“The Fastest and Most Brutal Deicide Album ever!”

At least that’s what the cover proclaims, but it looks like Mr. Benton, after two creative critically acclaimed comeback albums in Scars of the Crucifix and The Stench of Redemption, wants out of his record contract with Earache and has reverted back to In Torment In Hell for his ninth studio effort. In truth the cover sticker should say “The most tired, lazy and disappointing Deicide album since In Torment In Hell!”

I’m not sure what happened here. Steve Asheim is still a maniac drummer, and Benton sounds as demonic as ever maybe due to the unusually un-Satanic lyrics that seem to deal with more personal events that the usual Christ hating furor (despite the disclaimer in the CD inlay), and the clean guitar tone of the last two albums has been replaced by a grittier, earthier tone. However, Asheim’s song writing has taken a huge step back from Stench and Scars and despite Santolla allegedly appearing as a guest on this album, he must have called it in as well, as gone are the sweeping, epic arpeggios and solos that made Stench so good. In fact, what ever limited solos he and Jack Owen deliver (they are only credited with a solos on the intro and outro) are faceless and boring as any mid- era Deicide, and along with the album’s overall sense of malaise, ranks Till Death up (down) there with In Torment and Insinerate Hymn.

The thing is though, in some odd way, Till Death, while being a pretty sub standard album, has an aura, energy and presence of primal, pure fury about it I can’t put my finger on. Again, maybe due to Benton’s personal vitriol that has seeped into the lyrics and the down tuned production, there’s a palpable sense of hate dripping though every blast beat, no matter how tired and lazy they sound. And it’s a pity because while Till Death has the energy and urgency of the debut or Legion, the end result, to due hackneyed song writing is wasted and forgettable.

Even with slow burning instrumental intro “The Beginning of the End”, the menagerie of faceless blasters, while longer than usual are just are just ‘there’. Tracks like “Worthless Misery”, “Severed Ties”, “Not As Long As We Both Shall Live”, “Angel of Agony” and such just all seem rehashed from the bands glory years. The 6½ minute “Horrors In the Halls of Stone” has some oozing promise, but Glen should leave the 6+ minute songs to Vital Remains I think.

Maybe expectations were too high after Stench, or Stench was an exception but either way, while not a completely horrid album, as it does have some redeeming intensity, the words I keep coming back to is tired and lazy. But hey-if you absolutely need a ‘Glen Benton for President’ patch, go ahead and grab this album. Me? I’m going back to The Stench of Redemption.

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