The prolific Six Feet Under are back at it again, this time with an album that has a bit of "everything" - well, not literally.  Death Metal meets Thrash meets "plain Heavy Metal" on Death Rituals.  Far from a speedfest, this album is mostly slow to mid-paced and relatively heavy, just not "crushingly" so, although the overall doom and gloom atmosphere does intensify the effect as the album progresses - there's a bit of a haunting/suspense-like aura that keeps popping up here and there, sometimes taking one by surprise by jumping in right after the faster and/or more upbeat moments.  A cover of Motley Crue's "Bastard" is stuck right in the middle of the album and boy, does that ever stick out - yet without really feeling out of place.  A good cover with a Death 'n' Roll-ish vibe, pretty catchy stuff - but that goes with the territory.

I first listened to this a couple of weeks ago, then put it aside before coming back to it... Since then I had some melodies and leads in the back of my brain and couldn't remember what that was - turns out it was some of the material on this album, and it took only one listen for it to stick.  You've got to give them that, there's some pretty cool, yet "simple" (and no so simple) guitar work here, and it's just plain memorable at times.  I find the vocals (Barnes' trademark low growls) a bit monotonous, but they flow along well with the music.  A couple of songs are a bit on the tedious side and could probably have been left out, but they don't really hurt the overall experience either.  A nice little slab of groovy, catchy Death/Thrash.