Every Friday I turn the blog over to Dan Marsicano for his Retro Recommendation, giving you a chance to learn about underrated and overlooked gems from metal's past. This week, Deicide is in the spotlight.
At this juncture in their career, Deicide has gotten to the point of self-parody. The once-chilling verbal prose has disintegrated into a goofy, rambunctious mess. The music is still effective, if more technical, compared to the early days. Most fans consider the first few albums by Deicide to be pinnacle death metal, including Once Upon The Cross. At less than half-an-hour in length, the third album from the Florida foursome doesn't show any progression from a musical or lyrical sense. However, it is incredibly catchy and relentless, which is really all one could ask for from a Deicide album.
With Once Upon The Cross, the band's untamed brutal death metal approach showed no mercy to any religious icons or worshippers. Bassist/vocalist Glen Benton comes off like an unhinged madman, barking and growling his praises for the dark lord. Offensive to the point of overkill, Benton seems content in the excess of blasphemy. Whether it's the simple message of "Kill the Christian" or envisioning "When Satan Rules His World," Benton comes across as sincere in his delivery.
With a few years under their belt, the band was a well-oiled killing machine. The Hoffman duo trades off solos and deadly riffs with the pace of a factory inventory line. Their lead work is drowned out in the mix though. Steve Asheim's drumming is unmatched, and his precise feet work give the double bass playing a lightning-quick feeling.
There is no filler on the album, each of the nine tracks having their place. The title track gets things off to a roaring start, and there is not one slow moment from that point on. "Trick Or Betrayed" and "To Be Dead" just squeak by the 2:30 mark, each second heavier than the last. "Confessional Rape" closes the album out with a groovy number led by Asheim's flashy fills, fading out just before the band can reach the elusive four-minute space.
Once Upon The Cross is an accurate representation of how awesome the golden age of death metal was in the early-to-mid '90s. Deicide would soldier on with a consistent line-up and fluctuating material for a decade until the jarring departure of Brian and Eric Hoffman. This can be considered the third part of a trilogy of classics from Deicide, with Deicide and Legion preceding it. For being so brutal and evil that Satan himself recoiled after hearing it for the first time, Once Upon The Cross gets the nod for this week's Retro Recommendation.
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