Why Chris Barnes Will 'Never' Play With Cannibal Corpse Again

Ex-Cannibal Corpse vocalist Chris Barnes (who founded and currently fronts Six Feet Under) has been estranged from his former band since his dismissal in 1995. In a new interview, he explained that he’ll almost certainly “never” play with Cannibal Corpse again because they’re “threatened” by his “presence" (among other things).

What Did Barnes Say About Cannibal Corpse + Six Feet Under?

Barnes was recently interviewed by Loaded Radio (audio uploaded to YouTube on March 20), and he asked if he’d “take the stage” with Cannibal Corpse 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 began before delving into why the group wouldn’t want him or current Six Feet Under guitarist Jack Owen (who left Cannibal Corpse in 2004) to share the spotlight with them:

“I mean, they wouldn't ask me and Jack to go up on stage with them at all. . . . 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."

Host Scott Penfold responded, “Why do you think that is, Chris? Why do you think that is? It’s so unfortunate?” to which Barnes answered:

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. They've always tried to marginalize that. 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, 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. I've never had a problem with that. I've never been bitter about that at all. 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.

Going further into the contrasts between Cannibal Corpse and Six Feet Under, Barnes elaborated:

Six Feet Under was the best thing that ever happened to me. Getting kicked out of Cannibal Corpse was really – it was awesome when that happened. And Alex [Webster, bassist] will even tell you, when he called me up to tell me that I was out of the band, I kind of laughed a little bit. I was, like, “That's awesome. Thank you,” basically.

Penfold then asked if Barnes’ split and unhappiness with Cannibal Corpse was “all because of creativity,” and the singer clarified:

No. That was nothing to do with it at all. I mean, maybe in their minds, as far as the last recording session went, because I went on tour with Six Feet Under instead of finishing that album [1995’s 'Vile'] the way they were commanding me to finish it, and they knew I was not going to. I was sticking to my guns as far as those songs that I had written, and I guess I didn't see that the way they wanted me to see it, so that might've been a creative difference.
But, for me, the most part was I just didn't wanna be around those guys. I had never had a problem with Jack. It was Alex, Paul [Mazurkiewicz, drummer] and Rob [Barrett, guitarist] that I just didn't wanna be in the same room with. So, that's really why I started Six Feet Under. A lot of people were, like, oh it’s – the party line was it was a side project. It wasn't a side project for me. Never once. It was really my escape pod. I went along with the party line because, you know – but it was never that for me. It was my way out.

You can listen to the full interview below:

Chris Barnes Discusses Cannibal Corpse + Six Feet Under (March 20, 2026)

Jack Owen’s Recent Admiration for Barnes

Interestingly, Barnes positivity toward current Six Feet Under bandmate Owen was recently reciprocated in an interview Owen did with YouTube channel KillerTube.

During their conversation (uploaded on March 16), Owen was asked about how his relationship with Barnes “has evolved since those early days,” and he reflected:

Man, it’s excellent. It was good back in Cannibal, [which] was from '88 until 2004. Then, in 2017, I joined up with [Six Feet Under] 'cause they only had one guitar player. [I] kind of squeezed my way in there, and yeah, it was like [Chris and I] picked up where we dropped off. It's all good. We can talk to each other about anything – from albums to music to movies. It's all good.

Owen was then asked about the “biggest misconception that people think about Chris,” and he answered: “Oh, that he's unapproachable [laughs]. He's very approachable. He's very relatable. He has, you know, the same interests that most of us have."

Other Chris Barnes, Six Feet Under + Cannibal Corpse News

There’s really nothing new going on in the Cannibal Corpse camp (as far as we know), but Barnes does have some exciting things happening with Six Feet Under in the near future.

Specifically, they’re embarking on a co-headlining tour with Canadian death metallers Kataklysm this summer (from July 8 – Aug. 11) alongside supporting act Wormhole. You can see the full list of dates – and grab tickets – here.

Unsurprisingly, Six Feet Under will be supporting their upcoming 15th studio album – Next to Die – which arrives on April 24 via Metal Blade Records. It follows 2024’s Killing for Revenge and (per the label’s official description) “marks a new creative high for Six Feet Under.”

You can preorder it here.

So, would you like to see Chris Barnes perform with Cannibal Corpse again? Let us know!