By Kelley Simms
BENTON'S EVIL MIND
Deicide's Glen Benton (far left)
F
or steady readers of this column, its
not necessary to mention Deicide
vocalist/bassist Glen Benton's religious beliefs. But I will mention that the
blasphemers have released their 11th fulllength disc, In the Minds of Evil (Century
Media). It's a familiar slice of bludgeoning
death metal one has come to expect from
these Florida-based veterans.
Last month's Mosh column featured
Broken Hope guitarist Jeremy Wagner's
side of the confrontation between his band
and Benton, which led to Broken Hope
being kicked off of Deicide's tour.
Apparently, some toes were stepped on
and the blow-up turned into a full-blown
soap opera after Wagner posted his tirade
on his Facebook page. Wagner soon apologized and the two parties have since made
up. Benton, without going into too much
detail, gave Mosh his side of the story.
Mosh: What happened between you and
Broken Hope after the El Paso show?
Glen Benton: I pretty much gave my side of
the story on Metal Sucks (podcast at
www.metalsucks.net). Let's just say we've
been friends for a long time, but toes were
being stepped on that shouldn't have been
stepped on. When you're friends with
somebody, you shouldn't assume any-
thing. There were some things that went
on and after I kept biting my tongue, finally I couldn't f--king stand it. I'm just like
anybody else. There's only so much I can
take from anybody and that will explain
my last two f--king divorces I've had.
Because I just don't take sh-t. But we hammered it all out and we're all friends. You
can't let some little indifference end a
friendship of about 30 years. It's all good
and I don't really have much more to say
about it other than that. It's over with now.
But you never should assume a person's
friendship.
Mosh: In the Minds of Evil is more of the same
brutal anti-religion death metal Deicide is
known for. If it ain't broke, don't fix it?
Glen Benton: That's the way I look at it.
When you've done this for so many years,
it just comes natural. Without trying too
hard, you just do what you've always
done. It pretty much comes easy. The
whole anti-religious thing for me has
intensified. I'm more anti-God and antireligion now than I was back 20 years ago.
And that's just from all the things I've seen
in the last 20 years. Religion isn't going to
win me over. Its track record is pushing me
further away.
Mosh: You sound as pissed off and as evil as
ever on the new album and I think this is what
Deicide fans have come to expect.
Glen Benton: When it comes to doing what
I do, it's that inner being that propels me.
When it's time to get to work, the serious
side comes out. But I have to have a sense
of humor about this. Because if you don't,
and you read all the horrible things that
people say about you … If you can't laugh
at yourself, you're definitely not going to
last long. And I think that explains why I'm
still doing this after 28 years.
Mosh: I get the impression that you don't care
what people say about you anyway.
Glen Benton: I don't give a sh-t, man!
That's the main thing. I don't give a f--k
about what anybody says or thinks about
me. But at the same time, I still have to
have a sense of humor about it.
Mosh: Over the past several albums, the musicianship of the guitarists has improved greatly.
It started with Stench of Redemption (postHoffman brothers, more on them later) and it
continued with your last album, To Hell With
God. There are some welcomed melodies injected into the Deicide formula, while still remaining heavy.
Glen Benton: With the new music today,
there's a very small percentage of fans that
like the blasting Cookie Monster vocals.
But there's no catchiness to it. The music I
grew up on had catchy songs with hooks
and catchy parts mixed in with all the
other (heavier) parts. These bands j