"The first Deicide record and the Once Upon the Cross,
those two are just fucking awesome!" - Slipknot drummer
Joey Jordison (a.k.a #1)
It's almost ten years to the day that Deicide released their
still devastating debut, a record Terrorizer magazine (the
final authority on extreme music) honored as one of the 100
most important albums of the 1990's. Indeed, aftershocks of
Deicide can still be felt, from the sounds of hardcore
heavyweights Hatebreed, to nü metal phonemes Slipknot not
to mention countless death metal plagiarists in between.
Deicide remains a true benchmark for brutality, a fact that
was never lost on the band's outspoken vocalist/bassist
Glen Benton.
"When it came down to recording this new record, I wanted
to go back to what we did in the beginning, which was to
keep it raw," the imposing frontman explains. "So we
recorded this album in the smallest studio in Morrisound
Studios, which is where we recorded the first record. But the
emphasis with this new record was to keep it brutal and to
keep it straightforward. We just wanted to make it sound like
a fucking garage CD."
One listen to Insineratehymn, his latest barrage of
blasphemy, will assure you that Benton has accomplished
just that. The creative fire that forged such classic albums
as Legion, Once Upon the Cross and Serpents of the Light,
burns justly as wickedly on Insineratehymn. From the
opening onslaught of "Bible Basher" straight through the
closing cacophony of "Refusal of Penance" Insineratehymn
is an unrelenting ride of Deicide's animalistic beauty. "I think
it's a real fucking brutal record, myself," Benton proudly
proclaims.
Though it hearkens back to those early days of bare-fisted
bludgeoning Insineratehymn is also the most diverse
recording of the Tampa Florida outfit's thirteen-year
existence. In particular, the scathing swamp stomp of tracks
like "The Gift that Keeps on Giving" and "Forever Hate You,"
courtesy of percussive punisher Steve Asheim and the
Hoffman guitar towers of terror, brothers Brian and Eric,
present the record's most challenging moments. "Man, we've
never been able to get away with stuff like that before,"
Benton spits. But we're like everybody, we like to keep a
variety for us so still it's fun, so it can be a release."
Insineratehymn serves as a lyrical catharsis for Benton as
well. While his trademark anti-Christian assertions remain
prevalent throughout, Insineratehymn's ten tracks also reflect
the personal turmoil he's endured in the past few years. "I
wrote all those lyrics in three months," Benton says. "I just
had a lot to get out of me. There's a lot of messages there
for people I dislike. I didn't write this record emphasizing on
trying to be Satanic, it's more about me. Lyrically, I'm just at
one with myself and that's been a long time since the first
album, really. Now I'm back to my old self again, it feels
really good."
A rejuvenated Benton and the rest of his musical assassins
will unleash their extreme metal maelstrom to their ravenous
fans this summer. With the sheer brutality of Insineratehymn
and their first world tour in over two years looming on the
horizon, the Deicide killing machine shows no signs of
slowing down. "The reason why we've existed so long is
because we're an extreme band that's original," Benton
concludes. "I like that fact that after all these years we're
still underground. We don't give a fuck about selling a million
records."
All that aside, Deicide's place in extreme music history
forever remains secure. Insineratehymn can only add fuel to
the hell's fire.
