It's a toss-up for me either 2003's 'Dechristianize' or this one, 'Icons of Evil'. I don't pay attention to anyone else's reviews so there is no influence on scores or review material latched onto. I think 'Icons of Evil' is a little less raw and I favored it a bit more than the predecessor it was a little more death metal oriented too. I like a bit of the guitar harmonics as well. Glen Benton sounds like he does on later Deicide releases. A little monotonous but that's alright. It fit well with the music and lyrical topics (since he is a Satanist). I enjoyed the whole album just didn't key into the lyrics since they're not my cup of tea.

A long album, but that's a little atypical of death metal releases. The average is about 30-45 minutes this one is over 60 minutes! I thought that it was good though they spent a while with the songwriting. And I liked the guitars, not so much the leads just the rhythms and harmonics (Tony Lazaro and Dave Suzuki on guitar, latter also on drums and bass guitar). It's mostly fast tempos. Brutal music but I thought better than the earlier Vital Remains; too raw for me, not 'Dechristianize' but their earlier work. Wasn't a big fan of the earlier stuff. They have not released an album since this one but they're still active. I'm not sure when they're going to come out with new music but this one and 'Dechristianize' I'll settle with.

The production was top notch I believe thanks to Erik Rutan who's now in Cannibal Corpse replacing Pat O'Brien. I'm not sure if there are any original members left of the original band. They've gone threw so many line-up changes! And even though they're continuing on the Satanic route sort of death metal they could sure put out something of the "newer" sound for the band. We'll have to wait and see. I don't think Glen is going to do any more guest lead vocals since he's still tied up with Deicide. But I'll be watching for that, and he did a great job filling in with the time that he had with the band.

I had to order these CD's from eBay: They, to me, were worth ordering. Even if it is the only two that I'll ever own of the band. Don't expect anything utter than brutal death metal with a tinge of melodic work from those albums and this one even more brutal. Both 'Dechristianize' and 'Icons of Evil' are some of my favorite death metal albums of all time. Long live Vital Remains!

Rating: 10 (out of 10) ratings explained

Reviewed by Death8699
05/07/2021 09:26