The Death 'n' Roll Thread

Six Feet Under - "Graveyard Classics IV: The Number of the Priest" (2016)

Former Cannibal Corpse frontman Chris Barnes seems to cop an awful lot of flack on social media & not without due cause either because the dude is clearly an ignorant, immature, uneducated dickhead. There's really no question about that. But do his band Six Feet Under really deserve to be labelled as one of the worst death metal bands of all time? Hhhmmmm.... if you trust the general consensus on some of his more recent releases then you would have to think so, wouldn't you? Well after seeing him inexplicably posting a very embarrassing & concerning selfie of him holding a gun on Facebook this week I decided  to see if the band's poor reputation was warranted or not so I reached for Six Feet Under's most universally ridiculed release in 2016's "Graveyard Classics IV: The Number of the Priest" (a collection of eleven Judas Priest & Iron Maiden cover versions) to see what all the fuss was about.

The first thing you'll notice with this record is that there's been very little attempt to vary the instrumental approach from the originals. The session musicians Chris has recruited for the project are all more than competent (particularly the shredding lead guitarist) & in truth they pull off some pretty decent replications of these heavy metal classics but I have to question what the point of it all is if you're not going to give it your own slant. The production job is somewhat confusing too in that it seems to consciously steer the guitars to the back of the mix which makes the whole thing sound a lot like a karaoke version of these tracks. The rhythm section generally tend to dominate the guitars which is hardly what these great metal tunes are all about but I suspect the reason for this is to ensure that Chris' monotonous death growls are highlighted as the focal point at all times. That's a real shame because Chris' vocals don't suit the vast majority of these tracks in any way, shape or form. In fact, he really does manage to butcher tracks like "Invader", "Never Satisfied", "Flash Of The Blade" & "The Evil That Men Do" where the higher register vocal melodies were a major drawcard for the originals. He's a lot more successful on the more rocking tracks (the Paul Dianno-fronted Maiden tracks for example) but I'd suggest that only Judas Priest's "Genocide" reaches any sort of consistent level of enjoyment. Chris sounds completely disinterested a lot of the time to be honest, kinda like he's phoned this recording in simply to fulfill a label obligation & it's this reason that the album is so universally panned.

In saying all that though, I can't help but get some form of enjoyment out of the instrumental aspects of the album as I've grown up with these songs from such a young age. I even have to admit that I quite enjoy the version of "Genocide" I mentioned earlier & find it to be a pretty decent example of the death 'n' roll subgenre. Unfortunately though, it's impossible to deny the big elephant in the room & his filthy dreadlocks. I can't say that this record is anything like the 0.5/5 that almost all critics seem to tag it with because there are way worse bands out there that can't even play their instruments. I did have to have a good hard think about whether I could justify the score I've gone with though as this is a completely redundant & unnecessary release if I've ever heard one.

2.5/5

Pungent Stench - "Dirty Rhymes & Psychotronic Beats" E.P. (1993)

I feel like I was lucky to have come across Austrian death metallers Pungent Stench fairly early in life to be honest because, as a general rule, I can do without any sort of silliness or humour in my extreme metal, preferring to imagine that the sounds being omitted from my speakers are truly the work of Satan or some horrifying zombie creature. But I’d suggest that I was perhaps a little more open to the concept when I first wrapped my ears around Pungent Stench’s 1990 debut album “For God Your Soul… For Me Your Flesh” as I was simply gorging myself on anything even remotely tied to the death metal genre & it fit the mould nicely with its disgusting subject matter & filthy aesthetics. I thoroughly enjoyed that record which saw me going back to explore Pungent Stench’s 1989 split album with fellow Austrians Disharmonic Orchestra, a release that I quite liked too. These early experiences saw me purchasing 1991’s “Been Caught Buttering” sophomore album on cassette as soon as it hit the shelves & playing the absolute shit out of it too. It was the band’s strongest release to the time in my opinion with the song-writing perfectly balancing the band’s deathly atmosphere with a clear tongue-in-cheek shock factor. So, by the time 1993’s “Dirty Rhymes & Psychotronic Beats” E.P. hit my CD player two years later, I would certainly have called myself a fan of Pungent Stench. Perhaps a slightly reluctant one but a fan nonetheless.

I think it’s fair to say that “Dirty Rhymes & Psychotronic Beats” represents somewhat of a gap-filling exercise that was drawn upon in order to make the extended period between 1991’s “Been Caught Buttering” album & 1994’s follow-up record “Club Mondo Bizarre – For Members Only” more palatable for Pungent Stench’s growing fan base. It clearly fits the bill for what your average E.P. generally tries to achieve too as it’s more of a collection of random songs than it is a fluent creative statement. Different versions of the same track? TICK! Silly novelty tracks? TICK. Cover versions? TICK! Useless, extended noise outro on the last track to make the release seem like you get more value for money than you actually do? TICK! You know the drill, right? But that’s not to say that there’s not anything here to keep you entertained because this E.P. still clearly highlights the things that made Pungent Stench an attractive prospect for your average death metal fan in the first place i.e. catchy song-writing with fun themes & memorably hooks.

The seven-song tracklisting begins with a two-minute intro piece called “Praise The Name of the Musical Assassins” which utilizes a layered, sample-heavy electronic music platform through which to express itself. It’s a very effective way to kick things off & I don’t think my background in electronic music has done me any harm at all in seeing me unexpectedly favouring this piece over the rest of the tracklisting. The proper metal material begins with “Viva la muerte” which I’d suggest is probably the most effective metal number included. It sees Pungent Stench placing their creative cards down on the table right from the word go as this isn’t your standard death metal number. Oh no… there’s a noticeable groove to the tightly-performed riffs that is more in line with the Entombed-led death ‘n’ roll movement than the sound the Stench began life with. That sound has never really been my cup of tea but it seems to fit in with this band’s image & themes quite nicely. The cover version of Warning’s “Why Can The Bodies Fly” takes the hardened extreme metaller even further outside of their comfort zone with its quirky electronic component doing its very best to make me feel alienated. Thankfully though, I’m a pretty big fan of the original which makes this a nice novelty inclusion, despite not being up to the same standard as the German’s 1982 effort. The wheels start to fall off a little bit from there though with two of the remaining three metal tunes (i.e. “Blood, Pus & Gastric Juice (Rare Groove Mix)” & “Four ‘F’ Club”) lacking the substance to keep me interested. “Horny Little Piggy Bank” has enough in the way of chunky, groove-laden heaviness to get my blood pumping though. Closer “Blood, Pus & Gastric Juice (Tekkno-House-Mix)” is no doubt the biggest eye-opener for the dedicated metalhead as it’s essentially an electro-industrial, early techno-infused remix that has very little to do with extreme metal. I don’t mind it actually but then I was a techno DJ throughout the 2000’s & probably would have considered playing this track as it’s pretty well done to tell you the truth.

So, as you can see, “Dirty Rhymes & Psychotronic Beats” requires a bit of effort & a few obvious challenges to be overcome for your hard-nosed death metal fan. The death ‘n’ roll sound that Pungent Stench had adopted certainly isn’t for everyone but they do it very well if that’s something that you’re into. I sit somewhere in between so the E.P. wasn’t without its obstacles but I’m pleased to say that, despite it being clearly the least significant release for the band to the time, I found enough enjoyment in the material to make this revisit a worthwhile exercise. Just don’t expect it to be up to the same sort of standard as Pungent Stench’s first two albums because you’ll be disappointed. Oh... & I'd also avoid spending too much time looking at the intentionally repulsive cover artwork as I'd suggest that it's enough to turn off all but the most desensitized punter.

For fans of Blood Duster, mid-90’s Gorefest & “Swansong”-era Carcass.

3.5/5