Six Feet Under is an American death metal band from Tampa, Florida, formed in 1993. The band consists of five members: founding vocalist Chris Barnes, guitarists Ray Suhy and Jack Owen, bassist Jeff Hughell and drummer Marco Pitruzzella. It was originally a side project formed by Barnes with guitarist Allen West of Obituary, but became a full-time commitment after Barnes was dismissed from Cannibal Corpse in 1995. Six Feet Under has released 13 albums, and is listed by Nielsen Soundscan as the fourth-best-selling death metal act in the U.S.
History
Formation, Haunted, and Warpath (1993–1997) After Barnes and West joined forces, they recruited Terry Butler, who knew West from his involvement with Massacre, and Greg Gall, Terry Butler's brother-in-law. Six Feet Under first played in 1993 at clubs, performing mostly cover songs. The band began writing original material in the middle of 1994. Because Barnes was already signed to Metal Blade Records with Cannibal Corpse, Six Feet Under signed to this label and became a side project.
Their first album, Haunted, was released on September 1, 1995. Haunted was produced by Brian Slagel (who discovered Slayer) and Scott Burns (record producer) (who discovered Sepultura and worked with Napalm Death, and Deicide, among others). By this point, Chris Barnes had made Six Feet Under his main priority. In 1995, in the process of recording the album Vile, he parted ways with Cannibal Corpse and was replaced by Corpsegrinder.
Six Feet Under's next release was the Alive and Dead EP on October 29, 1996. A dual studio/live EP, it contains three studio recordings ("Insect", "Drowning", and a Judas Priest cover, "Grinder") and four tracks from Haunted performed live. The band released their second studio album, Warpath, on September 9, 1997, and would incorporate blends of death metal and death n roll. It would also be the last album to feature Allen West, who would depart shortly after the album's release.
Maximum Violence and Graveyard Classics (1998–2000) In 1998, Allen West left to rejoin Obituary and was replaced by Steve Swanson. This is the only lineup change that the band had until January 2011. Combined with Barnes' departure from Cannibal Corpse, the arrival of Swanson helped turn Six Feet Under from a mere side-project to a band in its own right.
July 13, 1999 saw the release of Six Feet Under's third studio album, Maximum Violence. The band also recorded a death-metal retooling of the Kiss song "War Machine", which would be featured on the album's tracklist. There were also covers of the Iron Maiden song "Wrathchild" and the Thin Lizzy song "Jailbreak."
During the summer of 2000, Six Feet Under participated in the Vans Warped Tour, a festival that, at the time, usually featured punk rock bands.
Further pursuing their interest in cover songs, Six Feet Under released an album entirely of covers, Graveyard Classics, on October 24, 2000. The songs were given death metal and death n roll makeovers in regards to the timbre of the vocals and instruments, but the original riffs and rhythms of the songs were left intact. Songs include Black Sabbath's "Sweet Leaf", Deep Purple's "Smoke on the Water", and Jimi Hendrix's "Purple Haze".
True Carnage and Bringer of Blood (2001–2003) The group's fourth studio album, True Carnage (August 7, 2001), was also their first recording to feature guest artists: Ice-T raps while Barnes roars on "One Bullet Left", and Karyn Crisis joins Barnes for "Sick and Twisted". True Carnage peaked on the Billboard Heatseeker's charts at number 18.
Six Feet Under undertook a lengthy bout of American tours, commencing in the summer of 2002, with supporters Skinless and Sworn Enemy. Their June 14 performance was recorded for a DVD and live album release, Double Dead Redux. September 2002 saw the band touring with Hatebreed. Around Christmas 2002, they participated in some European festivals with bands such as Kataklysm and Dying Fetus.
The band next released Bringer of Blood, on September 23, 2003. In addition to his trademark guttural vocals, Barnes also began using higher pitched pig squeal vocals on this release.
Graveyard Classics 2, 13, and A Decade in the Grave (2004–2006) Graveyard Classics 2 came out on October 19, 2004. This cover album focused solely on the 1980 AC/DC album Back in Black. AllMusic reviewer Wade Kergan remarked that the death metal-makeover on these forefather songs "are equal parts menace and kitsch... Six Feet Under are obviously having a blast as they rip through them."