Insineratehymn

At first listen, this album feels pretty similar to its predecessor, Serpents Of The Light, but there are a few elements (most of which aren’t too obvious; they require a bit of careful listening) that make Insineratehymn a different beast. Let’s see what Deicide changed and what they kept here.

There is definitely a slower, sludgier feel to most of the riffs on this disc if we compare it to the rest of the pre-2000 Deicide catalog. Don’t get me wrong; this isn’t a doom/death metal album, not by a long shot, but whereas albums like Legion have only one purpose, which is to bludgeon the listener with their technical compositions and breakneck speed, Insineratehymn goes for a slower approach. Imagine a Suffocation-style slam riff, remove most of its dizzying complexity, and you have a pretty accurate idea of what the slower moments sound like on this album.

Now, a few other things are going on as usual here. The brief guitar solos manifest themselves as short bursts of melodic shredding that decorate the rest of the music nicely, the drumming still has a lot of thrash influence, and it incorporates occasional blast beats here and there. Of course, Benton’s growling is still as crisp, brutal, and dry as it was since day one. The production is pretty much perfect for what it is: every instrument is clear enough, none of them seem to overshadow the others, and there is a lot of space for the harmonized riffing, courtesy of the Hoffmann brothers.

Sadly, the songs themselves just aren’t very memorable. In fact, they all seem to blend together. Sure, there are a few clear characteristics in each track, but at the end of the day, they don’t have the charisma (so to speak) that most of the earlier Deicide tunes have. Most of the sludgy moments seem to go nowhere, although I do appreciate Deicide going for a slower style; variety is the spice of life, or so they say. Not essential, not even highly recommendable, but still a decent album.