Deicide – Banished By Sin
Reviewed By: Jon Santitoro
Review Score: 9.5
Since crashing onto the scene with their self-titled debut album in 1990, Deicide have been synonymous with death metal. Their punishing live set, blasphemous lyrics and savage musicianship have won them legions of fans during the course of their legendary career. And despite various setbacks, controversies and multiple lineup changes at the guitarist position; front man Glen Benton (bass, vocals) and drummer Steve Asheim remain very much at top of their game. Rounded out by the uncompromising guitar tandem of Kevin Quirion and Taylor Nordberg; Deicide have finally returned with their long-awaited new album, Banished By Sin. And they have never sounded better.
At it’s core, Banished By Sin is a powerful tour-de-force of tight, catchy, old-school death metal; very much in the vein of Deicide‘s debut. The cohesiveness in the songwriting is quickly evident, and the recording production is stellar. Glen’s bass lines sound great in the mix, the guitar work provided by Taylor and Kevin is top-notch, and Steve is his usual, precision-guided bomb self. In true Deicide fashion, the songs are short, focused and hold the listener’s attention with relentless intensity.
The lead-off track, ‘From Unknown Heights You Shall Fall’, opens with a short intro that rapidly builds in intensity and seamlessly leads into the “backbone” riff. This is a great opening track that serves as the perfect harbinger of things to come. This one is both ferocious and infectiously catchy; grabbing the listener’s attention immediately and never letting go.
‘Doomed To Die’ is an unabashed throwback to Deicide‘s formative years, featuring vocal patterns reminiscent of ‘Sacrificial Suicide’. A solid track that longtime fans will no doubt enjoy.
‘Sever The Tongue’ is a groove-laden sledgehammer that heavily features Glen’s trademark dual-layered vocals and should be quite the crowd pleaser in Deicide‘s live set. It’s well suited to be a single, and showcases the band’s versatility and willingness to experiment somewhat with their signature sound.
The highlight of the entire album could very well be ‘Faithless’; a brilliant standout that features ingenious riffing, otherworldly leads, and Steve’s masterful drum work. ‘Faithless’ highlights both the band’s technical prowess and songwriting chemistry in a way seldom demonstrated among the old guard death metal bands.
Following ‘Faithless’ is ‘Bury the Cross…With Your Christ’, an energetic anthem that will suit the band’s live set very well. Some tracks are just written to be performed live, and this one seems tailor-made for the pit.
‘Woke From God’ is an interesting, high energy track that combines elements of Deicide‘s older sound with the newer, more progressive stylings not unlike their ‘Homage For Satan’ single. This is a rather innovative song that gets better with every listen.
The back half of the album is equally as strong as the front, starting off with the stompy, multi-faceted, ‘Ritual Defied’. This track is a monster, with Kevin and Taylor supplying killer work on both lead and rhythm guitar.
The following track, ‘Failures Of Your Dying Lord’, is probably the most catchy, thrashy song on the album. If not for Glen’s scathing death metal vocals, this one could have easily graced any major thrash album of the early to mid 90’s. This one is likely to be a fan favorite, and staple of Deicide‘s live show in the future.
The title track is a mid-tempo stomper with a different flavor of guitar work that once again showcases the band’s ability to diversify and expand upon their sound. An interesting choice to bear the album’s name; but a tight, thrashy track worth spinning multiple times nonetheless.
Deicide kicks up the tempo again with ‘A Trinity Of None’ and then returns to a more “meat and potatoes” approach with ‘I Am I… A Curse Of Death’, with both tracks harnessing the fury and power of the band’s take-no-prisoners approach to death metal songwriting. Steve handles the various tempo changes and odd time signatures throughout the album masterfully, like the world-class musician he is.
Finally, Banished By Sin closes out with ‘The Light Defeated’, a classic OSDM opus highlighted by epic guitar leads and the punishing rhythm section of Glen and Steve powering forward like a Panzer tank without regard for human safety.
Overall, Banished By Sin is an excellent album that hammers home Deicide’s relevance in the world of death metal, and should very much be in the conversation for AOTY consideration. This is, without a doubt, the album that both old-school death metal fans and longtime Deicide fans have been waiting for, and could easily be considered an “instant classic”. Very well done, indeed!
Banished By Sin drops on April 26th via Reigning Phoenix Music.