The band have gone through several line-up changes, leaving guitarist Bill Steer and bassist-vocalist Jeff Walker as the only constant members.

[7][8] After releasing a four track demo entitled A Bomb Drops ... in 1986,[9] the bass player left the band and was replaced by Jeff Walker, formerly guitarist and vocalist of the Electro Hippies.

Despite the primitive production values of Carcass's debut Reek of Putrefaction (1988), with which the band was very displeased,[11] it became a favourite of Radio 1 DJ John Peel.

Also that year, Steer and Walker appeared as members of Lister's fictional band Smeg and the Heads in an episode of Red Dwarf.

[13] Symphonies of Sickness (1989), the second album, which contained a much improved production quality (courtesy of Colin Richardson), featured more death metal structures and longer songs with more slow passages.

[14] The second half of the tour in support of Symphonies of Sickness saw the addition of second lead guitarist Michael Amott, whose previous work included Carnage.

After the release of Heartwork, Carcass signed a worldwide deal with Columbia Records, who hoped for commercial success, even suggesting that Jeff Walker learn how to sing.

During the summer of 1994, Walker remixed the track "Inside Out" for a Die Krupps remix album, although the version stayed fairly true to the original with the exception of Owen's drum samples from Heartwork replacing the Die Krupps original, and additional mixing from Walker and Colin Richardson at Parr Street studios (where Heartwork was recorded).

By late 1994, 17 songs were ready, and the band set about using their $200,000 advance to record the album, again with Colin Richardson, at Rockfield studios in Monmouth, South Wales in early 1995.

The move back to Earache was dubbed by Walker as "the second great rock and roll swindle"[20] as they had effectively been paid twice for the same album.

Carcass also remixed Killing Joke's "Democracy" (by re-recording the music, but keeping the original vocals), although this time Regadas performed all guitar duties, as it is thought Steer had quit the band by early 1996.

Around the time of Swansong's release, Carcass informed the press that they were ending the band without even a farewell tour, but most fans had guessed this may be the case via the album title.

Owen, Walker, and Regadas continued with the band Blackstar, accompanied by former Cathedral bassist Mark Griffiths, using the second Swansong advance from Earache to fund the recording.

In June 2006, in an interview with Walker, he discussed the possibility of reforming Carcass, but mentioned that it was unlikely that Owen would participate, since he could not replicate his former drumming proficiency due to the effects of the cerebral hemorrhage he suffered in 1999.

Carcass surprised the audience by bringing Ken Owen to the stage where he gave a brief drum solo to show how far he had come in recovering from his illness.

[29] Daniel Wilding (drummer of Bristol-based deathgrind band Trigger the Bloodshed) performs drums on Surgical Steel.

[32] Ben Ash (guitarist of Pig Iron, Desolation, and Liquefied Skeleton) joined the band in March 2013 on guitars.

[40] After releasing Surgical Steel, Carcass headlined Damnation Festival in Leeds before embarking on the Defenders of the Faith Tour with Amon Amarth and Hell, which ran throughout Europe and the UK in November and December 2013.

[43] In a June 2014 interview with Metal Underground, Walker was asked if Carcass were going to make a follow-up to Surgical Steel.

The EP is a collection of unreleased tracks recorded during the Surgical Steel sessions and it is released on physical and digital formats.

Reviewing their concert, James Weaver wrote: "Carcass have proved, not only that they can play any spectrum of rock festivals, but that they still remain as one of the greats in the extreme metal genre.

[51] They also opened for Slayer on selected dates of their final world tour, including ForceFest in Mexico in October 2018,[52][53] and Hellfest in France in June 2019.

[56] A week-and-a-half later, guitarist Bill Steer revealed Torn Arteries as the title of the album, which is a reference to a demo tape recorded by Ken Owen when he was a teenager.

[59] On 21 August 2020, Carcass announced that, with Torn Arteries still on hold, they would release a four-song EP called Despicable on 30 October.

[61][62] In order to promote the album, Carcass embarked on their North American spring 2022 headlining tour, first in six years, with support from Immolation and Creeping Death.

[72] The band's early releases, which have been described as "Gray’s Anatomy set to music," were noted for their "elaborately putrid" vocabulary, which drew from medical terminology.

[73][74] Their early work was also tagged as "splatter death metal",[75] and "hardgore"[76] on account of their morbid lyrics and gruesome album covers.

[80] The late Trevor Strnad, who served as the vocalist for The Black Dahlia Murder until his death in 2022, had cited on many occasions that he was primarily influenced by Carcass in vocalizing technique.

Deathcore and metalcore acts Bring Me the Horizon, Whitechapel, All Shall Perish, Killswitch Engage and All That Remains cited Carcass as an influence.

[87] In the Red Dwarf episode "Timeslides", Steer and Walker appeared as members of Lister's childhood band, Smeg and the Heads.