Recorded on the night of Nov. 29, 2004, at The Mean Fiddler in London, When London Burns captures Deicide at a decisive moment in their career. Just five days before this concert, founding guitarists Brian and Eric Hoffman quit the band, leaving the death metal stalwarts without a front line. Rather than cancel the tour, they quickly hired two of the genre’s most respected players—Dave Suzuki (of Vital Remains) and Jack Owen (of Cannibal Corpse)—and channeled all their frustration into this performance. With their total commitment to aggression, bands like Deicide are always best when they have something to prove. This recording shows drummer Steve Asheim and vocalist/bassist Glen Benton obliterating any notion that the machine they’d built was dependent on the Hoffmans to function. The versions of classic songs like “Dead by Dawn,” “Oblivious to Evil,” and “Dead but Dreaming” are simply astonishing, propelled by a fiery and almost uncontrollable willpower. The best moment of the night goes to “Scars of the Crucifix.” It was last classic song Deicide wrote with the Hoffmans, but this version opens all new dimensions of malevolence.