I’ve been looking forward to this new Vital Remains for awhile now, every since I heard reports about Anthony Geremia’s vocal prowess and how it- to quote one rabidly anti-Christian death metal fan I overhead- "raped the wounds of Christ like a twelve cocked bukkake-asaurus sired from the loins of Old Scratch himself." Every indication of Anthony’s vocal performance is basically that he’s basically the fucking man. Alas, much to the despair of all of us who missed Vital Remains live and looked forward to a studio album with Anthony, this is not the case. Anthony was only a session vocalist for Vital Remains‘ tour and was not tapped for Icons Of Evil. Instead, Glen Benton (aka Strawberry Cupcake) has crawled out of his mountain of partly eaten ho-ho’s and pictures of the pope with poor penis caricatures drawn on to hop on his poorly oiled hog and gracefully ride out of Clearwater to take over vocal duties once again for Vital Remains.

Not that I mind, though. I actually liked Dechristianize, and after the about-face direction of the latest Deicide (aka Strawberry Cupcake and the Chucklefucks) album, Stench of Redemption, Strawberry Cupcake is slowly gaining a small amount of respect from me. (Keyword: "small") Combine that with Vital Remains‘ past discography of minimally solid (if not great) releases, and one can see why I don’t particularly get scared with Strawberry Cupcake at the vocal helm.

Which brings us to Icons of Evil. Well, I have good news and I have bad news. The good news is that if you liked Dechristianize, this is more or less "Dechristianize Part 2: De Jesus Strikes Back". The bad news is two fold: if you hated Dechristianize, this is more or less "Dechristianize Part 2: De Jesus Strikes Back" and even if you liked Dechristianize this is more or less "Dechristianize Part 2: De Jesus Strikes Back". I know it sounds confusing, but just stay with me.

Right from the intro ripped off from popular Christian films, climaxing in a violent roar of destruction, Icons of Evil follows every technique, segue, and stylistic decision that was prevalent on Dechristianize. The new album departs a tad bit by relying a lot more on melodic guitar work than the last album did, but even so every song on Icons of Evil could fit into the last album with virtually no awkwardness. So whatever criticisms and approvals you had of Dechristianize can be applied almost flawlessly here, too.

This isn’t to say Dechristianize fans won’t have a problem with Icons of Evil. There is one additional flaw that the previous analysis doesn’t mention: all the songs are too god damn bloody long! Yes, Dechristianize had similar lengths on its songs, but the difference is the songs on Dechristianize didn’t expend everything each song offered in the first 4 minutes! Songs like "Rush of Deliverance" spread out its elements equally over the length of the song, thus keeping the listener enthralled and wanting to get to the end. The problem with much of Icons of Evil is the band gets everything done in the first 3-4 minutes and then just keeps going; the end result is songs will run together and even the most ardent fan of Dechristianize is going to get bored. You could trim a good twenty minutes off this record and it wouldn’t take a negative hit in quality. On the contrary, it would probably get a boost because the songs will remain fresh and the listener will stay interested.

That’s more or less what the album boils down to: whether or not you liked Dechristianize and how easy it is to make you numb. If you don’t bore easily and you liked Dechristianize, then prepared to get a huge god damn Satanic hard-on. If not, stick with Vital Remains‘ older catalogue. Personally, I don’t mind the album and at times I enjoy it, but the way they expend everything by the middle of each song really makes this something that I can only take in small doses. (Note: I’ll make an exception on the final track "Disciples of Hell". Talk about out of place. Is this a cover that has eluded my grasp? Either way, it’s fucking great.) Written By: Necro-tron