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Six Feet Under > Alive and Dead > Reviews
Six Feet Under - Alive and Dead

A great introduction to early Six Feet Under - 89%

Deadbolt, July 24th, 2022
Written based on this version: 1996, CD, Metal Blade Records

Alive and Dead...I think it's the first Six Feet Under record I bought back in the late nineties.
And now, almost 25 years later, I'm able to write a review of this short but sweet introduction to this band.

The first track "Insect" is probably the most relaxed death metal song I've ever heard. It starts off simple with a nice flow and ends aggressive and focused on groove. This track is the perfect introduction to people who are not used to this brutal kind of music. Faster drums or shredding guitars would be inappropriate because of the mellow nature of this song. Chris' vocals are heavy overall leaning more towards what he did in Cannibal Corpse than his later work in Six Feet Under. Some higher pitched vocals are used here and there but he just didn't have the range at that time like he developed on later Six Feet Under albums. The next track "Drowning" is another exclusive for this release. I was reading the lyrics while visualizing how it must feel to drown myself and experience it the way it is described here. First struggling to survive, panicking, eventually accepting your death and finally to decompose and dissolve. For a moment I myself stopped breathing due to the intensity of it all. The guitars sound very ominous and set the mood perfectly for these lyrics. This is old-school death metal the way it was meant to be.

Up next is a cover of Judas Priest's Grinder; a song I was not familiar with at the time. Chris adds his own personal touch without overdoing it. Early signs of what Six Feet Under will develop into can be heard when Chris recites some of his favourite curse words at the end of this song. The song is worthwhile for this alone. The music is virtually the same as the original except the guitars have a fuller sound and the bass is more prominent in the mix. The last four tracks are live recordings of songs found on the Haunted album they released the year before this EP. The performance of these songs is very enthousiastic and shows that the band is a well-oiled machine (the tempo is quite a bit faster than on the album). The guitars are heavy, the drums are tight and alongside Chris' excellent live performance didn't take long for me to start screaming along to the lyrics. My favourite tracks here are those recorded in Switzerland as these have a clearer sound overall.

This EP really grew on me; at first this was an okay extra for the fans but it turned out to be an underrated one.
Two exclusive songs, a cover and four excellent live tracks make this a great introduction to early Six Feet Under.

I'm so excited, and I just can't hide it! - 45%

autothrall, May 2nd, 2011

Irrespective of the general lack of excitement and quality inherent in Six Feet Under's music, they were given the royal treatment via Metal Blade Records, and as a teaser for their sophomore Warpath, they released the Alive and Dead EP in 1996. This is a basic setup for such a release, with a few non-album tracks, a cover, and various live selections. Now, all three of the studio cuts were released with the limited edition digipack of Warpath the following year. But assuming you were not one of the 'lucky few' to attain that version, the fodder presented here is at least not utter canine excrement, though there is no conceivable reason to want to spend actual money on this.

This is the same lineup and writing style as Haunted, and thus the two new studio pieces here: "Insect" and "Drowning" are your basic Obituary plodding pace with Chris Barnes' lackluster grunting affixed to rhythms. "Insect" has a bit more of a thick, doom groove to it, while the latter has a faster guitar line reminds me of a "Memories Remain", even breaking into another groove, though it's nowhere near as catchy. In truth, these songs are about level with the less memorable fare from the debut, and are easily skipped, but for what? Judas Priest's "Grinder" is flabby and lifeless in the hands of Chris and company, with no real differences from the original apart from the weak gutturals and less enthusiastic guitars. A real yawn.

So then, the entertainment factor here might be solely placed upon the shoulders of the live material, which has been culled from a few performances in Switzerland and Holland. There are four of them: "Human Target", "Beneath a Black Sky", "Suffering in Ecstasy", "Lycanthropy", all from the debut. If you enjoyed Haunted, then there's not much to complain about. The vocals bear slightly more charisma than the studio incarnations, and though the single guitar feels thin, it feels fibrous and rich like an early Obituary performance sans the stereo effect. "Human Target" is the catchiest of the quartet, but the incline in quality to the rest is not a steep one. Still, I can imagine the European audiences being underwhelmed by Barnes' new project, falling asleep or hitting up the bar while they waited for the next act, if there was one, and I hope for the audience's sake there was...

-autothrall
http://www.fromthedustreturned.com

What a pointless little EP - 38%

JamesIII, February 13th, 2010

Six Feet Under is a band I often consider "useless," a label that applies to almost every album they've released. It should come as no surprise to anyone then that a band who can't release a halfway decent full length album isn't going to be able to release a halfway decent EP. "Alive and Dead" was given to me some time ago as a gift, along with "Haunted," the band's first album. While "Haunted" offered some decent moments, but was obviously stricken with the "side project syndrome" of mediocrity, this EP is practically useless except for use as a beer coaster.

"Alive and Dead" was apparently some sort of bonus disc used to help promote the band against Chris Barnes' former band Cannibal Corpse, who were riding a wave of popularity at the time. I can't see how two B-side songs, a poor choice cover song and four sub-par live recordings are meant to help anyone see this band in a positive light, which makes the choice material questionable. It could be that Six Feet Under was largely new at the time and didn't have much material to their name, but either way, I base opinions on what the release offers, not for what reasons it was released or for what reasons the material was chosen.

The first two tracks in "Insect" and "Drowned" are original songs, neither of which offer much to talk about. Both run in the usual Six Feet Under groovy death metal style, and both plod off into oblivion without offering much of interest. "Drowned" is the better of these two songs, but that isn't saying much. The Priest cover in "Grinder" is largely forgettable and questionable, and I echo the opinion of the other reviewer in saying no death metal band should attempt to cover Judas Priest songs, especially a band like Six Feet Under. The next four tracks are live tracks, and given my usual dislike of live albums by death metal bands, I actually like these four the best on this EP. The sound quality isn't exactly great, which is the usual story for live tracks of this nature, but they work decently enough. Yet even that can't save this EP collection from being mostly bottom of the barrel for death metal.

Finding this EP is rather difficult since it was a bonus disc, but then again, I can't see anyone going out of their way to obtain it. The tracks offered aren't very strong, and that goes for the live tracks which stand as the best on here. At the end of the day, "Alive and Dead" stands as something of a necessity for Six Feet Under completists (whose existence is questionable) but rather pointless for anyone else. If you have a passing interest in the band, seek out "Haunted" or maybe "Warpath" instead and leave it at that. Just leave "Alive and Dead" to be buried in obscurity, a fate it largely deserves.

Some great...some horrible... - 67%

Snxke, August 9th, 2004

This E.P. is an example of the silliness of Six Feet Under at it's greatest and at it's worst. A death metal band (other than Death) covering Judas Priest is a pretty silly idea, the live production isn't horrible but could have been a little fuller and the originals reek of "write now think later". This though, was used to promote the band against an increasingly successful Cannibal Corpse whom had found the majority of the benefit sales-wise from the drama resulting from the Barnes split. Barnes wanted to prove the Six Feet Under was here to stay...and this release is enough to hold hardcore Barnes fans over for a moment or two.

The two new songs aren't good nor bad...with "Drowned" being the finer of the two new compositions. The Priest cover of "Grinder" is an absolute joke though and offers little to be examined. The live tracks plod along from "Haunted" solidly enough. The production could have been stronger but hey...it's a bonus E.P. right? The slamming version of "Human Target" cannot be denied. "Suffering in Ecstasy" and Lycanthropy" aren't half bad either. The best material obviously is culled from a previous record so one can't fairly label this release as a songwriting success for the masters of slow-burn death metal.

If you aren't a big fan of Six Feet Under there really isn't any reason to be part of this recording. If you're only a passing fan I might say the same. For people like me who are gluttons for punishment and claim everything Barnes puts to record no matter what - this has a few worthy moments.

Odd...as the following "Warpath" would show the band at their Celtic Frost aping best while the originals on this are simple "there".

Wonders never cease...