't get the job, but I've known those guys since I was 17, which is not far off, 20 years now. And of course, with Aborted, we toured together a bunch of times and played countless shows with Carcass. We did a US tour together, and (when) I played for Heaven Shall Burn we played a bunch of shows with them. I've just seen them forever, and I'd consider them friends. So for me, it's very cool.
Obviously, Bill and Jeff know them as well, but their relationship with them is more, fleeting, maybe - I don't know if that's the right word haha. I've known those guys for a long time now, so it's a real pleasure to tour with them, especially in somewhere like Australia, because Australia, New Zealand and Japan, me and Bill always say, are two of our favourite places to tour. So to be able to bring a really cool package over there is really exciting. And I think hopefully some Black Dahlia fans will discover Carcass for the first time and vice versa."
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3IU_CRpePTE
Having a career that extends back to the mid-80s, the challenges of creating a setlist that keeps the die-hards happy, the new stuff played and the obvious tunes aired is no easy feat for the Carcass crew…
"Yeah, it is a hard call. And it's one of those things that you can't fully know until you play the set in front of an audience. You can do it in the rehearsal room and it seems to work, and then for whatever reason, you play it live and it just doesn't click. And then you have to be like 'Oh, okay, we thought that was going to be cool, and it sucked'. Often it's one of those things where, especially on a tour, for the first show or two, you play one set, which doesn't necessarily work, and then after a couple of shows, then you start tweaking things and rearranging, and then by the middle of it, then you've figured out what works and what doesn't. But it is a constant thing. And luckily with us, it's all quite organic.
We don't have metronomes and click tracks, and we don't have big production stuff that relies on the same set list every night. So we can just change it if we want to and it doesn't affect anybody but ourselves. But of course, there are those arguments. Some people really want certain songs in the set, and other people really don't want certain songs in the set. So it can be tricky. But it's one of those things that, like anything, it's a process. You have to try it. And also, it's somewhat of a democracy. The majority normally wins, but sometimes that doesn't happen if certain people really don't want something to happen. It's not always easy, but you get to a point, I think, where everyone's kind of happy, and at the end of the day, you kind of have to do what's best for the show. So even if you like, there's, I won't name names, but there's songs I don't like playing, but I know for a fact they go down really well and the crowd wants to see them. So it's one of those things that you have to be like, okay, it's the sacrifice you have to make. You can't always play everything that you absolutely want to play, and you can't always play everything that is your favourite song. But all that disappears when you're on stage and you're having a good time. Even if you don't like the song, it's like, 'This is sick'."
With 2024 officially marking his 12th year with Carcass, Wilding is now the longest-tenured drummer for the group. We took the opportunity to ask him to reflect on his joining of the group, as well as how he approaches the original parts by former drummer Ken Owen, whose debiting brain hemorrhage prevented him from partaking in the band’s reformation;
"I mean, firstly, I never expected it to happen, even when Jeff randomly messaged me on Facebook and said, 'What's your number? I need to talk to you'. And I was like, 'Oh God, what have I done?' Because I've met Jeff before when Aborted had toured with Carcass, and that's how I met him. And I thought I'd done something, know something bad had happened. So when he called and said, 'do you want to come try out for us?' That was a shock. In that moment, I kind of realised I could go two ways, really. I could try and play everything and just be like a Ken (Owen, previous drummer) copy and do everything verbatim that he did, or I can stick as true as I can to his stuff and also bring my own thing and see if that works. And I ended up doing that one, and that seemed to work, which was cool. And knowing them, obviously, as I do now, really well, they like improvising. They like kind of just going with the moment. They like kind of seeing what happens. And that's always how we write music; that’s how we've written music for the last two albums. Everybody gets in a room and we just jam it out and see what happens and hope for the best. And I think it's impossible to play exactly like someone else.
And so even if I tried my hardest to play exactly like Ken, I never would, because I'm not Ken. And it's funny as well. When we're writing, especially how much influence on the drums those guys had back in the day as well, because the amount of times we'd be jamming a riff or whatever, and then I'd play something and Bill would say, oh, why don't you try this? That's something that we would have done back in the day. And then I play it and it immediately sounds more Carcass-y. Or Jeff as well. He'd be 'No, no, don't do that. Play it on the hi-hat or play it blah, blah, blah', and then the minute I do that, it's like, 'Oh yeah, that sounds like a carcass song now. It doesn't sound like some random guy playing drums.' So I think from me studying Ken and also trying to honour that, bringing my own stuff in, and also from those guys kind of giving me input, it's kind of all mixed together to make what it is now, I never wanted to be a clone.
I always wanted to try and bring in my own thing, and I was just hopeful that that would work. And it's so far. I would have thought they'd got rid of me by now if it wasn't working."
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dL_ehBPJ1mI&pp=ygUTY2FyY2FzcyBkYW4gd2lsZGluZw%3D%3D
As the upcoming April dates mark Wilding’s third visit to Australia and NZ with Carcass, the drummer can’t help but gush about his love of the two countries;
"There's just something about being in Australia and New Zealand. Me and Bill talk about it all the time. I don't know what is, but there's a real charm about this part of the world that I don't know. I'm sure it's not the same when you live there, or maybe it is, but I just feel really happy when I'm in Australia and in New Zealand. Of course, I think there's a familiarity about it, obviously, being British with the language and all that kind of stuff. But I don't know, the people are just awesome, super friendly, and up for having a good time. The cities are beautiful, the landscape is amazing, food's good. It's one of the parts of the world that is always a pleasure to tour. The first time I toured there was in 2008, with Aborted. (Summer Slaughter tour). That was the first time I'd ever been down under, as it were, and I was hooked immediately. And we always say that if we could just tour Australia, New Zealand, and Japan forever we'd be good."
Wrapping up our chat, Wilding is confident that Carcass are at their absolute peak as a live act - which comes in handy when being supported by The Black Dahlia Murder - and that the band is pumped to be back down under;
"Well, I can't speak for The Black Dahlia Murder, but I will say that we're not that happy that we're going to have to play after them most of the time because they're such a good live band! So we're going to have to bring our ‘A’ game. But no, I think we're playing new songs; we might be playing songs that we've never played before live. We're starting rehearsals soon, so we shall see. If they go really badly, then maybe we won't be playing them! But yeah, we'll be playing songs off the last album. We've got a new guitar player who's been in the band for a couple of years now (James 'Nip' Blackford) and he's absolutely smashing it. I don't want to be mean, but he's the best addition to the band that we've had since I've been in the band. No offence to the other guys! We're in a pretty good place at the moment, I think it's the tightest we've ever been. We're all having a lot of fun and we're all going to be very happy to be back down there. We probably will be jet lagged, though! Sorry - we’ll do our absolute best. I'm really excited and hopefully everyone enjoys it who comes to see us."
Interview by Andrew Kapper. Twitter: @andrew_kapper
Carcass with The Black Dahlia Murder – Australian & New Zealand Tour 2024
Tuesday 2nd April PERTH – Magnet House
Thursday 4th April ADELAIDE – The Gov
Friday 5th April MELBOURNE – Northcote Theatre - SOLD OUT
Saturday 6th April SYDNEY – Manning Bar - SOLD OUT
Sunday 7th April BRISBANE – Princess Theatre
Wednesday 10th April WELLINGTON – Meow
Thursday 11th April CHRISTCHURCH – Loons
Friday 12th April AUCKLAND – Galatos
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kkE-o-5RqwM&pp=ygUVY2FyY2FzcyB0b3JuIGFydGVyaWVz
