No doubt about it, whether you think Deicide are a real threat to Xianity or a comic book laced horror, this band DEMANDS a reaction out of you like a tiger tearing into your limbs. Their now-classic debut bursts with minor, dissonant and diminshed riffs with all the subtley of a nuclear battle. The Hoffman brothers, Steve Asheim, and the ever-controversal Glen Benton tried to make the most demonic slab of metal ever to rise from the depths, and boy . . .I can't name a favorite song, yet "Deicide" is standout. Blasphemous, raging, raw, primal, Satanic, you name it, they've got the musical nightmare down.

Back in 1990, Deicide, along with bands like Morbid Angel and Obituary, were the originators who helped pioneer the now famous Floridian death metal scene. Deicide combined the steroid-driven speed of Slayer with the uncompromising heaviness of Morbid Angel and the darkness of Celtic Frost to create their very important self titled debut. Its production sounds a little dated nowadays (sixteen years after its original release), but it's nonetheless an instant genre classic(k).

Glen Benton was clearly a young, aspiring vocalist back in 1990, because his bellows are higher pitched and not as monstrous as on later Deicide releases. His lyrics, though, are as blasphemous as ever. (These songs are largely about Satanic themes, and contain barked lines like "Satan!" and "suicide!") Meanwhile, the Hoffman brothers (Brian and Eric), thrash away at their guitars and drummer Pete Asheim bolsters the songs with insistent double bass drumming. The brutal, fiery riffs and wild solos (which often evoke Kerry King and Jeff Hanneman) and interlocking death metal blasts sound tailor made for each other (they go together like sushi and that nasty, spicy green mustard). Thus, this album is composed of ten ferocious, bludgeoning, awesome sounding kicks to the head.

With a driving, hyper speed, almost thunderous blast beat and thrashy, surging guitar attack, "Blasphererion" is one high point of the album. Several of the songs, like "Lunatic Of God's Creation" (a song about Charles Manson), "Dead By Dawn", the title track, and "Crucifixation" (the album closer), sport blistering, almost buzzsaw guitar leads and quick, pounding drums. Other standout tracks are the ultra-heavy, churning riffs and two careening solos on "Oblivious To Evil," and "Carnage In The Temple Of The Damned," which is a scorching, speaker shredding guitar onslaught and is complete with three solos and lyrics based around the Jonestown Massacre.

This probably isn't Deicide's best work to date, but it does make for a great listen, and it's probably the best album you can buy for showcasing Glen and Co. at thei angriest, rawest, and most novel and abrasive.

With their debut album Floridian quartet Deicide offer a metal classic, a blasphemous distillate of heartfelt malice set against a backdrop of ultra-heavy double base driven riffs. The record is void of filler and pure of intention; Benton and the gang want to bring us 33.37 minutes of brutal death metal and nothing more. But, what sets this album apart from many in the genre, and thusly underscores its reputation as a classic, is that it's fun to listen to from beginning to end. Keep in mind that this is no small feat.

What Deiced manage to do here is stay within the bounds of the standard death metal framework while injecting the whole endeavor with a healthy dose of creativity. They leave us with ten very tightly executed performances that can all stand on their own and are quite memorable, songs such as the opener "Lunatic of God's Creation", the catchy "Sacrificial Suicide", "Dead By Dawn" - a song where everything coalesces perfectly and ranks as the best cut on the album - and the disturbing "Carnage in the Temple of the Damned."

Apart from the absurdly satanic subject matter the only other criticism concerns the lead guitar work. Eric and Brian Hoffman are most certainly technically proficient but they rarely strive for more than insanely fast fingering that is not very inventive; still, their styles fit well with the music and, in the end, add to the dynamic of the album as a whole.

All in all this is an excellent album that I highly recommend picking up.

But hey that's cool, this will just fuel my review! Yeah I know, it's like *gasp* Mills comes out with a review from a month of slacking, well it's a little more complicated than that but that's a different story altogether.

As for Melissa, obviously this music would seem random to the naive listener but to the vets like myself, we perfectly understand this stuff and enjoy it very much. Anyway forget that ho below me and listen to what the true fans have to say. I'll agree with all of them in saying that this is a [...] solid old school DM release and is required to be in your collection if you claim to be a fan of the genre. So why are they so good you say? Yeah I know, I understand if you think Glen is a little over-the-top but I think he plays the role of DM vocalist brilliantly, his multi-layered yelling/growling/etc fits the theme they're going for perfectly. I mean he makes Deicide...well, DEICIDE! But let's not forget the rest of the band, I gotta say the Hoffman brothers make a seriously threatening shredding axe duo in the realm of death metal, the solos are twisted and fierce, they're like the Hanneman/King tag team for the genre. Last but certainly NOT least is their sorely underrated drummer Steve Asheim who is simply merciless behind the kit.

Once again you really shouldn't let the anti-religious/satanic lyrics really bother you, just try and immerse yourself in the unrelenting evil that is this album, the music speaks for itself I think. Yes I am a very anti-religious person myself so naturally the album is slightly more appealing to someone like me, but honestly it doesn't even add THAT much to the album, just a little.

As you know I don't get into nitty-gritty aspects of individual songs, I feel that ruins the fun for the potential listener/fan of the album and this band for that matter, however, I'll say the highlights are as follows-

Lunatic of God's Creation, Dead by Dawn (OF COURSE!), and the self titled song. Remember people whether you're anti-religious/satanic or not just give this album a whirl anyway if you're into this death metal stuff, if you don't like DM in the first place then this definitely won't change your mind about it that's for damn sure. Ok I'm out, I'm already exhausted, even too much to rant about that stupid person below me, damn, have I lost my edge!? Meh, it's probably not even worth it.

although I think the same thing when I hear rap music, total garbage I think, I see some reviewers saying "I can make this kind of music within 10 seconds..woooooeeeek...grrrrr...". Ho ho, cool, you may be right. Now let's see if you can do it on the stage, with the same dignity, for 20 years.

If being negative to the christianity is a sin, the real sins those committed by the people who claim that they are christians requires the size of hell that is bigger than the universe. So as your son of nazareth said, look behind yourself before you throw the rocks. (Maybe you still want to throw, because the priests those who are feeding on you are forgiving you forever and ever by the money that you pay for them.)

A classic is a classic. you never know which one is a classic, as people didn't know which one is Sonata when they were released or first performed. All we know is that many many many of the people who have some ears that can discriminate the gold against garbages, are recommending this album, because this one has all the things neccessary in making a piece of "good" work. You be the one of the guys agree on this or not, it doesn't matter. Whatever you think, this one has already reached to the position, "the classic".