Originally released in 1998, Deprecated's sole recording "Deriding His Creation" has found new life via Unique Leader Records. Those in the know understand there is no better place to reintroduce such an album of bone-snapping, ear-drum-popping force. Featuring members of such vaunted acts as Decrepit Birth, Disgorge, Defeated Sanity, Vital Remains, Dying Fetus, and most of all, Suffocation, Deprecated fits Unique Leader's roster like an Ed Gein custom-made skin mask.
Whether assailing the listener with full-throttle speed or smashing spinal cords with slamming grooves, "Deriding His Creation" is a piercing, pummeling force that never relents. After fully hearing the album, though, this underlining theme results in mixed reactions to the final product, depending on who you ask.
There is a comfortable familiarization due to squealing harmonics and popping bass courtesy of Derek Boyer. Terrance Hobbs (Suffocation) and Matt Sotelo (Decrepit Birth) churn out blistering guitar notes and the band's stop-n-start rhythms that touch on Cannibal Corpse and Suffocation. The opening title track features a hellish rhythm Deicide fans will shoot their infernal load all over. However, when one takes the album as a whole, "Deriding His Creation" lacks the dynamics and technical precision of the above-mentioned artists.
Drums switch from beat to beat seamlessly. The drummer is precise like a machine, never missing a hit or making a wimpy stroke. He plays a variety of blasts and double bass rhythms at midpace, never losing momentum. I'm pretty astounded at the sheer tightness of the performance. The drums are also very well recorded, with all parts of the kit audible and realistic sounding. No bizarre trigger-replaced sounds or obviously fixed performance. The only imperfection I can find in the drum production is an occasional overtone in the left speaker, which I only really detected with headphones. I suppose the drums were recorded in a funny room, so cymbals are bouncing off a wall back into the mic.
Guitars play evil, chugging atonal riffs. Although there is little to no traditional melodic logic to the riffs, there is still somehow a sense of changing keys from section to section. Something a lot of death metal guitarists could learn from. The tone is quite thin though, for the most part a crunching treble sound. I am personally fine with that, though, because the thin quality of the guitars leaves plenty of room for the bass...
Derek Boyer, most famous for his current work with Suffocation, has some very audible bass work here. The bass and two guitars (I don't know the details of the lineup, but at least sonically there are two guitars here) seem to meld into a three-pronged assault of sheer tightness, with all three sharing audibility. That's pretty unique, in death metal. Derek and the guitars just roll through the songs with such awesome unison. It's quite beastly.
"Deriding His Creation" would benefit greatly from a few Terrance Hobbs solos to differentiate one scathing section from another. There are plenty of meaty parts for listeners to sink their teeth into. The only problem is these parts don't last long enough to fully savor the flavor, as Deprecated doesn't give most of the riffs a chance to breath.
Fans of bands that create music simply for the love of brutality will hail this album as an underground classic. If this is what you seek, then by all means, grab a copy of "Deriding His Creation." This scribe would rather reach for the diversity and complexity found in the bands its members are better known for, however.
Track list
- Deriding His Creation
- Mentally Deprived
- Realization of Betrayal
- Induced Deception
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