Deicide
w/Immolation, Skinless, Despised Icon, With Passion
Tues June 14, Studio Seven, 7 pm, $24 adv/$27 DOS, all ages.
If Satan gave a flying fuck about death metal, Deicide would probably be his favorite band of all time. As if having songs called "Mad at God," "Fuck Your God," and "Blame It on God" weren't enough to score anyone a backstage pass to some kind of secret Luciferian security bunker, Deicide vocalist/bassist Glen Benton burned an inverted cross into his forehead just to make sure Beelzebub-and everyone else-got the message. In fact, he's had to redo the fucker like eight times since 1992 just to get it to take. Deicide's latest album, Scars of the Crucifix (Earache), carries on in the flesh-flaying solo/blast-beat clinic/cookie-monster vocal tradition of albums past, pissing through nine hellish screeds in 27 minutes. But as death-metal mercenaries go, Deicide are no joke-they've already sold well over a million albums to date, and Scars of the Crucifix debuted at number 18 on Billboard's Independent Album Chart when it was released in 2004. Which makes for great press releases and news items on label websites, but doesn't really give you a feel for the Floridians' conviction as much as, say, the fact that Benton has an upside-down cross branded into his skull.
Hardliners, on the other hand, may be surprised to learn that Deicide underwent its first lineup change since the band's inception when guitarists and brothers Eric and Brian Hoffman bowed out late last year (what exactly happened depends on which story you believe). They're being temporarily replaced (for tour purposes) by ex-Cannibal Corpse guitarist Jack Owen and ex-Death/Iced Earth guitarist Ralph Santolla, who also happens to be a member of Skid Row singer Sebastian Bach's band (no shit). Which isn't to say Benton isn't still hating God, like, a lot. "I don't walk around punching out Christians," he says. "But I did have some Jehovah's Witnesses arrested and removed from my subdivision. They were selling salvation, and there's no soliciting in my neighborhood."
