| Chris Barnes | |
| Birth Place: | Buffalo, New York, U.S. |
| Birth Date: | 29 December 1967 |
| Genre: | Death metal |
| Years Active: | 1986–present |
| Current Member Of: | Six Feet Under |
Chris Barnes (born December 29, 1967) is an American death metal vocalist. He is noted for his low guttural vocals and explicitly violent lyrics. He was the co-founder, original lead vocalist and lyricist of Cannibal Corpse from 1988 to 1995, later founding and performing as part of Six Feet Under, and has appeared on Torture Killer's second album Swarm! Barnes designed the original Cannibal Corpse logo, the Six Feet Under logo and the artwork for the band's 1997 album Warpath.
Barnes started his career at the age of 19. His first band was a death/thrash band called Tirant Sin, which was formed in 1986 in his hometown of Buffalo, New York. Other members of Tirant Sin included Paul Mazurkiewicz (drums), Bob Rusay, Cam V and Joe Morelli (guitars) and Rich Ziegler (bass guitar). In 1986, Barnes left Tirant Sin to join another New York-based death/thrash metal band named Leviathan that recorded the four-track demo "Legions of the Undead" in 1987, re-released on the 2005 Six Feet Under box set A Decade in the Grave.
Tirant Sin recorded three demos, all privately released: "Desecration of the Graves" in February 1987, "Chaotic Destruction" in fall 1987 with Dennis John on vocals, and "Mutant Supremacy" in 1988. Barnes appeared only on the third demo, when he re-joined Tirant Sin in January 1988.[1] [2] [3]
Barnes wrote all of the lyrics on the albums Butchered at Birth, Tomb of the Mutilated, and The Bleeding and wrote the lyrics on Eaten Back to Life with the rest of the band helping.[4]
Barnes left Cannibal Corpse in 1995 due to creative and personal differences with the rest of the band. His final vocal recordings with the band were for the "Created to Kill" sessions which were later re-recorded by his replacement George Fisher for the Vile album. The "Created to Kill" demo featuring Barnes was eventually released as part of the 15 Year Killing Spree box set released in 2003.
Barnes' departure from Cannibal Corpse allowed him to devote his full attention to the band Six Feet Under, which had been his side project since 1993. Barnes commented that he is "very proud" of his accomplishments with the band. He later said, "being booted out of Cannibal Corpse was pretty memorable but in a good way. I didn't feel I was able to write the way I wanted to so it was a good transition for me."[5]
In response to questions from fans regarding a possible reunion between Barnes and Cannibal Corpse, Alex Webster ruled out the possibility, saying "we have no plans to do anything with Chris Barnes ever again. It's not something any of us are interested in doing."[6] "It's nothing against him, but we prefer to move forward rather than live in the past."[7]
In 2005, Six Feet Under released 13, their sixth full-length album, produced by Barnes. In the same year, Six Feet Under released A Decade in the Grave, a box set highlighting the previous ten years of Six Feet Under.
With the success of two death metal bands already under his belt (Cannibal Corpse and Six Feet Under), Barnes joined the Finnish death metal band Torture Killer in fall 2005. At the time, Barnes said he was fully committed to the band, and appeared on the band's second album Swarm!, which was released on February 24, 2006. However, he left the band in January 2008.
Six Feet Under released the album Commandment on April 17, 2007, to highly positive views. Barnes has said that Commandment is his favorite album, claiming to have received over 5,000 messages in support. Many fans cite it as their favorite Six Feet Under release since Bringer of Blood in 2003.
On November 11, 2008, Six Feet Under released another album, Death Rituals. It saw the band returning to Morrisound Studios in Tampa, Florida, with Chris Carroll producing and mixing by Toby Wright (Slayer, Korn, In Flames, Fear Factory, etc.) and the return of old friend Bill Metoyer, who recorded the band's CD Warpath, who helped out with recording of the drums. The album has thirteen songs including a cover version of Mötley Crüe's "Bastard" and the ambient song "Crossroads to Armageddon".
On January 16, 2009, a message appeared on Six Feet Under's website saying, Just wanted to let all of our fans know that we are currently in the studio working on Graveyard Classics 3. We are about 60% finished with tracking. Everything is going great and we are having a lot of fun laying these new songs down. more info and track listing to come!![8]
In November 2011, Rob Arnold and Matt DeVries posted statements saying they had left Chimaira to play in Six Feet Under full-time. However, in 2012, DeVries moved on to Fear Factory, replacing longtime bass guitarist Byron Stroud. The vacant position was subsequently filled by the ex-Brain Drill 7-string bass guitarist, Jeff Hughell.
The band's ninth studio album, Undead, was released on May 22, 2012. It was announced on the same day that Rob Arnold would be replaced by Ola Englund. The band said that Arnold would remain a central writing partner and collaborator on future Six Feet Under releases.
Six Feet Under's tenth album Unborn was released on March 19, 2013, and their eleventh record Crypt of the Devil was released May 5, 2015.
Since leaving Cannibal Corpse after The Bleeding, Barnes shifted his lyrical focus towards socio-political issues, most prominently the legal status of marijuana. The album Warpath contains two songs pertaining to marijuana: "4:20", which praises the effects of the plant and "Caged and Disgraced" which questions the detention of individuals for marijuana possession. Included in the album's liner notes is the website for the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws and it is pointed out that the song "4:20" (which is 4 minutes and 20 seconds in length) was recorded on April 20 at 4:20 pm, the national day and traditional time for smoking marijuana.
Maximum Violence contains the song "Victim of the Paranoid", which is another examination of marijuana laws, asserting that marijuana users are victims of a system that is too worried about marijuana users and neglects other more pressing issues.
There was controversy surrounding Barnes and Anal Cunt's former vocalist Seth Putnam. According to Putnam, he heckled Barnes during a Six Feet Under set, which lead to an altercation between the two. Ultimately, Six Feet Under's roadies ganged up on Putnam while Barnes fled to his tour bus. Putnam released the song "Chris Barnes Is a Pussy" as retaliation to the incident.[9]
Despite the feud, Putnam stated that "Murdered in the Basement" was his favorite song by Six Feet Under.[10]
Six Feet Under
Cannibal Corpse
Torture Killer
IHATE
Cannabis Corpse
Gorguts
Skribbal
Opening introduction on "The Retribution"
Incite