Review
Six Feet Under’s fifteenth album divides its runtime between blunt, fast-paced thrashing and the slower stoner-fused tempos of their early-career groove. Under the co-production of frontman Chris Barnes and guitarist Jack Owen, the record attempts to course-correct the Florida veterans’ heavily maligned trajectory. Heavy, mid-tempo chugs and B-movie splatter lyrics dominate, evoking a muddy swamp aesthetic that oscillates between nostalgic comfort and tiring repetition.
While some critics appreciate a production style that hits a "bullseye between gravelly abrasion and clean legibility" with "a burly guitar tone skinned in sandpaper," others argue the album proves to be a "hollow imitation." There is widespread relief that Barnes has largely abandoned his much-criticized high-pitched squeals, but certain experimental choices still falter. The acoustic closer "Ill Wishes," which relies on bizarrely whispered growls, is dismissed as "very silly", reinforcing critiques that too much of the tracklist is assembled with "no thought beyond filling time".
