The Gauntlet: You just recorded “Death Rituals” down at Morrisound in Tampa, FL. How did it all go this time around?

Chris Barnes: It went really well, man. We did the basic tracks at Morrisound here in Tampa, and I did my vocals once again down in Miami at the Hit Factory. Chris Carroll engineered the CD, Toby Wright mixed it, and we had a great session. It was one of the most comfortable and fun sessions we’ve had in awhile. It was a good time.

The Gauntlet: Tell me, if you can, about some of the concepts behind the new album and how it will sound?

Chris: It’s hard for me to kinda broadly say what it is, but generally it’s an excellent Six Feet Under album as far as I’m concerned. I’m pretty biased to that, I always get psyched up about putting new songs together and releasing a new album. We really wrote some good songs, and there are some interesting twists and turns. Some real good heaviness going on there. We had a good time and I think it shows. I think it’s a really exciting album. It has a really dark edge to it, and I think it’s for sure my best production yet. Toby Wright had some good people working with me mixing and engineering. Chris Carroll’s been with us for awhile. He’s really the best engineer in the business. I think that all of the people that are into Six Feet Under will definitely enjoy this record. All the people that hate us will probably hate it, but I’m really not writing music for anyone else but myself to begin with so I’m just glad that half the people out there dig it (laughs). That’s good enough for me. You can’t please everyone, I learned that a long time ago.

The Gauntlet: You just filmed a video for “Seed of Filth”?

Chris: Yea, we made a video. We shot it during a live Halloween show we did here in Tampa. It was a lot of fun, we had a blast. It was good to get up on the stage and play a few of the new songs.

The Gauntlet: Are you hoping to get some play on shows like “Headbanger’s Ball”?

Chris: We usually do, man. We had two videos from the last record that were played on “Headbangers” and two from the album before that as well, so I would like to see it get on there. I’m sure it’ll end up on Youtube as well, everything usually does now (laughs).

The Gauntlet: Do you have to tone down your ideas for the videos to get them on TV?

Chris: Yea, definitely. There are censors that you’re dealing with on MTV. They have their regulations and whatnot that they have to abide by, so you can’t be too explicit with your subject matter. You can’t pick a song that’s too over the top as far as the lyrical content and storyline.

The Gauntlet: When you first started Six Feet Under, bands were all trying to play faster than one another. It was getting to the point where speed was more important than musicality. I’ve always sort of suspected that that’s why you started a slower, groovier band like Six Feet Under. Am I right?

Chris: Not really… The reason why I started Six Feet Under was that I just really liked the songs. I really liked the music that Allen (West, former guitarist) sent me. He sent me three songs, and we had been talking about doing a side project and just having some fun and demoing some stuff out. He sent me the music and I was like, “Wow man, this is so cool, I like it.” It was real heavy. I thought that people would like listening to it and hearing the songs live. It was exciting writing to a different tempo. It wasn’t anything quite as dramatic as thinking the music was getting too fast. I just go with what I think sounds good, and if it’s fun and I think it sounds good when it’s completed I’m glad to be a part of it, no matter if it’s fast or mid-paced. If it just speaks to me on the level of someone who’s a writer and an artist I just go with the flow.

The Gauntlet: What do you think of all the so-called “breakdown” bands these days like Job For a Cowboy and Suicide Silence who may have been influenced by the midtempo groove of Six Feet Under?

Chris: Job For a Cowboy opened for us on a tour a couple years ago. I’ve only heard a couple of their songs, though. I guess I really haven’t heard enough to have too much of an opinion. I’ll hear a band here or there when I’m listening to XM Liquid Metal in my car or something. I’ll hear a band that really catches my attention every now and then, but for the most part I’m not really out in the scene as a fan, you know?

The Gauntlet: What are your touring plans for the album?

Chris: We’ve been looking at some different offers for Europe and some festival appearances over there next summer. Hopefully, we’ll get on tour in the States here in the springtime of ’09, with another run later towards the fall as well.

The Gauntlet: Would you say there are any political lyrics on the new album akin to on the “Bringer of Blood” album?

Chris: I just write about what I want to write about. I tell the story that the music’s telling me when I hear it. I’m always presented music before I write lyrics, so there’s several interesting things on this as far as the lyrics go. You might be able to consider some things political. It’s up to the guy listening to it or reading the lyrics to kinda decide. I think people look at “Amerika the Brutal” and think that that’s all that whole album encompassed. That was really only just one song and one set of lyrics. I don’t really map out what I’m going to write about on any album. I just really let the music take me in whatever direction I think is best. I just base it on how the music speaks to me. Same thing with the vocal approach.

The Gauntlet: Your bandmates Steve Swanson (guitar) and Terry Butler (bass) reformed Massacre earlier this year for some reunion shows, did you get a chance to see them?

Chris: No, I didn’t. They didn’t do any local shows so I didn't get a chance to.

The Gauntlet: They’re still full-time with Six Feet Under though?

Chris: Yea. They have their time off here and there so they do their thing in between.

The Gauntlet: Do you have a favorite album of 2008?

Chris: No, man I’ve just been too busy in 2008 with my own music to listen to anybody else’s.

The Gauntlet: How do you feel about the election of Obama?

Chris: I hope he does all the right things. I hope he’s able to hold up to the things he said he was gonna do. I hope that everything he said is going to happen will. He promised some good, positive things. I think that we definitely need to go in a different direction in this country for us all to start prospering again and get out of this rut that we’re in. Two wars and a bad economy. That would be nice to see things change, but I doubt it. I basically think it’s just another face in front of the same machine.

The Gauntlet: Thanks for the interview Chris!

Chris: Thanks for having me!