When the Hoffman brothers and Glen Benton parted ways in 2006, everyone thought that would spell the end of death metal titans Deicide. But write Mr Benton off at your peril. In the subsequent years, the band have written some of the most ferocious tracks of their careers. Not bad for a man who promised us that he would kill himself by the age 33. Overtures Of Blasphemy represents the 12^th trip to the studio for the band and they’ve never sounded stronger.

A slight curveball is thrown in with opener One With Satan, as a slower riff than you’d expect to hear  gets the show on the road, before the pounding begins and its 100mph from here onwards. Crawled From The Shadows sees Benton’s trademark guttural growl almost- that’s almost, take on a bit of tune as he follows the super aggressive lead guitar. The chuggier Seal The Tomb Below is a future live classic-surely. I can see the circle pit now. Mad props have to be given to the ever present Steve Asheim, a criminally underrated drummer, who is, and has been for the last thirty years, an absolute machine behind the kit. If you are looking for a short reprieve from the assault then you won’t get it. Right up to the final track Destined to Blasphemy, Benton batters you with with his brutal style of Death Metal and I for one, wouldn’t want it any other way.

With death-core currently experiencing an upward trend, I would hope “the kids” will look back at the bands that paved the way for them, both from the “death” and the “core” perspective because ignoring the likes of Deicide, Obituary and Morbid Angel, is quite frankly criminal. The kings of Death Metal have returned and have taken their rightful place at the top of the mountain (of skulls)...Chris Andrews