Hand Me the Bonesaw: Six Feet Under’s Discography Dissected

Six Feet Under, the death metal band that critics love to hate.  I’ve never really understood why all the cool kid metal writers are so intent on using SFU as a punching bag, especially when there are far more worthy targets scattered across the metal landscape.

Halfway to Hell: The year in metal so far.

2013 has already been a hell of a year for metal. Unlike last year, which saw an overwhelming avalanche of stellar releases, 2013 so far has been more akin to 2011, which was all about quality over quantity. Granted, we’re only halfway through, but at this point I’m still finding it very easy to separate the wheat from the chaff, which certainly wasn’t the case at this time last year. I’m not particularly interested in make lists at this point, but I am interested in taking a look back at what’s transpired so far; it’s always good to recap in order to keep things fresh in your mind and fight the urge to fall back on listening to old shit.

Six Feet Under – Unborn (Metal Blade, 2013)

Last year, Six Feet Under proved that their was still life left in their patented brand of sludgy, simplistic death metal with Undead, easily their best album since 1999’s classic Maximum Violence.  With a re-tooled lineup centered around founding vocalist Chris Barnes and longtime guitarist Steve Swanson, SFU shook off the stagnancy that had set in over the course of their last several releases and proved that they were still a force to be reckoned with.  I’m happy to report that this was no fluke, as the band’s tenth full length (not counting the Graveyard Classics covers collections) Unborn is even better than Undead, cementing Six Feet Under’s status as a death metal stalwart reborn.