Review by Michael on April 25, 2024.

Deicide had many goddamn ugly covers in their discography but with the new one for Banished By Sin they even top Once Upon The Cross or Serpents Of The Light. Maybe “Banished By Ugliness” would be the better title if you only judge the album by its cover. But- what an unbelievable coincidence - the upcoming Kerry King album is “blessed” with almost the same cover. I don't know how this happened, in an interview chief Satanist Glen Benton stated that he worked with his Apple devices to create something modern and that he doesn't give a fuck what the people are thinking about that. That's a statement…I would like to know what Leonardo DaVinci would say these days to AI. And I really don't know if Glen Benton himself really did the cover or (and here's another coincidence) a guy at Reigning Phoenix Music where both bands are currently signed at.

Well, okay, fuck the cover and come to the music. And this is much better than the first impression I got. In the press info it was said that the new album goes back to the 90s, the debut Legion and Once Upon The Cross was mentioned too. I wouldn't agree 100% to this because first of all the band has evolved since then and second with a change of 50% in the line-up I guess you will never be able to go back in time. But this isn't a bad thing. Deicide did in their past some generic and boring albums (In Torment In Hell and Till Death Do Us Part were imo pretty underwhelming) and I got disappointed back then. But since 2011 they really did some strong efforts and I guess this is what you might call the second spring. The new freshness has a lot to do with the new line-up, Taylor Nordberg is a great guitarist and can create some really cool and catchy music and also Kevin Quirion (who is in the band since 2011) writes some super brutal shit if you for example know his other band Order Of Ennead. Together they wrote 12 super fast, neck breaking and brutal songs that don't have to hide behind some classic tracks like anything from Legion for example. Though they are different in some cases.

First of all the guitar leads are totally different from their early works because they are much more technical and sophisticated. Also the tempo is much faster than in the past. 'Woke From God' is maybe one of the best examples of it. This song feels like you are lying tied on the street and you get run over by a car going 300 mph again and again. I guess Kataklysm used the term “Hyperblast” when they still were cool and this describes it perfectly. Deicide managed it very well, finding an adequate balance between brutality, melodic parts and catchiness. The title track is another good example. Here we find all that we want. Pummeling, fast drums, ultra-brutal riffs, double-layered vocals (and Glen sounds as evil and pissed-off as ever) and really sick guitar leads. After all these years they still know how to please and to catch the fans. The album turned out really entertaining and musically this whole thing is one of the best albums since 2000. I mean they don't invent the wheel again or show any innovations in their song-writing but, let's be honest, who would like to have that? And talking about innovations, I guess it is innovation enough having a look at the cover. In Germany we have a term: “cobbler, stick to your last!” I guess this matches quite well here.

Rating: 8.5 out of 10