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Make it feature-length (and by that, I mean twice as long as
a Slayer album) number two for the Benton-era, Icons lashing out with similar
inversions as elder Dechristianize, as the slaying formula proves true and
mighty to the American audience with Roman ears. Positive changes this time
around to the mix, as the weak, tinny drum sound of past is given anchor to
dominate. Not a heavier, but a heftier record, everything a sliver of an octave
deeper. Benton’s esophagus is in top shape (its lining, however…) and if you’re
into that sort of thing in metal, provides a super guttural to spear-helm the
blast-beat barrage. The intensity he provides Vital Remains is fully realized
following the rough genius of Dechristianize, although I remain of opinion that
8-minute song lengths grow more ambient and less explosive. Still, the energy
never dissolves, despite its Wagnerian arm reach, and Icons of Evil is how
brutal death metal should sound: unrelenting, punishing, and forward (not
downward), with riffs to be heard and not drowned by excessive drums and pipes.
It continues with what worked in the Florida and New York scenes when Scott
Burns was transcribing the artistry of first generation extremer. And really,
this gnashes its teeth more than any post-1995 Deicide album has, a spirit wolf
of the old guard protecting its early 90’s stylistic brethren. A fortunate US
death metal act not to fall prey to the Brain Drill surgery of progressive
obscurity.
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