Warthur Deicide's brand of startlingly brutal and aggressive death metal continues on Once Upon the Cross. Whilst it's an extremely short album, running at less than half an hour, I think this works to the album's advantage - I've always found it best to experience Deicide in short, sharp shocks rather than subjecting myself to extended exposure to them. Glen Benton's vocals deserve particular note for the incredible amount of bile and hatred he is able to express through his death grunt. On the whole, there's no great surprises on here, but whilst Deicide only deliver what is expected of them they deliver it very well indeed.

Warthur Deicide's debut album might not have been a quantum leap in the development of death metal - after all, Death, Possessed, Morbid Angel, Entombed and Atheist all released earlier albums - but it more than makes up for that in really mastering the ideas and conventions of the American school of death metal and creating an exceptionally tight album around it. With fantastic soloing by the Hoffmans and absolutely deranged vocals by the gruff and gutteral Glen Barton, it's a treat from start to finish for any death metal fan, though it doesn't add so much that's particularly new or unknown in the genre.

J-Man The legendary debut from American death metal Deicide still stands today as one of the genre's most defining and seminal releases. Containing a level of brutality that few death metal albums had previously accomplished, as well as some of the most vehemently anti-Christian words ever penned, this 1990 classic is one of the crowning achievements in early death metal. A brutal, sinister, and blasphemous journey indeed, Deicide is also a surprisingly memorable release. All of the songs here are, in spite of being insanely brutal and dense, instantly recognizable - throughout this rather short album you'll find some of the most memorable and powerful riffs in all of death metal. While it can be a bit too one-dimensional at times, Deicide is a classic and (for my money) one of the best American old school death metal albums.

For anyone with any knowledge of the raw, blasphemous, and semi-technical style of American old school death metal, it's immediately clear that Deicide is the absolute epitome of this sound. On this album you've got the fat guitar riffs, fast-paced rhythm section, and rather technical compositions, as well as some of the most evil, anti-Christian, and Satanic lyrics you'll ever read. Glen Benton's tepid lyrical formula got old on a few later Deicide albums, but here his hatred and anger shines through in a way that can only be described as pure brilliance. His unique and insanely gifted vocal techniques which often combine deep guttural growls with high-pitched shrieks sound like a demon straight from hell - I can't think of a more fitting vocal style for lyrics like this. Despite this being only their debut, the other musicians are also exceptionally tight and precise; these guys were gifted musicians and songwriters right from the get-go. Right from the opening lick in “Lunatic of God's Creation” to the cryptic ending of “Crucifixation”, the listener is blown away by highly memorable and insanely brutal death metal madness. Certainly not a journey worth taking for the faint of heart (or, much less so, the religious fellow), Deicide is an angry and irresistible listen if you're in the mood for such an album. Factor in the beefy production from none other than Scott Burns and it looks like we've got a classic on our hands.

Deicide is one of the most important extreme metal releases of 1990, but my praise for the album doesn't stop there. In addition to being an essential classic based on historical merit, this is a damn good record from start to finish, filled to the brim with memorable riffs, passionately pissed off vocals, and some of the most mosh-inducing sections in all of metal. I don't love all of Deicide's later outings, but this debut is a fresh, original, and astonishing sentiment of old school death metal. 4 stars (or pentagrams) are well-deserved for this highly recommendable classic.

UMUR "To Hell With God" is the 10th full-length studio album by US death metal act Deicide. The album was released in February 2011 by Century Media Records.

As suspected the music on "To Hell With God" is unmistakably the sound of Deicide albeit with a few new twists and turns. Blasphemous/anti-Christian lyrical themes delivered in an aggressive growling fashion, fast blasting beats and some really impressive guitar solos by Ralph Santolla. His solos add another and more musical dimension to Deicide´s otherwise raw and uncompromising death metal style and that´s greatly appreciated and needed IMO. While the music certainly is fast and furious there are actually quite a few mid-paced heavier parts on the album too. A very nice development of sound which means that the 35:44 minutes that the album lasts fly by in no time.

"To Hell With God" starts with a string of particularly strong tracks in "To Hell With God" (did I hear something that resembles melody here...?), "Save Your", "Witness of Death" and "Conviction" and while I think the memorability of the material drops slightly from there to only pick up again on the strong album closer "How Can You Call Yourself a God", the quality is generally high and I´m pretty well entertained by the album. Glen Benton isn´t exactly the most convincing growler anymore and his vocals come off as one-dimensional and lacking a bit of power. He gets the job done but nothing more. Honestly I think he is a pale shade of his former self but that´s been the case for a number of years and albums, so I´m not really surprised. It´s not a big issue, but it´s definitely not a positive either.

Overall I´m positively surprised by how much I actually enjoyed "To Hell With God" and I definitely think it´s one of the band´s stronger albums in recent years. A 3.5 star rating is deserved.

Wilytank The thing that makes Deicide's discography so easy to listen through is that most of them are only around 30 minutes long (their longest is 'Til Death Do Us Part' at 42 minutes). What they do in the album is what really makes it a should-have or a skippable album.

'In Torment in Hell' got a lot of slander by many metal critics. There are even some who speculate that Deicide made this album terrible on purpose to help break their contract with Roadrunner Records. I wouldn't say that this album is TOO terrible, but I would say that this is their weakest offering in their career as of yet. The musicianship is solid as it usually has been, but there really isn't anything here that really stands out. Some of the songs are really repetitive.

It's not as bad as some say, but it's not recommended to anyone.