Deicide

selected  Deicide TShirTS, PosTerS & Prints

Deicide is an American death metal band. The word "deicide" means "the killing of deities" or, in the Christian era "the killing of God or Jesus Christ". The word can also mean "one who kills God". Deicide has sold close to 500,000 releases (taking into consideration both CD and VHS sales) in the USA since the SoundScan, era making them one of the best selling death metal bands of all time. Their albums Deicide and Legion are also ranked second and third place in best-selling death metal albums of that era.

Deicide was formed in Tampa, Florida in 1987, first playing under the name Carnage. After Glen Benton joined the name was changed to Amon. During this time they released two demos: Feasting the Beast (1987) and Sacrificial (1989). In 1989 the band's name was changed to Deicide by force of Roadrunner Records, as Amon was the name of the house in the King Diamond album "Them". Deicide then released their self-titled debut album in 1990.

Deicide's original lineup consisted of Glen Benton on bass and vocals, brothers Eric and Brian Hoffman on guitars, and Steve Asheim on drums. Both Eric and Brian tended to play complex solos at fast speeds and with overlapping riffs, which gave Deicide the definitive heavy sound and complex song structures. This lineup remained intact until November 25, 2004 in the wake of increasing animosity between Glen Benton and the Hoffman brothers - allegedly in regards to royalties and publishing. The guitar roles were then filled by ex-Cannibal Corpse guitarist Jack Owen, and Vital Remains guitarist Dave Suzuki. Following the tour, Suzuki was replaced by Ralph Santolla, formerly of Death, Iced Earth and Sebastian Bach. Santolla stated he is a Catholic and this has received a small amount of shock and ridicule from some metal fans. In spite of this, Deicide's The Stench of Redemption album received rave reviews, and is one of their biggest sellers yet.


As it might be expected for a band with anti-Christian themes, Deicide has undergone controversy relating to their albums and lyrics. This was reinforced by frontman Glen Benton branding an inverted cross into his forehead.

Deicide has been banned from playing in several venues (such as Valparaiso, Chile over a promotional poster featuring Jesus Christ with a bullet hole in his forehead ) and with various festivals such as Hellfest, after several graves had been spray-painted with "When Satan Rules His World", which is a song from Deicide's 1995 album Once Upon the Cross. More recently, their music video for "Homage for Satan", which features blood-splattered zombies on a rampaging mission to capture a priest, was banned from UK music TV channel Scuzz.

In the early 1990s, Deicide was on tour in Europe with Gorefest, a Dutch death metal band. In Stockholm, and after the first band performed, a bomb was detonated in the club they were playing in. Many people blamed animal rights activists who were angered at Deicide's lyrical themes of animal sacrifice, but Glen Benton blamed the incident on the fanatical black metal fans.

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