Reviews

Six Feet Under frontman Chris Barnes has a long history in the death metal scene, and no one can take away the fact that he was the original vocalist of Cannibal Corpse, potentially the most well know death metal band of all time. All that aside though, if you continue to play the game, you have to keep scoring goals - and any musician's legacy can be eroded if they keep making bad or mediocre music long enough. Barnes is proof of this, with each Six Feet Under album sounding just a little less engaging than the last, to where we are today with Next To Die. 'Approach Your Grave' starts the album out fine. It is slow, but suits Barnes' garbled vocal style well. It doesn't show much variation, and almost sounds like an early Obituary outtake. It isn't a particularly exciting song, and when the opener of most albums showcases what is to come, it isn't an inspiring portent. Track 2, the speedy 'Destroyed Remains' immediately proves itself to be a better song, but there is still nothing mind-blowing to be heard. 'Mister Blood And Guts' is next, and is the lyrics are so childish it sounds like it was written by a child, with the song title repeated over and over throughout. 'Mutilated Corpse In The Woods' is one of the best songs here, but is let down by Barnes' mumbled vocals. In fact, that can be said of the entire album. Although the music isn't breaking any new ground, it is competent old school death metal - but the vocals are just dull and uninspired, and anything unique about Barnes' vocal style back in his glory days is now long gone. There is a feeling here that he sees himself as a death metal 'elder statesman' that has the ability to lay down incredible vocals with little effort, but this album is evidence that the truth is far from it. He mumbles and grunts his way from song to song with little passion, and seemingly little interest. By 'Mind Hell' this is all starting to sound the same, but 'Naked And Dismembered' does a good job of trying to salvage something appealing from the uninspired mess it is part of. 'Grasped From Beyond' sounds the closest to early Six Feet Under the album has, and it is one of the better tracks, but like the rest of the album the muddy guitar tone sucks the life from the recording. The title track leads nicely into the final track, 'Ill Wishes' which although not heavy throughout, is easily the best track on the album. With clean moments it helps to snap the listener back to attention, something the other songs seldom do. It is actually a song begging itself worthy of a relisten, something the rest of the album doesn't tend to do. Even the whispered vocals is welcome break from the constant low growls that are throughout ever other song. If a single word could be used to describe the album, it would be 'dull'. There is nothing particularly bad or even incompetent here, but the whole thing feels like a band fulfilling a contractual obligation, like no one is enjoying themselves and they are doing this because they have to. The difference for the listener is, they aren't obligated to listen, so probably won't.