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Rating: "Warpath" is Death Metal that smells of rust, mold, horrid thickets, and terror.
An unhealthy autumnal fruit of the year 1997, with a foggy and cemetery-like sound signed by Brian Slagel, the boss of Metal Blade, promoting his own exsanguinated Obituary sound created by the industrious Allen "Corrosive" West, alongside the thunderous growl of Chris Barnes (ex Cannibal Corpse) and a rhythm section "Slowly we rot." Booming double bass not present, sparking mini-bass solos absent, no fantasy of swirling guitars, the tangled geometries are banned from this platter. We resume from "Haunted," trailing in the distance the polar star of Bolt Thrower. The front cover is austere with the four Six Feet Under unleashed in the bushes in search of the "Time Does Not Heal" knife of darkangelian memory, a photo so candid it's unsettling.
War, zombies, the diabolical entities lurking in the human soul are crowned with tormented and dark music, a heap-layer of human hypocrisies exposed. Heterogeneous lyrics, not only gory, to reinvent in one's own conscience, especially when the ear doesn’t catch the slow Death Metal carpet, with its stagnant atmosphere, sometimes inadequate, but so shining in Barnes' protean growl, who devises every microscopic vocal change to magnify indigent phrasings that infest some songs. "Nonexistence" is the hypothermia of inspiration, even similar to "Manipulation", yet undignified cyanotic pathos paired with "Burning Blood". We approach, exhausted and ready for the burial of the songwriting, at "Caged And Disgraced" with Barnes categorically against incarceration for marijuana possession. Pieces, therefore, very close to the mini-LP "Alive And Dead" of 1996, where the unreleased "Insect" and "Drowning" fluttered like plane tree leaves in October and the Judas Priest cover "Grinder" (title ad hoc) was performed pedantically except for the iconoclastic voice.
Nonetheless, eight successful tracks allow the album to gain appreciation without being miraculous. So bring it on with the war siren of the opener "War Is Coming", let's cleanse our auditory canals with the slow-paced riff of veteran Allen and the amazing growl of Chris, let’s stay there warming our necks mystified, to anticipate a slalom like "Suffering In Ecstasy" that occurs in the fourth track, the beautiful "Animal Insinct", with a rhythm increase vaguely similar to "Whiplash" that builds its impact on the great Barnes: "Survival!… "Survival!…" he yells at the beginning and continues to grumble sardonically. "Death Or Glory" is a cover of the pirates Running Wild, a sort of dress rehearsal of Graveyard Classics but also an unnecessary exercise also performed by Mordred at a Dinamo Open Air. Yet the forlorn charm of "As I Die" is palpable, certainly inspired by Allen West’s finest solo heard so far, extended with delightful meows and usual final distortion, but this time the fingers run fast, with lugubrious and desperate wisdom, even making our hearts jump: we find ourselves wondering where he found the inspiration. "4:20" is still narcotic, chaotically slow, but at least we can applaud Chris's modulated shout in the opening marked by the usual "Yeeeahh" supporting the already metabolized riff, with verses starting in a low voice and fading into clean vocals: a nice idea that allows Chris to praise marijuana.
"Journey Into Darkness" and "Revenge Of The Zombie" are two other pearls of gloomy musical romanticism for a scenic trip to the graveyard, sinister melodies that walk arm in arm with the "fragile art of existence." There is also a bleak reinterpretation of "Threatening Skies" (Obituary- "Back From The Dead - March 1997) which is the lively dance of "Night And Visions". The most meritorious tracks are scattered throughout the album, rather than at the beginning as on "Haunted". To have an excellent Death Metal beat, it is necessary to merge the brightest tracks from our SFU’s first two albums, thus obtaining a solid product to rise in the Olympus of Death Metal. Good recklessness but more daring was needed. Probably these reflections will lead to a guitarist change. The talented Steve Swanson (ex Massacre age of decadence) arrives, injecting new sap and compositional ideas into the sound of Six Feet Under. But this is another bittersweet story.
Tracklist Lyrics and Videos
01 War Is Coming (03:15)
Prepare yourself for the worst it's coming soon
I believe in those foretold prophecies of doom
They say the end is close, it's coming fast
Not every single one of us is gonna last
So, stand and fight or kill yourself right now
It'll be one less motherfucker to kill
Skinned, shot, burned, stabbed, scorched and torn
This pain is real - you can't ignore...
War is coming
Arm yourself with the right to kill at will
Shoot to kill it's them or you
Time to choose, time to choose or die
Blood's pouring from the hole in your side
Take the pain - it'll focus and strengthen you
Take the pain - or your life's fuckin' through
Face the pain - let it become part of you
Take the pain
War is coming
Prepare yourself for the worst it's coming soon
I believe in those foretold prophecies of doom
They say the end is close, it's coming fast
Not every single one of us is gonna last
So, stand and fight or kill yourself right now
It'll be one less motherfucker to kill
Skinned, shot, burned, stabbed, scorched and torn
This pain is real - you can't ignore...
War is coming
03 A Journey Into Darkness (02:17)
I'm not the only one
Who's been
Thinking the way I've been
Things got to change
If they don't we'll all be dead
We've got to watch, and listen
To those things we aren't told
Our lives seem dictated
By those who
We don't know of
I'm telling you
There's a cold wind coming soon
Break free
We've got to
Break free
Or else your life is ruined
Break free from the one that binds you
Break free from the dark
Break free from the one that confines you
Break free from the dark
I'm not the only one
Who's been
Thinking teh way i've been
Things got to change
If they don't we'll all be dead
Break free.
07 Manipulation (02:51)
Don't speak to me about freedom
Don't speak to me about being free
Don't speak to me about freedom
Don't speak to me about being free
My mind is mine (x4)
Amputate my mind
Amputate my mind
Amputate my mind
Amputate my mind
You just want to Amputate my mind
Amputate my mind
Amputate my mind
AMPUTATE MY MIND!
My mind is mine no one elses
My mind is mine
My mind is mine no one elses
MANIPULATION!
Now it's too late
They're gonna take
Away my freedom
Amputate my mind
Amputate my mind
Amputate my mind
Amputate my mind
You just want to amputate my mind
Amputate my mind
Amputate my mind
Amputate my mind
My mind is mine no one elses
My mind is mine
My mind is mine no one elses
MANIPULATION
Don't speak to me about freedom
Don't speak to me about being free
Don't speak to me about freedom
Don't speak to me it's just a fucking lie!
09 Revenge of the Zombie (02:50)
From the grave I will escape
Maggots crawl from out my skull
The worms they feed upon my brain
The life I lost I now regain
And my skin has molded green
Bullet holes through flesh and bone
Half my face rotted off
I wait to drink your f*cking blood - blood!
Hunting - Killing
Murderous - I'll cut your f*cking head off! (x2)
A butcher's knife clenched in my fist
Revenge of the Zombie
Stabbing you to f*cking death
Revenge of the Zombie
Hacking eyes right from your face
Revenge of the Zombie
I feed upon your dying brain
Revenge of the Zombie
To live your life in horrid pain
Revenge of the Zombie
Open sores start to decay
Revenge of the Zombie
New human beings I create
Revenge of the Zombie
From my spell you can't escape
Revenge of the Zombie
12 Caged and Disgraced (03:34)
So many caged - caged and disgraced
Too many inside - need to be out
So many caged - caged and disgraced
For doing nothing but pleasing themselves
Freedom is strength
They want to take it too
I need a place where I can do
What I want to
Sent away - for being myself
Sent away - for being me
I just wanted to live - my own life
I just wanted to live
free
So many caged - caged and disgraced
Too many inside - need to be out
So many caged - caged and disgraced
For doing nothing but pleasing themselves
Freedom is strength
They want to take it too
I need a place where I can do
What I want to
How can you judge how another one lives?
It's victimless.
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