Six Feet Under: “The Curious Case Of Extreme Metal, Pettiness (?) & Politics”

The Skinny: Even in the largely-ignored-by-mainstream-press realm of extreme metal, certain bands have gone through what major bands frequently experience: that major bitch of a lineup shakeup called LSC (Lead Singer Change). While most certainly turning the heads of self-respecting metalheads out there who are well-connected to the grapevine, even a neutral bystander who might not even necessarily be remotely interested in metal music as a whole can probably understand the huge reaction. What is contemporary music without vocals?

The band in question is familiar to most, and it is none other than Cannibal Corpse, one of America’s best-selling death metal bands. However, it is not the main focus here – Six Feet Under is. What intertwines the fates of these two death metal bands is quite similar to the unbreakable bond between Metallica and Megadeth whether James Hetfield or Dave Mustaine likes it or not. While Metallica kicked out Dave and indirectly helped spawn one of the Big Four by spiting Dave into creating his own thrash metal band, Cannibal Corpse kicked out original vocalist and founding member Chris Barnes and (fortuitously?) allowed him to focus on his then side project, Six Feet Under.

This proved to be pretty good for extreme metal history as a whole since Six Feet Under have since become yet another one of America’s most prominent and best-selling death metal bands. Whether Chris himself or old diehard fans of the Chris-Barnes-fronted Cannibal Corpse still feel bitter about his departure from the Metallica of death metal, it is undeniable that sometimes, LSC can actually be a good thing; at least to the extreme metal appreciators out there who fancy as wide a variety as possible in the music they consume.

The biggest noticeable difference between Cannibal Corpse and Six Feet Under has always been the former’s focus on blazing tempos and the latter’s focus on mid-paced tempos, and this difference has resulted in making Cannibal Corpse well-remembered for speed and Six Feet Under, 60 km/h grooves.

Perhaps to no one’s surprise, more 60 km/h grooves are what Six Feet Under has to offer again on Undead, the band’s ninth studio recording since 1993. Coming just two months after Cannibal Corpse’s own traditionally-styled twelfth studio record, Torture, Undead is interestingly similar to Torture in many ways. From the fact that both Cannibal Corpse and Six Feet Under have maintained their traditional and closely similar styles of gory, cartoonish album artwork and respective musical trademarks despite the bad history some of their members share, all the way down to the one-word album titles that have only two syllables each; both bands are kind of like siblings purposely separated since birth and made to participate in a metaphysical social experiment years later which aims to find out if intertwining fates exist.

Check out Metal Blade’s interview with Chris Barnes

Honestly, witnessing the continued existence of both bands over the years really makes one ponder the gravity of the banal and seemingly serious problem of “difference in styles”. Just how different is “difference in styles”? Is breaking up/kicking a band mate out simply due to not being able to see eye to eye really worth the temporary ‘high’ of getting back at a disagreeing friend/colleague? Can extreme metal musicians perhaps be as whimsical and egoistical as their pop and rock counterparts? Do they even notice the irony in the better-than-thou image they often portray versus the childish behavior some of them succumb to behind closed doors?

The music is still coming and keeping the extreme metal scene alive, but for the individuals who make them, gore for thought?

Check out the song: “Formaldehyde”