BRUTALISM

Talk about evil, well this album gravitates towards that! Originally formed as Amon, Glen changed the name I assume to represent the killing of God (which is what Deicide is defined as). The original members include the Hoffman brothers, both Eric and Brian with which they totally shred, Glen Benton on vocals/bass guitar and Steve Asheim behind the drum set. I'd have to say that out of all of the Deicide releases that I've heard in the past, this release and "Legion" are their best.
 
Deicide plays underground death metal and focuses on putting out the most demonic forms of music. That's been the focus for Glen since Deicide was formed as was featured in an interview way back in 1990. For a debut, the band puts out a lot of fast/technical guitar work with blindingly fast solos and rhythms. Glen sounds possessed on here and I think that it's his best vocal effort to date. After this release, his throat is more monotonous.
 
Some songs that feature Deicide at their best guitar wise include "Lunatic of God's Creation", "Sacrificial Suicide" and the title track. The rest of the songs are good, but these are what stood out the most for me. The album is short, just a little over 30 minutes in length. But if you're a hardcore death metal fan, I'm more than sure that you'd appreciate this release in your collection. It captures Deicide at their best-uncompromising and forever embedded in our eardrums/memory.
 
Scott Burns does a good job with the mixing, though the bass guitar is hard to hear unfortunately. The rest of the instruments are well meshed in together. The production sound is a little bit flat, but nevertheless, good as a whole. The guitars are what stood out for me, but I'm biased because I am a guitarist myself. You can hear the riffs well and they're in E-flat tuning throughout the whole album.
 
Their lyrical content has and always will be about Satanism and anti-Christianity. I think that these topics are mindless, but that's just my opinion. It isn't tough to construct contents such as these and sing about them. This is what Deicide is known for though and will never change because of the band's title. Glen even had an inverted cross branded into his forehead and sounds possessed like I previously mentioned on this debut. All of the tracks are originals and you won't find them doing anything but just Deicide.
 
For a debut, Deicide constructed a sheer masterpiece! Explosive riffing and leads, demonic vocals, fast tempos, uncompromising style and reigning drum efforts. This remains to be a masterpiece because there's no laziness or lack of creativity in their songwriting style. Vocal backups reveal a demonic plague. If you're looking for something within death metal that's extreme, pick this one up-it's a true gem that doesn't lack innovation by any means!