"Graveyard Classics"
Metal Blade Records
By Vinnie Apicella Just in time for "Fright Night." Six Feet Under present their latest twisted vision in the ghastly form of a number of traditional metal classics, unearthed and massacred beyond recognition. well almost! I have to admit to doing a double take when Savatage's ancient "Holocaust" came blurting out. Building on their usual inclination to revisit and reinterpret the work of one classic artist or another on their records-they've covered the likes of Kiss, Priest and Holocaust up to now, Six Feet Under have made some pretty impressive strides in taking the whole dogma of Death Metal and bringing it further along in the public ranks. Not that they've ever needed to compromise their style. but then again, their style's always been one that embraces tradition-a usually sadistic one in any case-but the sharp riffs and the basic structures within the songs have always drew upon the late great classics of the past. and then there's Barnes to top it all off with that painful drone! There's not one song done here that doesn't deserve to be among anyone's classic list, Death, Punk, Metal or otherwise. That's not to say however that the average listener's gonna go out and pick "Son of a Bitch" or "Stepping Stone" out of a crowd. (Hey didn't The Monkees.) but how about the idea of covering Exodus' "Piranha," or Angelwitch's "Confused?" Confused? Then try this one out-they do a cover of The Scorpions' "Blackout" and manage to somehow get John Bush to lend his chops in the background-no, I'd imagine you don't want to "find out!" And one can only wonder what'll become of the poor soul after this. The true test of SFU's capabilities is whether or not they'll embarrass themselves tackling tunes that helped define three different eras in hard rock music. They don't, but they are an acquired taste. a sour one at that! Barnes gets downright irritating at times to the point where you want to clear your own throat for fear of gagging, yet that's just him. And so much for dreams of desecration. the songs basically sound like they're supposed to! The band plays on and does a halfway decent job and throws a few shovels of dirt to cover the holes from time to time but this is Death Metal so you're supposed to fuckup! In case anyone was expecting happy whistling tunes on a pleasant evening stroll past the graveyard, guess again and try to rest easy in finally accepting the truth. that all of your heroes are dead. dead and buried! |
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