Deicide - Deicide (Roadrunner Records)
After listening to Deicide even during their Amon days I'd conclude that
their first 2 recordings (self-titled & Legion) these in my opinion are
still their best ever. Since the focus is on just this self-titled release
only, that will be our focus.
The segue to this release as well as the ending of it depicts demonic doors
being opened which in then comes the entire band with wrenching guitar
distortion, hyperfast drumming and then the demonic vocals with backup of
utterly Satanic portraiture and let me just tell you that Glen sounds
absolutely possessed not only on "Lunatic Of God's Creation" but the entire
album this possession occurs.
30 minutes of Extreme Death Metal in which Glen used to label Deicide as
being "Satanic Rock 'n Roll" which sounds pretty weak in his description at
the time and nowadays Glen refers to Deicide as being "Death Metal" which
would be an accurate diagnosis. BUT! 30 minutes does not seem like a long
enough time however every second of this release it is captivating to the
listener as to how Death Metal should be played and was played even though
this release is now 15 years old. It still captivates me because of its
originality, intensity, and demonic portraiture.
Deicide musically I think in this release showed that they were capable of
creating riffs on the guitar that were entirely extreme but comprehensive
though with later releases such as (Serpents Of The Light) proved to be more
melodic in nature though their self-titled release was filled with more
passion, intensity, and guts though Scott Burns' produced self-titled
Deicide with a more raw outlook which I think captivated the intensity even
though all instruments were not mixed in as well as later releases. The raw
sound is good though my only criticism of this debut release is that the
drums lacked somewhat. For example, the snare did not bare being loud enough
as it should've been.
Tracks 1-10 are all filled with blast beats, amazing riffs that are still to
me captivating in originality though now I think they will never equal an
album like this (except Legion). So in my opinion, Deicide's reputation fell
through the cracks to fans who would subsequently feel the band was being
lazy (I myself have drawn this conclusion) upon each succeeding release till
this day (except Legion).
Who should buy this release you might be asking well I'd say anyone
interested in uncompromising & Extreme Death Metal advocates. Or, if
ambiguity still exists since my diagnosis was made I would also tell you
that after 15 years of me listening to this Classic release it is second
best (Legion in my opinion IS the best). If you want diversity in the type
of Death Metal that you currently own well that isn't much applicable to
this release even though there are tempo changes in pretty much every song
the extremities are there mostly with time changes but overall I think it
the MOST extreme album they've ever put out (though Legion is close to being
this extreme but the vocals are less so than on it). Glen depicts himself
vocally and lives up to the once interviewed view of himself as being "a
walking abomination".
To cut through everything and making it very direct so you the reviewer are
not convinced yet to own this album let me just tell you that I purchased
this release when it first came out back in 1990 and not once no matter what
anyone has said about it Deicide - Self-Titled is the MOST EXTREME,
UNCOMPROMISING, DEMONIC, ORIGINAL & MOST SATANIC RELEASE they have ever been
able to come up with.
Rating: 10/10.