Veteran death metal outfit Six Feet Under will have their 15th studio album “Next To Die” out on April 24th via Metal Blade Records. “Unmistakable Smell Of Death” is the first of the 12 songs featured on that outing to receive a release, with a lyric video for it now streaming below.
The band’s core duo of vocalist Chris Barnes and guitarist Jack Owen co-produced the effort, which was mixed and mastered by Mark Lewis (Whitechapel, Cannibal Corpse). Owen said of the creative process:
“It started out as an album full of death metal songs with speed and aggression. Then Chris had the brilliant idea to keep half of those death metal songs and add some groovier songs in the vein of the early Six Feet Under material. Chris emphasized tempo, so keeping with the beats per minute for early SFU classics, I wrote a side of tasty groove-laden music with Chris doing all the lyrics.”
As for this just unveiled offering from it, Owen offered:
“This song began musically before I had any lyrical ideas in mind. I dug through my riff archive for some blast and fast riffs and updated them with some pull-offs and stop sections. The middle section riffs were also from my riff archive. I do scratch leads on my demos, but Ray [Suhy, Six Feet Under guitarist] always does a much better job with the leads.
Lyrically, I’m writing from the perspective of a killer who toys with a victim and unties them, allowing them to fight. He underestimates their ability to fight, and they get the better of the killer, ultimately impaling and beheading him. The ‘Unmistakable Smell Of Death‘ is now that of the killer!”
“Next To Die” track listing:
01 – “Approach Your Grave“
02 – “Destroyed Remains“
03 – “Mister Blood And Guts“
04 – “Mutilated Corpse In The Woods“
05 – “Unmistakable Smell Of Death“
06 – “Wrath And Terror Takes Command“
07 – “Skin Coffins“
08 – “Mind Hell“
09 – “Naked And Dismembered“
10 – “Grasped From Beyond“
11 – “Next to Die“
12 – “Ill Wishes“
Pre-orders can be snagged via metalblade.com/sixfeetunder. In related news, the group have also laid out the dates for a summer North American headlining tour with Kataklysm and Wormhole in the opening spots. Kataklysm however will be headlining the Canadian dates of the trek. Barnes stated of the tour:
“July and August are gonna get ultra brutal on our headline tour of North America in support of our new album ‘Next To Die‘, with our old friends in Kataklysm, and special guests Wormhole. Very psyched to get back on the road in the States, and really, really looking forward to playing Canada on this tour. I think it’s our first time in Canada in decades… You do not want to miss these shows! See you all this Summer!”
Presales will commence tomorrow, March 12th with the password ‘GRAVE’. The general onsale will be up this Friday, March 13th.
07/08 Detroit, MI – Sanctuary
07/09 Toronto, ON – Lee’s Palace
07/10 Montreal, QC – Fairmount
07/11 Ottawa, ON – Overflow
07/12 Worcester, MA – Palladium Upstairs
07/13 Hamden, CT – Space Ballroom
07/14 New York, NY – Gramercy Ballroom
07/15 Bensalem, PA – Broken Goblet
07/16 Raleigh, NC – Chapel Of Bones
07/17 Jacksonville, FL – Albatross
07/18 Fort Lauderdale, FL – Culture Room
07/19 Orlando, FL – Conduit
07/21 Houston, TX – Scout Bar
07/22 Austin, TX – Come And Take It
07/23 Lubbock, TX – Jake’s
07/24 Farmington, NM – Lauter Haus
07/25 Phoenix, AZ – Nile
07/26 Los Angeles, CA – 1720
07/27 Fresno, CA – Strummer’s
07/28 Berkeley, CA – Cornerstone
07/29 Roseville, CA – Goldfield
07/30 Boise, ID – Shredder (no Kataklysm)
07/31 Portland, OR – Hawthorne Theatre
08/01 Seattle, WA – El Corazon
08/02 Vancouver, BC – Rickshaw
08/04 Calgary, AB – Arrowhead
08/05 Edmonton, AB – Starlite Room
08/06 Saskatoon, SK – Black Cat
08/07 Winnipeg, MB – Park Theatre
08/08 Minneapolis, MN – Skyway Theatre
08/09 Madison, WI – The Annex
08/10 Covington, KY – Madison Theater
08/11 Chicago, IL – Reggies
