Six Feet Under has chosen its next victim.
With the release of Next To Die, their nineteenth album, on Metal Blade Records, the band led by Chris Barnes (vocals, ex-Cannibal Corpse), Jeff Hughell (bass, Darkside of Humanity), “Lord Marco” Pitruzzella (drums, Sleep Terror, Solus Ex Inferis, Waking the Cadaver, ex-Brain Drill, ex-The Faceless…), Ray Suhy (guitar, ex-Cannibal Corpse), and Jack Owen (guitar, Empty Throne, ex-Cannibal Corpse, ex-Deicide) is also kicking off a European tour.
The album opens with Approach Your Grave, a fairly simple yet groovy and catchy opener where Barnes’s growls are menacing, almost macabre, responding to Jason Suecof’s leads (Capharnaum, Charred Walls of the Damned), who layers intriguing harmonics over the heavy bassline. The sound becomes much more aggressive with Destroyed Remains, the next track, where the riffs are sharper, as are the vocals, which once again become imposing, and the song flies by in a flash despite its five-minute length, just like Mister Blood and Guts, which doesn’t exceed three minutes. The sound is effective and your head bobs on its own as we move on to Mutilated Corpse in the Woods, where the rhythm section picks up the pace even further, becoming truly ferocious while the catchy chorus makes us pump our fists, and the same goes for Unmistakable Smell of Death, which follows. There’s a hint of epic heavy metal in the leads, but the rest of the track remains as dark and groovy as can be; then Wrath and Terror Takes Command returns to its unsettling, oppressive tones to launch its assault, quickly followed by a powerful acceleration that has us headbanging effortlessly once again. The tortured solo creates a fairly sharp break before picking up speed again toward Skin Coffins, a track that’s also fairly simple but easy on the ears; yet we naturally get swept up in the moment as Mind Hell quickly returns to a rougher, more jagged sound, just the way we loved it back in the day. The groove of the rhythm section is all the more interesting after this lull, then we pick up speed again with Naked and Dismembered, the next track that blends Death’n’Roll with massive Old School touches to unleash its full power, even with a touch of technicality at times. Back to catchy simplicity with Grasped from Beyond, where the vocals complete an assault that’s once again naturally head-banging, barely disturbed by the leads that punctuate it, then finally by a few well-timed accelerations before handing the baton to Next to Die. As a fitting title track, it perfectly represents the album, offering in turn moments of violence, groovy sections, and powerful screams, summing up the album all on its own with even a dissonant solo before finally reaching Ill Wishes, the final track – much slower and heavier – which first imposes an unusual yet horrifying rhythm with its whispers and soaring harmonics before erupting to close the album with violence.
After a rough patch, Six Feet Under has largely regained its mojo, and even though the band has evolved significantly over thirty years, no one can say that Next To Die is bad! We find the aggression and groove we love, and that’s all that matters!
75/100