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Also known as	Carnage Amon
Origin	Florida, USA
Genre(s)	Death metal
Years active	1987–present
Label(s)	Roadrunner Earache
Associated acts	Cannibal Corpse Vital Remains
Website	deicide.com
Members
Glen Benton Jack Owen Steve Asheim
Former members
Brian Hoffman Eric Hoffman Dave Suzuki Ralph Santolla

Deicide is an American death metal band. The band 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.^[1]

"Deicide" is the act of killing a being of a divine nature, particularly, the killing of the christian God or Jesus Christ. A "deicide" can also be one concerned in putting Jesus Christ to death.

Contents 1 History 2 Controversy 3 Members 3.1 Current members 3.2 Past members 3.3 Tour members 4 Discography 4.1 Studio albums 4.2 Compilations 4.3 Live albums 5 DVDs 6 Billboard charts 7 References 8 External links

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) (a thrash metal demo) and Sacrificial (1989) (early death metal). 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.

The band'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 technical 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 eighth studio album The Stench of Redemption album received rave reviews, and is one of their biggest sellers yet.^{[citation needed]}

On May 24th, 2007, it was announced that Ralph Santolla had left Deicide.^[2] He has since joined Florida death metal formation Obituary. Santolla appears on their new album "Xecutioner's Return" - replacing the unavailable Allen West - and will be touring with them in support of this album.

On July 20th, 2007 guitarist Jack Owen (ex-Cannibal Corpse) announced that Deicide is on hiatus" and he has joined Ohio based death/thrash combo Estuary for touring purposes.^[3] The band will head out on a Balkan tour, dubbed "Balkans AssassiNation Tour", in October 2007 alongside Krisiun, Incantation and Inactive Messiah. The tour organised by acclaimed Polish booking agency Massive Music.

Deicide began work on its ninth studio album at Florida's Morrisound Studios. Entitled Till Death Do Us Part, the follow-up to 2006's The Stench of Redemption promises to be Deicide's "most savage and aggressive [offering] to date," according to a press release. Drummer Steve Asheim has begun the process by laying down drum tracks on a set of songs that retain all the high-speed intensity of the last album, but throw in a few surprises along the way.

Commented Asheim: "The songs will have a very evil and chaotic nature to them and will include the extensive arrangements and riffage that made 'Stench...' so great. "There's no mistaking... it's Deicide. It feels like a cross between 'Stench...' and 'Legion', and is definitely the next logical step for Deicide."

Once the music is down, the final stage will be for Glen Benton to contribute his unique vocal approach, with recordings scheduled for completion as early as November. "Till Death Do Us Part" is expected to be released early 2008.^[4]

Deicide has sustained considerable damage to its live reputation in Europe due to numerous cancelled tours. The most recent one being their January 2007 tour of the continent, which was done without vocalist/bassist Glen Benton.

Deicide has received considerable controversy relating to their albums and lyrics, which include vehement anti-Christian themes. This was reinforced by frontman Glen Benton branding an inverted cross into his forehead with his chapel cross.

Ostensibly in order to prove his genuine Satanic nature, Benton claimed in the early 1990s that he would commit suicide at the age of 33. However, he passed that age in 2000 and did not commit suicide. In 2006, he stated that these statements had been "asinine remarks" and that "only cowards and losers" choose to kill themselves.^[5]

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 ^[6]) 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.^[7]

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.^{[citation needed]}

• Glen Benton - vocals, bass (1987–present)
• Steve Asheim - drums (1987–present)
• Jack Owen - guitar (2005–present)

• Brian Hoffman - guitar (1987–2004)
• Eric Hoffman - guitar (1987–2004)
• Ralph Santolla - lead guitar (2005–2007), session member for Till Death Do Us Part

• Dave Suzuki - guitar (2004–2005)
• Garbathy "Yaha" - bass, vocals (2007), as substitute for Glen Benton

• Deicide (1990)
• Legion (1992)
• Once Upon the Cross (1995)
• Serpents of the Light (1997)
• Insineratehymn (2000)
• In Torment in Hell (2001)
• Scars of the Crucifix (2004)
• The Stench of Redemption (2006)
• Till Death Do Us Part (2008)

• Amon, Feasting the Beast (1993)
• The Best of Deicide (2003)

• When Satan Lives (1998)
• Doomsday L.A. (2007)

• When London Burns (2006)
• Doomsday L.A. (2007)

• 1992 Legion - Heatseekers 16
• 1995 Once Upon the Cross - Heatseekers 22
• 1997 Serpents of the Light - Heatseekers 17
• 2004 Scars of the Crucifix - Top Heatseekers 24
• 2004 Scars of the Crucifix - Top Independent Albums 18
• 2006 The Stench Of Redemption - Top Heatseekers 11
• 2006 The Stench Of Redemption - Top Independent Albums 21
• 2006 The Stench Of Redemption - Top Internet Albums 205

• Deicide at Earache Records
• Deicide Official Site (Warning - loud music)

v • d • e Deicide
Glen Benton | Steve Asheim | Jack Owen
Former Members: Ralph Santolla | Brian Hoffman | Eric Hoffman | Dave Suzuki
Discography
Albums: Deicide | Legion | Once upon the Cross | Serpents of the Light | Insineratehymn | In Torment in Hell | Scars of the Crucifix | The Stench of Redemption
Compilation Albums and Live Albums: Amon, Feasting the Beast | When Satan Lives | The Best of Deicide
EPs: Doomsday L.A Live - E.P