Review by Sam on August 3, 2026.

I really don’t understand why this record is so shat upon. We all know that the first two from Deicide are masterpieces of death metal and blasphemy. On this, their third LP, we find a slightly more streamlined, yet still evil and devastating Deicide adding some true classics to their oeuvre. 'Kill The Christian'? This was a song that simply HAD to be written by these hellish heshers. Glen Benton hates Christianity, and he’s made a living at spouting that hatred. I’m quite sure I’m not alone when I wish I could say the same.

Deicide is one of those bands that can subtly play outside of 4/4 and still make it feel like natural time. The first riff in the album opener and title track is a prime example of this technique, as it is played in 6/8 with a half-time feel, and man, it’s just fuckin brutal. It’s so subtle that the listener doesn’t really notice the effortless transition into 4/4. One thing about the Legion record is that while it is technically proficient, you get the feeling while listening to it that the band was trying quite hard to be technical. The riffs are jagged, and the transitions are jarring at times, and the strangely muffled production of that album can make it a difficult listen.

All of those kinks have been worked out on Once Upon The Cross. This is one of Scott Burns’s finest productions with all of the instruments and vocals represented in a crisp, loud, and crushing fashion. And yes, Deicide demonstrates here that they are effective, even catchy, songwriters as the bulk of this material is verse-chorus-verse. However, these are some of the most malignant and hateful verses and choruses ever put to tape. 'When Satan Rules His World' is an absolute highlight of this effort. Here is some Bentonic blasphemy at its finest:

Open the door, Jehovah, you whore
I am the servant of who rules this world
Arch nemesis of your light
One look at me and you know he is I

This crushing verse is laid down in a mid-tempo 6/8, and this is genre-defining death fucking metal. They seamlessly transition into a 7/4 pre-chorus that again you can’t really tell is an odd meter unless you’re actively looking for it. I can’t emphasize enough that this song is a masterclass of death metal songwriting that exhibits technical chops while presenting the listener with multiple catchy, headbangable grooves.

Now I must discuss the other masterpiece featured on this album, and that is its cover. It’s white. How many extreme metal album covers can you think of that are not only white, but starkly haunting as this one is? I have no doubt that Deicide took considerable flak for releasing a white album, but the Christ figure bleeding through the death sheet simply leaves no doubt as to what these dudes were about. 'Kill The Christian', motherfuckers!

The other standout of Once Upon The Cross is 'They Are The Children Of The Underworld '. The speed metal intro sets the tone for the supremely evil gutturals of Glen Benton. The chorus drops to half time for some of the most punishing moments of the entire album. Throughout this tune (and the whole record, for that matter), death metal master Steve Asheim demonstrates a full showcase of extreme drumming from precision blast beats to expert and blistering double bass. I got to meet Steve while the band was on tour in 2016, and I can honestly say he is one of the kindest and most accommodating dudes in the scene. He answered all my nerdy questions about his drumming history and methods, signed my shit, and took pictures with me. A stand-up guy and a hero to death metal drummers.

So yeah, say what you will about Deicide being cheesy and formulaic. Their formula has allowed them to make a living and travel the world doing what they love. You know exactly what you’re going to get when you put a Deicide record on, and to me that’s not a bad thing. I hope they continue to release the same album until they are physically unable to perform. Fear him, fear him, fear him… Satan!!

Rating: 9.4 out of 10

Review by Jeger on May 21, 2025.

The mighty Deicide! The blasphemous kings of Satanic death metal. Okay, it's not really Satanic, unless you consider the LaVeyan idea of merely using Satanic imagery and concepts as a means to blaspheme the church Satanic, which I certainly do not. Occultists who practice ritual summonings, black magick and who are members of actual magickal Orders are true Satanists, but I digress. Deicide's Satanic themes are pretty juvenile and that's the reason why they were hated by Euronymous and the Norwegian Inner Circle, but the music? Shit, man, Mayhem STILL can't play like Deicide, and they most certainly couldn't back in the early '90's. Just compare an album like "De Mysteriis Dom Sathanas" to Legion. Not even fair! Legion made Norwegian black metal artists look like Kindergartners and also many of the bands that called Florida home for that matter. Quite possibly the most furious death metal album ever created.

In 1995 following Legion, Deicide released their third full-length studio LP, Once Upon The Cross. With this one, Glen and crew decided to tone it down a bit and focus more on brutality: big fat riffs and Caveman rhythms along with a temped approach to soloing. The result is a highly accessible death metal record that opened Hell's gates to fans who had not yet given DM a real shot, all the while as it appeased the diehards. This aggressively brutal way of doing things is what separated Deicide from Morbid Angel who were more focused on technicality and classically inspired mumbo-jumbo. Once Upon The Cross is just a fucking banger; plain and simple. Concussive chugs and bludgeoning martial rhythms that give way to incinerating grinds and eviscerating blast beats - a feast of fire for the pyromaniac - raw blasphemy unleashed through the timeless art of true Floridian death metal. Conceptually, this was some deeply controversial shit back in the day. Tracks like "Kill The Christian" had Churchgoers and the entirety of the Bible Belt in a feverish uproar. And Glen's antics during interviews only fueled the mayhem. Ballsy stuff for that particular day and age. Even the original cover art was censored.

Once Upon The Cross features some of Deicide's finest deep cuts like "Trick Or Betrayed" that not only commands you to rip up a Bible, but also features the band in their most disciplined state; just fundamentally sound DM that hits at nut level and then there's the quasi-melodic "To Be Dead" that features a whole different side to the band. Probably the only Deicide track unique enough to be compared to something off of Death's "Human" or "Individual Thought Patterns". People who've ever been dumb enough to discredit Eric Hoffman's talents when compared to those of Chuck Schuldiner need only listen to this cut. Hoffman holds his own for sure.

28 minutes? Hardly seems like enough runtime, but what Once Upon The Cross lacks in duration, it makes up for in substance. Deicide provides a rich listening experience that truly feels lengthier than it actually is, and it's due to the album's savory mid-tempo. Fans wanted "Legion" 2.0, but to expect another record of that intensity would be asking too much. I honestly believe our boys here were on something when they recorded Legion… They had some choice coke down in Florida back in those days.

These days, Deicide has succumbed to the curse of modernity: AI cover art, sanitized product and experimentation not akin to their '90's records. Just not the same; no balls and very little imagination. But has Deicide ever been capable of imaginative lyric writing? The answer is no. As I've mentioned before, it is and always has been remedial at best, but it's the spirit of the band that is their ultimate selling point. To piss on the cross! To brutishly blaspheme and defile, to challenge ignorance and to promote free thinking in the only way Glen knows how and that's good enough for this ole boy. Is Once Upon The Cross an album to be remembered by? Not really, but it WILL get you banging your head and that's a guarantee.

Rating: 8 out of 10