Deicide Commits Bandicide By Travis Jeppesen The recent rift between Deicide frontman ...

Bandicide

By Travis Jeppesen

The recent rift between Deicide frontman Glen Benton and guitarists Brian and Eric Hoffman, a rift that resulted in the two brothers being ousted from the long-running Florida outfit, didn't come as a major surprise-neither to the world of Deicide adherents nor to the larger world of death metal, the nascent genre that the band played a significant role in molding throughout the course of the previous decade.

Death metal's the type of music preferred by angry inarticulate white guys the world over, and Benton has always been known as one of the angriest of the angry, if not one of the least articulate. A major proponent of anti-Christian rage-his lyrics have really never addressed much else-Benton branded an upside-down cross on his forehead early on and announced, in the song "Sacrificial Suicide" off the band's 1990 eponymous debut, that in order to live a life in total opposition to Christ he would commit suicide at age 33. Needless to say the prophecy was never fulfilled, and Benton continued to lead Deicide with the original line-up intact.

After releasing Legion in 1992, an album that would assure the band a place in metal history for its ferocious intensity, whiplash speed and Benton's animalistic vocal assault, Deicide would go on to record a series of mostly unexemplary albums for the Roadrunner label. The band also began to tour excessively, ignoring bomb threats from radical animal rights groups perturbed by Benton's professed hobby of shooting squirrels in his backyard (not to mention those live shows where animal organs were dumped on the audience), and getting themselves banned from clubs, boycotted from magazines, and blacklisted by Christian groups.

Despite the general mediocrity of their last albums on Roadrunner, in 2004 Deicide was picked up by Earache, a former hard label that now specializes in mostly unlistenable garbage. Scars of the Crucifix, while not living up to the work the band put forth on Legion, nevertheless saw Deicide back in better shape than could be expected. The album debuted at number 18 on Billboard's Independent Albums Chart, and ended up being one of the bestselling death metal albums of the year.

Meanwhile, there were many indications that, despite the rejuvenated brutality and resulting material success, all was not well in the Deicide camp. In the midst of a hectic touring schedule, shows were suddenly canceled sporadically, disappointing a horde of devoted fans. Rumors challenging the band's official excuses for cancelation ("dangerous" tour buses, family illnesses) began to circulate. Finally, on November 25th of last year, Benton announced that the Hoffman brothers had been officially kicked out of Deicide for repeatedly canceling shows. For the remainder of the band's European tour, the Hoffmans were replaced by Jack Owen, formerly of Cannibal Corpse, and Dave Suzuki of Vital Remains.

Shortly after the change was announced in typically flamboyant Bentonian fashion (in an Antenna webzine interview), Eric Hoffman struck back at Benton in an internet metal news forum, blabbermouth.net, claiming that Benton was the one responsible for flaking on the gigs. Hoffman also accused Benton of being a pseudo Satanist and a shitty bassist; it was also inferred that Benton was stealing money from the band in order to support his drug habit.

The post was recently taken off the web at the Hoffman brothers' request, and it's rumored that they'll be taking Benton to court over the name Deicide. It appears that the impending lawsuit won't have any effect on Deicide's upcoming North American tour-with Benton, drummer Asheim, and replacement guitarists in tow.

Laziness, drugs and Satanism aside, it doesn't take much stretch of the imagination to gauge what's really at stake in the latest installment of the Deicide saga. Besides being one of the most infamous, Deicide is also one of the biggest-selling death metal bands of all time. After the success of Scars, the band was re-signed to Earache for two more albums with a reported 50-50 split deal. This public break-up, with each side attempting to sell the other out, isn't a mere embarrassment for all involved; it also confirms what longtime fans began suspecting long ago-that it's no longer really about the music, the fans, or the killing of God. Deicide has amounted to little more than an elaborate bitch-fight between two sets of tattooed semi-talented redneck boneheads over a comparatively tiny pot of gold. Place your bets here.