Once Upon The Cross, the third album from these Floridian death metal monsters, offers up more of the good stuff; every song is an explosive salvo of an uncountable number of flattening/scorching/careening riffs, killer drumming, anti-Christian overtones, and visceral vocals. It flies by at a speed which sometimes matches vintage Sepultura, and at other times is even as fast as some Slayer songs. The album opening title track begins with someone portraying Jesus yelling "Father! Why have you forsaken me?!" The actual song then begins, with rather slow, pounding riffs. The double bass kicks in, though, and the beat becomes much faster. "Christ Denied" has fast, super heavy churning riffs, and "When Satan Rules His World" and "Kill The Christian" burst the gate wide open with blinding guitar noise that rushes by like a flash flood. Track seven, "Behind The Light Thou Shall Rise," is highlighted by some insane drumming and a searing guitar solo, and, finally, "Confessional Rape" has still more machine gun, cascading, (occasionally churning) guitars. This album is bogged down a little because it all zooms by at about all one tempo (warp speed). Deicide just shove the metal down the listener's throat, and, even though the band seemingly forgot that death metal can be a little slow, too, "Once Upon The Cross" is still a great, classic, and essential listen from the band that is one with all things evil.
