Cannibal Corpse and vocalist Chris Barnes split in 1995 during the recording for an album then-called Created To Kill. Barnes was replaced by Monstrosity vocalist George "Corpsegrinder" Fisher, Cannibal Corpse ultimately released an album called Vile, Barnes went on to have a successful career with Six Feet Under, and the rest is history.
In a recent Cameo to a fan, Barnes initially commented on the fan's choice of Cannibal Corpse's 1994 album The Bleeding and Six Feet Under's 1999 album Maximum Violence as their favorite death metal albums of all time.
"Yeah, this is interesting. Those two albums, The Bleeding and Maximum Violence, to me, are… Everything I do, I find important — I guess otherwise I wouldn't release it or work on it — but those albums, they're anchored in a different place for me, because both albums kind of marked a new beginning for two bands. The Bleeding being the first album after Bob Rusay [quit Cannibal Corpse], and Maximum Violence being the first album after Allen West [quit Six Feet Under].
"They're really inspired albums, and you find that happens when you bring someone new into a band. And that's always been something that I've kind of noted myself. I put that in the back of my head, like, whenever a band I'm working with picks up a new member, a main songwriter, like Steve Swanson was [in Six Feet Under], it just changes gears and brings a new dynamic into the music itself, which is something I thrive to hunt for in the music of Six Feet Under specifically."
Barnes then continued to talk about his final record with Cannibal Corpse, The Bleeding. Barnes names "Stripped, Raped, And Strangled" from The Bleeding as a likely candidate for his favorite song he's ever written (which he's been playing live), though he acknowledges that "Hammer Smashed Face" is the most successful (thanks to Ace Ventura: Pet Detective, of course).
Toward the end of his answer, Barnes also notes that tensions were high when he and Cannibal Corpse split in 1995, admitting "there was always tension on a personal level in that band when I was in the band, and probably mostly my fault."
"In Cannibal Corpse, with The Bleeding, those guys as musicians were really wanting to progress the band musically in a way. I could kind of say why — I think they were wanting to, in a way, prove themselves as well-skilled musicians. And I thought they always were, because it was always very interesting music, the arrangements and stuff in Cannibal Corpse on the first three albums. But I think they wanted to really hyper focus their skills and weren't able to do that. And I just was along for the ride, man. I can write to anything.
"It was really challenging to me. And I really liked The Bleeding too. I liked what we were doing with Bob. I didn't want Bob to leave the band, and I didn't want him to be forced out of the band, and neither did Jack [Owen]. So it kind of was a strange thing with that whole situation, but it did bring about a good album with The Bleeding. And 'Stripped, Raped And Strangled' is probably my favorite song that I've written. And 'Hammer Smashed Face' is probably the most successful song that I've written.
"But something about 'Stripped, Raped And Strangled', to me, it showed something with the band that never appeared again with any of their albums after that, even Created To Kill. But that is a purposeful thing. I was told by one of the members I will never write another song like that, which I thought was a big mistake. So it's a special song to me in that way, and I love that song. I'll play that song forever.
"You picked two great albums to be your favorites. I mean, probably pretty close for me too. I kind of tend to really like Butchered At Birth 'cause that's what really brought us out of the woodwork, so to speak, and caused a lot of controversy and also gave us really our first real step up. And the music and everything on that — the band was just hitting on all cylinders. There was not too much tension in the band, although there was some. There was always tension on a personal level in that band when I was in the band, and probably mostly my fault, so I'll be the first to admit it. But, yeah, those are great albums that you picked there. I'm glad you like those a lot. They're important, important, important albums to me, too."
Six Feet Under is currently on tour with Nile, Psycroptic, and Embryonic Autopsy. Get your tickets here.
1/13 Charleston, SC Music Farm
1/14 Greenville, SC Radio Room
1/15 Greensboro, NC Hangar 1819
1/17 Sayreville, NJ Starland Ballroom
1/18 Worcester, MA The Palladium Underground
1/19 Albany, NY Empire Live
1/20 Mechanicsburg, PA Lovedrafts
1/21 Pittsburgh, PA Preserving Underground
1/23 Cleveland, OH Agora Theater
1/24 Columbus, OH The King Of Clubs
1/25 Flint, MI Machine Shop
1/26 Grand Rapids, MI Elevation
1/27 Joliet, IL The Forge
1/29 St. Louis, MO Red Flag
1/30 Cincinnati, OH Bogarts
1/31 Ft. Wayne, IN Piere's
2/1 Milwaukee, WI The Rave
2/2 Minneapolis, MN Skyway Theater
2/4 Denver, CO Oriental Theater
2/6 Las Vegas, CA Sinwave
2/7 Santa Ana, CA Observatory
2/8 Roseville, CA Goldfield Roseville
2/10 Portland, OR Bossanova Ballroom
2/11 Seattle, WA El Corazon
2/13 Berkeley, CA Cornerstone
2/14 Santa Cruz, CA Catalyst
2/15 Los Angeles, CA 1720
2/17 Phoenix, AZ Nile Theater
2/18 Farmington, NM Lauter Haus
2/20 Dallas, TX Haltom Theater
2/21 Austin, TX Come And Take It Live
2/22 Houston, TX Warehouse Live
