Yes, Decapitated Christ are the latest band to give our beardy saviour a metaphorical kicking. Hailing from the darkest, most hellish region of sunny Spain, Decapitated Christ are basically a blood and guts black/death metal band, and God bless them (or damn them, I dunno), they're kind of entertaining.

_Antikristian Extreme Dekapitation_ isn't going to reshape the death metal landscape, but what it lacks in innovation, it makes up for in grim enthusiasm. They're vaguely reminiscent of Prostitute Disfigurement (which I maintain, is the best name for a band ever) in the way that their approach is simple, abrasive and as subtle as being hammered to a bit of wood. It's good fun, but there are a million bands making music like this.

Decapitated Christ have very little to differentiate themselves from the quagmire of death metal monotony, which is strange considering their promo sheet states that "the only intention behind this record is to shake the ground beneath all those trend-metal, hobby bands and drown them on the sea of mediocrity". Yes, that's all very well chaps, but when you yourselves are floating precariously close to the Sargasso Sea of banality, statements like that are going to look a little flimsy, aren't they?

Consequently the record gets pretty dull after a while. This brand of death metal has been done before, and better. You find your mind idly focusing on other matters, like making dinner, doing the ironing or impregnating a sheep in honour of the Dark Lord. It's all very well being defiantly old-school, but when you get modern tinged death metal bands as savage and original as The Amenta or Cephalic Carnage, being old-school... well, it's just fucking daft, isn't it?

They show promise, but Decapitated Christ should perhaps think about expanding their horizons a bit. You know... maybe listen to some ELO or Depeche Mode amidst all their brutal death. They might get some ideas, and they'd be all the better for it.

Heads up!