Six Feet Under - "Bringer of Blood", 2003

After the convincing "Double Dead" live album, it was time for Six Feet Under to get back into the studio, and the band chose to return to Tampa's Morrisound; this could have led one to believe that the guys were trying to recapture the old-school death metal aura of the 90s - after a relatively more experimental record such as "True Carnage" - but that wasn't exactly the case.

At that point the band was probably at the peak of its popularity, moving a lot of copies of its records, and Chris Barnes was a bona fide death metal celebrity; he even appeared in a hilarious Park Auto Mall TV commercial that went on to become viral on the internet. His band managed to survive the difficult transition from the 90s to the 2000s, with "True Carnage" serving as a stepping stone to cross the nu-metal and crossover-infested waters of those years, while his dreadlocked, marijuana-endorsing persona - with occasional gun-toting, gangsta-style detours like in the "Double Dead" era - probably attracted a larger, more generic audience than the usual underground death metal purists. In other words, he probably felt free to do whatever he wanted, and it shows on "Bringer of Blood", even if the record turned out to be less daring than "True Carnage".

To be honest, while being a Six Feet Under fan since day one (and a Cannibal Corpse one before that), the band kind of lost me for a while with this album; back then I was a bit less lenient in my judgment, and while my younger self tolerated "True Carnage" largely thanks to its sludgy approach and extremely brutal vocals, I suspected with "Bringer of Blood" Barnes was planning to leave behind its death metal roots and progressively trying to cater to the so-called "mallcore" kids and groove/crossover metal audience, not unlike Max Cavalera did with Soulfly around the same time. Was I wrong? In retrospect, my prejudices were mostly exaggerated, although not completely unfounded, by listening to the record and considering the context of the times. Was the album that bad? Not at all, but it wasn't what I expected back then, and it took me a few years to appreciate it for what it is.

Actually, the typical death metal elements are really lacking here; the faster, tremolo picking-infused tracks introduced on "Maximum Violence" and - to a lesser extent - on "True Carnage" are mostly gone, favoring groovier rhythms and slower or mid-tempo songs. This was the case also on the classics "Haunted" and "Warpath", but the mood here feels definitely different, seemingly borrowing more from crossover and hardcore, with "Amerika the Brutal" obviously being the main offender. Pretty much sounding entirely like another band, with a different vocal approach from Barnes and anti-war, politically charged lyrics, it's the kind of stuff that a death metaller back then didn't want to hear, and I remember finding it cheesy and awkward. Looking back, the lyrics actually seem heartfelt, with lines such as "I think of my best friend and his stories of Vietnam / And now I got a cousin fighting in Iraq, and I want her coming back"; they complement the different musical style of the song, but the track sticks out like a sore thumb in the context of the album, especially when placed as second in the tracklist. It probably should have been left as a B-side or saved for some side project.

Luckily, the rest of the album feels more cohesive. The opener, "Sick in the Head", is actually a great song, with very effective riffing by Swanson that alternates chunky chords and thrashier sections, featuring some nice guitar work. Barnes' vocals, although more decipherable and less guttural than on "True Carnage", sound particularly tortured and fit the lyrics of the song well; they're more in line with the approach he showed on "Warpath", for instance. They are very loud in the mix throughout the whole album, though, and I suppose they might not be everyone's cup of tea; the singer chooses a gruff tone for most of the songs that comes off a bit weird at times, like on the bizarre death 'n' roll vehicle "My Hatred" or on the anthemic title track. The latter also features heavy, pinch harmonics-laden riffs that wouldn't have sounded out of place on a Black Label Society record, as well as a rather unusual verse showcasing some atmospheric choirs in the background.

"Murdered in the Basement" and "When Skin Turns Blue" are closer to the classic Six Feet Under style, both musically and in the vocal department, and they come off as some of the best tracks; the faster songs, "Blind and Gagged" and "Escape from the Grave", with the latter being probably the most traditional death metal song on the record, are alright, although not particularly memorable. On the other hand, "Braindead" is probably my favorite of the lot, a sludgy and extremely heavy, ominous example of what Six Feet Under does best, displaying an imposing vocal performance.

The crossover-metal temptations detected on "True Carnage" can be found again on songs like "Ugly" and "Claustrophobic"; they wouldn't have sounded out of place on some early Soulfly records, with their bouncy grooves and the semi-rapped growling performance by Barnes on the latter, something he already attempted on a couple of older songs. While I probably found them rather irritating back then, they grew on me over time, and they're a bit of a guilty pleasure now.

With the exception of the previously discussed "Amerika the Brutal", the lyrics follow the usual Barnes' tropes, revolving around serial killers and mentally disturbed characters. While not getting as graphic as some of his past work, they're still pretty dark, and the album's design seems to follow these twisted tales, with the booklet featuring a number of panels depicting grotesque individuals. The graphic style screams "early 2000s Photoshop", especially on the digitally altered picture of the band's members, but it's acceptable in the context of the times.

"Bringer of Blood" is another interesting look at the band's more adventurous years, when it branched out towards other metal subgenres; it's probably as far as the band could go without losing its identity or fanbase. It's far from being the best Six Feet Under album, and it often must be taken lightheartedly to be fully enjoyed; if you're searching for unadulterated death metal, it's probably better to look elsewhere, even within the band's discography.