UMUR
"Maximum Violence" is the 3rd full-length studio album by US, Florida based death metal act Six Feet Under. The album was released through Metal Blade Records in June 1999. It´s the successor to "Warpath" from 1997. There´s been one lineup change since the predecessor as guitarist Allen West has been replaced by Steve Swanson.
West was not only the guitarist of the band, but also one of the principle songwriters and it´s audible already from the opening track "Feasting on the Blood of the Insane", that the riffing style has changed. The overall sound is still old school death metal featuring relatively simple rhythm work and guitar riffs, and Chris Barnes intelligible growling vocals in front. The lyrics still revolve around subject like violence, gore, war, torture, and murder. The major change is in the groove of the music, which has diminished quite a bit since the departure of West. It´s too bad really, because to my ears that´s the element which made the first two albums by the band special.
When that is said there are still brutal groove laden moments to be found on "Maximum Violence" and as mentioned the overall sound hasn´t changed much, which means that this is relatively simple and hook laden death metal. There are the occassional nods toward rock´n´roll and classic heavy metal too, which is further emphasised by the inclusion of two cover tracks by Iron Maiden and Thin Lizzy ("Wrathchild" and "Jailbreak" respectively) done death´n´roll style. Highlights include "Torture Killer", "Feasting on the Blood of the Insane", and "No Warning Shot", but the quality of the material is pretty stable throughout.
The musicianship is solid and the sound production relatively well sounding and powerful, so upon conclusion "Maximum Violence" is a quality release by Six Feet Under, although it´s a step down from the two predecessors. Still a 3.5 star (70%) rating is deserved.