Six Feet Under – Killing for Revenge
Release Date: 10th May 2024
Label: Metal Blade
Bandcamp
Genre: Death Metal
FFO: Cannibal Corpse, Deicide, Morbid Angel.
Review By: Jeff Finch
At this juncture, Six Feet Under is a punchline; Chris Barnes and his vocal heyday are well behind him, and, in spite of the band putting forth as much effort as they probably can, the completely shot voice of Barnes just isn’t doing any favors; the horrendous ‘bree’ on their last album one of the most mocked instances in death metal, at least in recent memory. So, with Barnes laying off the weed and getting sober, expectations, while still tempered, had to have been a little higher than with their last album. And honestly, as much as Barnes has fallen from grace in many ways, there’s enough on this new Six Feet Under to warrant a few listens.
Elephant in the room, let’s get it out of the way right now: Chris Barnes. He is not what he once was, his vocals are extremely weak of late, and he’s effectively been bringing the band down for the last 5-10 years or so. However, after the past few albums, listeners know what they’re getting, so diving into this new album is with full knowledge that the vocals are likely to be the low point. And sadly, they are for the most part, but the killer riffs and music present elevate his performances in certain spots, as the two are usually not on the same wavelength throughout the entirety of the record. The first two tracks, Know-Nothing Ingrate and Accomplice for Evil Deeds, paint this picture all too well; while the band is traveling at 100 mph, Chris Barnes is struggling to maintain pace, barely breaking 75 in this metaphor. With that, if Barnes was a little faster with his delivery, these songs would be much more impactful, as the growls aren’t great, but the grating coming from his vocal cords does manage to sound decent along with the killer riffs. It’s in the choruses of both of these tracks where we get a glimpse of what could be: the band lessens their pace, a mid-tempo chugfest, which perfectly matches Barnes delivery speed, making the choruses somewhat enjoyable, even though the lyrics are laughably bad. Were the songs either a touch slower or Barnes a bit faster, this would sound like a very cohesive unit and not one that’s struggling.
The slower vocal delivery on Ascension works to everyone’s advantage, seemingly a purposeful restraint, but this ultimately makes the chorus the weakest portion of the song, as the blast beats and tremolo riffs contained therein are far too much for Barnes, whose slower delivery just makes the differences that much more noticeable. Unfortunately, despite a shreddy solo that transitions excellently into the main groove, highlighting that the band is NOT the problem, as the song moves on from the solo, it’s clear that the guitar riffs and intonations are explicitly meant to be in tandem with Barnes, but he falls behind so that when the high points hit, it’s like we’re listening to a YouTube video with the sound out of sync.
Compulsive is the likeliest candidate for best track on the album; the music maintains its solid, if unspectacular, pace, and though it does seem to be going a bit faster, Barnes manages to sound pretty good for the first half, with the music more than making up for his struggles, and a blistering solo taking center stage as the highlight of the track. As we near the end, sadly, Barnes sounds almost physically pained when he unleashes his growls, and the constant repetition of ‘compulsive’ is immensely unneeded. Yet, despite the drawbacks, the quality musicianship on this track keeps it among the best.
When the Moon Goes Down in Blood contains a very odd main lick, almost a 123-123-123 pace, like the strings are being plucked 1-2-3, almost creating a menacingly purposeful guitar lick which segues into some quick riffs before reverting back to the oddity. It’s probably the most likely to get stuck in your head from this album, because it feels so much different than the rest of the album. Barnes vocals are fairly decent on this one, the restrained pace likely a massive help, as the flow feels natural, even if those shifts into the 1-2-3 are strange, almost unsettling in nature. The band would do well to notate that the slower pace works well and that, as present in this track, when the vocals and music are of equal volume in the mix, the results are best. Barnes does NOT deserve to be louder than the music, the band works best when everyone is on an even footing.
And to round out this record is probably one of the worst covers I’ve ever heard, though I at least give the band props for picking an excellent song, with Hair of the Dog by the legendary Nazareth. It’s cool to hear the main riffs of the iconic song as downtuned as they can be, what with Six Feet Under loving the chugs, but Barnes just can’t do it justice, even if one shuts off their preconceived notions, tries to forget the original for a few minutes, and opens their mind. It just doesn’t work. Some death metal covers of classic songs are very good (think Denis Pauna’s covers), but this one just wasn’t. Some may like it, a lot will hate it.
So…Six Feet Under dropped another album. And though I consider myself very open-minded, even I’m a little surprised by how much I did enjoy this. Barnes is clearly struggling, but I applaud his sobriety and his ability to get back in the studio and try. The band has to hear something there, because they bring some serious groove to the record that makes for many a hod-nodding moment. If you can just listen to the songs as wholes and not try to nitpick each part, like one may do in a review, you might find something enjoyable here. If nothing else, listen and laugh if that’s what you’re into.
(3 / 5)
