Deicide (meaning “god murder“) is a death metal band from the USA. It was founded in 1987 in Florida.
Deicide first published the two demo recordings Feasting the Beast (1987) and Sacrificial (1989) under the name Amon. In 1989 the band was renamed Deicide and in 1990 they released their self-titled debut album. The successor Legion was released in 1992. The band was at the height of their career at this point and was considered one of the best-selling death metal bands. To this day, Deicide is in a head-to-head race with Cannibal Corpse in this regard.
The original line-up with Glen Benton (bass and vocals), brothers Eric and Brian Hoffman on guitars and Steve Asheim on drums lasted a total of 17 years and seven studio albums. For most fans, the debut and Legion are the band’s reference albums, the quality of which Deicide has failed to match.
In 2004 the stable band structure crumbled. Brian and Eric Hoffman left the group with an announcement by Glen Benton that they would be replaced by the guitarists of the band Vital Remains. Dave Suzuki played for Deicide in 2004 and 2005 and only as a live guitarist.
The eighth studio album The Stench of Redemption was released on August 18, 2006 – Jack Owen (ex-Cannibal-Corpse; guitar with Deicide since 2004) and Ralph Santolla (ex-Death; guitar with Deicide since 2005, later went to Obituary) could be heard here for the first time on a studio album.
Ralph Santolla left the band in late 2007, but can still be heard on the ninth studio album Till Death Do Us Part, released on April 25, 2008. In addition to the normal edition, a limited edition was available with a patch labeled Glen Benton for President. On this album, drummer Steve Asheim can be heard on guitar in two songs.
Kevin Quirion took over the guitar for tours between 2008 and 2010 as a live musician. Santolla returned to the band in 2010, but was fired in 2011 after the release of the tenth studio album To Hell with God during the tour due to alcohol problems. Quirion returned as a full-time member, and can be heard for the first time on the eleventh studio album In the Minds of Evil, released in 2013.
Deicide’s lyrics are almost exclusively on anti-Christian or satanic topics. Singer Glen Benton has an inverted cross branding on his forehead and is a member of the American Anti-Catholics Organization.
At a concert by the band on November 25, 1992 at Fryshuset in Stockholm, a bomb detonated while the opening act Gorefest was playing. Daniel Ekeroth reports that suddenly a loud bang could be heard, everyone thought it was part of the performance and Gorefest played to the end. Bathory’s Quorthon, on the other hand, who was backstage security at the time, said the band played so loud that no one heard the bomb. He stood about five feet from the bomb and didn’t hear it, but suddenly smelled his hair on fire, saw concrete dust flying around and, when he turned around, saw a huge, burning hole in the wall. However, there was no personal injury. The perpetrators are suspected to be either militant animal rights activists who wanted to protest against the band’s bloody stage show and Benton’s alleged tendencies to torture and kill animals, or fanatical black metal supporters who wanted to attack Gorefest as a politically correct band. Gorefest had received death threats beforehand and had to leave the city with a police escort after the incident.
I took pictures of Deicide during their live show at Starlite Room in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada on October 6, 2005:
