The first impression I had with Six Feet Under was not good I admit. There is some kind of bad blood with me and the band, however as a Metal loyalist I do understand their relevance to Metal music history. That’s why I am writing this review.
I cannot remember the album I heard back then in 1998, but I swear I did not like it. Well, on my behalf, back then I was not so into Extreme Metal. That time I was groping to understand it and, maybe, to like it as I liked the NWOBHM. The most extreme band I liked that time was Slayer. My problem has always been the gutural vocals. Not the speed, not the aggression, not the dissonances – which I love. The vocals. My problem was the vocals. And Six Feet Under’s vocals are more than gutural, they are beyond gutural if you understand what I mean.
Ok, then, so now I believe I have overcome this and I am prepared to write the review Six Feet Under deserve with their relevance to Metal music’s world. As I have never reviewed, or listened, any Six Feet Under’s album I guess this will be a fresh start.
Well, to some extent due to the limits of their genre, I happen to find “Next to Die” a very varied album. As we are talking about Six Feet Under this means tempo and speed shifts with more cadenced moments. However, vocals remain unaltered. Ok, that’s the way I feel about them. I think I may be a little harsh. Chris Barnes really tries to vary them in “Skin Coffins,” for instance, but the bad blood still remains. Just a little… So sorry, I am too old school. I love vocalists as Rob Halford, Dio, Bruce Dickinson, among others. By the way, the guitars and the drumming are just great in this track.
Lyrically, “Next to Die” is still loyal to themes as killers, killers’ mind, physical assault as “The Unmistakable Smell of Death,” where Owen writes “from the perspective of a killer who toys with a victim and unties them, allowing them to fight,” he says. And adds “He underestimates their ability to fight, and they get the better of the killer.” Or “Mutilated Corpse in the Woods” that tells a tale ripped from the headlines about a victim whose brutal assailant tied her to a tree and slit her throat, while “Mister Blood and Guts” found Owen writing music after a few days of musing on the lyrics in his head. “When I was young, local TV stations always had a show where a creepy host would show campy cult movies and dress up and tell you tidbits abouts the film. This continues today with a show hosted by the creepiest of hosts, Svengoolie.”
It is interesting how cornerstone tracks as first decay “Approach Your Grave” and grand final death “Ill Wishes” sum up “Next to Die.” Their slow movements, “Ill Wishes” more than than “Approach Your Grave,” represent the sickier Six Feet Under can musically get. Their slow movements delivers the fan some kind of ill feeling. I guess this the mood that represents the band the best. The band’s approach to Funeral Doom Metal is the thing that they do best, from where I am sit.
All right, that was not so bad at all…
Six Feet Under “Next to Die” will be released on April 24 via Metal Blade Records.
Track Listing:
01. Approach Your Grave
02. Destroyed Remains
03. Mister Blood and Guts
04. Mutilated Corpse in the Woods
05. Unmistakable Smell of Death
06. Wrath and Terror Takes Command
07. Skin Coffins
08. Mind Hell
09. Naked and Dismembered
10. Grasped from Beyond
11. Next to Die
12. Ill Wishes
Watch “The Unmistakable Smell of Death” official lyric video here:
I’m just a lucky guy who has chosen metal to live with for a long time. Metal changed my life for good. It made me more confident and stronger. Metalheads are naturally far away from the mass mediocrity and don’t accept impostures from anybody else. Metal is more than music, it’s a life changing oportunity!