Continued from page 34
ing, where you take your time and put
effort and thought into it. This time it was
more like that. There's highs in there,
they're just blended properly. It's blended
in a way where it's not as obnoxious.
There's a lot of those high tracks where it's
just nails on a chalkboard to me. I used my
normal voice instead of trying to create this
very low voice that I've done in the past. I
got away from that. I want people to
understand what I'm saying. There's more
emphasis on pronunciation on this record.
Mosh: Your dislike for the Hoffman brothers
(Eric and Brian) is well-documented. I see they
resurrected the name Amon in 2007, which was
your band name before Deicide.
Glen Benton: I had that name before I even
knew them guys. They stole the name of
my band. Which, I don't care because I
came up with the name Deicide. They can't
take that from me. As much as they tried
to, they can't. There is no band named
Amon, because there is no band. It's just
Eric (Hoffman). Brian (Hoffman) quit.
Jesse (Jolly) quit. The drummer quit. There
really is no band. There's no tour coming.
They can open up for me anytime they
want. I look forward to it…but that will
never happen.
Mosh: Deicide seems to be more of a cohesive
unit now.
Glen Benton: (Guitarists) Jack (Owen) and
Kevin (Quirion) play great together. They
are two of the best guys to be in a band
with. We all four right now are thinking
the same thing. It was an actual writing
process where we all wrote together. We all
had input on the album as far as writing
the music and Kevin gave me a lot of inspiration for the lyrics. It was a great time and
I think it shows on the album. It's like how
we used to write in the old days. Someone
comes to practice with a part, then I'll
improvise a part, then Steve will throw in a
part, then Jack will throw in a part, and
you have a song. Instead of one person
writing it all and sounding like that one
person, it gets a little boring after awhile.
Now we have this chemistry where we all
have a part in the writing process. You
have a flavor of everybody in there. It's got
a mixture of everybody in it, which in the
bigger picture, comes off more convincing.
Mosh: Deicide's guitarists have come and
gone over the years, but you and Steve
(Asheim, drummer) remain a constant. I
assume you guys still share a strong connection
with the direction and integrity of the band?
Glen Benton: Me and Steve (Asheim) have
been in this band from the get-go. Even in
the beginning, I didn't want those two f-king morons (Hoffman brothers). They
kind of came as a packaged deal back in
the day because those three were friends.
When I first met the Hoffman's, I wasn't
impressed at all. All I wanted was Steve. I
figured with a great drummer like Steve,
getting a couple of decent guitar players
would be simple. But it kind of rolled that
way. I'm not trying to dis them, but earlier
you asked why the band has gotten progressively better musicianship-wise? Well,
I think it's obvious.
Mosh: What's the future hold for Deicide?
Glen Benton: There's no mystery that a lot
of the older bands are dropping off. We're
getting a lot more better offers than we
used to because we're still here. We're still
doing this. Lemmy from Motörhead is just
about done. Slayer is only Tom (Araya)
and Kerry (King) now. A lot of these bigger
bands are falling off of these festivals over
in Europe. So we're going to go over there
and fall into some headlining slots at some
of these festivals. I'm not getting any
younger. Getting out there and doing this
sh-t … I'm not just doing this for breakfast
at Denny's anymore.
Continued from page 37
the song before/after it didn't have."
Phosphene is celebrating the release of
Any Last Words at House Of Blues on
January 5th. "Many of the songs from the
album will be played in our set, one will
even have a surprising twist to it. The
MOSH-WORTHY…LIVE:
In
This
Moment (Home Bar, Arlington Heights
01/10), Erimha (Reggies, 01/26), Amon
Amarth (House of Blues, 02/07).
at Eclipse Studios
MOSH-WORTHY: Toxic Holocaust
Chemistry of Consciousness (Relapse),
Aenaon Extance (Code 666), Pentagram
Chile The Malefice (Metal Blade), Exhumed
Necrocracy (Relapse Records), Satan's
Wrath Aeons of Satan's Reign (Metal Blade).
WORTH A MENTION: Local experimental/prog/black metal oddballs Murmur
(featured in Mosh next month) just
released their self-titled sophomore effort,
which features a rousing cover of King
Crimson's "Larks". Chicago's self-dubbed
prog/sci-fi/yacht metal trio Royale is
offering a free, downloadable five-song EP
on their Website, royaletheband.com. It's
worth checking out if you're a fan of
space/prog/'70s rock. Massachusetts
metal band Hellspeak, featuring members
of Meliah Rage, Dark Day Sunday,
Machines of Grace and Shadows Fall, has
a six-track EP, The Slaughter Rule of Agony,
available on iTunes.
band has spent most of 2013 working very
hard to get everything prepared and ready
to come out with a bang in the new year.
We are very anxious to finally debut
everything we have worked so hard for,
everything we represent, and everything
we aspire to be in 2014 starting with our
show January 5th. We really hope to see
everyone there to support us as we make
next year 'our time to shine'!
Hey Studiophiler: To get your studio or
band listed in "Studiophile," just email info
on who you're recording or who's recording
you to [email protected], subject
line: Studiophile, or fax (773) 751-5051.
january
2014
illinoisentertainer.com
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