{"id":12502,"date":"2013-03-19T00:00:43","date_gmt":"2013-03-19T00:00:43","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/?p=12502"},"modified":"2013-06-19T13:55:36","modified_gmt":"2013-06-19T13:55:36","slug":"feature-six-feet-under-03-13-pt1","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/feature-six-feet-under-03-13-pt1\/","title":{"rendered":"SIX FEET UNDER – A Sinister Craving, Part One (March 2013) | Features \/ Interviews @ Metal Forces Magazine"},"content":{"rendered":"

SIX FEET UNDER – A Sinister Craving<\/strong><\/span>
\nAnthony Morgan<\/span>
\nMarch 2013<\/span><\/p>\n

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Chris Barnes \u2013 vocalist for Tampa, Florida-based death metal outfit Six Feet Under \u2013 scribbled the words The Undead Chronicles, Volume 1 And 2<\/em> on a sheet of paper during November 2009, the words later forming the title of a two-album series: Undead<\/em><\/a> and Unborn<\/em><\/a>, issued in May 2012 and March 2013 respectively. Sitting there, pondering about as well as looking at the word \u2018undead\u2019, he thought \u2018If you\u2019re not undead, you\u2019re unborn.\u2019<\/p>\n

\u201cIt just seems like something\u2019s undead, and then it\u2019s unborn,\u201d Chris reiterates. \u201cThe idea of both words having the number six in them as far as having six letters in both words, and the idea of something being born and then being dead… It seemed like it fit with the theme and concept of the intertwined storytelling between both albums, which is the ongoing idea of one man\u2019s insanity and the focus on a certain non-existent apocalypse.<\/p>\n

\u201cAbout a year later I decided to move forward, and look for some new writers. Songwriters in the band I guess that I could work with, that were enthused about being in the band and working with me, and writing new material, since the two members that had been in the band for a long time (bassist Terry Butler and drummer Greg Gall) didn\u2019t really seem motivated or wanting to do that any more. I began writing with Rob Arnold (ex-Chimaira guitarist), Ben Savage (Whitechapel guitarist), and Jari Laine (Torture Killer guitarist), and just really started the foundation of what would be the two albums Undead<\/em> and Unborn<\/em>.\u201d<\/p>\n

Six songwriters authored material in aid of Undead<\/em> and \/ or Unborn<\/em> \u2013 musically, lyrically or otherwise \u2013 namely Chris himself, Steve Swanson (longtime Six Feet Under guitarist), Rob, Ola Englund (Feared guitarist), Jari, and Ben. \u201cSix songwriters, Six Feet Under, and six letters in Unborn<\/em> and Undead<\/em>,\u201d the frontman chuckles.<\/p>\n

Lucky number six. \u201cThat\u2019s it. 666, yes,\u201d Chris laughs.<\/p>\n

Steve Swanson\u2019s Six Feet Under membership began in 1998. \u201cSteve\u2019s awesome, man,\u201d the singer enthuses. \u201cHe\u2019s really laid-back. He\u2019s not as tech friendly as some of the other guys in the band \u2013 with recording on his own, and stuff \u2013 but he\u2019s got great ideas, and he\u2019s gonna write a lot more for the next album. He\u2019s gonna be exploding with some awesome material.\u201d<\/p>\n

Hailing from Turku, Finland, Jari Laine spearheads Torture Killer as a guitarist and songwriter. \u201cHe\u2019s such a great, great guy, a real nice person,\u201d Chris compliments. \u201cHe just comes up with interesting, big verse-chorus type of writing where I\u2019m able to breathe, and kind of lay back. I\u2019m able to do some interesting, aggressive verses and time changes, and focus on rhythm and syncopation, and stuff like that. He\u2019s such a cool dude too, man. He\u2019s all about the music; he never wants to do anything half-assed. He\u2019s really, really meticulous with things, and he\u2019s really an artistic person too as far as how he creates the atmospheres within his riffs and stuff. I kind of really appreciate that and like it a lot, and the same thing for Ben Savage. His writing style is of the same nature in a way, but on the different side of the scale. His writing just has some different time signatures and phrasings that I\u2019ve never encountered, just ins and outs and twists that make writing lyric verses interesting. It takes me on a different journey that I haven\u2019t been on as a guy structuring words to music.\u201d<\/p>\n

Released in March 2006 via Metal Blade Records, sophomore Torture Killer full-length Swarm!<\/em> featured the Six Feet Under mainman behind the microphone. \u201cThat was just really cool,\u201d he remembers. \u201cI just got in touch with those guys, and said \u2018I heard you\u2019re looking for a singer.\u2019 They were blown away by that, and wanted me to help out. Jari just had some lyrics that he wrote, and needed someone else\u2019s lyrics on the album other than writing all of the lyrics. That was just a lot of fun for me, delving into that and trying to match lyric writing with those three or four songs. It was a lot of fun going back and trying to make those guys really happy and proud, because I really liked the music and everything about that album cover. Wes Benscoter\u2019s cover artwork blew me away when I got the file. It was just really cool to me. You know, it\u2019s something I want to continue in the future. Me and Jari are still doing stuff. I just laid down a track for the new Torture Killer album for them, and they\u2019re gonna use a piece of it and intertwine it with their stuff. We\u2019re gonna keep working together with Six Feet Under for the future.\u201d<\/p>\n

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A subsequent whole record of material pairing Chris\u2019 vocal expertise alongside Jari\u2019s songwriting prowess isn\u2019t seemingly on the cards, however, even though Chris is receptive towards the idea. \u201cI don\u2019t think that\u2019s something he wants to do just from talking to him, and knowing where he wants to be musically in the future,\u201d he explains. \u201cSide projects for me are kind of energy draining, and I really only see myself focusing on working and making this band the best it can be, and seeing where I can take it next I guess.\u201d<\/p>\n

Ben Savage, meanwhile, supplies lead guitar parts for Knoxville, Tennessee-based death metal ensemble Whitechapel, Whitechapel and Six Feet Under both having issued albums under the Metal Blade imprint. \u201cSince we were labelmates, I got in touch with Ben through Mike Faley, the vice president of Metal Blade,\u201d the lyricist divulges. \u201cHe passed his contact details onto me. I knew Ben\u2019s work in Whitechapel. When I was searching out writers, I just felt that his style was… Innovative, for sure. I think that he is a technician in the death metal writing style, and a pioneer in a way. I really do. I think that if Whitechapel came out in 1992, they would\u2019ve just been humongous. Their music is just incredible, and is presented in an awesome way. Them having three guitarists work off of each other is just amazing. It just works really well, and sounds awesome. The band has just interesting music, and I think Ben is a big part of that as far as his writing style having a lot of unique ins and outs.<\/p>\n

\u201cEach of the people\u2019s styles were different from one another. Those were all different aspects and values that I wanted to bring into the band as far as perspective. I knew the vibe that each of them encompassed in their works, and about having that variety of sounds and dynamics, and how they can basically come about from all these different sources, techniques, and styles. Ben was the second person that I got in touch with, and he was really enthusiastic. That\u2019s the first thing I was looking for, someone that had a real drive to create something.\u201d<\/p>\n

The prospect of establishing new songwriting partnerships with respect to future Six Feet Under albums hasn\u2019t been ruled out. \u201cHmm…,\u201d Chris ponders. \u201cLike I said, I will definitely continue to work with Jari. I\u2019m really interested in working with him and having him come up with songs, so there\u2019s gonna be a lot of good songwriting between himself and myself. I\u2019m not opposed to writing with anyone different. I just haven\u2019t really given it any thought as of recently, just because I\u2019ve had such a great pool of songwriters to choose from with the guys that I\u2019ve been working with \u2013 the guys who I wrote all these great songs with during the Undead<\/em> and Unborn<\/em> sessions. <\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s been an exciting time and I\u2019m definitely open to more ideas for sure, because that just benefits everyone and mostly the fans. When I set out to do this, what I wanted to see was the final product being performed onstage \u2013 like \u2018Zombie Blood Curse\u2019 \u2013 and everyone with smiles on their faces, having fun. No matter what it took to write a song like that, or a song like \u2018Neuro Osmosis\u2019, or \u2018Psychosis\u2019, or any of those songs on the album, I think that the end justifies the means.\u201d<\/p>\n

Penning compositions with fellow Metal Blade artists would be pragmatic, but the label itself only occasionally mails the vocalist Metal Blade platters for listening pleasure. \u201cSometimes they\u2019ll send me a CD, and be like \u2018Here… listen to this\u2019 or something,\u201d he elaborates. \u201cThey don\u2019t send me any promos too often though, no. I think that ended awhile ago, man. I used to get a lot of promos by new bands ten years ago or something, but not so much any more. We tour with a lot of the bands on the label though, that\u2019s for sure.\u201d<\/p>\n

Labelmates unlikely to collaborate with Chris are arguably San Diego, California-based death metal group Cattle Decapitation, an altercation between Chris and Cattle Decapitation frontman Travis Ryan occurring on November 5th, 2012 in Boston, Massachusetts. The latter band were a supporting act to Six Feet Under at the time. \u201cI\u2019m kind of done talking about it,\u201d Chris dismisses. \u201cI made a statement about it. People keep wanting to bring it up, but there\u2019s really nothing to say. Sometimes things happen.\u201d<\/p>\n

As far as the Six Feet Under frontman is concerned, the matter is closed. \u201cFrom my side,\u201d he confirms. \u201cIt has been for awhile, I guess (laughs).\u201d<\/p>\n

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The departure of rhythm guitarist Rob Arnold from Six Feet Under\u2019s ranks, meanwhile, came to light on May 22nd, 2012, the man retiring from touring altogether from thereon in, but nonetheless remaining a contributor to Six Feet Under material. \u201cRob had a lot of personal things that he wanted to take care of,\u201d Chris cites. \u201cHis wife just had a baby and stuff, so he was just starting a family. He wanted to do the right thing \u2013 to be a good dad, and be there all of the time \u2013 so I couldn\u2019t blame him. I was a little bit disappointed, just because we had become such good friends and it was gonna be sad not to have him with me any more. I love Rob though; he\u2019s just a great guy, and he has a great integrity. He\u2019s such a great songwriter. When things move forward, you move forward. You roll with the punches, and you just get great guys in the band like I have now. Like Jeff Hughell and Ola Englund; those guys have brought a lot to the table, as far as great playing. They\u2019re really, really great people, and awesome, awesome musicians.\u201d<\/p>\n

That same day on May 22nd, 2012, Six Feet Under announced the addition of Ola Englund on rhythm guitar. \u201cI was actually talking to another guy on the phone about filling the guitar position,\u201d the singer recalls. \u201cHe said \u2018You know what? I\u2019m not gonna really be able to do it, but I know of this guy. You might wanna take a look at him, because I think he\u2019s the right guy for the job.\u2019 He sent me a link to some videos. I kind of sat on it and talked to some other people that I had in mind, but after awhile I was like \u2018You know what? I\u2019m gonna check this out.\u2019 <\/p>\n

\u201cI checked it out, and Ola comes up on the screen doing a YouTube video instruction for one of his songs by his band. I watched two videos. I watched his playing, and I was like \u2018You know, this guy is the perfect compliment for Steve.\u2019 It just clicked. I just was like \u2018You know what? I need to get hold of him.\u2019 I got hold of him, threw the offer his way, and said \u2018It\u2019s up to you. I know you\u2019re a busy guy, but I would never restrict you to just doing this.\u2019 He loved the idea. It just turns out that he has a sick, disturbingly bad sense of humour like the rest of us (laughs), so he fits in really well.\u201d<\/p>\n

The exit of bassist Matt DeVries \u2013 Rob Arnold\u2019s erstwhile Chimaira bandmate \u2013 from the Six Feet Under fold emerged three months earlier on February 9th, 2012. \u201cI think Matt was really just there, hanging with Rob and stuff,\u201d Chris speculates. \u201cHe was just helping out with the bass, really. He\u2019s a guitarist. He started playing bass for Fear Factory too, but I think he needed to move on and do some things on his own too. We\u2019re all good friends still. Matt\u2019s a great guy.\u201d<\/p>\n

Formerly of the Santa Cruz, California-based technical death metal group Brain Drill and the Concord, California-based death metal assortment Vile, Jeff Hughell was unveiled as Matt\u2019s replacement five days later on the 14th. \u201cI knew Jeff\u2019s playing, and I knew about him,\u201d the mainman discloses. \u201cWhen I was talking to one of the people there at the Metal Blade office, I was just like \u2018I\u2019m trying to think of an amazing bass player.\u2019 They brought up Jeff, and I was like \u2018Is that not happening with Braindrill any more?\u2019 They were like \u2018No.\u2019 I was like \u2018Well, man… That would be the dream bass player, for sure.\u2019 I got in touch with him, and he really thought it was a great idea. He liked Six Feet Under\u2019s career, and stuff like that. He was all in, and he\u2019s a great guy man. He\u2019s a really good personality, and we both share the same love for cannabis and stuff (laughs).\u201d<\/p>\n

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Six Feet Under\u2019s spate of personnel changes of late began on January 31st, 2011, original members in the form of bassist Terry Butler and drummer Greg Gall parting ways with the band. Few interviews with Chris have addressed the topic. \u201cNot many people have asked about it, so it\u2019s been kind of weird on that level,\u201d Chris laughs. \u201cWe did have a lot of good times, and shared a lot of touring and good times together. Steve was the main songwriter though and really the most motivated to do things, and those guys really weren\u2019t for a long time. It started bringing me down and bringing Steve down. We had to move forward, and I don\u2019t think anyone really has missed them too much because the music of the band has progressed. Maybe they would\u2019ve been a little more missed if these two albums had been a complete and utter failure with the new members, but I think it\u2019s just the opposite of that. I think the band has progressed in a way that myself and Steve have wanted the band to progress for many years.\u201d<\/p>\n

Such comments suggest the pair were dismissed, something the death metal wordsmith clarifies. \u201cThey quit the band, but it was a mutual kind of thing,\u201d he resolves. \u201cIt was definitely necessary. I was already three songs deep into writing Rob Arnold for these albums, so it was pretty much on that path anyway.\u201d<\/p>\n

The cancellation of Six Feet Under\u2019s scheduled appearance on February 11th, 2011 at the Curtis Beeson: Kill The Cancer Benefit concert \u2013 at the behest of Chris \u2013 was the catalyst for the pair\u2019s exit. Curtis Beeson was formerly a drummer for the metal groups Nasty Savage, Fester, Massacre and Denial Fiend, Terry formerly a bandmate of Curtis\u2019 in the latter two bands. \u201cI think that might have been their last straw or their motivating factor, but it was kind of more than that and I think they knew that too,\u201d Chris expounds. \u201cThey instigated a few situations that kind of bothered me and Steve. Me and Steve got on the phone and spoke about some things, and we decided that maybe that would be one way to push them over the edge. We could then move on to do other things.\u201d<\/p>\n

The vocalist offers his perspective regarding the cancellation of Six Feet Under\u2019s appearance at the cancer benefit. \u201cSome things just weren\u2019t right in the band, and I didn\u2019t really want to play a show with two guys that didn\u2019t really want to be in the band with me any more,\u201d he contends. \u201cI didn\u2019t see that being onstage for any reason with two people that were unmotivated and didn\u2019t respect me was any reason to continue. It was a hard thing to do, but sometimes it just isn\u2019t working out. I just made the call, and said \u2018Look man… I\u2019ve got some other things that need to be taken care of.\u2019 They didn\u2019t like that, and I didn\u2019t think they would like it. I knew that that was gonna happen. It was unfortunate that I didn\u2019t play the benefit show, but I didn\u2019t wanna be onstage with two guys that didn\u2019t really wanna be in the band any more. I didn\u2019t feel they deserved to be onstage playing that music any more.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Fanatics of Six Feet Under naturally wish to hear Chris\u2019 viewpoint on the matter. \u201cNo, that\u2019s fine,\u201d he assures. \u201cI\u2019m glad to tell my side of any story. It just got to a head. I can\u2019t be onstage with any people that don\u2019t wanna be there with me, and are unmotivated about playing and getting together, and are just being stagnant and not going anywhere. We were going somewhere writing with Rob, and me and Steve didn\u2019t want to be onstage with them any more. It just wasn\u2019t gonna be good, so why do it? I feel bad that we couldn\u2019t do it, but it wasn\u2019t like the day before we gave them two or three weeks to find a replacement for us for the show. I really didn\u2019t think it was gonna be that big of a deal. It would\u2019ve been more disruptive to the band if we had played that, though. I know that, for sure.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cMy girlfriend had an event in Miami, and I decided that I was gonna go down there and help her with work. That\u2019s really personal stuff, but since you brought it up… I would\u2019ve rather have done that than be onstage with them for another five minutes, and them being a complete lazy waste of time. That was really where it was at. Again, I\u2019m sorry that we didn\u2019t end up playing it, but the event went on with Obituary playing and what not. I\u2019m sorry that it had to happen, but like I said and will say again, I just didn\u2019t wanna be onstage with those guys any more, and Steve really didn\u2019t either. We needed to take the first step, I guess. My family and the people I care about and who care about me are more important to help out than two guys that couldn\u2019t give a crap about me. That\u2019s really how I felt about it, and that\u2019s why me and Steve chose not to do it. That was a catalyst for us moving the band in the right direction. It was a positive thing. Everything has to come to an end somehow, and it usually comes to an end badly. Otherwise, it would go on forever.\u201d<\/p>\n

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SIX FEET UNDER – A Sinister Craving Anthony Morgan March 2013 Chris Barnes Chris Barnes \u2013 vocalist for Tampa, Florida-based death metal outfit Six Feet Under \u2013 scribbled the words The Undead Chronicles, Volume 1 And 2 on a sheet of paper during November 2009, the words later forming the title of a two-album series: […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[402],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-12502","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-six-feet-under"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12502","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=12502"}],"version-history":[{"count":14,"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12502\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":12525,"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12502\/revisions\/12525"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=12502"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=12502"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=12502"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}