Ken Owen — born in England in 1970 — was the drummer of Carcass's classic line-up, present from Reek of Putrefaction (1988) to Swansong (1996). His time covers the band's complete transformation, and his drumming had to change with it. On the early records he plays at maximum speed and minimum precision — the effect sought was chaos. On Necroticism (1991) and Heartwork (1993) he came to play complex patterns, with changes of metre and structured fills, holding up a repertoire that had become melodic and technically demanding. Few drummers have crossed so radical a change of language within the same group. In February 1999 he suffered a brain haemorrhage caused by an aneurysm, which left him in a deep coma for over ten months. In 2000 he underwent surgery to remove the aneurysm; later complications required a second, induced coma of five months. He survived, but the after-effects prevented him from taking up drumming full-time again. Since then he has devoted himself mainly to composing on computer. He returned to the stage with Carcass on isolated occasions from 2008, playing short drum solos at European festivals — reappearances the band treats as celebration.
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