Many years after leaving Deicide, the Hoffman brothers have
surfaced with a new record under the pre-Deicide band name, Amon. And a couple
of years later, the album is finally being reissued with proper distribution
and cover art. Since the departure of the Hoffman brothers, Deicide themselves
have had a bit of a rollercoaster ride in terms of quality, but the sound was
largely unchanged. This meant that Amon was actually a pretty big question
mark, but the good news is that “Liar In Wait” displays the trademark early
Deicide style riffing that made the band so popular in the first place.
Nearly everything about this release is similar to the first
three Deicide albums. For one thing, the vocalist is about as close to sounding
like Glen Benton as one could without actually being him. There is a very
convincing sound to his growls. This is complimented by the occasional use of
harmonized higher screams. In terms of the riffs, they are pretty top-notch
throughout. Sometimes they get a bit chuggier (whether through gallops or
straight chugging), but songs like “Among Us”, the title track, and “Sentience and Sapience” really
display a great old-school approach. The lead playing on this release is
stellar. It manages to be flashy and acrobatic, but in an evil way. The
shredding absolutely fits the theme of the album, but it still works its way
around the fretboard with ease. Often times the band relaxes the background
music in order to let the solos breathe (see “Eye of the Infinite” for two
great examples), and this is extremely effective, as it gives an entirely
different feel to the album, while still not losing the atmosphere of the
record. Another track that really displays how great these guitarists are is the
closer, “Wrath of Gaia”. It has a lot of similarity to “Slave To The Cross”
from “Serpents of the Light” in that it has a sweeping melody that dominates
the main riff of the song. Having spent this much time discussing the lead guitarists,
you can be rest assured those are the highlight of “Liar in Wait”. Moving on, the
drumming is fairly standard for death metal. All of the standards are there,
but it’s clear that it isn’t Steve Asheim drumming on this album. Nevertheless,
the drummer is more than serviceable, and he compliments the riffs well.
Listening to “Liar In Wait” and “In The Minds of Evil”, it
is pretty apparent how well all four of the core original members of Deicide complimented each
other. While both of these records sound very similar on the surface, it is
clear that neither band is entirely complete without the others. Amon retained
the better riff writers, while Deicide know how to construct a more enjoyable
song. Ultimately, however, we are left with two great bands, so it goes without
saying that if you like Deicide, you’re going to enjoy “Liar In Wait”.
Highlights
"Among Us"
"Liar In Wait"
"Wrath of Gaia"
Final Rating
4.25/5 or 85%.