Deicide

The fact that bassist/growler Glen Benton burns inverted crosses into his forehead surely serves as proof of Deicide’s commitment to sonic sacrilege. The Tampa, Florida, quartet originally formed in 1987 under the name Amon before embracing Deicide (a nod to their virulently anti-Christian death metal) in time for their 1990 debut. This set the stage for 1992’s Legion. Much like Slayer’s Reign In Blood six years earlier, the record’s pummelling riff chaos and athletic endurance transforms extreme metal into avant-garde jazz, making Deicide the perfect band for the sort of headbangers who root for Pazuzu when watching The Exorcist. While Benton played up Deicide’s diabolical reputation with controversial comments about sacrificing animals and claims of demonic possession, the group continued dropping relentless albums like 1995’s Once Upon the Cross and 2000’s Insineratehymn. After the 2004 departure of the founding guitarists, brothers Eric and Brian Hoffman, Deicide began peeking outside death metal for inspiration, like the doom churn of 2008’s Till Death Do Us Part. But as 2018’s Overtures of Blasphemy demonstrates, they always return to the ungodly excesses that have made them death-metal icons.