The Metal Crypt on Facebook  The Metal Crypt's YouTube Channel
Review: Deicide - Overtures of Blasphemy
Deicide
www.facebook.com/OfficialDeicide
Overtures of Blasphemy

Label: Century Media Records
Year released: 2018
Duration: 37:56
Tracks: 12
Genre: Death Metal

Rating:
4.5/5


Review online: September 27, 2018
Reviewed by: Bruno Medeiros
Readers' Rating
How do you rate this release?

Rated 4/5 (80%) (16 Votes)
Review

With newcomer Mark English (Monstrosity) replacing Jack Owen as one of the axemen alongside Kevin Quirion, Glen Benton hit the jackpot with Overtures of Blasphemy in terms of heaviness and sheer savagery, but now the riffs also sound more organic, crisp and mature when compared to the band's last entry, In the Minds of Evil (2013).

Brutal assaults like the ludicrous opener "One with Satan" and the last portion of the album featuring cataclysmic moments like "Consumed by Hatred" are more than enough to prove that Benton and his devilish friends are back in full force to desecrate tombs, assassinate God's envoys and kick major ass with delicious riffs.

A somewhat unexpected heterogeneous nature is also present here in the form of more melodic (well, as little melodic as Deicide can be) efforts like "Crawled from the Shadows", where the band experiments with more prolific and less toned-down guitar work, and some passages on the awesome "Compliments of Christ" – this one showcases Benton's blasphemous mind at its best with especially exaggerated anti-Christian lyrics and one of the most terrifying vocal lines by the frontman in a long time.

Don't worry, though, as there's plenty straightforward old-school death metal to go around in the mid portion of the record, with assaults such as the faster than lightning "All That Is Evil", "Excommunicated" – which has one of the coolest intros of the album with a killer solo – and the similarly guitar-friendly "Anointed in Blood", this one being more cadenced.

Tracks "Seal the Tomb Below" and "Crucified Soul of Salvation" further consolidate the heretic aura. The first one is a juggernaut of no frills death metal that leaves no room to breathe, while the second sees Benton in a full-on rampage of vituperation. In the same vein as the latter is "Defying the Sacred", where the aggressiveness – both instrumental and lyric-wise – is taken to yet another level.

"Flesh, Power, Dominion" and closer "Destined to Blasphemy" illustrate clockwork instrumental and visceral angriness easily matching those of Deicide heydays. The latter one, for that matter, is one of their best songs in a long time, by being especially ruthless, electric and evil.

Forget about recent slips like Till Death Do Us Part (2008) and To Hell with God (2011), because Overtures of Blasphemy is the best Deicide album since The Stench of Redemption (2006); ironically enough, this time around redemption doesn't stink, but rather has the sweet, sweet fragrance of victory. One of the best death metal albums of 2018 so far.

More about Deicide...
Review: Banished by Sin (reviewed by Sargon the Terrible)
Review: Deicide (reviewed by Sargon the Terrible)
Review: Doomsday In L.A. (reviewed by Michel Renaud)
Review: Legion (reviewed by Lars Christiansen)
Review: Once Upon the Cross (reviewed by Hermer Arroyo)
Review: Scars Of The Crucifix (reviewed by Chaossphere)
Review: Serpents of the Light (reviewed by Hermer Arroyo)
Review: The Stench of Redemption (reviewed by Sargon the Terrible)
Review: Till Death Do Us Part (reviewed by Mike Henn)
Review: To Hell with God (reviewed by Larry Griffin)
Review: When London Burns (reviewed by Michel Renaud)
Review: When Satan Lives (reviewed by Hermer Arroyo)
Review: When Satan Lives (reviewed by Michel Renaud)
Interview with drummer Steve Asheim on October 25, 2013 (Interviewed by Luxi Lahtinen)
Click below for more reviews
Latest 0-9 A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z Various Books/Zines 



The Metal Crypt - Crushing Posers Since 1999
Copyright  © 1999-2025, Michel Renaud / The Metal Crypt.  All Rights Reserved.