Deep into a storied career that took him from Cannibal Corpse to Six Feet Under to Torture Killer and back again, everybody knows what to expect out of a new effort from the perpetually blazed Chris Barnes and Six Feet Under. If you don’t know what’s in store from this band after fifteen years, then you should probably turn in your metalhead degree to Vince and Axl. The dudes’ third edition of the Graveyard Classics collection is one of those strange things that’s both familiar, awesome, and kind of ridiculous. Pure curiousity pointed this writer to a copy of the record, and it’s oddly intriguing – the kind of intriguing that’s caused by getting blasted and hearing a sweet (but in reality, not really that rad) cover band rip their version of a Deep Purple song at the bar down the street.

Despite a few steps marred by a laughably terrible vocal mix, Six Feet Under’s groove and roll brand of brutish death metal sees the Floridians cover, this time around, material from The Ramones, Prong, and Bachman Turner Overdrive (the left field selection here), as well as more mandatory metal numbers from Mercyful Fate, Metallica and Slayer. They’ve never been ones to push the envelope, per se, so you shouldn’t expect that from Graveyard Classics III. It’s pretty much just death metal versions of the songs they cover.

Heard one Six Feet Under record? Then you’ve heard this one, too. That Back In Black tribute album was pretty cool because every song was boneriffic to begin with, but Classics III is really not too intriguing once the nostalgia factor wears off. If the band’s Wikipedia entry is any indication, though, they’ve officially sold a shitload of records (nine albums and closing in on 400,000 copies), so somebody’s digging this stuff. I guess there’s no harm in another new Six Feet Under album, right? Probably not. At least they haven’t hired a keyboard player and stuck in some “sick” breakdowns. It’s death metal by numbers, and just like its coloring book companion, it’s still kind of okay – even in your twenties.

(2.5 out of 5 horns)

-BC