Vanilla. Fragrant. Earthy. Fruity. Romantic. Simple. Be it milkshakes, pudding, cake, yogurt, or laundry soap, vanilla is simply delectable. Hell, if shit were vanilla scented and flavoured, I'd be the first one packing my swim trunks, lunch, beach blanket, snorkel, fins, and sunscreen for a day trip down to the local sewage treatment reservoir. But, unlike vanilla, shit should always be repulsive and repugnant (unless, of course, you are a chocolate loving scheisser connoisseur). Now, I'm not sure about you, but, death metal, like shit, should be the furthest thing away from the humble, folksy, deliciousness of vanilla. Death metal is never humble; nor is it ever folksy. To let it become either of these things is to ignore every rule the genre was founded upon. Yet, here I sit writing another review for a new DEICIDE album, this one entitled In The Minds Of Evil, that is all those aforementioned things that it shouldn't be; beyond, of course, the obvious platter of indigestible, christ-hating hymns we have all become accustomed to. To be fair, what else can Deicide do at this point in their career? There aren't many paths open to them. That said, 2006's The Stench Of Redemption was just as the title implied - a redemption from all the naysayers and shit-slinging the band had endured with almost every release post-Serpents Of The Light. It's obvious TSOR was a band filled with a renewed passion and desire (definitely a result of the Owen/Santolla shredding duo, replacing the ousted Hoffman brothers). Just over seven years (four albums) later, and we have yet to see the same vehemence, ingenuity, memorability, and excitement as we did back then - even with the recent addition of full-time axe-slinger Kevin Quirion, whom replaces Ralph Santolla. There are, like every album, a couple of outstanding tracks, in this case being 'Kill The Light Of Christ' and 'End The Wrath Of God' (the former a perfect example of a band whom is at its best when infusing melody and mid-tier technicality). Let's face it, we are never going to see anything close to the genius of the first few Deicide albums - that ship has sailed long ago. We can either blame the band for allowing themselves to become completely vanilla; or we can place the blame where it's rightly deserved - upon the shoulders of a genre devoid of passion and new ideas. Fuck it. I'll always have vanilla milkshakes.