Six Feet Under -- 'Death Rituals' [review]

Six Feet Under - Death Rituals
Metal Blade Records (11/11/08)
Death metal

Fronted by the most prolific vocalist in death metal, Six Feet Under has crafted another killer album, chock-full of groove, and driven by Chris Barnes’ inhuman, guttural wails.

The band keeps its trademark, foreboding groove-riffs in full effect on songs like “Eulogy for the Undead” (which features some great, technical guitar breakdowns), “Seed of Filth” and “Death By Machete”.

And Barnes is an absolute beast on the microphone, having never sounded better than on tracks like “Involuntary Movement of Dead Flesh” and “None Will Escape”, with his trademark, low-toned growls and nuanced screams, effectively turning his voice into another instrument.

Leaving Cannibal Corpse was the best thing to ever happen to Barnes. While Corpse has begun to really spin its wheels over the past three or four albums, Six Feet Under has found a way to maintain its edge, crafting classic death metal and then throwing in just enough groove to keep things from becoming repetitive (check out the cover of the forgotten Motley Crue classic “Bastard”, not only for the groove but also for Barnes' unbelievably deep growls). The songs are more than just constant blast-beats, as Six Feet Under can do the straight-forward death-metal thing, and it can get pretty boring. This time around, the band throws plenty of metal riffs into the mix, giving the album a more dynamic sound.

This type of music isn’t for everyone. That said, Six Feet Under has definitely put together the album of its career. The sound is varied and dynamic, and Barnes, as always, is a gem in the genre, and the band is slowly affirming a spot as a death-metal legend. What Death Rituals shows is that the band could actually craft a solid cross-over metal album if it really wanted to.