DEICIDE - Overtures of Blasphemy review

DEICIDE - Overtures of Blasphemy

Century Media Records

DEICIDE - Overtures of Blasphemy


In my not so humble opinion any metal band that has been around for over two decades is enough to at least give a horned fist salute to. Now there are various ways for that to work in their favor. They have to find ways to stay relevant and fresh to gain new fans while at the same time appealing to older fan's nostalgia. 


Now with death metal the previously mentioned rules apply but you walk a fine line between consistence versus complacency. When DEICIDE entered into our extreme metal conscientiousness in 1990 the death metal scene was at it's apex in popularity. Still the band was able to release two albums which today many consider to be classics. I tend to agree they both are. But after that point the band's music followed into consistency and then fell to complacency. 


That went on for a long time until DEICIDE came out in 2006 with The Stench of Redemption. To me that's one of their greatest releases. The riffs were crunchy as well as fierce, Benton's vocals were at his best as far as being a barking blasphemic  beast. The drum work was incredible. And of course you had guitarist Ralph Santolla (R.I.P.) adding mind blowing solos. Not only was this album a redemption for the band  but I believe Santolla truly revitalized em. On a side note a year later Santolla would go on to do the same for OBITUARY with their 2007 release Xecutioner's Return.



Which brings us to this one here, DEICIDE's third full length this decade and their third on Century Media Records (and could be their last on the contract if this ain't a winner). I was not too impressed with their two previous ones. On Overtures Of Blasphemy, Glen Benton and co. have made another restatement except it's not a jump to a modern DM approach. Instead it's a step back to their roots and falls into the OSDM approach. You've got a dozen compact  blasts of patented DEICIDE death. 


The hatred and vile contempt jump right out of the gate with opener "One with Satan" then followed by "Crawled From the Shadows” and “Seal the Tomb Below”. This early assault  captures a spirit which will carry you over some melodic death moments that do come into play later on. There's still that SLAYER worship investment on here in the lead work especially and some borrowing of riffs. That's something which is expected since it took hold of the band some albums back. 


Overall I think Overtures Of Blasphemy shows that Benton and co, even after five years since their last release, are not ready to throw in the towel. They still have some reinvention even if it's still dragging the past to the forefront and giving it a swift kick. SLAYER is gone but we still have DEICIDE to spread the hate.


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