In a Cameo video message for a fan, former CANNIBAL CORPSE and current SIX FEET UNDER frontman Chris Barnes shared his thoughts on the fan’s choice of CANNIBAL CORPSE‘s The Bleeding (1994) and SIX FEET UNDER‘s Maximum Violence (1999) as their two favorite death metal albums of all time.
Barnes said (as transcribed by Blabbermouth): “Those albums, they’re anchored in a different place for me, because both albums kind of marked a new beginning for two bands. The Bleeding being the first [CANNIBAL CORPSE] album after [guitarist] Bob Rusay, and Maximum Violence being the first [SIX FEET UNDER] album after [guitarist] Allen West. They’re really inspired albums, and you find that happens when you bring someone new into a band. And that’s always been something that I’ve kind of noted myself. I put that in the back of my head, like, whenever a band I’m working with picks up a new member, a main songwriter, like Steve Swanson was [in SIX FEET UNDER], it just changes gears and brings a new dynamic into the music itself, which is something I thrive to hunt for in the music of SIX FEET UNDER specifically.”
“In CANNIBAL CORPSE, with The Bleeding, those guys as musicians were really wanting to progress the band musically in a way. I could kind of say why — I think they were wanting to, in a way, prove themselves as well-skilled musicians. And I thought they always were, because it was always very interesting music, the arrangements and stuff in CANNIBAL CORPSE on the first three albums.
“But I think they wanted to really hyper focus their skills and weren’t able to do that. And I just was along for the ride, man. I can write to anything. It was really challenging to me. And I really liked The Bleeding too. I liked what we were doing with Bob. I didn’t want Bob to leave the band, and I didn’t want him to be forced out of the band, and neither did Jack [Owen, then-CANNIBAL CORPSE guitarist]. So it kind of was a strange thing with that whole situation, but it did bring about a good album with The Bleeding. And Stripped, Raped And Strangled is probably my favorite song that I’ve written. And ‘Hammer Smashed Face’ is probably the most successful song that I’ve written. But something about ‘Stripped, Raped And Strangled’, to me, it showed something with the band that never appeared again with any of their albums after that, even Created To Kill. But that is a purposeful thing. I was told by one of the members I will never write another song like that, which I thought was a big mistake. So it’s a special song to me in that way, and I love that song. I’ll play that song forever.
CANNIBAL CORPSE‘s 1996 album Vile was originally titled Created to Kill and was partially completed before Chris Barnes was dismissed from the band over creative differences.
“You picked two great albums to be your favorites,” Barnes continued. “I mean, probably pretty close for me too. I kind of tend to really like [CANNIBAL CORPSE‘s] Butchered At Birth ’cause that’s what really brought us out of the woodwork, so to speak, and caused a lot of controversy and also gave us really our first real step up. And the music and everything on that — the band was just hitting on all cylinders. There was not too much tension in the band, although there was some. There was always tension on a personal level in that band when I was in the band, and probably mostly my fault [laughs], so I’ll be the first to admit it. But, yeah, those are great albums that you picked there. I’m glad you like those a lot. They’re important, important, important albums to me, too.”
Barnes was the founding vocalist of CANNIBAL CORPSE and performed on band’s four studio albums, Eaten Back to Life (1990), Butchered at Birth (1991), Tomb of the Mutilated (1992), The Bleeding (1994).
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