SIX FEET UNDER
official site
MySpace
Death Metal
Tampa, Florida United States
Chris Barnes - Vocals
Terry Butler - Bass
Greg Gall - Drums
Steve Swanson - Guitars
Биография:
Группа "Six feet under" поначалу имела статус побочного проекта
вокалиста Криса Барнса и "Cannibal corpse" и гитариста Аллена Веста из
"Obituary". С басистом "Death" Терри Батлером и барабанщиком Грегом
Голлом они собирались поиграть недолгое время, но судьба распорядилась
иначе. Отношения в родной команде Барнса накалились до предела, в
результате чего тот расстался со своими бывшими коллегами и полностью
посвятил себя новому проекту, по сути ставшему дэтовой супергруппой.
Дебютный альбом 1995 года, "Haunted", содержал характерный
"джентльменский набор" дэт-металлистов – мрачные риффы и
соответствующие загробные тексты.
Благодаря туру в поддержку пластинки тиражи ее достигли 35000
экземпляров. Некоторые вещи, записанные во время гастролей попали на
мини-альбом "Alive And Dead", вышедший в 1986-м. Этот релиз также
содержал парочку новых треков и кавер-версию "Grinder" "Judas priest".
Серьезной студийной работой музыканты смогли заняться лишь в
следующем году, поскольку Вест был занят на сессиях с "Obituary".
Спустя некоторое время после выхода "Warpath" Аллен все-таки расстался
с "Six feet under", а его место занял Стив Свансон из другой дэтовой
банды "Massacre". Появление нового гитариста благополучно отразилось на
качестве продукции, выдаваемой группой, и новый альбом получил хорошие
отклики в металлических кругах. На данный момент "Maximum Violence"
является, пожалуй, лучшим релизом в дискографии "Six feet under". За
ним последовало успешное турне в компании с "Danzig", а также участие
команды в "2000 Vans Warped Tour".
Если на "Maximum Violence" присутствовала лишь одна "чужая"
композиция ("War Machine" от "Kiss"), то в 2000 году команда решила
записать целый альбом каверов "Graveyard Classics" таких коллективов
как "Scorpions", "AC/DC", "Black Sabbath", "Exodus", "Savatage",
"Venom". Туда же как ни странно попали вещи "Sex pistols", "Dead
Kennedys" и даже Джими Хендрикса. На следующий год "Six feet under" еще
больше удивили публику, позвав в качестве "гостя" на один из треков
нового альбома рэппера Айс-Ти. Однако, пластинка в целом получилась
неплохой и имела коммерческий успех в Европе, попав в чарты в таких
странах как Германия и Австрия.
В качестве бонуса на "True Carnage" присутствовало видео "The
Day The Dead Walked". И хотя на диске клип был представлен полностью,
но к показу на телевидении его запретили из-за экстремальных сцен с
трупами. Почти весь 2002 год команда провела на североамериканских и
европейских гастролях, катаясь в компании с различными бандами, такими
как "Skinless", "Marduk", "Kataklysm" и другими.
// http://hardrockcafe.narod.ru/
english wikipedia.org
Six Feet Under (abbreviated SFU) was formed as a side project in 1992
by Cannibal Corpse singer Chris Barnes and guitarist Allen West of
Obituary. They were soon joined by bassist Terry Butler (formerly of
Massacre and touring bassist of Death from 1988-89) and drummer Greg
Gall. Gall is the brother-in-law of Terry Butler as well. Barnes wished
to pursue his idea of having a death-metal band that wasn’t just about
blast beats and speed with this band. They play a more grooving style
of death-metal when compared to either Cannibal Corpse or Obituary.
Barnes’ lyrics are typically apocalyptic and brutal, but to a somewhat
lesser degree than of his past. He mainly writes about violence, gore
and death, but some of SFU’s lyrics are also political in nature.
1995–1997
Six Feet Under released their 1st album on September 1st, 1995,
entitled Haunted. The album was produced by Brian Slagel and Scott
Burns and distributed by Metal Blade Records. Unlike either of the
members’ main bands, SFU did not play guitar solos on this release, and
the songwriting was still in a ‘work-in-process’ stage. However, the
grooves and the distinctness of Chris Barnes’ vocals were praised in
reviews. Highlights from the album include "Silent Violence” and
"Tomorrow’s Victim”. In due time, because Chris Barnes was making SFU
his main priority, he was discharged from Cannibal Corpse in 1996 when
they were in the process of recording a 5th album. Six Feet Under’s
next release was the Alive and Dead EP on October 29th, 1996. It is a
dual studio/live album, and contains 3 studio recordings ("Insect”,
"Drowning” and a Judas Priest cover, "Grinder”) and 4 tracks from
Haunted performed live. The band released their second album on
September 9, 1997 under the name of Warpath. The songs on this release
are a lot more vibrant in the fact that there is a tighter groove
holding the tracks together. Barnes, while still utilizing his
signature death-growl, does it in a more varied style than he did with
Cannibal Corpse. Opener "War is Coming” stands out as an impressive
track on this release. The pro-cannabis song "4:20” (which showcases
the band’s love of marijuana) was recorded on April 20th, 1997 at 4:20
p.m. and clocks in at 4 minutes and 20 seconds. "Death or Glory” is a
cover of the Holocaust song. "Manipulation” is an example of SFU’s
real-life lyrics, while "Revenge of the Zombie” showcases their gorier
side.
1998–2000
In 1998, Allen West left SFU to rejoin Obituary. This is the
only line-up change that the band has had to date. He was replaced by
Steve Swanson, formerly of Massacre. July 13th, 1999 saw the release of
Six Feet Under’s 3rd studio album, Maximum Violence. As the name of the
album hints, the lyrics on this release are much more violent than past
releases. The rhythmic and chugging "Feasting on the Blood of the
Insane” is the opening track, and the brutal and flowing "Victim of the
Paranoid” follows suit in strong fashion. "Torture Killer” is a slow,
chunky and churning cut, with both "Hacked to Pieces” and "No Warning
Shot” being adequate as well. Steve Swanson brought a revamped crunch
to the SFU sound with his blistering riffs and the inclusion of solos.
The band also recorded death-metal versions of Kiss’ song "War
Machine”. Further embracing their interests in cover songs, Six Feet
Under released an album consisting purely of covers with Graveyard
Classics, which saw an October 24th, 2000 release. The songs were given
death-metal makeovers as far as vocals went, but the original riffs and
rhythms in the songs were left intact, if heavier and more bass-heavy.
Songs include AC/DC's "TNT”, Black Sabbath’s "Sweet Leaf”, Accept’s
"Son of a Bitch”, Deep Purple’s "Smoke on the Water”, Jimi Hendrix’s
"Purple Haze”, Dead Kennedys's "California über Alles”, and Thin
Lizzy’s "Jailbreak”, among many others. Generally, this album received
good reviews, though some slammed the band for it.
2001–2003
SFU’s 5th studio album, True Carnage, was released on August
7th, 2001. It is also their first recording to feature guest artists:
Ice T raps while Barnes roars on "One Bullet Left”, and Karyn Crisis
joins Barnes for "Sick and Twisted”. The songwriting on TRUE CARNAGE is
more groove-oriented in regard to the past. The tracks are still
crashing and mostly slow pace, but have less static. Tracks like "The
Day the Dead Walked”, "Waiting for Decay” and "Necrosociety” are
notable examples of this. The musicianship has also been improved; the
guitar solo on "Waiting for Decay” is impressive, and even the drumming
on "It Never Dies” is better than anything SFU had tried before. The
production on this album is also complimentary to the brutality. The
band followed up a couple of years later with Bringer of Blood
(released September 23rd, 2003). The tuning on this album is very dark
and murky, while Barnes’ vocals are deeply gutteral and more gravelly
than ever before. It contains fan-favorite songs like "Amerika the
Brutal”, "Murdered in the Basement”, "When Skin Turns Blue” and the
self-titled track. However, this release saw universally bad reviews
for the fact that it didn’t expand on the band’s sound the way that
SFU’s previous did.
2004–2006
October 19th, 2004 saw the release of SFU’s 2nd album of covers,
Graveyard Classics 2. This one is more focused than the previous, in
that this venture focuses solely on the AC/DC album Back in Black. The
death-metal makeover on songs like "Givin’ the Dog a Bone”, "Let Me Put
My Love Into You”, "Have A Drink On Me” and "Back in Black” are
impressive and hilarious at the same time – it’s obvious that the band
had fun with this release. SFU released their 7th studio album on March
21st, 2005, titled 13. The sound quality is good although rather quiet,
in the notes for the album it suggests turning your speakers up to
maximum volume for a better experience. Overall 13 is a notable return
to TRUE CARNAGE-esque form, with songs like the classic death-metal of
"Shadow of the Reaper” and "Decomposition of the Human Race”. The songs
on this release are faster this time around and make the lumbering
riffs and speedy solos stand out for the better. Metal Blade Records
issued A Decade In The Grave on October 28th, 2005, a five-song box
set. The first two discs are ‘best-of’ material, CD 3 is a rarities
collection, the 4th disc is from one of the band’s first concerts back
in 1995, and the final disc is a live DVD from 2005.
2006–2008
Six Feet Under toured for the majority of 2006 before hitting
the studios to record their latest effort, Commandment, which was
released on April 17th, 2007. Expanding on the sound of 13, this
album’s groove is slick and impressive, especially on tracks like "As
The Blade Turns” and "Zombie Executioner”. There are less guitar solos
on this release, but the groove of the death-metal songs more than make
up for that. Six Feet Under was a part of the Metalfest 2007 tour
alongside openers Finntroll, Belephgor and Nile, their most
heavily-promoted tour to date. A SFU first was seen in promotion of
COMMANDMENT: a music video was made for "Doomsday” and saw airing on
MTV2’s Headbanger’s Ball starting on November 10th of that year.
Although the band has tried getting television airing of their music
videos in the past, they were all banned, except for this one. On
December 24th, 2007, SFU announced on their website that they would be
hitting the studios in early 2008 to record a new studio album.
Members
Current members
- Chris Barnes - vocals (1995–present)
- Steve Swanson - guitars (1998–present)
- Terry Butler - bass (1995–present)
- Greg Gall - drums (1995–present)
Former members
- Allen West - guitars (1995–1998)
Discography
Studio Albums
EPs And Singles
- Alive and dead (1996)
- Bringer of Blood (2003)
- Amerika the Brutal (2003)
Live Album
Boxed Sets
- A Decade in the Grave (2005)
DVDs
- Double Dead Redux (2003)
- Live With Full Force (2004)
video
|