Deicide - Banished By Sin - LP Gatefold Coloured

Death metal legends Deicide mark their devilish return with their new album, Banished by Sin, through Reigning Phoenix Music.

Provacateurs by trade and dominant by nature, the Floridians, featuring founders Glen Benton (bass/lead vocals) and Steve Asheim (drums), as well as notables Kevin Quirion (guitars) and Taylor Nordberg (guitars), have yet again uncompromisingly splayed and slayed the genre's holy trinity of brutality, intensity, and aggression for the world to witness. Just as classic cuts like "Sacrificial Suicide" (Deicide), "Once Upon the Cross" (Once Upon the Cross), and "Homage for Satan" (The Stench of Redemption) elevated the firebrands to death's metal's apex, new songs "Bury The Cross...With Your Christ," "From Unknown Heights You Shall Fall," and "Sever the Tongue" usher in a new chapter in Deicide's storied, 35-year legacy.

"I've been sitting in a dark corner for several years now," states Benton. "A few things have come into my life that have shaken and changed me. I got inspired writing this new record - it was like flipping a switch. I no longer have the aggravation of other peoples' hangups interfering with what I have and want to do. I stopped chasing everybody else's happiness a long time ago. The guy who started this shit is back! And it's good to be back!"

Deicide was formed in Tampa, Florida, in 1989. Since the group's irreligious self-titled debut album and its universally acclaimed follow-up Legion, Deicide has been the tip of the spear. Due to their incredible on-album fervency, the propensity to agitate hypersensitives, and no-holds-barred live shows (over 1,000 to date), Deicide's ascent from minion to master was meteoric. They amassed coverage and accolades in Kerrang!, Metal Forces, Metal Hammer, Terrorizer, and Metal Maniacs, becoming one of the biggest-selling death metal groups of the Soundscan era. More recently, two of Deicide's albums (their self-titled and Legion) appeared in top spots on Decibel's The Top 100 Death Metal Albums of All Time. Banished by Sin broadens Deicide's sacrilegious mandate and ultra-heavy death metal by invoking critical moments from across their discography while advancing the group. The Trifixion lives again!

"Musically, we're back to the 1990s style," Benton says. "There's modern stuff in there, too. It's Deicide the way it was meant to be. My hooky songs are there, Steve's prog-styled songs are there, and we got Kevin's theme-styled songs. Having Taylor in the band has impacted Deicide greatly. He's a fantastic songwriter and player. He can do anything.
The four of us contributed three songs each. I'm back with the high screaming and layering. I'm just absolutely going off on this one. I've been told it's one of my best vocal performances. I'm like Rumpelstiltskin—here to spin your hay into gold. Everybody's going to be pleasantly surprised."

Banished by Sin's lyrics were split between Benton, Asheim, Quirion, and Nordberg. Each had a hand in penning some of the craziest, spiritually antagonistic lyrics to appear on a Deicide album. From "From Unknown Heights You Shall Fall," "A Trinity Of None," and "Bury The Cross…With Your Christ" to "Sever the Tongue," "Failures Of Your Dying Lord," and "I Am I…A Curse Of Death," the foursome mocked, mauled, and left for dead Christendom from every angle. If the gruesome visuals of "Bury the Cross...With Your Christ," fantastically realized by auteurs David Brodsky and Allison Woest of My Good Eye: Music Visuals (Cannibal Corpse, King Diamond), didn't offend, then lines like this from "Sever the Tongue" certainly will, "Wrath of the holy / God is no more / Satan possess me / No savior reborn / F**k your religion / Sever the tongue."

"I'm a big fan of the lyrics," enthuses Benton. "Kevin and I write really good lyrics together. He's got his specific references, and my s**t's all deep. Taylor was pretty spot on, too. I don't expect everybody to buy into what we're writing. They're for entertainment purposes only. I don't expect anyone to sever anyone's tongue here, but I will say there's some pretty dark s**t on the record. The video for 'Bury The Cross…With Your Christ' isn't subtle."

Deicide brought Banished by Sin to Jeramie Kling and Smoke & Mirrors Productions (The Absence, Inhuman Condition) in Spring Hill, Florida. Produced by Deicide and engineered by Kling and Nordberg between November 2022 and May 2023, the album was tracked with the 1990s in mind but imbued with a present-day auditory aesthetic. Deicide wanted a live, balls-to-the-wall sound and got there by recruiting famed mixing and mastering guru Josh Wilbur (Gojira, Lamb of God). Benton's multi-headed vocals, Quirion and Taylor Nordberg's wicked riffs/wild solos, and Asheim's earsplitting drums jump out of the speakers violently. Singles "Bury The Cross...With Your Christ,"
"From Unknown Heights You Shall Fall," and "Sever the Tongue" pave the way to ultimate Biblical destruction.

"You lose everything once you compress," Benton says. "You compressing everything while you're recording it, and then you're compressing the s**t out of it while you're mixing it, and then you're compressing the f**k out of it while you're mastering it. I didn't want to lose the magic this time. Josh Wilbur did an incredible job keeping my vision intact—exactly how I wanted it to sound. I can't thank him enough for doing that. I'm pretty pleased with the production. Everybody did a f**king fantastic job on this record—it sounds the closest to old Deicide."

Although Banished by Sin is Deicide's 13th album, they show no signs of slowing down or easing up. That would be anti-Deicide. They've lined up support from SiriusXM's Liquid Metal channel (where "Bury The Cross...With Your Christ" is enjoying top-play success) and have been spotlighted by Apple Music, Spotify, and Tidal. Deicide are slated to headline Decibel's Philadelphia Metal & Beer Fest 2024, with follow-up performances in prestigious spots at Milwaukee Metalfest 2024 and Hellsinki Metal Festival (Finland). Expect North American, European, and other tour announcements to follow. The final line in "Bury The Cross...With Your Christ" sums up what's to come: "Crawl through the darkness and die / Done with religion and calling it quits / Bury the cross with your Christ!"

"I'm at peak performance now," warns Benton. "A Glen Benton doing this for fun is a dangerous Glen Benton. We're going to brutalize this planet. We're coming for you!"

Side A:
1. From Unknown Heights You Shall Fall
2. Doomed To Die
3. Sever The Tongue
4. Faithless
5. Bury The Cross…With Your Christ
6. Woke From God

Side B:
7. Ritual Defied
8. Failures Of Your Dying Lord
9. Banished By Sin
10. A Trinity Of None
11. I Am I…A Curse Of Death
12. The Light Defeated