SIX FEET UNDER – “UNDEAD”
METAL BLADE (2012)
When Chris Barnes decided to leave US legends Cannibal Corpse in order to pursue a different musical path with Six Feet Under back in 1993, my initial reaction was not that positive but a string of good quality groove-laden Death Metal releases, such as “Haunted” (1995) and “Warpath” (1997) proved his move to be a wise one. The band’s career has been beset with change during its twenty years – in the same vein, since the last time Six Feet Under released a studio album (“Death Ritual” 2008), two of its founding members and one relative newbie have decided to part ways with Barnes and guitarist Steve Swanson, leaving them with the unenviable task of enlisting three new members and release a new studio album. Well “Undead”, the band’s ninth studio album is upon us so let’s see what Barnes and Co have managed to achieve….
Six Feet Under have managed to make a name for themselves these last couple of decades with Barnes’ low-registered growls and a string of cleverly-crafted groovy heavy riffs. Well, as far as the former is concerned, examples of similar vocal expressions can be found throughout “Undead” but what has changed is the way riffs are composed and used on this twelve track album. Watson’s riffs are more Thrash and old-school than before and that seems to also affect the structure of most of the compositions on offer, which are generally no more than three minutes long. This new approach has, unfortunately a limited level of success resulting in “Undead” becoming an interesting but somewhat inconsistent affair to the point that some could take a number of songs as fillers rather than a product of real artistic inspiration.
The album kicks off in a promising manner as “Frozen At The Moment Of Death” is a fast-tempo old-school Death Metal piece with Slayer-influences solos bound to satisfy the band’s most loyal fans, whereas the groovy head-banging riffs of the dead-catchy “Formaldehyde” will undoubtedly appeal to a much wider audience. Sadly, this good momentum is not quite sustained, as “18 Days” is an unusually structured groovy piece and “Molest Dead” nothing other than an average riff-orientated composition. My faith in this album was re-instated through the massive groovy riffs of “Blood On My Hands” and the first part of this release is concluded with another average-sounding riff-based theme, entitled “Missing Victims”. The second part contains material that is less impressive, but which will inevitably win the attention of the band’s hardcore followers. “Reckless” has a few bad-ass riffs to offer while the duet “Near Death Experience”/”Delayed Combustion” use similar riffs to maximum effect. Sadly, inconsistency once again shows its unfriendly face as both “The Scar” and “Vampire Apocalypse” are too basic and structurally incoherent to do this album justice, leaving the atmospheric lead harmonies and up-tempo riffs of “The Depths Of Depravity” to work on convincing those less loyal amongst you that purchasing this album would be a wise decision.
I am not entirely sure what sort of a picture I’ve actually drawn of “Undead”, so let me clarify things now. My initial reaction was one of confusion (I am sure most Six Feet Under fans will agree with me), since what I expected from this band after a four year gap in between albums was something more…spectacular! Having said that, in knowing that this is the product of a new, one year old line up and recognising that it does contain some good quality moments that promise even greater things for the future, I find myself warming to it slightly more that I would have under normal circumstances. “Undead” is not one of the band’s proudest moments but not one of their worst offerings either.
John Stefanis
Rating: ***1/2 (3.5/5.0)
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