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CD review: Deicide
By Geoff Page
gpage2@mscd.edu

Deicide The Stench of Redemption (Earache Records, 2006)

If Jesus were alive today, it is guaranteed that he wouldn’t be a big fan of Deicide and their anti-Christian message.

With The Stench of Redemption, Deicide has returned with a new lineup and the best list of songs they have ever written. On this album, two new guitarists were introduced into the band: Jack Owen of Cannibal Corpse fame and Ralph Santolla of Iced Earth. As a result, the album is faster and more technical than previous efforts, with epic melodic solos and long, unpredictable song structures.

Their sound has gotten a major overhaul, and the dual-guitar-solo attacks by Owen and Santolla make this album stand out from imitators. Deicide’s last couple albums suffered from predictable song structures and lame rehashed ideas.

Songs such as “Desecration” show them incorporating melody into their music, something their other albums lack. “Not of this Earth” shows them at their fastest, most technical brutality and is one of the heaviest songs they’ve recorded. “The Lord’s Sedition” is another uncharacteristic Deicide song with a slow, atmospheric introduction of the instant, epic death metal classic.
This is a death metal album that can be played from start to finish, free of filler or disposable tracks. The typical three-minute song structures have been thrown out in exchange for a more ambitious song structuring, and it shows. Perhaps the most unique part of this album is the last track, a cover of “Black Night” by Deep Purple. The song resembles Deep Purple’s version, but with 100-mph musicianship and a satanic beast for a lead singer.

After more than 15 years of classic death metal, it is great to hear one of the original death metal bands take up a fresh, new sound. If this is the future of death metal, then the future looks very dark.