Deicide haven’t mellowed one bit with age. In the cavernous underworld of death metal’s infernal depths, where brutality reigns supreme and the air is thick with the acrid scent of sacrilege, the band somehow, against all the odds, stands as an unyielding titan. With their latest offering, Banished by Sin, the Floridian fiends deliver a diabolical sermon that reaffirms their dominion over the genre’s darkest recesses.

Banished By Sin is a sonic middle finger raised high to the heavens, a blistering assault on the senses that would make a nun faint faster than a goat at this year’s black metal convention. Glen Benton‘s vocals are still pure, sulfuric hate, dripping with enough venom to melt the chrome off a Harley. The riffs? Razor-sharp and tighter than a mausoleum door. Steve Asheim behind the kit continues to sound like a possessed jackhammer on a mission to demolish the pearly gates.

From the ominous depths of the album’s opening track, From Unknown Heights You Shall Fall, to the blistering fury of Sever the Tongue, Deicide unleashes a relentless barrage of sonic malevolence. Glen Benton’s signature guttural growls intertwine with razor-sharp riffage courtesy of Kevin Quirion and Taylor Nordberg, while Asheim’s thunderous percussion drives each composition forward with merciless precision.

Thematically, the album delves into the depths of blasphemy and iconoclasm with characteristically unapologetic fervour. Tracks like Bury The Cross…With Your Christ and Failures Of Your Dying Lord serve as scathing indictments of religious dogma, while A Trinity Of None exudes an aura of nihilistic defiance. Is it groundbreaking? Maybe not. But who cares? Deicide aren’t here to rewrite the rulebook, they’re here to bludgeon you into submission with pure, unadulterated death metal. There’s a raw energy here, a primal savagery that’s simply impossible to resist even if the feeling lurks somewhere in the back of your mind that you’ve heard it all before…

Musically, Deicide harkens back to the savage intensity of their 1990s heyday, while infusing the album with modern flourishes that ensure its relevance in today’s metal landscape. Benton’s vocal performance is particularly noteworthy, as he unleashes a torrent of primal aggression that rivals even his most iconic deliveries. Imagine a drill sergeant fresh out of boot camp in Hell. That’s the voice Glen uses. He doesn’t mince words, he blasts them apart with the fury of a thousand blast beats.

The production, helmed by Josh Wilbur, is suitably dense and foreboding, whilst still allowing each instrument to carve out its own malevolent niche within the sonic maelstrom. Tracks like Ritual Defied and Banished By Sin benefit greatly from this approach, as they conjure an atmosphere of palpable dread that envelops the listener like a suffocating shroud.

In summary, Deicide have delivered a relentless onslaught of sonic violence that, if you are a long term fan, will leave you bruised, battered, and begging for more. With this album, they reaffirm their status as one of death metal’s most formidable entities, casting aside the trappings of conformity in favour of a path paved with brimstone and blasphemy. Prepare to be banished to the depths of depravity, for Deicide’s reign of terror shows no signs of abating. Play loud, but don’t be surprised if the neighbours call the exorcist…

Banished By Sin releases on April 26th.