Deicide — Crucifixion: The Early Years

Crucifixion: The Early Years is a three-CD boxset focusing on the early 1990’s Roadrunner Records released output of satanic-focused death metal ballbusters Deicide. It brings together their first two albums- 1990’s self-titled and 1992’s Legion, and 1993’s demo compilation Amon: Feasting the Beast.

The three CDs are presented in a moody ‘n’ shiny black, red and white eight-panel digipak- which features the artwork for each album under each CD. Also featured is a sixteen-page inlay booklet- this takes in write-ups/interviews regarding the band, including one focusing on when Mayhem’s Euronymous met the band. As well as loads of pictures, press clippings, etc.
 
 
So first up we have the 1990’s self-titled debut, which is a ten-track and thirty-three-minute album. It severs up rapid and often memorable intense death metal craft, which is edged by guttural-to-gruffly vocals. The album moves from the chugging prime evil galloping to blast beat speeding’s of “Sacrificial Suicide”. Onto cymbal smashing, snare drum blitzing, and tight riffing chop ‘n’ dart of “Deicide” which features some caustic solo licks. Through to the meaty gallop ‘n’ glamouring drum runs of “Mephistopheles” which alternates between mid-pace and speeding rushes, and some truly from the pits of hell deep, deep growls. It’s a wonderful urgent, and still thirty-two years on an intense debut album that takes no prisoners.
 
Next up on disc number two we have 1992’s Legion. This takes in eight tracks, and just twenty-nine minutes of music. The album saw the band polish up both the technical and speeding side of the craft, with often double-tracked vocals used to great effect.  The whole thing is a demonic and manic rush of an album, which barely lets you get your breath. We open with creepy drones, shifting goat bays, and backward growled vocals before slamming into speeding blacked rush ‘n’ rapid darting riff craft “Satan Spawn”. We have speeding chug meets prime evil rapidity of “Trifixion”. Or the tight bounding bass, galloping guitars, brutal snapping drum battering’s of “In Hell I Burn”.  As an album Legion really amped the cutting intensity and demonic growled feel of the band, to create a satanic-focused death metal classic- which has yet to be really topped by the band or anyone else since.
 
The third and final disc in the set is Amon: Feasting The Beast. This appeared in 1993, it’s a ten-track album- that brings together the band's first two demos Sacrifice and Feasting The Beast, which was recorded between 1987 and the early 90s. It features early versions of the debut album tracks- it’s ok I guess to hear how the songs were tied up and streamlined, and how the band's sound became more precise and blackly focused. Though I’m not sure I can see myself playing it much, as really (aside from maybe one track) the debut released version are better- but it’s neat to have it here as a part of this set.
 
I can still recall the first time I heard the band's debut album when it came out in 1990, and how I thought it was the most intense and satanically blacked metal craft I’d heard. And thirty-three years later I still say this early Deicide material still has wonderful urgency and intensity about it, and really the first two discs here don’t sound in any way dated or less impactful, from when they were first released.