Shocker: Chris Barnes Only Likes Old School Death Metal

Former Cannibal Corpse and current Six Feet Under frontman Chris Barnes has already made his feelings known about the current state of death metal, but what about the parts of the genre he does like? That was a question during his recent interview with the Sobre La Dosis podcast. Given the fact that he’s loudly considered himself a strict fan of classic death metal, you probably won’t be shocked by any of his picks.

“I’m gonna have to say Possessed’s Seven Churches, I’m gonna go with Death’s Leprosy and Spiritual Healing, and Scream Bloody Gore – I’m gonna have to wrap those three up into [one] because you know, Chuck was a good friend of mine and I was a huge fan of Death early on. Rest in peace Chuck. I’m gonna go Obituary Slowly We Rot. A huge album.

“All three of those bands are a similar type of death metal. I mean of course Possessed are the kings of death metal. They pretty much started it all. Jeff Becerra, fucking awesome guy. So yeah, that’s that’s where I come from, man. I really loved all those albums.

“If I have to throw a fourth one in there, I’m gonna have to say Butchered At Birth [by Cannibal Corpse from the Barnes era]. You know, pat myself on the back. That was a huge album in death metal as far as our kind of twist on the whole thing. I think it influenced a lot of people just as Possessed influenced a lot of bands to move in a certain direction.”

Of course Barnes would pick an album from his time with Cannibal Corpse, which ran from 1988 to 1995. Truth be told though, Butchered At Birth is an unmistakable pillar of death metal, so its inclusion in his list at least makes sense and isn’t just some mindless self-promotion.