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Home  Gutter's News INTERVIEW: SIX FEET UNDER’S CHRIS BARNES ON CRÜE, POT, AND DEATH RITUALS
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INTERVIEW: SIX FEET UNDER’S CHRIS BARNES ON CRÜE, POT, AND DEATH RITUALS |
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Written by cdf
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Tuesday, 06 January 2009 |
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Chris Barnes, the dreadlocked frontman for death-and-roll stalwarts Six Feet Under and erstwhile Cannibal Corpse and Torture Killer vocalist, has always been a strange guy. The 43-year-old pens graphically violent lyrics, researches the work of long-deceased psychic Edgar Cayce, and is really, really into pot. He even famously once brawled with Anal Cunt frontman Seth Putnam (For a full recap, see Revolver’s March issue, on stands January 20)…But a Mötley Crüe fan? “Oh, I love Mötley Crüe,” says the frontman in a laidback tone. “One of my first concerts was the Crüe on the Shout at the Devil tour. Last year, we were on tour and we had the tunes cranking, and ‘Bastard’ came up on the iPod, and Steve [Swanson, guitarist] and I looked at each other and said, ‘I think that might have to be the next one!’ So we went for it.” Subsequently, the song became the sixth track on Six Feet Under’s new album, Death Rituals (Metal Blade).
While this may come as no surprise to longtime Barnes fans—in Cannibal Corpse, Barnes insisted the band cover the Dio-era Sabbath classic “Zero the Hero” and Six Feet Under have covered everyone from Hendrix to Venom—it underscores Barnes’ modus operandi. Death Rituals is a death metal album packed with both extreme brutality and quirky stoner self-assessment. As Revolver soon learns, speaking with Barnes on the day of Death Rituals’ release, the frontman has a method to his madness. Even if it includes Mötley Crüe. —Editorial Intern Chris Krovatin
REVOLVER Death Rituals just came out today. How do you feel about it?
CHRIS BARNES I listened to it for pretty much two hours last night right before midnight, so it was my last time to listen to it personally. I try to always do that right before something comes out. It’s kind of my ritual—my death ritual for the album. [Laughs] So we’ll put it to rest.
Death Rituals is much groovier and spookier than your previous albums. “Killed in Your Sleep,” for instance—that song is terrifying!
Thanks, man. You know, it’s actually funny, another interviewer said to me, “I don’t even want to talk about that song; it scares me so much.” And that was coming from a European dude! They’re usually not so colorful when they’re doing interviews. But yeah, I like that song. It’s something that, a little more than halfway through the record, as I was writing the lyrics, I felt that vibe of spookiness, a dark overtone to it. And as the producer, I really wanted to make sure the album had more of a moody, very organic, I think, feel production-wise.
That makes sense. The new album seems a bit less anatomical than your previous releases and more atmospheric.
Well, people have this view of us as still having the sound we had on Haunted and Warpath, and our sound has developed a lot more since [guitarist] Allen West left the band and Steve Swanson started writing music. I think Steve’s vibe is a little bit different. We really like to move forward and try to accelerate at what we’ve learned since the last album, look at our strong points, take what we do best, and try and make those things as good as possible.
Do you guys ever feel the pressure to up the ante—do it crazier, do it gorier, and so on?
Oh yeah, man. I’m a fan of music. I’ve followed a couple of bands through each record that they do, but I’m always a fan of a band’s most current record. A lot of people always like a band’s first album—I never got that. I always wanted to hear where a band was coming from at this point and time.
It seems fans and critics place so much importance on death-metal bands’ early albums.
Sure. As far as I’m concerned with my own music, I don’t have a favorite of any album. I love every song the same as the next, because everything I write has a personal meaning to me and has something to offer in a different and exciting way. We know our strong points and we know what our groove is, but generally we approach each song like it’s the first song we’ve ever written. That’s how we’ve always done it since day one. Each album is a way to look at where we’re coming from, and this one’s no different.
On that note, what the hell is up with covering Mötley Crüe’s “Bastard”?
Hey, man, I love all types of music. I was a metalhead when I was growing up, and back then they were awesome. There was no death metal then, and there wasn’t anything heavier than Mötley Crüe, really. They were really extreme as far as music and metal were concerned, and they were also kind of underground and cutting edge for their time. I feel that the “Bastard” cover on the record really keeps a certain vibe flowing and lends a certain attack to the record at a certain point, that helps as well as keeping the flow going through the CD.
Fair enough. Shifting gears, you’re known for smoking a ton of weed. Not a lot of people think of weed and death metal as bedfellows.
Then a lot of people’re missing out, man. More for us! [Laughs] Look, I helped invent death metal, and I’m really proud of that, and death metal wouldn’t have been invented without marijuana. The use of marijuana and the meditative and spiritual process [that comes with it] is part of my spiritual beliefs. I use it in every day life. It’s not just something like, “Hey, let’s smoke some weed!” It’s me getting closer to my creator, and it’s always been like that to me.
I don’t think anything I’ve done would even exist without marijuana, and I feel it should be legalized here and worldwide as well. The two most dangerous drugs to human life which kill more people than any other substance we use in daily life are legal—tobacco and alcohol. No one’s ever died from smoking marijuana. We should look after their safety by abolishing a law that’s outdated and meant to keep people down for certain reasons.
Seems like you’ve thought long and hard about this. It’s amazing how something so spiritual helps you make such dark music.
It’s art, man. I might look at an abstract painting and see a flower, while you might look at it and see the devil. It’s very subjective, and music is like that. I try to be as informed as possible, and I don’t like to talk about things if I haven’t done my homework. |
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