Chris Barnes (musician)

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Chris Barnes
Chris Barnes in 2006
Background information
Born	December 29, 1967
Genre(s)	Death metal
Occupation(s)	Guitarist, vocalist, musician, producer
Instrument(s)	Guitar, Vocals
Years active	1986 to Present
Label(s)	Metal Blade
Associated acts	Tirant Sin Leviathan Cannibal Corpse Six Feet Under Torture Killer

Chris Barnes (born December 29, 1967) is a US musician, known as one of the founding members of death metal band Cannibal Corpse and his subsequent work as part of Six Feet Under.

Contents 1 Career 1.1 Early career 1.2 1988-1995: Cannibal Corpse 1.3 1995-present: Six Feet Under 2 Social involvement 2.1 Support For Marijuana Law Reform 3 Trivia 4 External links

[edit] Career

[edit] Early career

Chris was originally in Tirant Sin with drummer Paul Mazurkiewicz, guitarist Bob Rusay, Joe Morelli and Rich Ziegler back in 1986, and was also in Leviathan, a band that recorded a four track demo entitled "Legions of the Undead" in 1987.

[edit] 1988-1995: Cannibal Corpse

Barnes wrote all of the lyrics on the albums "Eaten Back to Life", "Butchered at Birth", "Tomb of the Mutilated" and "The Bleeding".

It was mutually decided that Barnes leave Cannibal Corpse due to musical differences in 1995 during the recording of the album "Vile", (which was then known as "Created to Kill"). Barnes was then able to devote his full attention to the band Six Feet Under (aka SFU), which had been his side project since 1993. His focus on them was the main reason for being asked to leave Cannibal Corpse. "SFU" takes a slower, stoner heavy, and Obituary-like direction than Cannibal Corpse.

[edit] 1995-present: Six Feet Under

Barnes designed the original Cannibal Corpse logo as well as the Six Feet Under logo and also did the artwork for "Warpath" released in 1997.

In 2005, SFU released 13, their 6th full length album, an album that Chris also produced. SFU has also released "A Decade In The Grave" in 2005.

With the success of two death metal bands already under his belt (Cannibal Corpse and Six Feet Under), Chris Barnes joined the Finnish death metal band Torture Killer in the fall of 2005. Barnes says he is fully committed to the band, and has appeared on the band's new album "Swarm!", which was released February 24, 2006.

[edit] Social involvement

[edit] Support For Marijuana Law Reform

Since departing from Cannibal Corpse after "The Bleeding", Chris Barnes slightly shifted his lyrical focus towards more sociopolitical issues, the most prominent of which being the legalization of marijuana. The album "Warpath" contains two songs pertaining to marijuana, the first being "4:20" which praises the effects of the plant and the second being "Caged and Disgraced" that calls into question detaining individuals for marijuana possession. Also included in the albums liner notes is the website for NORML(National Organization for Reforming Marijuana Laws) and it is pointed out that the song "4:20" was recorded on April 20th at 4:20pm, the national day and traditional time for smoking marijuana.

"Maximum Violence" contains the song "Victim of the Paranoid" which is another examination of marijuana laws, asserting marijuana users are victims of a system that is too worried about marijuana users and neglects other more pressing issues. Chris Barnes, much like Pantera's Phil Anselmo, has been known to smoke marijuana passed to him during a live performance and vocally praise the herb both on stage and in interviews.

[edit] Trivia

• There are rumors of Chris Barnes playing in the UK’s resident deathgrind act Extreme Noise Terror which are false.
• There is also friction between Barnes and vocalist of Anal Cunt, Seth Putnam. According to Putnam's website, Seth heckled Barnes during the SFU set, leading to an altercation between the two, with Barnes' roadies/friends attacking Putnam. Putnam released the song, "Chris Barnes is a Pussy" as retaliation to the incident.

[edit] External links

• Six Feet Under's official website
• Cannibal Corpse's official website
• Cannibal Corpse fan website
• Torture Killer's Official Website

Six Feet Under This box: view • talk • edit

Chris Barnes | Steve Swanson | Terry Butler | Greg Gall

Discography

Studio Albums: Haunted (1995) | Warpath (1997) | Maximum Violence (1999) | True Carnage (2001) Bringer of Blood (2003) | 13 (2005) | Commandment (2007) Cover Albums: Graveyard Classics (2000) | Graveyard Classics 2 (2004) Box Sets: Double Dead (2002) | Double Dead Redux (2003) | A Decade In The Grave (2005) EPs: Alive and Dead (1996)