For the past few years, the possibility of a good Deicide album was just a beautiful dream, like world peace or the sterilization of all of Insane Clown Posse's fans. Indeed, it was questionable whether Deicide would be around at all after their contract with Roadrunner Records ran out. Glen Benton lent his vocals to the latest Vital Remains album Dechristianize, and there were rumors that the band was going to call it a day. However, those rumors turned out to be false, as Deicide is back with Scars of the Crucifix, their seventh studio album and first for their new label, Earache Records.

This album sees the band moving away from the simplistic song structure of their recent releases and back to the more complex songwriting of their first two albums. There's nothing here that's as good as songs like "Lunatic of God's Creation" or "Behead the Prophet (No Lord Shall Live)", but it is nice to see the band once again putting some effort into their music. After the listless, uninspired performances on their albums Insineratehymn and In Torment In Hell, Scars of the Crucifix is a welcome surprise. These are some of the best songs Deicide has written in years.

The lyrics are still the weakest link in the band, mostly because Glen Benton seems incapable of singing about anything other than how much he hates God. Now, a lot of death metal bands sing about fairly limited range of subjects, but Glen Benton is downright monomaniacal. God speaks nothing but lies, God is a weakling, God squeezed the Charmin - after seven albums, we've kind of gotten the point. It wouldn't be so bad if Benton were slightest bit creative with his lyrics, but he simply writes the same thing over and over again. Still, it's not like people listen to Deicide for the amazing ideas presented in their songs, so it's a minor quibble.

The album comes with a DVD that I have not seen, but since Glen Benton lives in a gated community, I can only assume its video footage of him chasing kids off his lawn. I'm not sure how much longer Deicide is planning to stick around, as I believe the deal with Earache is only for one album, but this release is proof that they shouldn't be written off quite yet. If you were disappointed with the last few Deicide albums (and let's face it, who wasn't?), then you will be pleasantly surprised by Scars of the Crucifix.