It’s been a long time since I’ve given these guys any time. Their “Graveyard Classics” and a couple of very ordinary original releases just turned them into a novely act for me. But hey, that was years ago it’s not like I have a grudge with the band itself or anything so I guess why not see what the lads are up to now?
Six Feet Under Next to Die opens with the ponderous and sludgey “Approach Your Grave”. The song has some decent riffage but nothing stands out. From the outset this sounds very professional. Great tones, from both the guitars and drums but absolutely nothing stands out as remarkable about this song. We’re probably all thinking “How are Chris’ vocals sounding?” Well, I have to say they’re sounding better than last time I heard them. “Destroyed Remains” is up next and picks the pace up a bit with some fast bits and much better song writing. “Mr. Blood and Guts?” is Barnes taking the piss out of himself? Has the decades of smoking weed gotten to him? I’m not sure. The song has some great riffs though and is quite likable.
Are Six Feet under going for something different here? Like a fun, lighter more rockin’ version of death metal. This kinda comes across as Death Metal for Beginners. Which might not be a band thing for the genre or getting it back into the mainstream. “Mutilated Corpse in the Woods” hits the mark as well. so far I’m not minding this album at all. It’s not going to be album of the year by any stretch but its kinda growing on me.
Now that we’re approaching the half way mark I can say Chris Barnes’ vocal performance is better than I’ve heard in recent times too. Those annoying “Eeeeeeeeeee” grunts and suffocating higher pitched things he did really got on my nerves. This is not the most dynamic vocal performance ever but its infinitely better than the annoying noises that have been coming out of him recently.
“Unmistakable Smell of Death” Brings back some fond memories of Cannibal Corpse and suddenly this album is going from very mediocre to actually quite enjoyable. Later on we’re treated to some actually quite awesome riffage with “Wrath and Terror Takes Command” this is now starting to hit the realms of fairly solid Death Metal.Chris is always going to face Cannibal Corpse comparisons but its good to see “Left Naked in the Woods” nodding at the musician ship levels that CC attained when he was with them. By the end of this record, I have to say I’m impressed the lads have come out with a very easy on the ears nod to old school death metal that may actually have the chance to put a dent in mainstream charts.
Six Feet Under cop a lot of stick online, in no small part due to singer Barnes rather oddball comments on things but the fact remains they are now the fourth largest selling death metal band in the US so someone out there must be digging it. They do have a more lighthearted appraoch to death metal and I could see their reach extending out beyond the death metal crowd into more mainstream metal audiences. Which hey? For all the hate they cop online they are probably one of the few bands making a living out of it.
What pissed me off about Six Feet Under in the past is that it had some rather high-calibre musicians in the band that seem to really be phoning it in with SFU. I still think guitar player Jack Owen (Ex Cannibal Corpse and Deicide) could be pushing things a bit further but this is at least heading in a good direction. From a musicanship angle this is quite respectable and its good to see the band on a better trajectory than they’ve been on in the past.
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