Band:	Deicide
Album:	Banished By Sin
Style:	Death metal
Release date:	April 2024

01. From Unknown Heights You Shall Fall
02. Doomed To Die
03. Sever The Tongue
04. Faithless
05. Bury The Cross...With Your Christ
06. Woke From God
07. Ritual Defied
08. Failures Of Your Dying Lord
09. Banished By Sin
10. A Trinity Of None
11. I Am I...A Curse Of Death
12. The Light Defeated

Has anyone told Glen Benton yet that Nietzsche already declared God dead?

Beyond being prime suspects in any church burnings, Deicide are the band who have long set the bar when it comes to songs that are to hating God, what Stryper are to worshipping God. Indeed, It is about halfway through the album that you start to get a sneaky suspicion that Mr Benton isn't a big fan of that Jesus fella. The band have long worn their marks on their sleeves (or, in Benton's case, on his forehead), and Banished By Sin is no different, with the only unique factors about being its artwork, and the fact it is one of the band's better latter-day albums.

While I am in the minority that particularly enjoyed In The Minds Of Evil, the better comparison for Banished By Sin would be to The Stench Of Redemption in terms of quality, in regard to their post 00s output. This is a strong release that sees the satanic panic bring modern production to its old school mentality.

Spending little time setting the scene before getting down to business, "From Unknown Heights You Will Fall" kicks off Banished By Sin in high-energy style; forget BPMs, Deicide albums are best measured in blasphemies per minute. Benton is in fine form, sounding like the howling furies spawned from the hellfires below, with the apocalyptic backing tracks well provided by the band on "Woke From God", while "Ritual Defiled" drops the sonic intensity somewhat and harkens back to the band's more raw albums, bringing an enjoyable dose of nostalgia to an already solid track.

Deicide may not be among the first names spoken about when the topic of great guitar work is brought up, an odd omission given the calibre of talent that the band have possessed over the years, but the band have long ensured that the quality of those on guitar has been high. The latest guitar slinger, Nordberg (no, not the one from Naked Gun) is no different, with his teamwork with Quirion making songs like "Doomed To Die" the quality slab of death metal they are.

The greatest sin committed on Banished By Sin, however, appears to be the use of AI-generated cover art, which oddly goes to show how desensitised people are to the music contained within, given the reception it has received. Considering how the band have liked to stir up controversy in the past, I can't help but think Deicide have succeeded in doing just that here.

The number 13 is lucky for some, Deicide included, with Banished By Sin being one of the band's better releases in their latter-day career: a strong slab of death metal that flies the flag high for the old school pioneers of the scene.