Album Review: Deicide - Banished By Sin

With a legacy of pure brutality spanning over 30 years, Deicide have returned with their 13th studio album Banished By Sin. Ever one for controversy in their material, that controversy has now, once again expanded to their album artwork but it hasn't received the controversy one would expect of a band such as Deicide. By committing the ultimate artistic faux-pas in using AI to generate an album cover, Deicide had received a fair amount of uproar and backlash before the album was officially announced. However, this long in the game bassist, frontman and unholy overlord Glen Benton doesn't really care.

"I don’t do the same album artwork over and over and over again, and I don’t use these scribble artists to create these logos that you cannot read or make out. I’m just not into that shit. All these wannabe Rembrandts and shit, man. You know what? I design artwork around the whole thing, man. And I don’t take other people’s feelings or their ideas ,or I don’t sit here and think, ‘Well, what’s this blue-haired kid in Nebraska gonna think about the album cover?’ I do what I do because I like it, and I don’t give a shit what anybody else thinks. So if it pisses people off… And it’s really more like these bandwagon little shitheads; they all wanna jump on the bandwagon, ‘Boohoohoo.’"

'From Unknown Heights You Shall Fall' kicks things off with a riffy, thrash-tinged build-up, pummeling drums and squealing guitars until Benton's demonic roar rips your face off and all hell breaks loose. 'Doomed To Die' doesn't hold back with a brief guitar solo and blistering blast-beats. A groovy undertone and screaming solos carry the track forward and separates it from blending in to the tail end of it's predecessor. 'Sever The Tongue' continues in the same vein but is more anthemic in nature. 'Faithless' ventures in to a thrashy territory as it storms forward full steam ahead with furious, chugging energy and deafening drums.

'Bury The Cross...With Your Christ' is a pretty self explanatory track; a sharp and rapid stab at religion at less than 3 minutes long. 'Woke From God' is the highlight of the record and the strongest track. Flurries of furious riffage and flying solos accompanied by ferocious vocal delivery and blistering blast-beats. Just enough foundational groove under the cacophony of brutality keeps things interesting. Both 'Ritual Defied' and 'Failures Of Your Dying Lord' stand out with their discernible heavy basslines and more solos.

The title track goes hard and just doesn't give up. In fact, the same can be said for the following 3 tracks 'A Trinity Of None,' 'I Am I...A Curse Of Death' and 'The Light Defeated.' There is nothing particularly noteworthy about the last quarter of the record compared to the rest of it but that isn't to say that they aren't solid slabs of death metal, because they are.

Terrible album artwork aside, the guts of Banished By Sin delivers everything you would expect from Decide and that's the important thing. Is it the best album they've released so far? No. Is it an awful album? Also no. They have stuck to their tried and tested formula of blasphemous, chuggy death metal which is decent overall and an enjoyable listen.

Rating: 6.8/10
Release Date: April 26th 2024
Released By: Reigning Phoenix
FFO: Suffocation, Morbid Angel, Immolation, Nile, Obituary

Track List

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