Deicide – In the Minds of Evil (Century Media)

This legendary death metal band have become somewhat of a parody in the last few years due to the antics of frontman Glen Benton. Once upon a time Benton was extremely cool and bucked against the accepted norm of worldwide Christian society and I for one as an impressionable 16 year old thought he was just the best thing to hit this planet. Inverted cross burnt into his forehead, threatened suicide at 33, body armour on stage, threats to his life.

On top of all this they had an impressive 3 album run which cemented their position in death metal folklore. Then the wheels started to come off, a series of mediocre albums, Benton still alive after 33- then light at the end of the tunnel – they produced “Scars of the Crucifix” back on track to critical acclaim and welcomed by the fans and critics alike.

Then the whole thing implodes, line-up changes, public spats between band members and cancelled tours. “The Stench of Redemption” continued on where “Scars” left of, a confident album with Ralph Santolla (Death, Obituary) and Jack Owen (Cannibal Corpse) on board, this was a super group in the making. Alas the band quality dipped again on the next two records and that brings us to the latest record “In the Minds of Evil” which is now minus Santolla.

This record gets down to business immediately with the title track and a more thrash approach but still keeping with the more traditional death metal ideas. So many of this genre have gone towards technicality and speed over songwriting. The solos are well placed and the drums are sitting at a level that is not killing of the guitar sound.

It is not until the 4th track “Misery of one” that the blasts are really brought into the game, however they are used sparingly and the band concentrate on the riffs and the song rather than the over the top speed proficiency.   “Trample the Cross” has all the classic Deicide elements, blasts, slow beat with machine gun double bass, melodic solo before descending into a pummelling chug along with the blasphemous lyrics.

It is points like this on the album where you really feel the soul of Deicide as long as you can block out the surrounding pantomime of the band. There are moments that hark back to the likes of “Legion” and “Once upon a cross”, which is very apparent on “Kill the Light of Christ”.

If this is your first Deicide experience it isn’t a bad place to start at all, just be careful when wading back through their catalogue. For the old timers whilst this is a return to form of sorts, it remains to be seen how many times you would actually reach for it over the head of the classics.

Tracklisting:

1. In the Minds of Evil
2. Thou Begone
3. Godkill
4. Beyond Salvation
5. Misery of One
6. Between the Flesh and the Void
7. Even the Gods can Bleed
8. Trample the Cross
9. Fallen to Silence
10. Kill the Light of Christ
11. End the Wrath of God

Band Members Glen Benton – Bass/Vocals Steve Asheim – Drums Jack Owen – Guitars Kevin Quirion- Guitars