Published on Sep 3, 2001
Six Feet Under’s lead vocalist Chris Barnes is undeniably a
legend in the field of death metal. The original lead throat of
Cannibal Corpse, he’s logged enough time in this genre to know what
works – and what’s getting stale. As impressed as I’ve been with
the two discs I’ve heard from Six Feet Under (and I have a few of
their earlier works to get to), Barnes had to have been thinking
that the whole death metal scene needed some type of change. It’s
one thing to try and play a million notes per second; it’s another
to actually create some melodies that listeners will remember along
with the brutal lyrics.
Thus, we are given
True Carnage, the latest offering from Six Feet Under. It
takes a while to understand what Barnes and crew are trying to
accomplish in the 34 minutes this disc takes up – but one has to
take their hat off to Six Feet Under for daring to slow down death
metal… to a point.
While there are occasional fast moments from the guitar of Steve
Swanson, the bass of Terry Butler and the drum kit of Greg Gall,
True Carnage shows the actual power is not in the speed of
the music (or even necessarily the lyrics), but in the delivery of
the song. If the song isn’t well-written, no amount of tempo is
going to save the patient. Fortunately for fans of this genre, Six
Feet Under know how to deliver the goods, and they do so
consistently.
Tracks like “Impulse To Disembowel,” “It Never Dies” and
“Snakes” (the latter possibly the only weak moment on the disc)
allow the band to set their own pace for the musical delivery, and
while it throws off one’s equilibrium for a moment (after all, this
is death metal, and we’re used to being thrown back in our
seats from the speed), the more controlled delivery works much
better.
This isn’t to say that Six Feet Under has turned their backs on
the use of speed – but now, it’s more part of the delivery than the
hook. “The Day The Dead Walked” uses speed to a point; it never
becomes absolutely break-neck, but allows the adrenalin to build in
the listener before it moves into a somewhat slower, more
controlled beat for the chorus. It’s taking a chance by not fully
playing according to death metal’s rules – but Barnes is such a
powerhouse in the field that he’s allowed more than a little slack
to experiment.
“Experiment” is the only thing, though, that a tandeming with
rapper Ice-T on “One Bullet Left” can be called. No one is saying
that Ice-T can’t handle metal; three albums with Body Count proved
that he knew the style well. But Ice-T just doesn’t sound like he
fits with the death metal scene – besides the obvious fact that one
can understand everything he’s saying, while Barnes occasionally
sounds like a braying goat (especially on “Knife, Gun, Axe”). The
duet with Karyn Crisis on “Sick And Twisted” works better,
though.
I doubt that those with sensitive stomachs would even make it
past the cover art on
True Carnage, but this disc does come with a music video for
“The Day The Dead Walked,” which might freak out some people,
unless you’ve been raised on a diet of horror movies. (As for me –
hell, I survived The Great Kat’s music video for “Castration,” so I
think I can stomach almost anything.)
True Carnage is a disc which demonstrates that Six Feet
Under don’t merely want to follow the same paths they, along with
other death metal bands, have trod over the years. They want to
show there’s more to the scene than fast playing and guttural
growls. Well, one out of two ain’t bad in this case – but the disc
represents another success for a band who constantly prove they
deserve the accolades that come their way.