Six Feet Under

Guest: Embryonic Autopsy

From the very first riff and blast beats, it’s clear: Six Feet Under are not for the faint of heart. For 33 years and over 14 albums, the quintet from Tampa, Florida, has poured all their energy into a constantly growing monolith of pure brutality, lyrical intensity, and impressive musicianship.

Numerous lineup changes have helped the band keep their sound, deeply rooted in death metal yet consistently experimenting with other metal genres, fresh and find new inspiration. It’s noteworthy that most of the part-time members came from other bands like Obituary, Fear Factory, or Gorgoroth—or, conversely, joined them.

Six Feet Under was originally founded as a side project for frontman and growler Chris Barnes during his final years with the death metal band Cannibal Corpse. In 1995, it became his sole focus, coinciding with the release of their debut album, “Haunted.” Over the decades, every position in the band has changed hands multiple times. Only Barnes remains from the original lineup, but the quality has remained remarkably consistent.

In fact, many consider the current lineup—with Barnes, guitarists Jack Owen and Ray Suhy, bassist Jeff Hughell, and drummer Marco Pitruzzella—to be the most powerful, vital, and technically and musically accomplished, and the five of them form a truly devastating unit, especially live. The arrival of Jack Owen in 2017 proved to be one of the most significant turning points in the band’s history—Barnes and Owen had already formed an uncompromisingly good songwriting and lyricist partnership in Cannibal Corpse in the 1990s. With Six Feet Under, the newly added Owen immediately took over production of the two most recent albums, “Nightmares of the Decomposed” and “Killing for Revenge.” “We worked well together in Cannibal Corpse,” Barnes says. “He was probably my favorite person in the band back then. I loved him more than anything as a friend and musician, so I feel really comfortable handing the reins over to him because I have such immense respect for him as an artist.”

Jack Owen has reportedly also taken over production duties for the 15th album, announced for release this coming April and currently untitled. Chris Barnes recently wrote on social media what fans can expect: “Pure, 100 percent real death metal. No filler, no over-recording, no modern tricks or frills. Just pure death metal.” This is sure to further increase the anticipation of longtime fans for Six Feet Under’s first German shows in about eight years.