By Vinnie Apicella

Well the first thing I thought interesting upon reading the press release here is that Glen Benton doesn't care-or doesn't give a fuck-if the band doesn't sell a million albums… and I'm thinking to myself, it'd be scary to think of them even coming close to a figure like that-I mean, can you imagine a million blasphemic bible bashers all preaching their message… oh my, what a world of terror and torment. But for the record, I think Deicide's place in the underground still remains safe after all these years! "When Satan Lives" was an absolutely ripping masterpiece of a live album and for some reason it seems like about fifteen years ago that it came out. "Insineratehymn" not only produces the reliable and gratuitous violence that's kept them aflame all these years, this modern day malevolence manages to even reinvent itself… albeit to a very subtle extent-as if getting your brains bashed in one more time again evokes subtlety! "Bible Basher," funny I should mention it earlier, is the lead track and here we're delving into uncharted territory with lyrics like words like, "Scum of Philosophy" and "Bash your Fucking Head in with the Book of his Insanity…" crude but effective. For over a decade this Floridian Death Metal deity has been spewing their anti-religious message to legions of loyal followers-and we'll assume they're don't all need to be associated with dark robes and nightly rituals… but seriously, there have been and may never be another to match the sheer magnitude or consistency of Deicide. "Insineratehymn" is fueled up and prepared to burn widely in the darkened minds of listeners-"Forever Hate You," "Standing in the Flames," two definites for the Falwell files! Satan most assuredly is the central theme here-lest anyone think they'd gone soft or something-but we find Mr. Benton taking the winged one in another context, less gratuitously it may be assumed and more a parallel to personal turmoil… and at no point anywhere throughout do we get the idea that this man's spent even a remotely pleasing moment with his life. "The Gift that Keeps on Giving" is almost like a midpoint break where the let up in tempo is sufficient to get the point across, and we may add "Suffer Again" which rides the rail of traditional riffing, before returning the brutality twice as bad in its concluding moment. What else can be said of Deicide? This is what they do-Death Metal, Devil, Desecration… they're a full service anti-Christ and this is their latest gospel of Christian putridity! Love 'em or hate 'em, they're place is long since secured in the underground, one way or the other, and fans will absolutely dig this one while those presently in control of their full mental faculties will do what would be expected and hastily proceed with the preaching and picketing…

More from the Online Metal Journal