Vital Remains have seemingly never been able to surpass the status of 'cult' band within the death metal genre. And with a line up that has been consistently unstable, with a revolving door of musicians, things might not always be the easiest to maintain. But in spite of all the potential setbacks, Vital Remains has remained consistent in their output, and Icons of Evil is quite possibly the best release of their career.

The album is quite epic in scope, with the average song clocking in at the 6 or 7 minute mark, with "Till Death" having a running time of just over 9 minutes long. The leads laid down by Dave Suzuki are nothing short of spectacular, and with the length of the songs being what they are, it's pretty safe to say that laying down vocals an album of this magnitude is a first for Glen Benton.

Lyrically, the band has not abandoned their extreme hatred for Christianity as a whole, and the album's artwork, which is completely in line with the anti-christian slant, is sure to become classic as it is easily some of the most blasphemous artwork ever produced for a death metal album.

What sets Vital Remains apart from the bulk of death and black metal bands (including Deicide) that focus on all things Satanic, and Anti-Christian, is in the strength of the music. Vital Remains incorporates some extremely catchy grooves amidst the onslaught of blast beats and classic death metal riffing, which is one thing that the vast majority of others neglect, or are simply incapable of incorporating.

With the release of "Dechristianize", Vital Remains found themselves being ranked amongst Death Metal's most elite. This was obviously a vast improvement for a band that had never achieved anything more than cult status prior to that. Now, with the release of 'Icons of Evil', Vital Remains are easily going to push past the majority of their newfound peers, and will soon find themselves at the top of the mountain that they've spent all these years slowly climbing. And at this point in their career, with most old school death metal bands having long since called it a day, there isn't a band more deserving of reaching that summit and laying claim to a throne.

'Icons of Evil' is the perfect album for former fans who have long since forgotten about death metal due to the amount of extreme stagnation and oversaturation the scene went through in the mid nineties carrying right on through to the new millenium. For those of you that are of a mind that death metal has nothing new to offer, and is just the same old rehashed crap, give this one a shot. It's sure to drop more than a few jaws, and revitalize interest in a scene that is on already on the upswing.