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Deicide - To Hell With God review




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Band: Deicide
Album: To Hell With God
Release date: February 2011


01. To Hell With God
02. Save Your
03. Witness Of Death
04. Conviction
05. Empowered By Blasphemy
06. Angels In Hell
07. Hang In Agony Until You're Dead
08. Servant Of The Enemy
09. Into The Darkness You Go
10. How Can You Call Yourself A God

Do you remember the time when the words 'surprise' and 'Deicide' would never appear in the same sentence unless that sentence was "Fuck, Deicide is shit, I'm surprised they haven't retired yet?" Well, ever since the Hoffman brothers left the band and were replaced by Jack Owen and Ralph Santolla, Deicide received an enormous boost in creativity that granted them a second chance of sorts. The new lineup is indeed capable of surprising with each release, Stench Of Redemption and Till Death Do Us Part are prime examples of this. To Hell With God is a further case in point, but just how pleasant a surprise is this?

Well, it turns out that it is a bit iffy this time around. With more intelligible vocals and a cleaner production, To Hell With God sees Deicide altering their approach ever so slightly towards accessibility, which has never been a forte for the band. The presence of breakdowns in some of the songs (for example, "Hang In Agony"), some primitive grindcore riffs here and there ("Empowered By Blasphemy") and numerous thrash elements scattered generously throughout the rest of the album do much to dilute the intensity of this release and I think that of all the things that Glen Benton and co. should never fuck with, intensity is in first place. On the flip side, this is also a fairly catchy release (in that appealing, non-obvious or cheap way) and there are still plenty of blastbeats here. They are all just delivered with slightly less venom and bile than what we have come to expect from this band.

I would have never imagined that I'd ever be accusing Deicide of not being brutal or extreme enough since the band had this base covered in spades even on their most bland of releases. Curiously, To Hell With God, while interesting enough in terms of how the songs are constructed, lags behind in terms of extremity. With this said, while not being completely satisfactory, To Hell With God should still be heard because of this lineup's current trajectory as a band. They are still fairly vital and relevant for the scene that they originally helped create and this is a big achievement in itself. I'd just prefer for the next album to be more faster, harder, Scoot... uh, I mean Satan.





Written on 01.03.2011 by With Metal Storm since 2002, jupitreas has been subjecting the masses to his reviews for quite a while now. He lives in Warsaw, Poland, where he does his best to avoid prosecution for being so cool.


Comments

Comments: 22   [ 1 ignored ]   Visited by: 514 users
01.03.2011 - 05:07
Rating: 7
Troy Killjoy
perfunctionist
Couldn't agree more regarding their blatant lack of extremity. This seems very watered down to me, like Cannibal Corpse featuring members of the clergy.
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"Wise men talk because they have something to say; fools because they have to say something."
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01.03.2011 - 05:32
Rating: 7
munson

While it is obviously less "extreme" than former releases, I still really enjoyed it. I think the cleaner production is a step in the right direction, I just wish it didn't seem to come at a cost of some extremity.
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01.03.2011 - 05:38
3rdWorldFuckface
Account deleted
Truly great album.........the production just elevates the whole experience..........
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01.03.2011 - 06:18
Rating: 8
ScanDoppelganger

You explained what I was thinking about while listening to the album. I couldnt quite put my finger on what was odd, and even thought I had a bad quality version of the album. I think the production actually a good thing for the band, and Glens vocals sound similar to when hes live, just a bit more intelligible.
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01.03.2011 - 10:02
Mikyz

This is album is good but not great, it's just like you said it it lacks the brutality of The Stench Of Redemption, but is a solid releases nonetheless.
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Laugh and the world laughs with you. Weep and you weep alone.
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01.03.2011 - 18:19
Baz Anderson

It's better than their last album at least. "Scars Of The Crucifix" is still my favourite modern Deicide album.
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01.03.2011 - 20:12
Rating: 8
Deadmeat
Necrobutcher
Written by Baz Anderson on 01.03.2011 at 18:19

It's better than their last album at least. "Scars Of The Crucifix" is still my favourite modern Deicide album.

i really cannot see how can be scars of the crucifix better than the stench of redemption...
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Υou've sold your human essence to the cold world of dead and empty things... You're SOLD!
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02.03.2011 - 00:06
@gent_-_orange

Written by Deadmeat on 01.03.2011 at 20:12

Written by Baz Anderson on 01.03.2011 at 18:19

It's better than their last album at least. "Scars Of The Crucifix" is still my favourite modern Deicide album.

i really cannot see how can be scars of the crucifix better than the stench of redemption...

+1 Imo Stench is the best thing they have done followed by the Deicide then Legion.
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02.03.2011 - 00:24
Rating: 8
Deadmeat
Necrobutcher
Written by @gent_-_orange on 02.03.2011 at 00:06

Written by Deadmeat on 01.03.2011 at 20:12

Written by Baz Anderson on 01.03.2011 at 18:19

It's better than their last album at least. "Scars Of The Crucifix" is still my favourite modern Deicide album.

i really cannot see how can be scars of the crucifix better than the stench of redemption...

+1 Imo Stench is the best thing they have done followed by the Deicide then Legion.

+999 (i just think that once upon the cross is better than legion hahaha!)
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Υou've sold your human essence to the cold world of dead and empty things... You're SOLD!
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02.03.2011 - 00:32
@gent_-_orange

Written by Deadmeat on 02.03.2011 at 00:24

Written by @gent_-_orange on 02.03.2011 at 00:06

Written by Deadmeat on 01.03.2011 at 20:12

Written by Baz Anderson on 01.03.2011 at 18:19

It's better than their last album at least. "Scars Of The Crucifix" is still my favourite modern Deicide album.

i really cannot see how can be scars of the crucifix better than the stench of redemption...

+1 Imo Stench is the best thing they have done followed by the Deicide then Legion.

+999 (i just think that once upon the cross is better than legion hahaha!)

Damn forgot about once upon the cross that was a good album , But we best stop putting down Deicide and Legion what we are saying right now is blasphemy to a lot of death metal fans.
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02.03.2011 - 00:36
Rating: 8
Deadmeat
Necrobutcher
Written by @gent_-_orange on 02.03.2011 at 00:32

Damn forgot about once upon the cross that was a good album , But we best stop putting down Deicide and Legion what we are saying right now is blasphemy to a lot of death metal fans.

you are right mate!!!
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Υou've sold your human essence to the cold world of dead and empty things... You're SOLD!
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02.03.2011 - 01:49
frankeli
Account deleted
Not extreme? C mon!
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02.03.2011 - 05:32
Rating: 7
Troy Killjoy
perfunctionist
Written by Guest on 02.03.2011 at 01:49

Not extreme? C mon!

Not extreme by Deicide's or death metal's standards.
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"Wise men talk because they have something to say; fools because they have to say something."
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06.03.2011 - 12:45
Rating: 10
dead

Every single album released sence 08 has become more and more watered down and accomodating in order to seel and intreague and appeal to a bigger, wider, younger, merch loving fan base cuz lets face it, with out everyone buying up shirts and hoodies and cds and tour ticketts, the band cant go very far..
with thet being said, i get the whole suply and demand of the masses and the whole ugly buisnass side to being a signed band, and i still love all these guys and i value their reviving of the bands that i grew up on and that shaped my whole life and im just happy that even tho their sound has lost a bit of its original bite, they are still deicide. i would sacrifice my soul to deicide and claim them as my lord and god for creating the death metal blast beast and demonic surges that i so obsesivly worship, and tho the shock value and overall "intensity" has lightened a bit, i stood 2 feet away from them on a 1 foot stage on this albums release tour and belive me when i say, face to face in the flesh, they deffinatly radiate a mesmerizing glow of satan death metal.

the meledies have altered a bit but deicide is heavier than ever, its just a bit more organized intensity
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11.03.2011 - 06:46
thefallenalchmst

I fucking loved it:

Deicide - To Hell With God (2011) - If you like your death metal guitar-laden, with thousands of solos flying around each and every track, you're going to eat this one up, and ask for more. Not only is this one of the strongest Deicide albums in their career, it's also one of my personal favorites.

The disc clocks in at about 35 minutes, which is good, because you'll be playing it again, and again, and again. If not for the interesting riff usage, but for the amount of sheer "guitar jizz" that this album is covered in. Solo after solo after solo after solo. Man, what a record. They don't make them like that anymore.

Also, I might add that this album is a little slower paced than their last, which was so brutal and fast, that I couldn't see myself really getting into it. At least here, the melody and finesse of the guitars are shown in an wondrous display. As for the lyrics, it really doesn't matter what comes out of Benton's mouth in my opinion, because the music is all that will matter in the end. The man could be singing about cheese, and it would still make a heavy album.

Now, one could say that Deicide played it safe, overloading this album with solos. The God Dethroned album we got last year also used a lot of solos and was just as brutal. But, I'm still going to have to say that this album takes the cake, because it sounds so legendary with those magnificent solos. I mean, these are the kind of solos that you hear in classic metal songs, not to mention that most of the riffs are also basically thrash riffs. God Dethroned's album was more modern death metal, while this one is truly classic. As I said?"They don't make them like this anymore."

The bottom line here, is that this isn't really a brutal death metal album. It's more of a classic death metal album, in a very classic death metal style. As I said, thrash riffs, over the top solos, standard death metal drumming fare, no sign of clean or female vocals, and no core, death core, or whatever the hell kids think qualifies for death metal these days.

JESUS CHRIST! IT'S A FUCKING DEATH METAL ALBUM!

What else do I need to say about it? The disc speaks for itself. IMHO, the best track is the first one, "To Hell With God."

OVERALL: CLASSIC DEATH METAL, WITH OVER THE TOP GUITAR SOLOS, AND THRASH RIFFS. (SOMETIMES ALMOST PROGGY IN A FEW SONGS) IT'S ONLY 35 MINUTES, BUT YOU'LL BE PLAYING IT MORE THAN ONCE. DEICIDE'S STRONGEST ALBUM IN A LONG TIME. GET THIS NOW.

Score: 666/5
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www.thegrimtower.com (updated ftequently with reviews and interviews!)

www.torii.bandcamp.com (black/doom/death)
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24.05.2011 - 17:55
astrozombie

I felt like in some way this album was lacking the true Deicide feel. the guitars seamed to loose a lot of there crunch, i also felt like maybe the band was trying to go back to some of what of a more thrashy sound. overall a decent album but not what i want when i buy an deicide album.
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12.11.2011 - 00:48
Rating: 7
Butters49

Fuck extremity, seriously.

enjoy well-crafted songwriting.
people are retarded...
----
"Sataaaaaaaaan. Yeah yeah!"
-King Diamond
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12.11.2011 - 01:00
Rating: 7
Troy Killjoy
perfunctionist
Written by Butters49 on 12.11.2011 at 00:48
enjoy well-crafted songwriting.

I do, but that just isn't present on this album.
----
"Wise men talk because they have something to say; fools because they have to say something."
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12.11.2011 - 09:16
Rating: 7
Butters49

Written by Troy Killjoy on 12.11.2011 at 01:00

Written by Butters49 on 12.11.2011 at 00:48
enjoy well-crafted songwriting.

I do, but that just isn't present on this album.


this album is about 50/50 with me.

"hang in agony until you are dead" is a GREAT deicide song.
as well as to hell with god.

some are just not super great though. but they can make up for the fact with awesome guitar solos, which they did
----
"Sataaaaaaaaan. Yeah yeah!"
-King Diamond
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10.02.2012 - 04:37
danp207

At first I didn't know how to feel about this one. If I put aside the fact that it is Deicide that put this out, I have to say its much better than most of the shit that was put out in 2011. It's a very well-written, produced, and mixed album

That being said, when I look back and see that Deicide is the band playing this album, I can't really say I recognize it as Deicide except for the vocals. It sounds to me like it were say, Chimaira with Glen Benton on vocals. Sounds very Roadrunner-ish to me.

It's definitely no "Once Upon the Cross" which is from start to finish one of the most brutal things I have ever had the privilege of owning in every aspect.

I give it a 7.7/10.
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28.12.2012 - 05:11
Buy the Amon debut if you don't like this album. I happen to like both but Liar In wait by Amon (The Hoffman Brothers) is superior.
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24.04.2013 - 13:00
Ziom

Catchy, groovy, crystal clear with melodic solos - yet heavy, but not too much. With vocals that can be easily understood, which is absolutely uncommon in a death metal band. I found them through Wimp. I tried their previous, allegedely better albums too, but didn't like them. THwG is fantastic, can't stop listening to it.
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