Tag: Marco Pitruzzella

6 Feet Under – “Next to Die” review

6 Feet Under is a death metal band from Tampa, Florida consisting of bassist Jeff Hughell, drummer Marco Pitruzzella, lead guitarist Ray Suhy, secondary guitarist Jack Owen & finally frontman Chris Barnes. The latter of whom co-founded Cannibal Corpse, dropping some of the greatest material throughout one of metal music’s most extreme subgenres including Tomb of the Mutilated & The Bleeding under Metal Blade Records. Chris would eventually be fired during the Created to Kill sessions & that’s what lead to Haunted dropping. Maximum Violence however has always been my personal favorite, although the Graveyard Classics series of covers & Nightmares of the Decomposed are some of the most unlistenable death metal you could find. Nevertheless: Their 15th studio LP of original material sparked my curiosity.

The intro really opens up by advising not having any fear when it’s time to “Approach Your Grave” over some standard death metal instrumentation whereas “Destroyed Remains” describes a cold dark night where one would spontaneously combust. “Mr. Blood & Guts” keeps the traditional death metal vibes going depicting himself to be an individual who has no soul or pulse while “Mutilated Corpse in the Woods” wasn’t that exciting of a final single honestly.

“Unmistakable Smell of Death” was a much superior death metal single compared it’s successor & one of the better songs 6 Feet Under has done in recent memory expressing the fulfillment he gets out of terror while “Wrath & Terror Take Command” reaches the halfway point describing the streets & palaces being covered in blood. “Skin Coffins” gets the other leg going talking about hearts decaying in our graves while “Mind Hell” details our deceased souls being buried long ago.

Winding down Next to Die’s final moments, “Naked & Dismembered” makes a weird reference to “Hammer Smashed Face” during the chorus despite the fact Chris had a hand in making that one of death metal’s greatest singles period. “Grasped from Beyond” on the other hand discusses a madness overtaking our souls & after the title track explains a darkness waiting forevermore, “Ill Wishes” ends with the quintet offering a glimpse of a life fading forever.

You’re not gonna get anything embarrassingly bad as Nightmares of the Decomposed but even if I do consider Next to Die to be an improvement above 6 Feet Under’s previous full-length Killing for Revenge & even Torment, it’s a subpar meat & potatoes death metal album that’s neither memorable or pushes this style forward because of the songwriting or instrumentally playing it safe. And that’s been a reoccurring theme with Chris Barnes & company for over 2 decades respectfully.

Score: 2/5

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6 Feet Under – “Nightmares of the Decomposed” review

This is the unlucky 13th studio LP of original material from Tampa, Florida death metal band 6 Feet Under consisting of bassist Jeff Hughell, drummer Marco Pitruzzella, lead guitarist Ray Suhy, secondary guitarist Jack Owen & finally frontman Chris Barnes. The latter of whom co-founded Cannibal Corpse, dropping some of the greatest material throughout one of metal music’s extreme subgenres including Tomb of the Mutilated & The Bleeding under Metal Blade Records. Chris would eventually be fired during the Created to Kill sessions & that’s what lead to Haunted dropping. Maximum Violence however has always been my personal favorite, although Nightmares of the Decomposed was poised to be as unbearable as the Graveyard Classics series of covers.

“Amputator” begins with this forgettable death metal/death ‘n’ roll intro talking about severing limbs whereas “Zodiac” continues with laughably bad mutation of death ‘n’ roll & groove metal & that’s because of Chris’ vocals. “The Rotting” unfortunately doesn’t make anything better pronouncing the titular word using this grating “EEEEE” just before “Death Will Follow” gargles about one’s demise coming after their throats are slit.

We get some more meat & potatoes death metal on “Migraine” delivering some of the most unintelligible vocals on the entire full-length ironically summing up how it feels listening to it leading into “The Noose” being a further exemplification of Chris Barnes’ decline in terms of performances bringing back the nauseating “EEEEE” bullshit from “The Rotting” to end the 1st half. “Blood of the Zombie” goes death ‘n’ roll mode again to put us inside the shoes of the undead in a below average manner & “Self Imposed Death Sentence” feels like being in the way of his own progression.

“Dead Girls Don’t Scream” winds down the last act of this chore of an LP detailing him murdering a slut because he couldn’t go on without her & no one else having her if he couldn’t while “Drink Blood Get High” details him being amongst the dead with a gorging urge to kill. “Labyrinth of Insanity” cautions there being no way out of this maze of torture and deceit that’s really a pit to hell & darkness, which is false because “Without Your Life” finally puts Nightmares of the Decomposed out of it’s misery remorselessly killing someone in a frenzy.

A lot of 6 Feet Under’s output for the last 2 decades have come NOWHERE close to their earlier output in terms of enjoyability but if there was a moment in their career where they would make something as equally hideous as their cover series, Nightmares of the Decomposed takes the cake with what could likely be regarded as one of if not THE worst death metal ever recorded. The production including secondary influences of death ‘n’ roll & groove metal doesn’t really add anything to those particular styles & Chris Barnes’ vocals reach a brand new low of embarrassment.

Score: 0/5