Many things are difficult for the average music reviewer: keeping track of major albums, knowing what people are listening to and saying something positive about Chris Barnes. Since his time as the original vocalist in Cannibal Corpse, Chris Barnes went from one of the most important vocalists in the history of Death Metal to a maligned figure due to his deteriorating vocal skills and mostly his volatile online persona which has seen him slating other bands in the genre.
Killing for Revenge is by no means a modern death metal classic but it feels like more effort was put into this. The opening track, ‘Know Nothing Ingrate’, has some steamroller energy until the bizarre flailing solo kicks in. It’s an interesting choice but I suppose they have to do something to change up the lengthy two-minute runtime.
Some riffs are sonically reminiscent of Deicide like the surprisingly catchy ‘Accomplice to Evil Deeds’ which could have been a fun Evil Dead homage if Barnes’ vocals had the same multi-layered vocal effects featured in Deicide’s ‘Dead by Dawn’. Jack Owen clearly remembers his time in Deicide and hasn’t lost any of that menacing flair and groove that makes them so unique.
The worst tracks are easily the ones that put Barnes at the centre. Tracks like ‘Hostility Against Mankind’ and ‘Neanderthal’ utilise minimalist riffs and require Barnes to carry the song and that just doesn’t work. These songs are dull and meandering and you have to imagine Barnes is Leatherface or Luther the Geek or whatever barely human monster you’d like to hear fronting a death metal band. It does add a bit of fun and flavour if you pretend it’s a Ghoul from Fallout singing and you can even have some fun if you put it on in the background while playing a video game such Dead Rising or Dead by Daylight but outside of that, it doesn’t have much replay value.
It feels like Barnes is making an effort to improve his vocals and that’s a long process, especially at his age. Hopefully, the next album will contain some traces of the monster he used to be back on classics like Tomb of the Mutilated but for now, we’ll settle for a decent if generic death metal.
Listening to a Six Feet Under album is a lot like playing an Atari game, it’s dated, and primitive and you have to stretch your imagination to have fun. It’s not without its charm at times and it’s a definite step in the right direction, however, it’s still a rough sit at times but at least Barnes didn’t go “eeeeeeeeee”.
Killing For Revenge is available now via Metal Blade Records
