Deicide - Serpents of the Light (1997)

I don't know WHAT the fuck they were thinking when they gave the "thumb's up" for that album cover but holy fucking herpes, Buttman!! That right there should've got the alarm bells ringing but for some reason I just chalked it up as a case of a possible classic unfortunately adorned with a shitty album cover. Nope. This was pretty much the beginning of the end right here.

Now let's get this straight... Deicide have NEVER fagged out. It's not like they ever released an alternative -ep- filled with techno remixes of beloved chestnuts. No, but the quality of each album since 'Once Upon the Cross' has been on a consistent spiral downward. Sure, I know that many people believe that 'The Stench of Redemption' was some sort of second coming but I for one have never seen it as anything but yet another lackluster outing amidst a sea of the same ol', same ol'.

The first thing that bummed me out about 'Serpents...' was that they went back to the higher pitch of the first two albums. Sure, it worked for those albums but when you're essentially playing in the same simplistic manner as the previous album (OUTC) I would suggest sticking with the same sludgy sound in order to give each riff that added impact. Here, everything just sounds ultra-faggy and tinny to the max.

Glen sounds 'ok'. In fact, there are moments here and there where he sounds his most hateful (choking the life from you with my bare hands). The biggest gripe I have with his performance on this album is the predictability of his lyrical arrangements. Where his technique worked for the three albums leading up to 'Serpents...', it all just sounds mechanical and uninspired this time around. Unfortunately this has been Glenny's way of doing things ever since (though things have gotten worse due to his need to overwhelm each riff with incessant "portions" of his ultra-juvenile brand of lyricism).

There are a few 'ok' tracks on this album but the remainder is quite worrying and looking back in hindsight it's really no surprise to see how things fell apart shortly thereafter.