Are you ready to experience the definitive death metal album? Deicide’s 1990 self-titled debut is not just one of the genre’s top-selling releases (if it’s not #1, it’s top three); it’s also a staggering philosophical and artistic statement. “Uncompromising” is definitely the appropriate if euphemistic term to describe its stance on organized religion, which doesn’t just include Christianity but also Charles Manson (“Lunatic of God’s Creation”) and Jim Jones (“Carnage in the Temple of the Damned”). But it’s “Sacrificial Suicide” and “Dead by Dawn,” which references the Evil Dead movie for maybe the slightest hint of levity on what is a very black album, that have become stone-cold classics. The ferocity of the lyrics is matched if not surpassed by the musical attack, featuring piercing twin guitar leads from brothers Eric and Brian Hoffman, and bassist/lead singer Glen Benton’s evil exhortations. The real hero—or antihero—of the band, though, just might be drummer Steve Asheim, whose double kick drum “blastbeat” barrages defy belief. Remastered for vinyl by Mike Milchner of Sonic Vision, Deicide comes in metallic red and white “centurion” vinyl, complete with an insert with lyrics. Metal was never the same after this record…

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