UMUR
"Death Rituals" is the tenth full-length studio album by US, Florida based death metal act Six Feet Under. The album was released through Metal Blade Records in November 2008. It´s the successor to "Commandment" from 2007. Although both Greg Gall (drums) and Terry Butler (bass) are also featured on the succeeding covers album "Graveyard Classics III" (2010), this would be their last performance on a Six Feet Under album featuring original material. Both had been members of Six Feet Under since 1993 and appear on the band´s 1995 debut album "Haunted".
Stylistically "Death Rituals" pretty much continues the old school death metal with heavy grooves and Chris Barnes distinct sounding hoarse growling vocals of the preceding releases. There are no attempts at trying something different or any wishes from the Six Feet Under camp to develop their style or sound. This could just have well have been released in the mid-90s. Sometimes the relatively simple riffs, rhythms, vocals, and song structures work really well and there is definitely an undeniable charm to the procedings, but other times it´s almost too predictable and lacking something remarkable. Most tracks are heavy mid-paced affairs with a great emphasis on heavy grooves and the only track which stands out a bit is the cover of "Bastard" by Mötley Crue, which is of course delivered with loads of death metal power and growling vocals.
So "Death Rituals" is very much business as usual for Six Feet Under. The album features an organic, raw, and powerful sounding production job, suiting the material well. "Death Rituals" will not make you a fan of Six Feet Under, if you weren´t fond of the earlier releases, but those who enjoy the preceding releases of the band should find just as much groove laden, organic old school death metal here as they can digest. In fact "Death Rituals" was the band´s longest release at this point, clocking in at just under 50 minutes. A 3 - 3.5 star (65%) rating is warranted.
