I guess there’s no need to struggle to understand that Glen Benton is now the very embodiment of Satan’s envoy, depravity, and evil—he makes it blatantly obvious. The latest wave crashing down on us with Vital Remains, a band hell-bent on trampling religious icons underfoot, came in the form of Icons Of Evil, which was clear and defining enough on its own.
Who could have guessed that from a place like Rhode Island, home of writers and poets like Edgar Allan Poe and Lovecraft, a band as insane as Vital Remains would rise one day, reshape the entire nature of the region, and drown it in hellish darkness? After moving from Osmose to Century Media, and with the addition of a man like Glen Benton in the lineup following their 2003 album Dechristianize, anything became possible for Vital Remains. Icons Of Evil is a 2007 album that slaps you hard and makes its mark.
The lineup on this record consists of Tony Lazaro on rhythm guitar, Dave Suzuki handling drums, bass, and lead guitar, and Glen Benton on vocals. One of the biggest advantages for the band on this album was having Erik Rutan—known from Morbid Angel and Hate Eternal—as producer. Rutan truly made a difference, filling the gaps left by previous albums, and his precise tweaks added a dark and brazen tone, especially noticeable in the drum production.
Everything you expect from Vital Remains is here: 10 long, high-speed, brutally slaying tracks totaling over an hour. Building firmly on the success of Dechristianize, this album raises the bar higher, and I’m already afraid to imagine what they might deliver next.
But before you listen, don’t get caught up thinking this album is drastically different from Dechristianize. Vital Remains remains one of the original and definitive names in pure Death Metal. Some may prefer Dechristianize, but in my view, Icons Of Evil stands even taller.
Considering there’s only a year between them, you’ll notice some influences reminiscent of Deicide’s 2006 album The Stench Of Redemption. The only puzzling choice is the inclusion of a Yngwie Malmsteen cover, Disciples of Hell, but these guys clearly have their reasons.
Relentless layered vocals, anti-Christian lyrics, and incredible musicianship are the album’s three magic keys. The band has mastered constructing compositions that flow and hit hard with surgical precision.
Glen Benton, who this year continued to flip the bird to Jesus with Deicide’s Til Death Do Us Part, delivers his monstrous, inhuman vocal performance here again—spitting satanic verses from a microphone propped against hell’s gate, turning everything into a nightmare. At times his vocals become overly simplistic; at others, they’re complex and near-impossible to follow.
The drums and guitar riffs are raw and straightforward. Most songs are built on repetitive riffs, but the guitarists complement these with melodic interludes, creating a tight combination. Suzuki and Lazaro’s technical bravado combined with Benton’s furious, cauldron-like growls form a stellar backbone.
Dave Suzuki, the multi-instrumentalist mastermind behind the drums, bass, and lead guitar, is the band’s core powerhouse. Listening to him, one can only marvel. Especially on this album, his sweep-picking, chaotic drumming, and his ideological guidance—channeling the satanic lyrics through Benton—showcase his vast talent. His chemistry with Tony Lazaro, the other core guitarist, is seamless. The only criticism is that the bass is a bit buried, often trailing behind the guitars rather predictably.
Lyrically, the band remains unapologetically rebellious, railing against Christianity, killing Jesus, and denying God—the full Deicide & Vital Remains satanic manifesto—drowning all sacred themes in hellfire.
Tracklist:
Where Is Your God Now
Icons of Evil
Scorned
Born to Rape the World
Reborn... The Upheaval of Nihility
Hammer Down the Nails
Shrapnel Embedded Flesh
’Til Death
In Infamy
Disciples of Hell (Yngwie Malmsteen cover)
Taking a closer look at some tracks: what a start! The intro, Where Is Your God Now, features sounds that won’t feel unfamiliar—it’s taken from Mel Gibson’s The Passion of the Christ.
The title track Icons Of Evil plunges us straight into hell itself, opening with a cry of hatred. Benton roars “Where is your God?” and with his venomous throat drags you into his hellish journey. The track’s provocative riffing and gradually intensifying drums explode after the two-minute mark, bursting into epic melodies and roaring solos. With uncountable riffs, breath-stealing melodies, and merciless blast beats like machine-gun fire, this song alone stands as a masterpiece worthy of the whole album.
Another Vital Remains masterpiece is Scorned, where the band’s relentless pace is obvious—staggering drums, dizzyingly melodic lead guitars shifting between heavy and fast tempos. Following it, Born to Rape the World smashes through with guitar wizardry like a steamroller. Reborn... The Upheaval of Nihility surprises with unexpected elements—devastating drum work that sounds like it’s played by an eight-armed drummer, interspersed with beautiful acoustic guitar passages creating a wildly different atmosphere. The band masterfully balances chaos with memorable melodies and perfect tempo control. Hammer Down the Nails is memorable for its crushing guitar tone, Suzuki’s threatening riffs driving the song forward, unleashing Death Metal’s brutal assault.
Shrapnel Embedded Flesh is one of the album’s most characterful tracks, shining a strong light on the album’s technical grandeur. ’Til Death combines Lazaro and Suzuki’s harmonic finesse, stunning with terrifying riffs and melodic, haunting solos that dazzle the senses—you decide if it’s your eyes or ears being dazzled. The Malmsteen cover Disciples Of Hell is well executed, even better than the original in my opinion, but feels somewhat out of place in the band’s discography and thus a bit monotonous.
Two instrumental titans joined by a monstrous vocalist—Icons Of Evil stands as one of Death Metal’s purest and most mature offerings. The legions of hell are standing and ready, here to destroy divine concepts. Remember: the devil never rests, he is still here, showing himself boldly.