Whenever you listen and review an album where the band"s name literally means "the death of deities" you know some serious counter-religious ranting is about to take place.
It certainly does. You have to applaud these guys for taking this slant as seriously as they do. Most bands under the "black metal flag" speak the words for dramatic and creative effect. Deicide is quite serious about exposing what they believe is the institutional hypocrisy of organized religion.
From the very title of the album "Insineratehymn" which is obviously both extremely artistic and contains a double meaning regarding the litany of songs and their anger at agents of religious deception, Deicide blasts forth with a finely produced group of selections that aim to take apart various themes of spiritual practice. The very best in the
Group, "Worst Enemy" is keenly written with an eye towards reminding people who waste their time pointing fingers at those who are different in society, a form of scapegoating; thus blinding themselves to their own enemy within.
Music-wise "Insineratehymn" has a tone akin to early Bathory but modernized with strong production values and gravel-throated bursts from a tireless lead singer Glen Benton who you might not be surprised has stirred controversy in the recent past when magazines have taken his philosophical leanings out of context. This is not to be unexpected when exploring such touchy territory. There is a special power attributed to music in general that lends more people to outrage than if the leader singer had simply written a book about his beliefs and the rights of the individual not to be enslaved by
sheep in wolves clothing.
I think that is both the power of the glory of bands like Deicide and others who dare to be different in an undaring day of media darlings and corporate robots. No doubt
"Insineratehymn" is not for the faint-hearted fellow. But metal fans are metal fans because they wants more than pseudo-rebellious music from snot-nosed suburban punks who grow up, cut their hair, and become exactly like the people they used to target with criticism. Thankfully, Deicide is in no danger of walking that path. It is about time we
heard music from someone who knows compromise can be the dirtiest word of all.
