The 2012 Arsies: January 9, 2012

January 9, 2012

Deicide won the coin toss, so we'll start the metal mayhem today with them. (Actually, vocalist Glen Benton shot the coin in mid-air with a bloodstained pellet gun, so we're just gonna go with that.) “To Hell With God” starts with no intro, fanfare, buildup, or foreplay... just a blistering title track, literally full of evil. And that's the message and the meat of this album, as each track delivers on the promise that Deicide has so often left unfilled in their career: nothing too fancy here, just good old-fashioned American Satanism. If there's a surprise to this album at all, it's simply that the album is as great as it is.
Unearth's “Darkness In The Light” also ignores the surprise factor, instead serving up good old-fashioned Massachusetts metalcore. This, the band's fifth album, was produced by Killswitch Engage's Adam Dutkiewicz, and you can definitely hear a few Killswitch touches that feel novel here, but they generally add to Unearth's more traditional punched-in-the-throat stylings. Listen to the beginning of Coming Of The Dark to hear what I'm talking about. And while this isn't nearly as dark as the Deicide, the whole album just works a bit better. It was a close one, but ultimately Unearth edges ahead for the win! Huzzah!
Tomorrow, it's time for a decidedly brainy showdown: TesseracT taking on Cynic.