Chris Barnes and the guys from horror/gore metal act Six Feet Under are back with their latest installment of metal cover tunes, Graveyard Classics 3. What might have been a fun excuse to cover some of their favorites now seems almost like a reason to get into the studio and not come up with new original material. Barnes and his trademark grunting & growling make many of these songs almost unrecognizable, save for a decent musical performance from the band. I mean, Mercyful Fate's "A Dangerous Meeting" without King Diamond's high pitched wailings just doesn't work, and Metallica's "The Frayed Ends of Sanity" sounds like a bunch of trolls from The Lord of the Rings picked up some microphones and instruments and started jamming.
However, not all is lost here. The band does an admirable job on the Slayer classic "At Dawn They Sleep", complete with some seriously weaving guitar riffs and pounding drum fills, and just the fact that they thought to cover the BTO classic "Not Fragile" and Van Halen's "On Fire", two 70's classics that may or not be considered 'metal' by some, are good choices in my opinion and a fun listen. Then again, ho-hum renditions of Anvil's "Metal on Metal" and The Ramones "Psychotherapy" doesn't help things here, though the band does churn out a crushing version of Twisted Sister's "Destroyer".
In short, Graveyard Classics 3 offers at least a cursory listen for curiosity's sake, but in the end all you'll want to do is go back and listen to the original versions of these classic songs. I think it's time for Six Feet Under to put the Graveyard Classics to rest and concentrate on their own music for a while.
R.I.P.
Track Listing
1. A Dangerous Meeting- Mercyful Fate
2. Metal On Metal- Anvil
3. The Frayed Ends Of Sanity- Metallica
4. At Dawn They Sleep- Slayer
5. Not Fragile- BTO
6. On Fire-Van Halen
7. Pounding Metal- Exciter
8. Destroyer- Twisted Sister
9. Psychotherapy- The Ramones
10. Snap Your Fingers, Snap Your Neck- Prong
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