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SIX FEET UNDER
Unborn

Metal Blade (2013)
Rating: 8/10

With sales nearing the half-million mark, Chris Barnes’ Six Feet Under returns with Unborn. For the second album in a row, the music gets a lift from personnel changes, replacing Undead (2012) guitarist Rob Arnold (Chimaira) with Swedish punisher Ola Englund (Feared, Scarpoint) and welcoming new bassist Jeff Hughell.

It’s hard to deny that on one level it seems like the mighty Six Feet Under are in upheaval, but you can’t deny the results of the chaos, as the Florida-based band have churned out their two most exciting albums to date less than a year apart from one another, largely thanks to outside writers Rob Arnold, Jari Laine, and Ben Savage.

Unborn catches you right away with its throwback sound. Barnes is still trying to vary his vocals more, as he did on Undead, but the band groove way more on this one. Whereas Undead was full of relentless, punishing, fast-paced songs, Unborn brings back the heavy grooves that are such a huge part of Six Feet Under’s legacy. It’s still heavy as hell; it just grinds and pounds a lot more. You can picture the long hair bobbing up and down as the band rolls through this set. The band even offer up a few new elements here, such as the surprisingly musical ‘Neuro Osmosis’.

It’s hard to pick highlights on a Six Feet Under album. I’m not gonna claim that the songs are strikingly different from one another because, the fact is, most of them sound pretty damn close to the same. However, it’s Six Feet Under’s sound, and like AC/DC, Cannibal Corpse or Motörhead, the fans want to hear Six Feet Under. They don’t want experimentation beyond the tempo of the song and Barnes and company take careful note of that here. The ripping ‘Prophecy’ bounces and chugs it’s way along in classic fashion, as does ‘The Sinister Craving’ and ‘Incision’, filling out the torturous lead of Barnes’ instantly recognisable vocal work.

‘Zombie Blood Curse’ and ‘Alive To Kill You’ move at a faster pace and remind me a bit more of Undead than the other tunes. For my money, ‘Zombie Blood Curse’ is the best Six Feet Under song in the last decade, largely because it’s a lot more accessible than the other tunes vocally.

Overall, what you see is what you get with Six Feet Under. Always has been. Undead and Unborn carry an energy that the last few albums haven’t had though, almost as if Barnes realised that he has to steer the ship a little better (or perhaps just steer the ship?) if he’s going to stay relevant. The new band sound inspired though and this seems to be just the kick in the ass the Six Feet Under brand needed.

Mark Fisher