apanthropy

Deicide
Banished by Sin
Reigning Phoenix Music
Released: 4/26/24

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1 – From Unknown Heights You Shall Fall
2 – Doomed to Die
3 – Sever the Tongue
4 – Faithless
5 – Bury the Cross…with Your Christ
6 – Woke from God
7 – Ritual Defied
8 – Failures of Your Dying Lord
9 – Banished by Sin
10 – A Trinity of None
11 – I am I…a Curse of Death
12 – The Light Defeated
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Deicide are a band that requires no introduction. Founded in 1987 under the original name of Amon, Deicide’s firestorm run stretched for seven undisputed years, beginning with 1990’s self-titled debut and running strong up to 1997’s Serpents of the Light. One of the most legendary runs in the entire genre of death metal, producing four albums that graduated to being staples of the extreme music world. Deicide, Legion, Once Upon the Cross, and Serpents of the Light were the four-piece monstrosity’s crowning moments.

The rest of their discography can be debated rather freely. Records such as 2001’s In Torment in Hell were uninspired, thin, and inauthentic, while 2006’s The Stench of Redemption was a serious renaissance for the band’s sound.

Their newest effort, Banished by Sin, released through Reigning Phoenix Music, sees the four piece – Glen Benton, Steve Asheim, Kevin Quirion, and Taylor Nordberg – offer up their thirteenth display of blasphemous Floridian death metal.

Opening with ‘From Unknown Heights You Will Fall,’ a sinister chord progression accompanies a buildup of chugging palm-muted rhythm segments and wailing whammy squeals. A multi-layered scream ends the introduction, and the primary riff enters, monstrous-sounding fifth chord bursts flail from a spine of palm-muted single note rhythm lines. Vocalist Glen Benton enters with his signature malicious guttural attack, sounding as if he hasn’t aged at all, and with an intensity that feels as if there is purpose behind it. Multi-layered vocal attacks flank the chorus of the song, with screaming leads chasing closely behind.

‘Doomed to Die’ beams with Serpents of the Light-style delivery, dense double-bass and blastbeat segments interchange with heavily rhythmic guitar work, melodic sensibilities, and even more impressive soloing.

‘Sever the Tongue’ is an oddly abrupt change of pace for the band, at least in terms of its introductory/chorus riff, which is largely a slower paced, rhythmically spaced apart, palm-muted progression. Additional melodicism is employed pre-chorus through a descending single-note sequence that casts a veil of tension over the song. Asheim and his tom rolling technique add character throughout the track, which is otherwise largely a rolling double-bass mid-tempo approach. The multi-layered vocals hit especially hard during the chorus.

An almost melodic approach is taken through the structure of ‘Faithless,’ with its characteristic open-note palm-muting in combination with rapid fifth chord sequences, accompanied with a thrash-like beat from Asheim.

‘Bury the Cross…with Your Christ’ beckons to both Once Upon the Cross and Insineratehymn both with its persistent driving rhythm and circular riffing. ‘Woke from God’ is a nasty thrasher that opens with a ripping solo and is easily, up to this point, the heaviest track of the album’s first half. Asheim explodes on the drums with blastbeats fired with an intensity nearly unmatched. Arguably some of the heaviest material Deicide has produced in a decade, if not longer.

‘Ritual Defied’ has an introductory and primary riff that rhythmically flirts with Legion, ‘Failures of Your Dying Lord’ is a thrasher that boasts some serious soloing prowess, the title track ‘Banished by Sin’ equals the malevolence and power of ‘Woke from God’ and would translate marvelously in the live environment. Once again, some of the heaviest material Deicide has generated in a long time.

‘A Trinity of None’ pulses with Serpents of the Light-style structuring, ‘I am I…a Curse of Death’ and ‘The Light Defeated’ could easily find rank within the band’s classic albums. ‘The Light Defeated’ is an anthemic blaster that invokes some sensation of old-school Vital Remains while ‘I am I…a Curse of Death’ gnashes its teeth through various break-neck rhythm changes.

The production is rock solid and warm, with Benton’s bass shining through crystal clear guitars and the full-spectrum audio spread of Steve Asheim’s legendary drumming. The vocals are a touch loud, but that’s not necessarily a complaint. The frequent multi-layered vocal attack invokes an ancient feral feeling.

Nothing can compare to the early run of albums that Deicide produced in their early career, so going into this listening experience expecting something equal to that output is somewhat foolish. It is, however, one of the best albums produced in their post-The Stench of Redemption era. Songs such as ‘Woke from God,’ ‘Banished by Sin’ and ‘The Light Defeated’ would be worthy additions to the band’s live set and are some of the better songs produced by some of the remaining old-school death metal bands.

With thirteen albums under their belt, Deicide continue to produce memorable records with no change in direction and no sign of slowing down. An always reliable staple of the death metal scene, if this were to be the last Deicide album ever produced, then this is a high note to go out on.

Label: Reigning Phoenix Music
Band: Deicide

-AJK