Reviews list for Deicide - Deicide (1990)

Of all the life-changing musical experiences I can remember from my youth, my first listen to the self-titled debut album from notoriously Satanic Florida death metaller Deicide would be right up there with the most significant. You see, not only was it one of the earlier death metal records to fully capture my thrash-obsessed mind after I'd only recently been converted to the genre the previous year but it was arguably the most downright scary & imposing piece of music I'd ever heard to the time or likely have since to tell you the truth. It's my honest opinion that "Deicide" presents the most accurate musical depiction of Hell that you'll find in this God-forsaken world & not only it left me feeling exhilarated but it also caused me to feel slightly shaken as well. Front man Glen Benton's vocals are utterly monstrous & as angry & aggressive as any in the scene, Steve Asheim's double kick work is relentlessly driving & pummeling, the guitar solos of the Hoffmann brothers are wildly over-the-top & face-meltingly shredtastic & the lyrical content is as blatant & in your face as a day out at Charles Manson's place. Throw in some wonderful production ideas from Morrisound Studios main man Scott Burns & you have pretty much the perfect death metal record in my opinion.

I've actually been a little frightened by the prospect of rating "Deicide" in the modern day, mainly because I simply couldn't bare to find that my childhood illusions weren't all they were cracked up to be. I needn't have worried though because this album is a succession of one gold tune after another. There's nothing that comes close to seeing the intensity drop with the chuggier "Oblivious To Evil" perhaps being a touch less impressive than the remainder of the album which is made of wall to wall classics. "Sacrifical Suicide"... "Dead By Dawn"... "Blaspherereion"... "Deicide"... Day Of Darkness"... "Crucifixation"... They're all here in all their blasphemous glory but it's the utter devastation of "Carnage In The Temple Of The Damned" that takes the cake for mine & it still sits at the absolute pinnacle of the genre more than three decades later. "Deicide" isn't just essential listening for all death metal fans. It's a right of passage & one of the foundations that the genre is built upon. I only dish out full marks a couple of times per year at most but it was a very easy call with a record of this caliber.

I was not alive back in 1990, but I can imagine how - at the time - this release would have immediately made Deicide a household name in Death Metal circles by virtue of just how demonic it sounded. As if the disgraced angel himself wanted to make a record to capture his wrath at the injustice of God. Indeed, Deicide isn't just evil-sounding. Death Metal had accomplished that before. It's evil-sounding and angry as hell. Pissed off with a personality. Most of that comes down to Glen Benton's distinctive barked vocals. While Benton on this record overuses vocal manipulation effects that sound cheap and dated by today's standards to achieve this, it doesn't take away too much from the infernal feeling evoked across the duration. In my opinion, Benton and Deicide would go on to write more memorable songs and more enjoyable overall album experiences, but their debut nonetheless finds them immediately hitting the mark of the sound that would make them a unique act in Death Metal for years to come. In fact, it might just be their most visceral and potent dose.

If you already like Deicide and haven't heard this, it's definitely one you should check out. While some tracks blur together, others like "Deicide" and "Dead by Dawn" stand the test of time as surprisingly catchy genre classics, hinting at the knack for catchy-yet-evil songs they would refine further as the decade wore on. If you still haven't gotten into Deicide, this is as worthy of a place to start as any of their 90s albums. 

Deicide are one death metal band I have been quite familiar with for quite some time, mainly due to a workmate who loaned me their first three albums when I returned to metal in the late nineties. Led by the inverted-cross branded, religion-despising, bassist/vocalist Glen Benton and featuring the Hoffman brothers on guitar I found Deicide to be an intimidating proposal and, in all honesty, back then I wasn't particularly keen as I found them far too abrasive. So, it's a measure of how far my taste has changed in the intervening twenty-odd years as, listening to this now, I found an awful lot to appreciate and actually really enjoyed it in a fuck-everything kind of way.

On this, their debut, it is evident that Deicide had no intention of fucking around. Ten tracks and a runtime just a bit over half an hour, this is a release that hits fast and hits hard. The memorable  riffs are exceedingly tight with a really cool guitar tone, the drumming of Steve Asheim is devastating and precise and Glen Benton's vocals spit bile and venom at his preferred target of organised religion with a genuinely disturbing spite and evil-sounding growl. Deicide is an album that is trimmed of all fat and is made of nothing but muscle, bone and gristle, getting straight down to business and never diverting from the path of intimidating and scaring the living shit out of anyone and everyone. The Hoffamn's solos are not really anything more than functional, but this album isn't about anything as superfluous as fancy guitar solos - it is pure distilled essence of death metal and as such may actually be toxic if taken internally.

But seriously, Deicide have had quite an inconsistent career and Glen Benton hasn't always been the most likeable individual, but on their debut they instantly got to the very core of death metal, illustrating an inate understanding of what it meant and creating an absolute textbook release that could be held up as an example for future generation of death metallers. If a band were getting too pretentious or arty-farty for their own good then they could do worse than sit themselves down with a copy of Deicide to reconnect with the beating heart of death metal and shear themselves of any unwanted pretentions. All-in-all an exciting and dangerous-sounding album that is the sort of release that reminds me why I got into metal in the first place, all those oh, so many years ago.

Over the years there's no denying that Deicide's output has varied in quality. Some of their albums have been fairly rubbish and the band (particularly vocalist Benton) have received a heck of a lot of criticism along the way. But there's one thing that simply cannot be taken away from them. Their debut album was brutal and thrilling death metal of the highest order. These guys played with a Satanic conviction unheard of at the time. Forget Venom with their playful Satanic piss-taking. Forget Slayer's Satanic imagery and pentagram accessories. These guys were convincingly and scarily evil! With riffs that brutally smash you to pieces, awesome drumming of a rabid animal, a vocalist that sounds like Satan himself and atmosphere to make grown men cower in the corner, Deicide's self-titled album was the business. As a 13-year-old I remember being completely infatuated with it, while at the same time feeling just a little bit dirty. It's not the sort of music you want your grandma to hear you listening to!

A lot of credit must go vocalist Glen Benton. No matter what you think of him and his crazy antics (the guy burnt an upside down cross into his forehead), his vocals are just amazing. But no less credit should go to Steve Asheim whose drumming is phenomenal throughout. He'd one up this album on Legion as well which is nothing short of stupendously impressive. Then of course the Hoffman brothers’ riffs were incredible, managing to be memorable while evilly destructive. Their leads tended to sound almost identical on each track, but they were short and sweet, not drawing attention to themselves. They're really the only downside of an otherwise incredible release.

For all the doubters out there, check out Lunatic of God's Creation, Dead by Dawn, Carnage in the Temple of the Damned and the closing masterpiece Crucifixation. Each of those tracks makes me want to run around the house smashing things up (I don't if you're wondering). If it isn't obvious, I think this album is underrated. I love my death metal, and this is one of my very favourite albums, endlessly entertaining and moving. It's a shame they lost their way after just a couple of albums. But then I guess there was only so far this form of music could be taken by one entity, and they pretty much nailed it first go.