Barrett was born in Buffalo, New York. He started his professional career in 1990 when he formed the band Solstice with drummer Alex Marquez and guitar player Dennis Muñoz. The band recorded a demo in 1991 produced by Jim Morris and signed a record deal with the German label SPV/Steamhammer. In 1992 they released their debut album entitled Solstice. That same year, Barrett and Marquez decided to join Malevolent Creation, putting Solstice on hiatus. They took part on the recording of Retribution and toured with the band.
Cannibal Corpse
In 1993, Barrett was contacted by Alex Webster and asked to join Cannibal Corpse, shortly after the recording of Tomb of the Mutilated, as a lead guitar fill-in for Bob Rusay. He stayed with the band for the subsequent tours and eventually became a permanent member. He recorded the 1994 album The Bleeding and the 1996 album Vile. He also made a brief cameo appearance with the band in the 1994 film starring Jim Carrey. In 1997 Barrett left Cannibal Corpse after an argument over musical differences between him and the other band members. While he was replaced by Pat O'Brien, Barrett rejoined Malevolent Creation in 1998 and stayed with the band for six years. In 2005, Barrett expressed to the members of Cannibal Corpse his desire to come back to the band and after careful consideration, Barrett was finally welcomed back, switching to rhythm guitar and replacing Jack Owen. Since then, he has been featured on the albums Kill, Evisceration Plague, Torture, A Skeletal Domain and Red Before Black.
HatePlow
In 1994, Barrett formed the death metal band HatePlow with guitarist Phil Fasciana and late drummer "Crazy" Larry Hawke, both members of Malevolent Creation. Although HatePlow was intended initially as mere a fun side-project, the trio recorded a four-song demo that enjoyed a wide spread throughout the underground trading circuit. After his departure from Cannibal Corpse Barrett extended his commitment to HatePlow and participated in the recording of the albums Everybody Dies and The Only Law Is Survival which came out in 1998 and 2000 respectively. In 2004, he left HatePlow.
Barrett is currently endorsed by Dean Guitars and uses their custom guitars, mainly Cadillac's but also V's and ML's. All of his guitars are equipped with an EMG set and are tuned to Bb and Ab standard. Around 2007 Dean Guitars produced a signature model in limited numbers called the Cadi-Kill. In the past Barrett used to play on a Gibson Les Paul, a Jackson Dinky and a Charvel 750 XL.
Amplifiers
Like O'Brien, Barrett uses Mesa Boogie amplifiers, such as the Dual Rectifier, the Triple Rectifier and, more recently, Mark V. For cabinets, he uses Crate and Mesa Boogie 4 x 12", which are loaded with Celestion Vintage 30 speakers. Before settling for Mesa Boogie, Barrett used Crate and Marshall amplifiers.
Effects and accessories
Barrett runs a few pedals, namely a Boss NS-2 Noise Suppressor, MT-2 Metal Zone, TU-2 Chromatic Tuner and a Maxon ST-9 pro+ Super tube. The units are connected with Monster cables.
