Chris Barnes (musician)

Years active1986–presentMember ofSix Feet UnderFormerly of

Chris Barnes (born December 29, 1967) is an American death metal vocalist and lyricist.

Barnes was the co-founder and original lead vocalist and lyricist of Cannibal Corpse, staying with the band from 1988 to 1995. He later founded the Florida death metal band Six Feet Under, for whom he also provided lead vocals. In addition, he has also appeared on Torture Killer's second album Swarm!

Barnes is notorious for his extremely low guttural vocals and explicitly violent lyrics. Barnes designed the original Cannibal Corpse logo, the Six Feet Under logo and the artwork for the band's 1997 album Warpath.

Barnes started his career at the age of 19. His first band was a death/thrash band called Tirant Sin, which was formed in 1986 in his hometown of Buffalo, New York. Other members of Tirant Sin included Paul Mazurkiewicz (drums), Bob Rusay, Cam V and Joe Morelli (guitars) and Rich Ziegler (bass guitar). In 1986, Barnes left Tirant Sin to join another New York-based death/thrash metal band named Leviathan that recorded the four-track demo "Legions of the Undead" in 1987, re-released on the 2005 Six Feet Under box set A Decade in the Grave.

Tirant Sin recorded three demos, all privately released: "Desecration of the Graves" in February 1987, "Chaotic Destruction" in fall 1987 with Dennis John on vocals, and "Mutant Supremacy" in 1988. Barnes appeared only on the third demo, when he re-joined Tirant Sin in January 1988.^[1][2][3]

Barnes wrote all of the lyrics on the albums Butchered at Birth, Tomb of the Mutilated, and The Bleeding and wrote the lyrics on Eaten Back to Life with the rest of the band helping.^[4] Barnes became notorious for his explicitly violent lyrics. He said, "I was always interested in horror and stuff like that, and gore, and I read a lot of the stuff on serial killings."^[5] Joe DiVita of Loudwire has called Barnes a "deranged lyrical genius".^[6]

Barnes left Cannibal Corpse in 1995 due to creative and personal differences with the rest of the band. Barnes later claimed he felt "ridiculed" by the other band members and did not enjoy being in their presence during his waning days with the band.^[7] His final vocal recordings with the band were for the "Created to Kill" sessions which were later re-recorded by his replacement George Fisher for the Vile album. The "Created to Kill" demo featuring Barnes was eventually released as part of the 15 Year Killing Spree box set released in 2003.

Barnes' departure from Cannibal Corpse allowed him to devote his full attention to the band Six Feet Under, which had been his side project since 1993. Barnes commented that he is "very proud" of his accomplishments with the band. He later said, "being booted out of Cannibal Corpse was pretty memorable but in a good way. I didn't feel I was able to write the way I wanted to so it was a good transition for me."^[8]

In response to questions from fans regarding a possible reunion between Barnes and Cannibal Corpse, Alex Webster ruled out the possibility, saying "we have no plans to do anything with Chris Barnes ever again. It's not something any of us are interested in doing."^[9] "It's nothing against him, but we prefer to move forward rather than live in the past."^[10] Webster also stated that although he and Barnes had been cordial when the two run into each other at festivals, Cannibal Corpse would probably not participate in a tour with Six Feet Under either, saying "you do your thing, we'll do ours".^[11] Barnes himself commented:

"I don't have any animosity towards those guys at all, and I don't think they do towards me. It's just that… It would be too confusing for things [if we were to tour together], I think, from their perspective".^[12]

Barnes has been openly critcal about the current state of death metal, going as far to say he "despises" what the genre has become, saying "all the people trolling me, proves my point [...] all the bitch ass “media” making headlines off it proves my point".^{[13][14][15][16]} Barnes espouses coronavirus conspiracy theories.^[17]

There was controversy surrounding Barnes and Anal Cunt's former vocalist Seth Putnam. According to Putnam, he heckled Barnes during a Six Feet Under set, which lead to an altercation between the two. Ultimately, Six Feet Under's roadies ganged up on Putnam while Barnes fled to his tour bus. Putnam released the song "Chris Barnes Is a Pussy" as retaliation to the incident.^{[18][19][20][21][22][23][24]}

Despite the feud, Putnam stated that "Murdered in the Basement" was his favorite song by Six Feet Under.^[25]

On early Cannibal Corpse releases, Barnes employed a thrash metal vocal style comparable to the likes of Kreator and The Accused. By the band's second album Butchered at Birth, his growls were drastically lower. Barnes has stated that he developed his guttural vocal style as an attempt to blend into the music, or "become another instrument", as the band's music became heavier.^[26]

Gene Hoglan has credited Barnes as one of the "progenitors of the gore style".^[27]

Six Feet Under

• Haunted (1995)
• Alive and Dead (1996)
• Warpath (1997)
• Maximum Violence (1999)
• Graveyard Classics (2000)
• True Carnage (2001)
• Double Dead Redux (live) (2003)
• Bringer of Blood (2003)
• Graveyard Classics 2 (2004)
• 13 (2005)
• A Decade in the Grave (box set) (2005)
• Commandment (2007)
• Death Rituals (2008)
• Graveyard Classics 3 (2010)
• Undead (2012)
• Unborn (2013)
• Crypt of the Devil (2015)
• Graveyard Classics IV: The Number of the Priest (2016)
• Torment (2017)
• Unburied (2018)
• Nightmares of the Decomposed (2020)
• Killing For Revenge (2024)

Cannibal Corpse

• Cannibal Corpse demo (1989)
• Eaten Back to Life (1990)
• Butchered at Birth (1991)
• Tomb of the Mutilated (1992)
• Hammer Smashed Face EP (1993)
• The Bleeding (1994)
• Created to Kill (Vile demo) (1995)
• 15 Year Killing Spree box set (2003)
• Centuries of Torment: The First 20 Years video (2008)
• The Unreleased 1994 Deathboard Recording (Live) (2019)

Torture Killer

• Swarm! (2006)
• Phobia (2013) Backing vocals on "Written in Blood"

IHATE

• IHATE (2014)

Cannabis Corpse

• From Wisdom to Baked (2014) Backing vocals on "Individual Pot Patterns"

Gorguts

• Considered Dead (1991) Backing vocals on "Bodily Corrupted", "Rottenatomy" & "Hematological Allergy"

Skribbal

• Black Eyed Children (2021)

Opening introduction on "The Retribution"

Incite

• Built to Destroy (2019) Backing vocals on "Poisoned by Power" ^[28]

• Media related to Chris Barnes at Wikimedia Commons