Six Feet Under - "Nightmares of the Decomposed", 2020

This album and its aftermath were a difficult time for Chris Barnes. A new generation of online haters started to pick on him for a variety of reasons, some more understandable than others (he's certainly not one to mince words either), but it seems like at some point it became a national sport to make memes of the poor guy and shit on everything he ever did, even on the four legendary Cannibal Corpse records he was on, as crazy as it may sound. It's one of those things where it becomes a trend to shit on something/someone; people get caught in this online hysteria and vent their own frustration against the target of the day, at times not even knowing too well who they are picking on. It's a reprehensible herd mentality that becomes particularly pitiful when you think that - most probably - a lot of these hecklers are a bunch of youngsters who weren't even born when Mr. Barnes was making history in the 90s.

After this necessary premise, I can say that "Nightmares of the Decomposed" - although far from great - is not nearly as bad as people make it out to be, and a lot of the reviews and ratings it got, for instance on the Metal Archives, weren't unbiased at all; ratings such as 0/100 or 10/100 should mean something is utter noise played by people who can't really play or that it's recorded in a way where you can't make out what's going on, and if we speak of this record (or even way more popular ones), that's obviously not the case. The fact that one doesn't like - or outright despises - a band, a musician, or a record doesn't mean that it deserves such punishing votes; tastes in music and art are always subjective, but if you can't have an ounce of objectivity, what's the point in leaving reviews?

Let's cut to the chase, though: the major bone of contention here is Barnes' vocals; that's also where the whole silly "EEEE" memes started (really, it might have been fun for 5 minutes, but the joke is way past its expiration date now). His trademark pig squeals certainly lost their power over the years, and the choice of featuring them prominently throughout the album probably wasn't a great idea (although I must admit I still find them weirdly effective at times). If you never liked them, well, that's another story, but back in the "Maximum Violence" or "True Carnage" years, they were definitely pretty sick. Another issue, the more noticeable one, is that the singer often sounds fatigued, as if he's running out of breath, and the consequence is that his once-legendary growls sound hoarse and rather forced. It definitely seems like Barnes was having a hard time singing here, regardless of the fact that he's known for purposely changing his vocal approach from album to album; whatever he was trying to achieve, it didn't work out for the best on this record. The strain on the vocals also seems to lead the singer slightly out of time on some sections, especially on the faster material, but a part of the blame goes to the studio engineers too; in times of Pro-Tools and whatnot, they could have fixed the problem in a couple of clicks, and it really escapes me why nobody on the studio team ever took the time to do that. I read Barnes recorded all the vocals "live" in one session or such, and while that partially explains the uneven quality of the performance (he sounds noticeably worse on some songs than on others), the engineers who were responsible for the editing are inexcusable. And while we're at it, with some better equalization they could have probably made the vocals sound a tad more consistent in general. It's a pity, because Barnes still sounded pretty vicious on "Torment" just three years earlier, and it's not entirely clear if he was going through a bad time here health-wise or if age just caught up with him; some suggested an excess of marijuana consumption might have hurt his performance, and it might well be one of the reasons, especially since he seems to have regained a bit of range and power in the last couple of years, after he announced he quit smoking and drinking altogether. Despite the obvious faults, I still enjoy the rotten quality of some of his vocals here, although I realize they're definitely an acquired taste.

But Barnes aside, what does the album actually sound like? Well, considering both the fact that his old Cannibal Corpse bandmate Jack Owen joined the band for this record and that a title such as "Nightmares of the Decomposed" echoed the classic "Tomb of the Mutilated", one could hope that the duo was trying to recreate the magic of the early 90s; it definitely wasn't the case, and as much as it was a disappointing outcome for me too, one has to rate the record according to its own merits.

The band unfortunately leaves behind the more brutal, all-out death metal style featured on the records going from "Undead" to "Torment" and somehow goes back to the mid-tempo, groove-oriented direction of some of its early material; it's even reminiscent of the classic Allen West records at times, or the early Steve Swanson output, but without the freshness of those youthful years. Most of the material could have been featured on an imaginary unreleased album recorded between "Warpath" and "Maximum Violence", mixing groove-laden riffs with some hard rock and classic metal influences (the latter mostly channeled through some really neat guitar solos by Ray Suhy), as well as a touch of old-school thrash/death for a couple of faster tracks, respectively opening and closing the record, "Amputator" and "Without Your Life". These two tracks are some of the best material on display, despite Barnes struggling a bit at keeping up with the tempo; it looks like Owen wanted to go back and pay homage to its roots, with riffs in the vein of stuff like old-school Sodom, Possessed, Kreator, and the like.

Sticking to the better material, I feel like "Migraine" deserves a mention; it kind of reminds me of stuff like "4:20" (from "Warpath"), with its mix of stoner metal-sounding riffs and Celtic Frosted flavors. Even Barnes sounds more effective on this track, offering a tortured, rotten performance. The same could be said about "Labyrinth of Insanity", a very heavy track with memorable riffs. "Death Will Follow", "The Rotting" (given you can get past Barnes' shrieks), and "Drink Blood, Get High" are some other pretty good numbers, showcasing more death & roll-style, rocking riffs.

Elsewhere, the album drags quite a bit. "Dead Girls Don't Scream" and "Self-Imposed Death Sentence" are lackluster tracks - the latter featuring one of the worst vocal performances of the whole record and also sounding too much like "Drink Blood, Get High" - while "Zodiac" (inexplicably chosen as a lead single) and "The Noose" suffer from rather uninspired riffs and recurring instrumental dropouts that leave Barnes' vocals exposed, certainly not a great idea since he sounds pretty hoarse and worn out. "Blood of the Zombie", another extremely questionable choice for a single, is a plodding tune that goes nowhere, and it's got one of the worst vocal takes on the album, on top of it; I would have dropped it entirely.

The production is actually pretty good; it sounds quite organic, without too many frills, with natural-sounding drums, beefy guitars, and audible bass. As previously said, given Barnes' issues, it would have needed much more work on the vocals when it comes to EQ and effects; instead, it sounds like the vocal takes were left pretty much untouched, as dry as it gets, and even pretty high in the mix, actually doing a disservice to the struggling singer. Whether it was a deliberate, ill-advised choice by the band or an oversight by the producer, we'll probably never know for sure. The rest of the band, now featuring Jeff Hughell, Marco Pitruzzella, and Ray Suhy as full-time members, offers a solid performance, although not too flashy given the material, with the exception of some really tasty solos by Suhy.

The artwork is pretty weird; while I appreciate the bluntness of the gory subject, being a close-up picture, you can notice the body parts clearly look like props, making it rather ineffective, if not slightly amusing. There actually was an alternative cover, apparently censored, that showed a larger picture of a room filled with dismembered corpses, and it was way more interesting (it can be found on the internet), so it's a pity this one was chosen instead.

I've been a fan of the band since day one, but still "Nightmares of the Decomposed" probably ranks as the worst Six Feet Under record to date; with better vocals and without 3 or 4 songs, it would have certainly fared better. Still, I must admit I still get back to it every once in a while. In itself, it's a fun record - while not particularly brutal - but to be enjoyed, one must come to terms with its shortcomings and accept it for what it is; most bands have one or two extremely controversial records in their discography, and this is certainly Six Feet Under's one (besides the "Graveyard Classics" chapters, but that's another story), although the amount of criticism it got - mostly from people who aren't even fans of the band - was frankly exaggerated, especially in times when you don't even have to buy records anymore and you can stream them for free.