Controversial opinions on metal

Bruh, how can you like Back From the Dead and not Haunted and Warpath? By the Light is the most Six Feet Under-est song outside of SFU's discography :lol: The whole album is more towards the Death/Groove spectrum where SFU sits than anything else they did.

Allen West's leads on BtfD are great. They are on Haunted too but there's only a couple of them. That's one thing that might add to the album, but I otherwise enjoy it pretty thoroughly.
 
Barnes is a mess on Warpath. Haunted isn't bad just boring. The production is so fucking flat, the riffs are mostly decent, but they're basically doing the most vanilla version of mid-paced choppy riff death metal with little else to offer.

I just disagree with calling the album great.

Tardy is a way better vocalist than Barnes, especially by the mid-90's. Back from the Dead has way more energy and a way better production imo. Riffs might be about equal with Haunted but that's also arguable.
 
  • Like
Reactions: TechnicalBarbarity
You know what's weird about Barnes is that some of his poorer vocal performances were done by choice. I read this in an interview where he spoke about trying to change his vocal sound and tone for each album. A lot of people think it's because his voice was shot, but that's probably a more considerable factor recently. On Warpath, I think he was intentionally trying to mix in some of the weird shouted/clean sung parts as a stylistic choice and it wasn't just because he couldn't pull off a deeper growl. He went back to a more guttural sound on Maximum Violence.

Anyway, I love Haunted. I first heard "Tomorrow's Victim" on a Metal Blade compilation when I was 16/17 and dug the dark atmosphere. I have a soft spot for slow to mid-paced groovy DM. Lots of great riffs on that album, especially in "Silent Violence," "Beneath a Black Sky," "Human Target," and "Torn to the Bone." I find the production comment interesting because I think Haunted has a very full sound (moreso than BftD I would argue). Barnes's performance on Haunted is powerful as well. Warpath is definitely more up-tempo and the riffs on that one are incredibly catchy. It's more on the energetic side (REVENGE OF THE ZOMBIEEE) so I figure you'd like that one more if Barnes had employed his vocal approach from Haunted.

A lot of the internet reviews trash Tardy's vocal performance on BftD with at least one person saying "he doesn't sound like himself." I can understand to some extent, but I don't mind. It sounds like he shortened up his delivery some to match the more upbeat, compact grooves on that album, but he definitely sounds exactly like John Tardy.

I wonder how much West and Peres influenced each other's writing for BftD and Warpath (which came out the same year) because there are a lot of similarities in the riffing. BftD is just a very SFU sounding album to me which is probably why a lot of people crap on it.

Listen to the opening riffs on these two together:




"Platonic Disease" too; I could imagine that one on an SFU album.

Barnes interview:
"I understand when people say, 'Oh he doesn't sound like he did on that album or song.' Well yeah, that's how it's always been on every album. I've had a different vocal sound and that is purposeful. I wouldn't want it any other way. I don’t like to blanket a specific sound over everything."
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

Ender Rises
  • Locked
Top 10 things you'll never hear on this forum.
Replies
105
Views
2K
General Metal Discussion
no country for old wainds
N
S
  • Locked
Asking 4 opinions
Replies
0
Views
280
General Metal Discussion
slipknot_avatar_666
S
genocide roach
what an atrocity the grammy's are
Replies
32
Views
733
General Metal Discussion
ffanatic
F
Hammer of Might
Stupid comments you've heard about metal??
Replies
28
Views
979
General Metal Discussion
Hammer of Might
H
S
What metal ubergroup had the best return to their roots- Metallica or Megadeth?
Replies
17
Views
585
General Metal Discussion
The Amazer
T
Top Bottom