Here, I seek to make up for lost time and showcase one of the more unique bands in Christian death metal, taking an in-depth look at their many releases over the last 30 or so years, and ranking them, as you\u2019ve come to expect, from worst to first. Let\u2019s dig in.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Deathbed Poetry: Hope Against Hope<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n Hyper-active melodeath reminiscent of Renascent on here that is frankly pretty astounding in terms of the skill on display, but there\u2019s just one hitch, for me at least: the vocals. A lot of people, I hear, were pretty choked when Steve Rowe of Mortification ditched his thunderous death metal roar for a kind of strained, shouted vocal, and here, I feel like Deuteronomium did the same thing in a way. The music is fantastic, energetic and technically proficient, but the shouted vocals that dominate on this record take away from the effect and are almost distracting. A shame too, considering how awesome vocalist Mike Partala\u2019s growls and screams can be. Not a terrible record by any means, but not my favourite.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Retaliatory Strike<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n Deuteronomium\u2019s style by this point has hardened a bit more into a less experimental sound, one more grounded in the established melodic death metal style. Like Sacrament, they incorporate a lot of gang shout-style vocals on this one, and for me, it\u2019s not my favourite thing. I think that, for me, this one simply doesn\u2019t stand out, despite it being musically accomplished. The approach on here, in other words, is simply done better elsewhere. That said, if you liked the more frenetic approach on Deathbed Poetry: Hope Against Hope<\/em> but weren\u2019t keen on the clean vocals that dominated it, you might really enjoy this EP.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Crosshope<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n I feel like this demo was simultaneously a step back and a step forward for the band. Occasionally slower than Paths of Righteousness<\/em>, Crosshope<\/em>, at times, bears a lot in common with the sound of early Sentenced (circa-Shadows of the Past<\/em>) and early Antestor, but also sometimes echoes super early In Flames (circa the criminally underrated Lunar Strain<\/em>). Of course, that sounds like a great recipe on paper, and to be sure, the death metal on here is promising, and the Ulver-like acoustic guitars are beautiful. However, the singing on here is really cringe-inducing, sad to say, and the last track, \u201cFire of Trials,\u201d is downright awful (a preview of some of the boundary-pushing they\u2019d do on Street Corner Queen<\/em>). I get that it\u2019s a demo, but the production seems worse than their first effort, sounding more like a jam session than a proper record. All of that said though, for me it\u2019s still an interesting piece of Finnish death metal history, but the muddled sound and awkward singing keep it from moving up the list.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Paths of Righteousness<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n That cover art. That logo. I love it – and I\u2019m always sad to see bands changed their more \u201cextreme\u201d logos to something more legible, but that\u2019s for another album. Paths of Righteousness<\/em> is the band\u2019s first demo, and definitely sounds like a demo. But if you can get past the rough production, there\u2019s a bit of a gem here. Sonically, it bears some similarities to early Mortification but is much slower and doomier. Yes, the production\u2019s thin, and yes, the clean-singing is not exactly the most tuneful, but it\u2019s cool. I dig it. Given a beefed-up production, this would be much better. Already the band is making it known that they\u2019re a bit different than the rest, incorporating a folksy flute into the proceedings. Rough but holds my interest.<\/p>\n\n\n\n From the Midst of Battle<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n After a several years long hiatus, Deuteronomium returned with this EP of classic melodic death metal. The band has eschewed its eclecticism of previous years in favour of a more straight ahead melodic death metal approach with an epic sensibility. Though it\u2019s not necessarily unique, it\u2019s really hard to argue against the solid nature of the material on here, and fans of classic In Flames will no doubt love this one. That, and the epic 17+ minute, My Silent Wake meets Pantokrator closer \u201cTales From the Midst of Battle\u201d makes this album a worthy one. A great blend of the heavier sounds of their early days with the melodeath of their later days.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The Amen<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n That\u2019s what I\u2019m talking about. Whenever you see a band go back to its old \u201cextreme\u201d logo, you know you\u2019re going to be in for a treat. The Amen<\/em> sees Deuteronomium return to its earliest roots, slowing the music down and largely ditching the death \u2019n roll sounds of their mid-period in favour of a crunchier, mid-paced death\/doom metal sound. Those who have become accustomed to the band\u2019s energized melodic death metal approach since Here To Stay<\/em> might be disappointed somewhat by this band\u2019s heavier and chunkier approach, but I think this is the sound of what they were initially going for back in the early 90\u2019s. The blend of melody with the sludgier sounds of bands like GROMS, early Sentenced and early Pantokrator works, even if it\u2019s not as original as their late 90\u2019s material.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Tribal Eagle<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n Even though death \u2019n roll has never been my first choice when it comes to death metal\u2019s many subgenres and styles, there\u2019s something kind of exciting about Deuteronomium\u2019s obvious take on the style, even if it\u2019s not my thing. It\u2019s got a braggadocious swagger to it that fans of classic hard rock and heavy metal will love, loaded with flashy guitar solos to boot. But what makes it more interesting than other examples in the style is its eclecticism. If you\u2019re big on Entombed post-Clandestine<\/em>, I feel like this album is going to be your bag. What stands out to me is how the last track \u201cBlue Moment\u201d turns the whole EP on its head with its melancholic black metal approach. Just another indicator of this band\u2019s obvious refusal to be pigeon-holed into one sound or style.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Here To Stay<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n Here To Stay <\/em>is a step back, for sure, from the all-over-the-map approach of Street Corner Queen<\/em>, and I think its more straightforward approach is somewhat of a letdown from all the excitement and originality heard on the previous record. But that doesn\u2019t mean it\u2019s a bad album; in fact, it\u2019s hard driving mix of melodeath and death \u2019n roll is extremely well done, and those who found Street Corner Queen<\/em>\u2019s hyper-eclectic approach bewildering will love the laser-focused metal on here. Fans of Pantokrator, 90\u2019s Carcass, Entombed and 90\u2019s In Flames will find a ton to love here.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Street Corner Queen<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n Man, not one version of Street Corner Queen<\/em>\u2019s album covers made me ever think the album would sound like this one. Infamous for being an album that threw a whole host of musical styles into the mix, it\u2019s the all-dressed chip of their discography. Extreme music demands extreme responses apparently, and this album garnered everything from total praise to total disdain. Veering from the thuggish death \u2019n roll of Entombed to searing hardcore punk to nu-metal-esque rap and reggae fusion to Gothenburg-influenced melodeath, the band really threw everything at the wall in hopes of something sticking. Does it work? Mostly, yes, though not without some major hiccups along the way. \u201cBonsai People\u201d is a real misstep, an oddly-inserted rap metal\/nu-metal track that sounds really out of place, even on an album like this, and \u201cEmpty Shell\u201d falls completely flat with its barely in tune singing and alt-rock riffs. \u201cHuman Nature\u201d is even worse, sounding like a demo of a lost rap metal B-side from 1999. It\u2019s inevitable I suppose. But take those three songs off of this record, and you\u2019ve got a classic. Street Corner Queen<\/em> is the album that showcases all of their influences like one giant buffet, from the slash \u2019n burn punk-influenced \u201cDruglord\u201d to the overtly black metal surge of noise entitled \u201cSpell of Hell\u201d to the classic Entombed influence heard on \u201cBlack Raven.\u201d Fans of bands as diverse as Believer, Entombed, Woods of Ypres, GROMS, In Flames and a whole ton of others will find something to love here. Bottom line, Street Corner Queen<\/em> is the band\u2019s most unique and perhaps most memorable album; its eclecticism is at once its strength and its weakness, but it makes for a melodic death metal album that stands out from the rest in spite of itself. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" When I think of early Christian death metal bands, invariably my mind jumps immediately to…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":24,"featured_media":15689,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1021],"tags":[271],"class_list":["post-15688","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-features-d97","tag-deuteronomium-d54"],"yoast_head":"\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/heavensmetalmagazine.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/hmdeut1.jpeg\")
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