The men of Glen are back! Long-running Barons of Floridian death metal, Deicide return for their lucky number 13 full-length. With a legacy of brutality running back to 1990, Deicide and controversial founder Glen Benton were instrumental in defining the sound of American death metal. Albums like Legion and The Stench of Redemption loom large in the Pantheon of Death, and though they’ve had a spotty track record over the years, a new Deicide platter will always earn attention from yours Steely. 2018’s Overtures of Blasphemy was a surprisingly vicious album and a significant step up from the records preceding it. It suggested a renewed fire and passion and made me hope the good days were not entirely behind Deicide. It’s with those high hopes that I greeted Banished by Sin. With Taylor Nordberg (Inhuman Condition, Ribspreader, ex-Massacre, ex-Wombbath) joining the fray to help out on guitar and vocals,1 there seemed plenty of reasons to be positive about what Banished by Sin would spew upon the masses. The Devil’s in the details though.
Right off the bat, the sound on Banished by Sin is oddly polished and clean, which goes against expectations for a damp Floridian death product. It almost sounds like an Iced Earth album with the guitars ringing so clear, which is odd considering this is undeniably old school death. Opener “From Unknown Heights You Shall Fall” is basic Deicide fare in most respects. It swerves from mid-tempo chugs to thrashing freakouts, with Benton’s signature vomitous snarls poured thickly over the top like tarpoo gravy. It’s a good song and the fluid, melodic solos are quite impressive. “Doomed to Die” channels a portion of the chaos magic that graced their Legion opus, with an effective blend of straightforward riffy blasting and well-timed melodic breaks. It’s good caveman fun and heavy enough to leave an ugly bruise despite the overly clean sound.
The warm-up sets out of the way, Banished blazes through 10 more tales of grand Satanism, with thrashy energy married to brutish grooves. Starting with “Sever the Tongue” the album hits its stride. “Sever” is a high point with a manic riff attack and vocals that sound like a discount exorcism going very wrong, at times crossing into Cradle of Filth territories. “Faithless” delivers in much the same way, with the classic Deicide sound running amok even as it flirts with melodeath in subtle ways before stomping your fat face into the gutter. “Woke from God” introduces a more epic sound to the Deicide canon, blackened and ugly but more grandiose and sweeping. “Bury the Cross…with Your Christ” sounds suspiciously like the recent output from Inhuman Condition, with a rudimentary caveman groove running train on your unlubed ears. It’s fun but borders on death parody. Sadly, some songs on the back half don’t hit with the same blunt force. The title track is just okay, and “I Am I…a Curse of Death” is pretty stock. At a tight 39 minutes with no song reaching the 4-minute mark, things blast by in an angry blur. The production is a thorn in the album’s side. It’s too polished and clean for what the band does and this reduces the material’s impact. This is a strange unforced error from such an experienced band.
Glen’s vocals sound more grisly and savage than on some recent releases. His guttural rasps can get tedious faster than other growlers, but the way he’s double-tracked with blackened screams helps provide diversity and Taylor Nordberg spots him with some backing vocals. Kevin Quirion and T. Nordberg deliver a charming assortment of thrashy riffs, sharp trems, and chuggy grooves to power the material forward, and the solo work dotting the album is dynamic and almost neo-classical at times (“The Light Defeated’ especially”). The solos are so melodic at times that they feel at odds with the surrounding music, but this provides an interesting counterpoint and a respite from the skull stomping.
Deicide aren’t able to recapture the late-career glory they bottled on Overtures of Blasphemy, and some tracks almost feel like a knowing send-up of death metal, but the overall package is entertaining despite a flawed production. There’s still unholy rage beating in the hearts of Glen and Co. and Banished by Sin is a fun, easy-to-digest serving of anti-religion bile. I suggest you leave a little room for Satan.
Rating: 3.0/5.0
DR: 6 | Format Reviewed: 320 kbps mp3
Label: Reigning Phoenix
Websites: https://deicideofficial.com | facebook.com/officialdeicide | instagram.com/deicideofficial
Releases Worldwide: April 26th, 2024
Felagund
And just like that, we’re blessed with another Deicide album. “Blessed” is probably the wrong verb to use in this situation, but the fact remains that this year marks the first new Deicide record in six years. 2018’s Overtures of Blasphemy received high praise from our very own GardensTale, earning a coveted score of 3.5 and breaking an AMG tradition of offering middling to downright disappointing scores for ‘ol Glen and the boys. But say what you will about the quality of their more recent output, Deicide are still genre stalwarts; a foundational band in the development of the early Florida death metal sound who are still capable of churning out the sacrilegious goods. Which brings us to Banished by Sin, the band’s 13th studio album since their self-titled debut in 1990. That’s 34 years and a lot of history to be compared against, but compare we must, good sense and propriety be damned.
Just keep in mind, friends: Glen’s gonna Glen, and that holds just as true on Banished by Sin as it ever has. Regardless of lineup changes, the evolution of the death metal genre, and his own development as a musician, Glen Benton remains an ardent enemy of the divine, and he’s maintained that anger and disgust for over three decades. While it’s easy to grow tired of a band’s hyper-fixation on all things anti-religion, I can’t help but muster a grudging respect for Glen and Deicide’s dogmatic dedication to virulent atheism. Glen’s been barking at us for years now about the hypocrisy of the faithful, and he and his bandmates maintain that once again on Banished by Sin.
Unsurprisingly, Banished by Sin sounds a lot like most latter-day Deicide albums: chugging riffs that usually find a solid groove, noticeably deeper, nearly incomprehensible growls punctuated by high-pitched shrieks, and an abundance of blackened blasts n’ tremolos, capped off by a clean, more modern production. And generally, this approach serves them well. “From Unknown Heights you Shall Fall” and “Doomed to Die” are a quick one-two punch in the gut to kick things off, delivering the band’s chosen brand of simple, short, high-intensity death metal. “Doomed to Die” deserves a special mention because it also includes a section that sounds remarkably similar to “Sacrificial Suicide” from Deicide’s self-titled debut. But fair play: if you’ve been treading the infernal boards as long as these gents, you’re allowed to ape a cut from your own 34-year-old album. “Sever the Tongue” introduces a bit of interesting dissonance, and the riffing on “Faithless” sounds more like a Repentless-era Slayer cut without feeling out of place.
As the album chugs (and trems) on, there are a few tunes that tend to get lost in the shuffle. While “Bury the Cross…With Your Christ” is a definite mid-album highlight, the two intervening tracks leave a little to be desired, similar as they are in both speed and intensity. Fortunately, the titular “Banished by Sin” introduces a welcome change of pace, with frenetic double bass and a shotgun-blasting riff. Similarly, album closer “The Light Defeated” tones down the constant tremolos and pumps the breaks just enough to keep introduce some new dynamics and keep the riffing interesting. I have to give a brief mention here to new guitarist Taylor Nordberg (Inhuman Condition, Ribspreader, ex-Massacre), a talented player who nevertheless seems to have never met a whammy bar he didn’t wish to wed. The sheer amount of screaming, paint chip-peeling solos that feature multiple times on each track quickly go from fun to repetitious, making Banished by Sin and some of its lesser tunes a bit more difficult to enjoy.
Decide’s latest album is stronger than either 2011’s To Hell With God or 2013’s In the Minds of Evil, but doesn’t rise to the level of 2018’s Overtures of Blasphemy. So where does that leave us? With a generally enjoyable but overall mixed release with some of the same nagging issues that have plagued most modern-day Deicide platters. Be that as it may, it’s still good to know that Glen and his merry, demonic men are still out there. Even if the final results aren’t all to my liking, they remain dedicated to their unholy mission, angrily blaspheming with vim and vigor. To paraphrase one Sam Elliot: I don’t know about you, but I take comfort in that. Deicide. takin’ ‘er easy for all us sinners.
Rating: 2.5/5.0
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