Happy Metal Guy likes stuff that kinda, sorta, maybe sounds like Opeth…somewhat.
Six Feet Under
Six Feet Under – Undead Review
Let’s just be brootally honest for a moment, shall we? Six Feet Under is the worst “big” band in the entire death metal genre. Most of their releases are either below average or simply godawful, and after a seventeen year run, they can only boast two semi-good albums of original material. They’ve spewed platter after platter of groove-based, chuggy, simplistic death that only fellow neanderthal deathers Jungle Rot could fully appreciate (though they probably look down on them a bit too).
Denial Fiend – Horror Holocaust Review
Like a swift kick to the frank N’ beans, the new release by this death metal “super group” is shocking and very painful. I really loved Denial Fiend’s quirky 2007 debut They Rise. It merged nasty, old school American death metal and punk rock with a party atmosphere and although very tongue in cheek, it rocked and raged convincingly. To this day it remains in regular rotation at stately Steel Druhm manor. That debut featured some grizzled veterans of the old school scene like bassist Terry Butler (Death, Massacre, Six Feet Under, Obituary) and mega Cookie Monster Kam Lee (Death, Massacre) on vocals. What made They Rise work was the strong similarity to the classic Massacre sound (their From Beyond album is one of the all time best American death metal albums). The songs were savage and raw but also catchy and fun. Basically, it was a damn fine treat for death metal fans. When I heard a new Denial Fiend album was pending, I got giddy like a school girl. When I heard Kam Lee had taken his immense vocal talent elsewhere, I was sad but still hopeful. Well, hope is officially dead. Horror Holocaust features the “vocals” of Blaine Cook (The Accused) and he destroys everything as surely as cops destroy fun and work destroys free time. While there are some decent musical moments, he renders the bulk of the album unlistenable and there’s no denying that it sucks, bigtime.
Jungle Rot – Kill on Command Review
The kings of knuckle dragging neanderthal death metal are back. Yep, nobody ever accused Jungle Rot of being unpredictable or avant-garde. Quite the opposite, since 95′ these Wisconsin blokes have been churning out their primitive, simplistic, groove-based death metal with scant innovation or diversity. Now, that’s not necessarily a bad thing considering their style was always a like-ably thick headed brand of American death with all the brutality but none of the frills. Albums like War Zone and Dead and Buried were enjoyable, fun efforts showcasing their simple sounds at their best. Now we get Kill on Command and its more of the same but with a polished production and a drift into deathcore territory, intentional or not I don’t know. Before you start smashing keyboards and such, this isn’t a full blown deathcore album but it has those trademark elements of the style embedded in the writing. How much of it? Well enough to annoy me but not enough to sink the album entirely. Its still that same ugly mix of Six Feet Under and old Cannibal Corpse and its fairly well written and at times, oddly catchy. However, some other issues crop up and together they drag this album down from good to less so.
Six Feet Under – Graveyard Classics III
Six Feet Under is back with the third installment in their Graveyard Classics series, and fortunately for us, this time they’re not covering AC/DC songs. I suspect that the majority of you either know what these things are about, have heard them, or just don’t care at all so I’m not going to spend tons of time on this, but Graveyard Classics 3 is a cover record from the groove oriented death metal band Six Feet Under. Barnes and crew have, this time around, elected a bunch of their favorite tracks from before they were in bands and have warped them into death rock tracks. The result being sort of cartoonish and silly: but mildly enjoyable at the same time.
