Former CANNIBAL CORPSE frontman Chris Barnes has been getting a lot of heat lately, mostly due to his recent comments about ‘Knotfest’s Death Metal Round Table’ discussion video which featured current CORPSE vocalist George “Corpsegrinder” Fischer, Trevor Strnad of THE BLACK DAHLIA MURDER, Chase Mason of GATECREEPER and Alex Jones of UNDEATH.
Barnes made comments about the video, saying it made him feel “physically ill” and that he “despises what this genre (death metal) has become.” He would also add that he hates modern death metal vocals, the scene, metal media and pretty much everything about the subgenre that he helped in creating.
Well it seems that UNDEATH singer Alex Jones has commented on the anger of Chris Barnes in a new interview with ‘Metal Shop on Seattle radio station 99.9 KISW.
Jones said that although he appreciates Barnes’ role in the history of death metal, he doesn’t think the guy has been very likable in the past few years.
Jones said: “Man, you know I just think it’s sad. I’ll try not to be too dismissive here because I want to provide a serious answer to that question, but I think… you know, the guy’s a legend. He was an instrumental member on some of the most important death metal albums in history. I think if he had just stayed in his lane so to speak and not become like you know, a right-wing anti-vaxxer ghoul then he could be a very well respected, loved, beloved character in the metal scene. But I think he just made some very bad calls with the things that he chose to align himself with. I think he has kind of exposed some very obnoxious and kind of gross and frustrating beliefs in recent years. All in all, I knew all of that about him going into him saying what he said on Twitter, so I wasn’t surprised.
He continued: “I wasn’t really expecting somebody like Chris Barnes at his current state to view that Knotfest video and say ‘wow, death metal is in great hands. I’m so proud of all these guys.’ Like, I know he’s he’s turned into a curmudgeon over the past 15-20 years, but it is what it is. I’m unbothered by it and the rest of the guys in the band, we just kind of think it’s funny. Honestly, I need to send him a gift basket or something, because he’s given the new record a lot of free press over the past couple days.”
UNDEATH are planning the release of their new studio album “It’s Time… To Rise From The Grave” which arrives on April 22.