{"id":16790,"date":"2013-11-22T00:00:52","date_gmt":"2013-11-22T00:00:52","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/?p=16790"},"modified":"2014-01-16T16:56:38","modified_gmt":"2014-01-16T16:56:38","slug":"album-review-deicide-in-the-minds-of-evil","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/album-review-deicide-in-the-minds-of-evil\/","title":{"rendered":"DEICIDE – In The Minds Of Evil (2013) | Album \/ EP Reviews @ Metal Forces Magazine"},"content":{"rendered":"

DEICIDE
In The Minds Of Evil<\/strong><\/span>
\n\"\"
\nCentury Media (2013)<\/span>
Rating: 7\/10<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

\n\n\n
<\/td>\n\n
<\/p>\n\n\n
\n
<\/span><\/div>\n<\/td>\n
\n
<\/span><\/div>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/table>\n<\/div>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/table>\n<\/div>\n

I think it\u2019s fair to say that Florida\u2019s kings of evil, Deicide, have never recaptured the true spirit of those first two albums; 1990\u2019s self-titled debut and its follow up from 1992, Legion<\/em>. There was something so controversial about these Tampa maniacs, mostly in the opinions of frothing frontman Glen Benton.<\/p>\n

I was actually a big fan of 2004\u2019s Scars Of The Crucifix<\/em>, but over the last two decades their output has been somewhat inconsistent musically with only 2006\u2019s Stench Of Redemption<\/em> hinting at past horrors.<\/p>\n

And so we come to studio album number 11 in the band\u2019s discography. In The Minds Of Evil<\/em>, the follow-up to 2011\u2019s To Hell With God<\/em>, is another slice of brutal death metal. It\u2019s an 11-track outing, and features guitarist Kevin Quirion who makes his Deicide recording debut. Quirion (Order Of Ennead \/ Shadow Society) replaces Ralph Santolla, although it has long been argued that the true Deicide sound died when Eric Hoffman and Brian Hoffman left the band in 2004, resulting in patchy releases thereafter. Even so, it\u2019s been a case of onwards, although not necessarily upwards for founding members Benton and drummer Steve Asheim, but they\u2019ve got this far relying on what can at times be best described as unflattering extreme metal.<\/p>\n

In The Minds Of Evil<\/em> is a slight departure from To Hell With God<\/em> in that it boasts less melody, opting for a more straight forward approach, but due to so many line-up issues over the years it seems that Deicide may have finally settled on a stable formation giving this record a feel of confidence, even if there\u2019s nothing on display here to suggest the Floridian\u2019s are back to their frightful best.<\/p>\n

As expected, Benton is still as demonic as ever, although his vocal display this time round appears more focused and reliant on old school values but with the opening title track I\u2019m immediately drawn to the melody which Asheim stated would not be as apparent! It\u2019s a catchy track that rarely gathers blistering pace and features a catchy chorus too, and this theme seems dominant throughout as the combo skip quickly to mid-tempo carnage of \u2018Thou Begone\u2019, featuring some impressive drumming from Asheim. Again, this track has an old school whiff but also appears groove-based amidst the occasional spurts of speed.<\/p>\n

Deicide circa 2013 certainly have an eye for catchy riffs, and despite the unholy na\u00efvety of the lyrics there is a sense of purpose this time round as \u2018Godkill\u2019 chugs out of the darkness to scathe the light. This is one of the album\u2019s fastest moments, but the reality is it is rather mediocre death metal without any real noticeable thrills. While the short and sweet \u2018Beyond Salvation\u2019 seems to begin like every death metal song over the last 20 or so years, finally slowing its pace and offering some intriguing leads and sturdy drums \u2013 Benton is less bark more bite but he\u2019s not the formidable God-slaying character of yesteryear.<\/p>\n

\u2018Misery Of One\u2019 again mixes speed and Quirion comes to the fore, but all too sporadically for my liking. The album seems to lack any real depth or variety, although \u2018Between The Flesh And The Void\u2019 begins with sinister aplomb before resorting to that rather predictable froth.<\/p>\n

\u2018Even The Gods Can Bleed\u2019 is one of the finest cuts with its fantastic leads and crushing weight, and it is a relief that the multi-layered bellows and squawks of Benton have been erased for a more straightforward barrage of hate. \u2018End The Wrath Of God\u2019 seems to be one of the finest examples of the band at ease with itself, and tracks such as \u2018Fallen To Silence\u2019 seem to boast more energy than some of the more stagnant previous efforts. Again the leads are a talking point, often pulling the more ordinary tracks out of the mire, and while there is nothing overtly technical about the Deicide approach, Quirion is the star of the show, adding guile and bite to what could have been another disappointing instalment.<\/p>\n

I\u2019m unsure if we\u2019ll ever see or hear another classic Deicide opus, but for now it\u2019s great to hear the band as a settled beast. Yes there are moments on the album which drag and have that air of familiarity, but there are also periods of note too which suggest Deicide have not lost the will to reign. While the novelty of their anti-Christian vision wore off many a moon ago, there\u2019s still life in that old demonic dog yet and In The Minds Of Evil<\/em> should please most death metal fans. But whether it\u2019s enough for the diehards, we\u2019ll have to wait and see?<\/p>\n

Neil Arnold<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

DEICIDEIn The Minds Of Evil Century Media (2013)Rating: 7\/10 I think it\u2019s fair to say that Florida\u2019s kings of evil, Deicide, have never recaptured the true spirit of those first two albums; 1990\u2019s self-titled debut and its follow up from 1992, Legion. There was something so controversial about these Tampa maniacs, mostly in the opinions […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[24,980],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-16790","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-album-ep-reviews","category-deicide"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16790","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=16790"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16790\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":16795,"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16790\/revisions\/16795"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=16790"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=16790"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=16790"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}