Overtures of Blasphemy
Label: Century Media
Release Date: 14.9.18
This week sees the release of Deicide’s Overtures of Blasphemy, 5 years after quite possibly my favourite release to date from the band, In the Minds of Evil so naturally, I was going to make a pre-judged comparison.
12 albums in, what’s different? the cover for starters
Cover artist Zbigniew Bielak has really got this right but then he is responsible for Paradise Lost’s ‘The Plague Within” & Ghost’s ‘Infestissumam‘ to name a few, it’s visually stunning whilst still incredibly blasphemous but it’s got a real classic yet contemporary look & feel to it my case in point a cover like ‘In Torment in Hell’
Glen Benton also returns to the songwriting throne which was neglected on previous albums but the full-on assault on all religion is clear, this may also be partly down to Benton’s slower more methodical vocals on this release which I really enjoyed. I hope that this is a permanent move forward as the screechy side of Benton is like nails on a chalkboard I still wince at ‘Scars of the Crucifix”
The opening track of Overtures of Blasphemy “One With Satan” really took me by surprise, as it wasn’t the start I was expecting; slow, riff-heavy with aforementioned slower vocal’s this didn’t happen long before the band break into their signature sound with “Crawled From The Shadows‘ early sounding Slayer even makes an appearance with ‘Seal The Tomb Below” intro then 2:44 of assault with “Compliments of Christ” my favourite track of the release “All That Is Evil‘ falling nicely the first track released ‘Excommunicated‘ straight in with some tight solo work with ‘Anoited In Blood’ because of this I have found myself coming back to this particular track a lot. “Crucified Soul Of Salvation” paves the way for another great track “Defying The Sacred”
At this point, my favourite track keeps switching “Consumed By Hatred” is and I never thought I’d say this about a Deicide track is quite catchy and I found myself singing along after the 2nd or 3rd listen ‘ Flesh, Power, Dominion‘ is full on blow the cobweb away stuff and finally the overture ends with ‘Destined To Blasphemy’
There is a lot going on here as no track is longer than 4 minutes but the band have really thought about every second and you really get everything in each track
complete, compact and effective Benton still hates god but he might just get a few more fans with this effort.
5 out of 5 skulls
Rick Eaglestone
