First of all, let's five Deicide props for once again giving us one of the most vile and repugnant CD covers of the year...way to go guys! If you are a fan of evil & blasphemous death metal, then the sight of a withered skeleton/zombie and a VERY white naked hag making out will surely make you chuckle...then again, it might do the otherwise. Anyway, I digress, on to Till Death Do Us Part, the latest collection of nastiness from Deicide.
The same line-up that gave us the fine The Stench of Redemption are back once again (Glen Benton, Steve Asheim, Jack Owen, Ralph Santolla) leading one to believe that we will get similar results. Well, yes and no. The superb guitar work of Santolla & Owen is once again the stamp that drives these tunes, and coupled with the jackhammer drum blasts from Asheim, make for some explosive musical fireworks here on Till Death Do Us Part. Even Benton's use of gutteral growls and high pitched black metal screams at first listen sounds inspired, especially when they layer the two styles on top of each other, like they do so well on "Hate of all Hatred" and "Worthless Misery". However, repeated spins reveal songs that just don't seem to really go anywhere, too many of them following a similar path, despite the occasional injection of melody and some flat out amazing guitar solos. In fact, during many of these songs, you almost wait for the guitar solo from either Santolla or Owen to save the day, which in many cases it does. Tunes like "Severed Ties" and "Not As Long As We Both Shall Live" contain some scorching leads, showing that it was wise for Benton to bring these two metal veterans into the band, as they inject a virtuoso element that Deicide never really had before. Too bad it just isn't enough at time. Sure, this thing is fast & brutal, even the slower, more grinding "Horror In The Halls Of Stone" packing more evilness in its 6+ minutes than most bands put into a whole CD, but overall the excellence of The Stench of Redemption is not quite attained here.
Till Death Do Us Part is still very solid, don't get me wrong, but I was convinced that Deicide were really onto something with their previous release, and seemed to have slipped up ever so slightly here. This is still rampaging death metal from the veterans, but if you were hoping for greatness it's not quite there.
Track Listing
1. The Beginning Of The End 3:39
2. Till Death Do Us Part 4:14
3. Hate Of All Hatreds 3:53
4. In The Eyes Of God 4:43
5. Worthless Misery 5:00
6. Severed Ties 4:01
7. Not As Long As We Both Shall Live 5:05
8. Angel Of Agony 3:29
9. Horror In The Halls Of Stone 6:23
10. The End Of The Beginning 1:41
Printer Friendly Page
Send to a Friend
