Deicide — Bible Bashers

Bible Bashers is a three-CD set bringing together the last three albums released by satanic-fuelled Florida Death Metal crew Deicide on Roadrunner Records. The set takes in two studio albums Insineratehymn (2000) & In Torment in Hell (2001), and a live album When Satan Lives (1998).

This release is the third in the series of reissues bringing together Deicide’s Roadrunner back catalogue on Dissonance Productions. And like the other releases in the series, the three-disc set is presented in a six-panel gloss digipak with black, red & white colour scheme. Under each CD we get the original artwork for each album. There’s also a sixteen-inlay booklet- this features a new write-up about the band/ releases from the likes of Paul Ryan (Ex Cradle Of Filth) & Monte Conner(former senior vice president of A&R for Roadrunner Record), as well of course lots of band/ artwork pics.

As with the other releases in this series each album comes on its own CD, and first up we have Insineratehymn. This was released in the year 2000, and was the band's fifth studio album- sonically it saw the pace of the bands previously blasting ‘n’ speeding sound slowing down somewhat, for dwells in more meaty & thick mid-paced song craft, as well as some great/ at points quite creative guitar solo touches too- though there were still a few nice moments of speeding blast here ‘n’ there. The album takes in ten tracks, with a total playtime of thirty-one minutes & six seconds. The album opens with one of its speeder moments with “Bible Basher” which moved glamouring ‘n’ bone smashing verses and ranted deeply barked choruses. We have “The Gift That” which features a  central dark crawling to chugging riff which is either bombarded by speeding blasts or moody mid-paced drumming. Moving onto the second half of the album we have the galloping ‘n’ weaving mid-paced riffery of “Suffer Again”. And the almost paced-up grindcore-like central riffing of “Refusal Of Penance” which also features some melodic edges, and a fine spiralling & searing opening solo- with the track fading out to the sounds of burning 'n' screaming folks. This album is often criticized as featuring less memorable & effective songs than the band's early albums, but I think that’s totally untrue- yes it’s not as breakneck & all out speeding compared with their first two albums. But it’s a balanced, and fairly varied album- with the more meaty & chugg-bound elements really having great dark weight & prime evil depth/ heaviness to them.

Next on disc number two we In Torment In Hell, this is from 2001, and was the final album the band released on Roadrunner Records. It takes in eight tracks, and a total runtime of thirty minutes & fifty-nine seconds. From the off you notice both the production and songcraft are less defined & sharp- there is very much a feeling of anger & muddle hast present, and I guess this was due to this being the band's last album with Roadrunner, and internal band pressures which we see the two guitaring Hoffman brothers departing the band three years later. It’s fair to say that much of this album does rather blend into each other, with the whole thing largely sticking to a mid-to-rapid pace setting. Though that said there are a few rewarding moments to be found, and as an angry & less polished DM record it’s effective enough. So stand out-wise we have the opening title track which alternates between mid-paced chugs and flaying speed-offs. There’s the meaty chainsaw chop ‘n’ gallop of “Imminent Doom” which also features some great deep growled vocals & broodingly seared solo lines.  Or there’s almost grooving chugg ‘n’ wailing guitars of “Worry In The House Of Thieves” which features almost rhythmic growls and barks.  In finishing, yes In Torment In Hell is certainly one of the least consistent & skilful crafted album of Deicide’s discography- but it does have its moments of greatness, and the whole less polished/ rushed feel does give its own distinctive quality.

Finally, on disc number three we have When Satan Lives. This is a seventeen-track live album, which has a total runtime of fifty-five minutes and twenty seconds. The album takes in a recording of House of Blues in Chicago, Illinois in 1998- with the set list making a good blend of tracks from the band's then to date four albums. The sound recording is very well-balanced, with an even mix of guitars, drums, bass and of course vocals. The song selection is well picked, with the whole working us an intense & entertaining live set ride. There’s not really much in-between track banter, so it never really drags or lags- I’m not the biggest of live albums but  When Satan Lives is a good example of the form, and nice summing up of the first four albums from the band.

So in finishing, it’s great to now have all the Deicide Roadrunner albums back in print and available again after a few years been out of print & going for silly prices. And if you were put off by the very negative press/ fan reviews the two studio albums got when they first got released, this a prime time to revalue them again- as they are definitely not as bad as some have suggested.