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Wednesday, December 18, 2013

Deicide - In the Minds of Evil - Album Review

Year: 2013

'In the Minds of Evil' is album number eleven from Death Metal veterans Deicide. Coming out two years after 2011's forgettable 'To Hell with God' and with the addition of new guitarist Kevin Quirion, who replaced the shred wizard Ralph Santolla, the new album has a lot to prove for the band that has existed since the dawn of the genre. Now frankly speaking, Deicide have been on a downswing since 2006's 'Stench of Redemption'.


This is primarily due to the band not making an effort to expand their musical horizons and choosing to rehash and stick to their comfort zone instead. This is not to say that they were awful during the whole time because there were a couple of strong tracks in the preceding albums but overall the albums were disappointing and left a lot to be desired.

'In The Minds of Evil' starts off strong with the title track which is a solid affair from start to finish with pummelling riffs and blazing leads courtesy of Jack Owen and Kevin Quirion, punctuated by the infernal drumming of Steve Asheim. Next is 'Thou Be Gone', a killer track with a blistering melodic solo that makes you wonder if Ralph is still in the band and of course blastbeats are bountiful here. 'Beyond Salvation' is another great track that showcases interesting variation in terms of tempo and dynamics.

Unfortunately from this point forward the album loses its momentum and becomes all too familiar in the worst possible sense. The second half of the album is trite and lackluster to say the least. It's all about rehashing previous ideas to the point that the songs become awfully boring ('Kill The Light of Christ' being a glaring example) and downright execrable at times. The album ends with 'End The Wrath of God', clocking in close to 37 minutes. In the end, you are left with a sour taste by the latter half of the album especially because the early half was quite promising.The redeeming qualities would be Steve Asheim's precise drum work which really anchors the album and the guitar team of Jack and Kevin injecting a lot of vigor and venom into scoring some of the best songs of the album. The lyrics are of course your usual Deicide serving of anti-religious, Satan worshipping drivel. 

Seriously, after almost 20 years of the same, you would expect them to find something else to talk about instead of just going for shock value all the time. Maybe it's just me, but come on, you have to admit they are kind of scraping the bottom of the jar by now.

Now moving on to the technical aspects of the album, the production is quite sleek with enough room for all the instruments to breathe. The guitars sound crisp and bludgeoning all the way throughout the album. The drums have a strong presence in the mix with ample bass frequencies. The vocals are familiar double-layered affair by Glen Benton and yet he sounds convincing and direct in comparison to the last two releases.

Overall, the album falls short of expectations and continues the downward trajectory that has been plaguing the band for quite some time. Honestly, the album has its moments but Deicide really needs to rethink their game plan if they want to deliver something that can live up to the legacy of their early classics such as Legion , Once Upon The Cross, Deicide etc. 

Rating: 54%


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