SIX FEET UNDER - GRAVEYARD CLASSICS 3 (Album Review)

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You know, some bands are best left alone to do what they do and that’s that. Once in awhile one of these said bands makes the unfortunate mistake of paying “tribute” to one (or more) of their “influences” with catastrophic results.
This week we have a repeat offender, charged with another 10 counts of crimes against their elders. If we were to apply the “three strikes rule”, this would be it as it’s SIX FEET UNDER with GRAVEYARD CLASSICS 3 (Metal Blade).

After raping the likes of DEAD KENNEDYS, JIMI HENDRIX, and BLACK SABBATH on the first “Classics” set, followed by a complete annihilation of AC/DC’s BACK IN BLACK album for “Classics 2” (which I made the mistake of buying), the band set their sights on SLAYER, TWISTED SISTER, and THE RAMONES (among others) this time around.

I jumped immediately to the final track on the album after seeing that they’d chosen to perform the already over-covered “Snap Your Fingers, Snap Your Neck” by one of my favorite bands, PRONG. If I didn’t know what I was in for, I’d simply say “Is this a fucking joke?” With a performance and recording worse than many garage band demos, the music lacks any of the power found in the original, while Chris Barnes vocal style does nothing but make a mockery of the source material. Angered by this, I went back to the beginning to complete my sonic suffering.

As to be expected, the earlier tracks aren’t much better, but the album does have a high point – the cover of METALLICA’s “The Frayed Ends of Sanity.” The one spot on the album where the SFU vocal style works well is on the “Wizard of Oz” vocal intro, and the band provides a strong musical performance as well.

SIX FEET UNDER is a great death metal band that produces classics of their own, but only when playing their own music. Seek out the originals covered here for proof, and to hear SFU do what they do best pick up a copy of the 2005 Box Set A DECADE IN THE GRAVE.

The recently-released first-week sales for GRAVEYARD CLASSICS 3 show that the album scanned a measly 800 copies in the U.S., a sad number when you realize that there’s still 800 suckers out their willing to pay for such rubbish. At least I got mine for free.

Rating: 1/5 Stars