APESHIT

Written in the studio in just 12 days, SIX FEET UNDER busts out their new album, Commandment, as if they’ve had months to write it. Judging by the sound of it, you wouldn’t be able to tell that they wrote the album that quickly as it’s more or less consistent with their past efforts. Commandment brings you all the grossly simple, compact, and easy to follow riffs, tempos, horror movie themes, and vocal lines that SIX FEET UNDER have been known for. However, Commandment fails to be anything more than what is really is – shallow, diet death metal. It’s difficult to get to the end of the album without being bored to death with its absolute blandness. It’s not like there’s some gem of a song waiting as the album progresses. While the components of the album are not particularly horrendous, it’s the sum of these components that do not add to much of anything. Surely, some songs may be better than others but the disparity is negligible. Bonus points go out to anyone who recognizes the MERCYFUL FATE riff-off in “Bled to Death.” If there are any profound messages or topics discussed, few would be compelled to find out. Through it all, SIX FEET UNDER are probably the winners though – putting in less work and getting essentially the same result, which will probably yield more great sales records for them. If you are already a fan or feel as if real death metal is too much to handle, then Commandment is the perfect album for you. (Metal Blade Records)