|
BIO | INTERVIEW
2007 - Chris Barnes about ‘Commandment’
Hey Chris! Your new album ‘Commandment’ is soon to be released! What can the fans expect?
A really good SIX FEET UNDER album. The CD is intense, different and a progression from the last album ‘13’. We never put out the same CD twice. We will never go over our boundaries. When we start writing we know our limitations. The CD is packed with the typical SFU vibe. It fits well into the SFU discography. I hope the fans will like it as much as I do.
On the last albums you always had some little experimentation going on. ‘Commandment’ goes a bit back to the roots, back to ‘Haunted’ and ‘Maximum Violence’. How did it come to that feeling?
I have a hard time looking at it like this. To me the last albums weren’t really experimental. It came together like everything does. We captured the moment like on every other CD. For us ‘Commandment’ is the next step. Like ‘13’ was the next logical step from the previous album. I feel the same about ‘Commandment’. It’s more direct in the way the riffs are. In that way I can understand why people think it’s more in the vein of ‘Maximum Violence’.
’Commandment’ contains ten songs. The Ten Commandments of Death Metal?
Haha, that’s interesting. We didn’t think about that. We just wrote ten songs. That’s an interesting funny little point about it that was not planned. But it worked out that way. I don’t have a problem with people thinking that way, haha! I hope it turns out that strong.
The opener is called ‘Doomsday’. What will the SFU doomsday be like?
It will be a slow and painful ending. Like out music is: slow and thick sounding.
When and how will you promote ‘Commandment’ on European stages?
We concentrate on tours in the States first. I’ve been speaking with our European booking agent last week. Hopefully we get over to you in the fall or towards the end of the year. I’m not really sure which songs of the new album we will play live. It’s up in the air right now. When we get into the rehearsal room and start practicing for the first tour we will se more clear. It will be interesting. I’m really looking forward to it as there are a lot of good riffs and songs on the new record. They will work well in the live situation. We wrote the stuff after our last tour when we still had those live rhythms in mind. We transferred that feeling into the new album.
You are always hailed as one of the best death metal grunters of this planet. Do you have some piece of advice for the little death metal grunters to improve themselves?
The best school for an upcoming vocalist is to attack their favourite bands and vocalists. Start covering their songs! Enjoy it! Learn your own voice! Find your own style through that! Concentrate on that! After some time you will find your own voice. Be as original and open minded as possible! Listen carefully to the music! Practice makes perfect! The more time you take the more you will succeed.
Please describe the essence of Death Metal in your own words...
The essence of death metal is only one word to sum it up: against! That’s what it’s all about to me. In the early days when death metal wasn’t even a style of music and all bands started I found my own style. The one thing I had in mind was: “This is against average music and society in a way.” A bit similar to punk rock when it came up with IGGY POP and stuff. All people that share the same interests gather together in being against. That’s the way I always looked at it. Today it has gotten away from that. Today it’s more of a fashion statement than anything else. It’s disturbing to me. But I try not to worry about it too much. I hold my ground. I know where this music style came from. I know what it’s about. Hopefully with what I’m doing I will lay down the foundation for what this style of music really speaks of!
|
|
