Six Feet Under – Next To Die
Six Feet Under – Next To Die
Metal Blade
Release Date: 24/04/26
Review by Jon Deaux
5/10.
One-half sporadically functional Death Metal. One half the musical equivalent of a teenagers cum soaked sock. Admirably honest about its own divided soul, which is more than can be said for most of the band’s catalogue.
I’m not sure that Chris Barnes and co. have quite realized that they’ve now got their fifteenth studio album out into the world, but bless them, in some parallel universe somewhere, there’s a version of Six Feet Under giving masterclasses on sheer bloody-mindedness and persistence, carving their names into the Death Metal lexicon via sheer bovine obstinacy. Bless them. I really mean it.
Right. Now let’s talk about ‘Next to Die.’
See, as is explained with the earnest delight of a man who has just invented the wheel, there are “two sides” to the album; Death Metal and Groove. This may seem innovative to someone living in 1994, but 32 years later and it reads more like the sound of the band hedging their bets. Imagine being in a casino and being too indecisive to put your money down for either blackjack or the slot machines, and so setting fire to half your cash at each.
God knows Jack Owen must feel like he’s doing a good turn here. Because, you know, he left Cannibal Corpse – Cannibal Corpse – and ended up in Six Feet Under. Either an incredibly touching story about loyalty, or an important lesson about how to read contracts more carefully. Whatever it is, the man’s riffs on the Death Metal side of things are actually quite decent. ‘Approach Your Grave’ is a pure machine. ‘Destroyed Remains’ goes on to deliver some decent blast and grind, with Owen’s pull-offs doing the heavy lifting and Chris Barnes’ vocals doing… what you’d expect.
Fine. Good, even. Just the briefest of flashes of inspiration.
Until we reach ‘Mister Blood and Guts’ – apparently the result of Owen having watched too many Creature Feature late night films, which is probably true given what’s happening here – where we find out that the album has quietly rested its hands on our shoulders and asked us to reorganize our day around it.
‘Mister Blood and Guts’ is not graceful. The groove sections lumber on without any sense of menace or wit. They’re not bad, they’re just entirely lacking in the nasty edge that would make them unsettling, which was always the key component to SFU’s earlier music.
Enter ‘Mutilated Corpse in the Woods’ and ‘Naked and Dismembered’. As far as marketing goes, those song names have done all the work they need to. You know the deal; nothing especially shocking or surprising about the lyrics, the performances aren’t especially inspired, and the songwriting does its damnedest to convey menace without ever quite succeeding. The problem is that Barnes and co. understand the theatrical component of Death Metal but the stage design has remained unchanged since the 1990s. ‘Next to Die’ is recorded remotely, each musician contributing their performances individually from their home studios before Owen and Barnes pieced everything together. Not that there’s anything inherently wrong with that, because it all works just fine – Mark Lewis’ production and mixing job is punchy without being messy, a clean production that somehow manages to sound more expensive than it has any right to be. Lewis should get a fruit basket.
Meanwhile, ‘Skin Coffins’ and ‘Mind Hell’ form the muddy middle of the album – decent enough, unremarkable, like a hallway that leads to another hallway. ‘Grasped from Beyond’ briefly lifts itself off the floor and shows signs of actual fury. ‘Ill Wishes’ rounds out proceedings with as much finality as a wet handshake.
Chris Barnes recorded his vocals at the legendary Criteria Recording Studios in Miami. And boy did he give one hell of a performance with the unflappable conviction of a man for whom there is absolutely zero room for uncertainty. His voice is what it is, but it takes decades of gravel and phlegm and absolute certainty in the correctness of the noises you are making. Like or dislike, but Barnes has never, ever cared.
Which is kind of spiritual these days. But that’s a conversation for another time.
Now the album is titled after ‘Next to Die’, which apparently best represents the lyrical theme. In the same way that meat in a bread-container is best described as representing a burger. The track is heavy, but that’s kind of what you expect after the first three seconds.
So what ‘Next to Die’ ends up being is perfectly adequate. Whether that means they’ve done something amazing here or that they are the absolute worst is entirely subjective and depends on your personal taste. The Death Metal side of things is certainly earning its keep, while the groove side exists for the sake of existence.
Can anyone say the same?
TRACKLISTING:
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
LINKS:
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