Well, well, well.... here we are again. I have found myself feeling a bit less than willing and able to revisit here in quite some time (about a month now?), but not for a lack of interest. It has been more of an inability to find free time between work and my own band trying to get back out doing shows. That plus an ever-growing pile of bills and the cards of life stacked heavily against me has made it difficult to hype myself up to get back into my love for posting here on Steemit. But again, to reiterate, I have not lost my desire to finish what I have started on here (Metal Music For Beginners Series and Folk Metal A-Z series). And those are coming soon, I promise. But for now, hopefully this review will tie some over until I can gather my research for both of my other official series posts. In due time!
Shall we begin?
Six Feet Under
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After the release of Cannibal Corpse's fourth album, "The Bleeding" (1994), it marked a milestone in what may have very well been one of the most shocking departures in the world of death metal as we knew it. Chris Barnes, Cannibal's original vocalist, left the band due to cooperation issues whilst preparing to record a fifth album attempt, "Created to Kill", which would then become "Vile", with all-new music and an all-new singer, George "Corpsegrinder" Fisher. It was simply time for Chris Barnes and Cannibal Corpse to move on and do their thing, as they have always done.
Fortunately for the death metal world, this event was far from being the end of an era. In fact, quite the opposite. Sure, Cannibal Corpse may have lost their tried-and-true vocalist that came to be the voice to the madness they instrumentally created, but that didn't mean that his departure would mark his permanent disappearance. No, this was only the beginning for the former frontman, as he soon announced of his other project. That project was Six Feet Under. And after over twenty years, they are still going strong, with a bigger following than ever in death metal community, it seems.
And like clockwork, and in no short order, the monsters of SFU have released yet another punishing record THIS YEAR! And what is that record's name, you may ask? Well, if you didn't read the name of this post already, then please allow me to introduce to you....
Torment
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For a band like this to still be creating relevant music after two decades of existence, and eleven previous studio albums prior to this year, shows nothing less than the fact that they are a band that has been, and will continue to be, a band that is here to stay for quite some time. With punishing tracks like "Sacrificial Kill" and "Exploratory Homicide", SFU continues to show the world of death metal that they still have fire, and that they still have something to say. Inspiration always draws from the darkest parts of a mortal's life and soul, and Chris Barnes continues to confirm that fact with his lyricism for SFU's music, just like he did in Cannibal Corpse all those years ago.
Still not convinced of this? Well, don't just take my word for it. Listen below, and see for yourself. Here are four of my favorite tracks (and hopefully yours too) from this crunching death metal opus. Enjoy, and stay metal! \m/
"Sacrificial Kill"
"Exploratory Homicide"
"In the Process of Decomposing"
"Roots of Evil"
