arcane-beautiful A return to form! A return to form!

Yes, this was a rather odd moment for these guys. After doing something very different with their past 2 albums, this album sounds like these guys in 90's, but with a modern influence. One of the most biggest noticeable changes is the clearer sound of the production, giving the album a slightly more modern sound. But, because this album is more of a return to form, the sound does sound rather interesting, with the mix of classic death metal riffing with some cleaner production. The music on the album is just as good as always, with the guys really focusing on different aspects of the sound, with a lot of fast moments, heavy moments and rather odd sounding riffs.

One of the biggest positives on this album is Glen's vocals. I did worry about his vocals, especially on “Till Death Do Us Part” where his vocals seemed very strained. But on this album, his voice seems better than ever. His vocals in the past few years did get a bit of criticism, but just like Glen, he tried his best to piss the critics off.

Sadly, this album does bare some criticisms from me. Usually Glen's lyrics really make me agree with him on some rather odd level, usually because he is a brilliant lyricist, but on this album he seems to repeat a lot of his blasphemies. The album does have a very similar sound throughout, which does get a bit monotonous at times.

This is also the last album to feature guitarist Ralph Santolla, who if I'm honest pretty much got me into the band. Hopefully replacement Kevin Quirion will be able to match Ralph's incredible ability.

The opening title track pretty much is a mixture of these older and newer styles these guys have made. Some amazing vocals from Glen too.

“Save Your” (get the pun in the title) is one of the most interesting moments on the album. Some rather odd riffs that you wouldn't expect to hear on a Deicide song can be heard. This may be due to this being one of Jack Owen's compositions.

“Conviction”, one of Jack Owen's compositions has one of the best riffs on the album. There is also a pretty funny music video for this album which I also recommend giving a watch. This song also has the best lyrics on the album.

The album closer “How Can You Call Yourself A God” is one of the album's most epic moments. With some epic riffs and spellbinding guitar solo's from Ralph Santolla.

In conclusion, this is pretty great. I have to admit, this wouldn't be my favourite Deicide album, but this album does pack quite a punch. Fans of their earlier material would love this album, but because I'm more of a fan of their latest material, I'm slightly on the fence with it. But, don't listen to me, listen to it for yourself, and revel in it's evil glory.

7.9/10

UMUR "To Hell With God" is the 10th full-length studio album by US death metal act Deicide. The album was released in February 2011 by Century Media Records.

As suspected the music on "To Hell With God" is unmistakably the sound of Deicide albeit with a few new twists and turns. Blasphemous/anti-Christian lyrical themes delivered in an aggressive growling fashion, fast blasting beats and some really impressive guitar solos by Ralph Santolla. His solos add another and more musical dimension to Deicide´s otherwise raw and uncompromising death metal style and that´s greatly appreciated and needed IMO. While the music certainly is fast and furious there are actually quite a few mid-paced heavier parts on the album too. A very nice development of sound which means that the 35:44 minutes that the album lasts fly by in no time.

"To Hell With God" starts with a string of particularly strong tracks in "To Hell With God" (did I hear something that resembles melody here...?), "Save Your", "Witness of Death" and "Conviction" and while I think the memorability of the material drops slightly from there to only pick up again on the strong album closer "How Can You Call Yourself a God", the quality is generally high and I´m pretty well entertained by the album. Glen Benton isn´t exactly the most convincing growler anymore and his vocals come off as one-dimensional and lacking a bit of power. He gets the job done but nothing more. Honestly I think he is a pale shade of his former self but that´s been the case for a number of years and albums, so I´m not really surprised. It´s not a big issue, but it´s definitely not a positive either.

Overall I´m positively surprised by how much I actually enjoyed "To Hell With God" and I definitely think it´s one of the band´s stronger albums in recent years. A 3.5 star rating is deserved.

J-Man Almost 21 years since their legendary self-titled debut, a few things are still strikingly apparent about Deicide. They hate Christianity and they're pissed off - the title of their 2011 full-length album, To Hell With God, almost immediately confirms both of these points. Deicide may never reach the heights of their early days again, but To Hell With God shows the band in a confident state with some killer slabs of death metal to go along with it. I'd recommend all fans of Deicide (or people who've given up on them) to check this out - it's certainly among their better albums. Although they're now a group of middle-aged adults, Deicide is still filled with enough energy and anger to show the newer death metal acts who's boss!

The music on To Hell With God is a standard Deicide affair - expect brutal death metal with killer solos and technical riffing here. The lyrics here are (as expected) extremely blasphemous and anti-Christian. Whether or not you agree with the message behind lyrics doesn't hide the fact that I find many of Glen Benton's lyrics to be immature and underdeveloped. There are a few decent lines here and there, but I find the vast majority of them to be childish outbursts against Christianity. It's an acquired taste, though, and people who enjoy anti-Christian lyrics with very little "substance" should love them here. The music isn't much different from what Deicide has been doing for the last 20+ years. This is high-quality death metal with plenty of excellent solos and riffs, even if it lacks a bit in the originality department. At a 35:43 running time, this album is over pretty quickly (which is a positive, in my opinion). This is short enough to remain powerful and memorable without ever getting too long and tedious.

Of course, the musicians in Deicide are top-notch. The guitar work from Jack Owen and Ralph Santolla is stellar - some of the solos on To Hell With God can be ranked among the best in death metal. Steve Asheim's drumming is also excellent and professional; he's one of the best drummers in extreme metal. Glen Benton's bass playing isn't particularly outstanding, but he does a solid job. Glen's vocals have received a bit of flak on "new" Deicide albums, but his performance on To Hell With God is pretty impressive. He handles the deep guttural growls and high-pitched demon shrieks very well and seldom does he sounds weak in any way. The production is also an enormous positive. Mark Lewis really found an excellent sound for this album.

To Hell With God can't be ranked up there with Deicide's best, but it's a high-quality death metal effort that should undoubtedly please their fans. What it's lacking in the originality department is certainly made up for by the killer death metal you'll find on this record. Deicide isn't as original as they were 20 years ago, but To Hell With God proves that they're still a noteworthy band who knows how to completely kick ass! This isn't the best album these Floridians have ever created, and it's not a particularly unique release, but it's certainly above average and worth a listen from death metal fans. 3.5 stars are deserved for this recommendable, albeit clichéd, effort from Deicide.