Six Feet Under - "13", 2005

After a relatively more accessible record like "Bringer of Blood", often bordering on crossover and groove metal, as well as the ill-advised, puzzling "Graveyard Classics 2" cover album, it was time for Six Feet Under to ponder its next move carefully; the band's reputation within the extreme metal scene was starting to show some cracks, and the release of a new album could have been potentially a do-or-die situation. Going back into the studio without apparent hesitation, Six Feet Under instead ended up releasing a record that probably restored the faith in the band for many of its long-time fans and might have won over even a few naysayers.

"13" sees Barnes & Co. leaving behind the more experimental nature of the band's 2000-2004 phase to focus on delivering straightforward death metal with a thrashing flavor, not unlike "Maximum Violence". The opener, "Decomposition of the Human Race", is as intense as its title, resembling some of the best material from the aforementioned 1999 opus; likewise, the album's closer, "Stump", ranks high in the tracklist, an outburst of brutality featuring a breakdown in the middle that's as head-crushing as it gets.

The title track is another hectic, kick-ass tune that never lets up, showcasing some rather elaborate riffing, while "Shadow of the Reaper" - also chosen as one of the lead singles - follows suit but with a slightly more melodic taste and a nod to classic metal; the same could be said about "Somewhere in the Darkness", mixing a more traditional old-school heavy metal mid-tempo verse with sudden speed-ups and a virtuoso guitar lead by the ever-underrated Steve Swanson.

Elsewhere, the album is less captivating, with predictable filler material such as "Wormfood", excessively simplistic tracks like "This Suicide" (although its main string-bending riff sounds pretty nasty) or "The Poison Hand"; if anything, the latter features a strong guttural vocal performance by Barnes. In general, the singer seems to be pretty consistent throughout the whole record, displaying different shades of his growling but never attempting to wander too much off the beaten path; he also seems to have largely forgotten his pig squeals, and his vocals are not overpowering the guitars in the mix as they did on "Bringer of Blood". The production is actually pretty balanced, and Swanson can finally count on a solid wall of sound, although Greg Gall's drums would have benefited from some more punch.

There's a marked thrash metal influence on the record, most notably on tracks such as the headbanging-inducing "Deathklaat" (chosen as the other single) or "Rest in Pieces", which starts off with a startling hardcore-flavored riff before reassuringly heading back to a more familiar palm-muting business. It must be noted that "The Art of Headhunting" sounds exactly the same as "Deathklaat" and therefore qualifies as filler material, wasting an otherwise great guitar solo section.

The album cover is a pretty generic Photoshop spooky graphic work, in line with most of the metal stuff that was getting released around those years; the inside of the booklet looks definitely better though, with the pages resembling the diary of a serial killer, complementing the usual gruesome lyrics by Barnes.

"13" is an album showing a band regaining its balance and taking a crucial distance from the crossover metal temptations of the early 2000s; it sounds a bit samey, and the songwriting isn't particularly refined or memorable, except for a few tracks, but in 2005 it was enough to reassure the death metal audience that Six Feet Under wasn't going to sell out anytime soon and that it still had more than enough gas in the tank.