Six Feet Under - Haunted (1995) (Japan PHCR-1403)

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Six Feet Under - Haunted (1995) (Japan PHCR-1403)

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Their very first studio album released back in 1995. Even after so many years and so many releases from hundreds of death metal acts that go from the simplest death metal to the craziest metalized Beethoven tech death metal, Haunted still kicks major ass and still makes my blood boil and my adrenaline rush with its furious riffs, brutal vocals and sick ass lyrics. You can clearly hear many influences when you listen to Haunted, varying from Obituary, Cannibal Corpse, Death, Autopsy and Massacre but mostly Obituary. in fact, many think of this album as Obituary with different vocals and many of the riffs played here also sound very similar to that terrifying Obituary old school riff style. Whatever the case is, Haunted is a true death metal gem.

Chris Barnes is definitely a legend when it comes to death metal music with his characteristic deep growl, and this album is definitely no contradiction. His vocals never get old on this release, due to the fact that the instruments sound very equilibrated with his voice and he knows exactly where to growl and scream on each song. Also the fact that he actually enunciates every single word perfectly (at least for me) so you can clearly understand ''human… target… human… TARGET!''. Plus the lyrics are very sick and malevolent without having to resort to extreme gore or violence, which makes the album very evil.

Also Greg Gail knows how to batter those drums perfectly with no need of blasting, ultra fast double bass or triggers. He's often playing slow groovy beats but also you'll notice some punk-ish patterns. His drumming technique reminds me a lot of Donald Tardy, drummer from you know what band, except a little sloppier.

Haunted also has some of the grooviest, heaviest and most dope riffs I've ever heard. Especially Human Target, Beneath A Black Sky, Silent Violence, The Enemy Inside and Torn To The Bone, all done with a truly heavy ass old school tone that will blow your brains and a crunchy bass. Yes, the bass is there, is present and it sounds great, going along with every guitar riff. Check out the beggining of The Enemy Inside. Even if it's just a single note being held, the bass crunch sounds brutal and then a drum roll kicks in followed by the rest of the instrumentation. BAD ASS

This release is definitely one of the greatest death metal albums despite the haters opinion (who probably just hate Barnes' and not SFU's music).

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