CoC : Six Feet Under - Bringer of Blood : Review

Six Feet Under - _Bringer of Blood_
(Metal Blade, 2003)
by: Jackie Smit (4.5 out of 10)

With the amount of media attention lavished -- arguably quite undeservedly -- upon Six Feet Under in recent months gone by, it was virtually a given that _Bringer of Blood_ was going to turn out to be either sheer class or unabashed hype. Indeed, after seeing Barnes and his not-so-merry crew tear it loose at the London Underworld earlier this year, I was personally anticipating something not so much remarkable, but most definitely... well, better than this. One could blame Metal Blade Records for allowing Chris Barnes to languish in the producer's seat, or you could point the finger at Barnes himself for turning in one of the most amateurish and weak vocal performances witnessed for some time. Regardless, _Bringer of Blood_ falls short of expectations on several counts. "Sick in the Head" opens the album on a decidedly tepid note, whilst "America the Brutal", with its droning anti-war chorus, sounds like Six Feet Under making a half-hearted stab at recording a punk tune, and inevitably falling flat on their faces. Elsewhere, tracks like "Ugly" and "Murdered in the Basement" go some way toward redeeming the album slightly, but at the same time heighten one's amazement at the fact that the same band could have recorded the album's shockingly poor title track. The truth of the matter is that 2003 has already played host to many more creative and outstanding death metal releases (Misery Index, Krisiun, Zyklon and Morbid Angel to name a few), and amidst such vastly superior talent, Six Feet Under are at best an afterthought.

(article published 23/11/2003)

CHATS
5/8/2007	J Smit	Six Feet Under: Thou Shall Kill
12/13/1995	A Bromley	Six Feet Under: Six Feet Above the Rest

ALBUMS
3/7/2010	J Smit	1	Six Feet Under - Graveyard Classics 3
11/19/2008	J Smit	4	Six Feet Under - Death Rituals
5/1/2007	J Smit	5.5	Six Feet Under - Commandment
1/10/2001	A Bromley	2.5	Six Feet Under - Graveyard Classics
7/7/1999	A Bromley	9	Six Feet Under - Maximum Violence
10/16/1997	A Bromley	9	Six Feet Under - Warpath
11/8/1995	G Filicetti	7	Six Feet Under - Haunted