It’s been more than 30 years since Chris Barnes was fired as the vocalist for Cannibal Corpse. That said, though, he still has a lot to say on the matter. Mainly, that he isn’t “bitter” about it.
During an interview on Loaded Radio, Barnes was asked if he’d ever again “take the stage” with Cannibal Corpse. Like, for example, if “the Rock and Rock Hall of Fame did welcome death metal and Cannibal Corpse was brought in.”
“Oh, yeah. I’ve always been ready to do that. [Cannibal Corpse] wouldn’t do that, though, because that’s just how they are,” Barnes said. However, the conversation took a slight turn. Barnes went into a lengthy explanation as to why he and his Six Feet Under bandmate, guitarist Jack Owen, would never be welcome to do so.
“I mean, they wouldn’t ask me and Jack to go up on stage with them at all,” Barnes said. “It wouldn’t happen. They would exclude us from it. They might invite us up on stage with them, but they would never want me and Jack to play a song with them or anything like that.” Owen also played in Cannibal Corpse, but left in 2004.
Loaded Radio host Scott Penfold asked, “Why do you think that is, Chris? Why do you think that is? It’s so unfortunate?”
“I think it’s a part of [the fact that] they don’t like me, and they also feel – not to be boastful or conceited at all – I’m just being truthful — they feel threatened by my presence as far as a vocalist and my contribution to the band,” the longtime death metal vocalist said.
Chris Barnes released the first Six Feet Under record, ‘Haunted’, the same year he was fired from Cannibal Corpse
Barnes said he feels his former Cannibal Coprse bandmates have “always tried to marginalize” his role in the band. “They’ve always tried to ignore it, and they’ve always, um, just not been very kind to me as far as that has gone,” he said, “because it’s been a shadow over – my contribution to the band – has always been a shadow to what they’ve tried to keep going and take on themselves.”
“And that’s what they wanted to do. That’s why I was fired from the band, which I’m fine with,” he continued. “I’ve never had a problem with that. I’ve never been bitter about that at all.”
Finally, Barnes added, “I’ve just stated my story and the facts that I know, and I’ve always said it – that the greatest blessing that’s come my way has been Six Feet Under and my putting this band together because it was my way out of that band ’cause I wasn’t happy being in that band at a pretty early point.”
To be fair, Barnes also did tell Loaded Radio that he wanted out of Cannibal Corpse before he was fired. He also used the word “awesome” to describe the dismissal, so it seems everything has ultimately worked out fine for all parties involved.
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