Glen Benton im Interview

[Nukkumatti]

Recently, notoriously outspoken Deicide bassist/vocalist Glenn Benton was kind enough to take a break from his decidedly hectic schedule to speak with us regarding, among many other things, the departure of original guitarists Brian and Eric Hoffman and the release of the group’s latest opus The Stench Of Redemption…

Todd: What really happened with the Hoffman brothers?

Glen Benton: “Basically, what happened, man, was that for quite a few years now, their attitude has been that of just giving up, ya know? …They were makin’ it miserable for Steve and I and everyone around us. When our deal with Road Runner ended, all of our deals ended, including our publishing. Our publishing agreement was changed to what everyone else’s is like. In the old days, our publishing agreement was split four ways no matter who wrote what. …They were told when the deal changed. They were told before we recorded the last record, while we recorded the record and after it was done. They were told that the publishing deal was gonna be based on who wrote what. They knew all of this. Then, when we got paid on it and they saw that it wasn’t being split four ways, they both quit.”

Todd: It’s a shame it had to come to an end over a financial agreement…

Glen: “Well, you know what? …Those two have done nothing but embarrass us, cancel shows for us, get tours cancelled…and fuck up, ya know? …Steve and I were just like ‘…hey, we’re not gonna give you our money when we do ninety percent of the writing…’. Why should we have given those guys money when all they did was cost us money? …Steve and I write the majority of everything and we consider that like share holds in a corporation, ya know? …Whoever has the most shares makes the most decisions. Steve and I got sick and tired of doing all the writing, them getting paid for it and then being assholes about it. Never once did they say ‘…thanks a lot…’ for nothing…for anything. It just got to the point with Eric and the steroids that he just a fuckin’ mental case. From what I gather, he’s been getting himself into a whole lot of trouble down here in Florida. Brian sent an E-Mail that said ‘…I quit…’ and that was it. I never heard another fuckin’ word from him. …On there way out, they tried everything and anything to try to discredit me and destroy the fuckin’ band. It got to the point where Steve and I couldn’t even fuckin’ travel with them. On the last tour, we were thirty five minuets away from taking the stage and we get a call fro those two sayin’ that they got into a car wreck, the van was totaled and Brian’s legs were hurt… I knew it was bullshit, but I had everyone give us our gear and got off the stage and we got outa there. As soon as we got home, I sent Steve over there with his digital camera and he took pictures of the van they rented sitting in the driveway without as scratch on it. It got to the point where enough is enough, ya know? It was stifling Steve’s creativity and mine, for sure. I got to the point where I wouldn’t even show up for rehearsal until I absolutely had to because I couldn’t stand to be in the same room with the two of ‘em. It got to the point where I started doin’ the Vital Remains thing because I was ready to walk from Deicide…but then those two quit. ..Deicide is my band and I don’t give a fuck what they try to do behind my back…tryin’ to steal my copyright and whatever else. I don’t give a fuck what they do. The world knows who is who and Steve and I proved it with the new record, man.”

Todd: How much actual songwriting did they do when the group was signed to Road Runner?

Glen: “…On the first album, all four of us wrote it. …It got to the point where they were stifling me because they didn’t even want me to write music because some of the best shit we did like “Dead By Dawn” was written by me. It got to the point where they were telling me to stick to writing lyrics. They wrote maybe one or two songs per record. On Scars Of The Crucifix, Eric wrote two and Brian wrote one. And it’s always been like that and then Steve and I have to come up with the bulk of it like we did on Once Upon The Cross. That’s just all me and Steve, basically. …It’s really easy to figure out which ones they wrote. The shittiest songs we’ve got? Those are the ones they wrote because they were all fillers. The songs they wrote were fillers. They’d hand me these things and they’d make no musical sense whatsoever. They’d just be a bunch of fuckin’ scales and then they’d expect me to write something great with it. I’d tell them that it sucks and then just half-ass my way through it. I hated having to write lyrics to their stuff because it fuckin’ sucked. Now, with our new record, all of the great songs are the ones Steve and I write. Now what you have is a record where it’s all me and Steve and even the fillers are fuckin’ great.”

Todd: How did you become involved with Jack and Ralph?

Glen: “…When those two pulled their bullshit, we had a tour booked for Europe. Our soundman said ‘…hey Jack from Cannibal is looking for a job…’ so I told him to contact Steve and he did… …Jack started out as the fill-in for the tour of Europe and the guy learned the whole set in a weekend. I mean he learned it and better than the Hoffman’s can play the shit. Jack came into the picture and Eric was supposed to do the tour of Europe with Jack. As we were standing at the airport waiting for Eric to show up, we keep getting these calls saying ‘…I’m on the way…’ and ‘…I’m in the limo…’. …He never showed up. The flight got postponed for two hours, so when he said he got there, we were standin’ there waiting. So that day I called (Vital Remains guitarist) Dave Suzuki and booked him a flight. He met us in Europe. …Basically, we did one show and then Steve’s Dad passed away, so we went back and then went back over. After about three weeks of doin’ the tour, I found out the promoter was rippin’ us off and wasn’t payin’ the bus company and everything else he was supposed to do, so we came home off of that one. Dave had to go do his Vital thing and Jack was like ‘…hey, Ralph needs a job…’, so I told him to give me a call. He came in the same way Jack did. Ralph used to write all the leads for Eric. Every time we’d make a new record, Eric would go over to Ralph’s house and Ralph would be like ‘…well, you could play this…’ and he’d videotape it and Eric would go home and try to learn it. Ralph’s been doin’ that since Once Upon The Cross. When it came down to Ralph, it was like ‘…well, I might as well get the mentor…’”

Todd: What can you tell us about the new record?

Glen: “…For me, it was great because I got to be me again. I got to write the way I write and not have all that negative energy around me. It made it fun for me and Steve, too. We had a fun time writing that record. …We had a lot to prove, so one thing we wanted to do was overcome their bullshit. I think the lead playing on the record is different and it’s more intricate. Steve has said he’s been dummying down the guitar parts for years so those two could play ’em. We ain’t gonna do that anymore.”

Todd: Would you say the increased intricacy makes the new record more complex?

Glen: “I don’t know if I’d say it’s more complex because the rhythms are simplistic. It’s the leads that make it sound intricate. The leads are what give it that technical flavor. People like to say ‘…oh, it’s not really Deicide…’, but it fuckin’ is because Steve and I do the bulk of the writing. So what you have is a Deicide record with two guitarists that know what the fuck they’re doing. …For us…me and Steve…things are only getting bigger and better now. We’re talkin’ about two guys that have had every lamplighter in the fuckin’ market. They’d buy it, take it to practice, fuck with it and then take it back. …Those two went through thirty or forty fuckin’ amps. It ain’t the amp, it’s you, ya know? When you can’t even set the EQ on a Marshall and get a good sound from a Marshall, there’s something fuckin’ wrong with you. Those two could never get a good sound. …When I gotta have people come in and show you how to set up your amp in the studio, that’s fucked up. Jack and Ralph are total pro. They show up, they know their sound, they know how to play a lead…they play with their fuckin’ heart and they play with feeling. And it shows. It’s more convincing.”

Todd: What was the main motivation behind canceling your most recent tour?

Glen: “We didn’t cancel. It’s being re-booked. That whole Texas thing down in Laredo…we tried out a new agent and she basically fuckin’ turned out to be not what we’re lookin’ for. Before I got knee deep in real bullshit, I chucked her outa the way and now we’ve got a real agent.”

Todd: Did things really get that out of control at the gig in Texas?

Glen: “It was just fuckin’ stupid, man. That’s why I don’t have any desire to play any of those border towns anymore. If you can’t live up to your end of the fuckin’ agreement, then you don’t need my business. I’ll never go back there. I’ll play up in Dallas and Fort Worth and shit like that, but I will not play anymore border towns. There’s too much of a risk of getting ripped off. You do it once to us and you’ll never get a second chance. The promoters down there fucked over the fans, man. Don’t blame us; blame you local fuckin’ promoters who didn’t pay me in full. …And it was every fuckin’ night, too. It wasn’t just one night… …If you go to fuckin’ Mexico City; they’ll pay you in full. You’d think that being in a border town in the United States; you wouldn’t have to deal with that shit. …I won’t do business with people that won’t keep their fuckin’ word. And this agent was a total ding dong, passed out in my fuckin’ dressing room. …As soon as I got home, I got out my chopping block and my fuckin’ axe and started beheading all these dumbasses in my life. …It was like one of those fuckin’ colon cleansing treatments…”

Todd: In hindsight, how has the Tampa, Florida Death Metal scene changed over the years?

Glen: “…What scene? …For me, this place has lost its luster. I’m thinking of relocating. I wouldn’t know, man. I don’t go out much, because when I do, I end up having to punch somebody\'s lights out. I kinda stay outa that shit because I’ll end up goin’ down to a gig, I’ll get too much alcohol in me and I ended up exposing myself and diving off the stage and shit. So I really don’t go to the gigs, man and I really don’t drink anymore. I kinda gave up on all that shit. I don’t go out much. I just stay here in my little fucked up world.”

Todd: Do you think you’re playing and singing has improved since you quit drinking?

Glen: “…Yeah, but people get thinking like I was a drunk or like I drank everyday. …Once in a while I would drink and I would overdo it. Back in the day, during my first divorce, I was poundin’ down a bottle of Jack Daniels a night…sometimes two. …I’ve never been one to let shit like that stick around in my life for too long, so I gave up the drinkin’, man. I may have a few beers here and there, but I get really bad headaches when I drink alcohol now…”

Todd: What ultimately led to the group not resigning with Road Runner Records? What was the final straw?

Glen: “…Our deal with Road Runner wasn’t that bad. It was The Hoffman’s that made it bad. When you’ve got those two freakin’ idiots callin’ you names and threatening you every day, of course they’re gonna shelf your records. I’d work out deals with Road Runner and those two would come over behind me and stab me in the back and fuck up the whole deal. …Things now, for me and Steve, have never been better, man. Finally we’ve got some peace in our lives, ya know? Now we can go out and do a tour without worrying about this idiot doin’ that or this jackass not showin’ up. We ain’t gotta worry about that anymore. Now when we go out, we have fun. We do a lot of playing outside of the country….Korea and places like that. It’s nice to be able to do my job without fuckin’ babysitting.”

Todd: How much of a difference is there between domestic and overseas audiences?

Glen: “Well, kids here in the states are spokes because they get shows every weekend. The kids in South America go completely fuckin’ apeshit crazy, ya know, because they don’t get that shit everyday. Some of the places in the states…all the major cities, they usually have pretty good crowds. That’s why on this tour, we’re not playing any of the smaller markets. We’re just playing all the major cities. I have no desire to play Bumfuck, Ohio…and little places in Pennsylvania, ya know? …If you wanna come see the show, you’ll make the drive. A lot of these bands go out for two months and they’ll play every little bump in the road. I’d just as soon stick to playing the major markets and leave all that shit.”

Todd: How legitimate is your dedication to Satanism? How do you respond to those that insist it’s all an act?

Glen: “…I’m almost forty fuckin’ years old. I don’t give a fuck what anybody thinks. I believe what I believe and I’ve been true to my fuckin’ word for twenty years now. Am I out to convince people of what I believe in? No. I could give two fucks. Take it or leave it, man. I don’t give a fuck what anybody thinks. When I write, I write from my soul and that’s what comes out of me. …To be a Satanist, do I have to…dance around a fire and sacrifice things to nothing? No. That’s stupid bullshit, man. That’s Hollywood Satanism to me. It’s just like Christianity. It’s a philosophy, man. I live my life like this: you fuck with me, I’ll fuck with you, ya know? It’s as simple as that. …There ain’t no turn the other cheek bullshit. It’ll never be like that with me. Am I sitting in a dark room chanting and shit? No, that’s retarded, man. Do I walk this earth proclaiming to be the Devil? No. I sing what I sing about. It’s up to you to decided which way you want to go with it.”

Todd: Do you feel the emerging popularity of Black Metal has had an impact on the Death Metal genre?

Glen: “I don’t think so, man. …I’ve never been one to say we’re a Death Metal band. When I started playin’ this shit, there wasn’t even a title for it. It was just considered Extreme Music. When Chuck from Death and all these other bands started doin’ it…we didn’t say ‘…let’s start a Death Metal band….’ We said let’s start a Metal band…”

Todd: Do you still consider Deicide just a Metal band?

Glen: “…We’re a Metal band and I sing what I sing. It’s never gonna fuckin’ change. …Back then, we more of a Satanic band, ya know? That was our thing. The music was about Satan and being anti-God. That’s where I was comin’ from. …The death of Jesus is about the only thing I talk about, so… Labels are just retarded. It’s like Judas Priest. Are we gonna label them as Metal?”

Todd: Yeah…

Glen: “Okay, well I don’t consider bands like Cinderella and all that to be in the same category as Priest. …I’ve got a track that I did when I was eighteen…it was one of the first tracks I ever wrote lyrics for and it’s about the Devil (laughs). It’s about death, it’s about Satan (laughs). Back then, people were just fuckin’ mortified by that shit, and that’s what fueled me (laughs). It was like ‘…wow, if you write lyrics about the Devil, it really gets under people’s skin…’ For me, I’ve always been into Horror movies, the evil side of life…all that fuckin’ shit. I’ve read all the books about Crowley, the Satanic Bible and all the black arts and shit. And I read ‘em just like I would read a Tom Clancy novel, ya know? Some of it I agree with and some of it I don’t agree with. I’ve read the book of Mormon…I’ve read a lot of different fuckin’ things, ya know? I read just because it’s gives me inspiration. The Jehovah Witnesses…if there’s a monthly flyer and I get a hold of it, there’s a song right there, ya know? It gives me all the inspiration that I need. Like all the priests that get popped for molesting kids. You can’t but that kind of inspiration, ya know? They give me more shit to write about. I don’t come up on this shit on my own. They give me this shit. …I could have gone political with it and sang all political songs, but that gets old. Killing God and the hypocrisies of religion…that never gets old, man. Not for me. As long as they’re here, there’s plenty to write about.”

Todd: What was the main inspiration behind recording a cover of Deep Purple’s “Black Night”? Have all the legal issues surrounding it been resolved?

Glen: “No, EMI is refusing to allow us to put it out, so it’s only available as a free download and shit, I think. We can’t charge money for it. That was just done as a parody. I mentioned doing it and one day when I went to practice, Steve and Jack had put it together.”

Todd: Where do you see Deicide in ten years?

Glen: “I think things are gonna start blowin’ up, especially…when they start playin’ the video on MTV. Things are just getting’ better and better, man. …We’re later in our lives now and we’ve made a change where a lot of other bands haven’t been able to change. A personnel change of that magnitude is a lot to overcome. We’ve overcome it, so right now is a good time for us. …We got rid of the Hoffman’s, and now I’ve got more work than I know what to do with. I’ve got fuckin’ endorsements comin’ in from every Goddamn direction, man. I’ve got nothing but positive things happening right now. When they were around, it was just doom and gloom. …Everything around them and everything that came out of their mouths was just negative. They couldn’t even rent their own vehicle for tours. Steve would have to call the rental company and rent the fuckin’ van from them. I hate to use the word retarded because retarded people don’t deserve to be lumped in with those two jackasses, ya know? If you throw both of their intelligences together, you might have a sixth grade education. The one guy can’t even write. Whenever he posts something on Blabbermouth, we always know it’s him (laughs). …This is what sealed their coffin, man. Steve was the only ally between me and them okay? Steve kept this band together for years by being the go-between me and those fuckers. When Steve’s Dad passed away, Eric Hoffman went on Blabbermouth and posted a bunch of really derogatory remarks about Steve’s Dad dying. ‘…that’s what ya get, you backstabbing motherfucker…’ That kind of shit. …Steve called me up and was like ‘…well, there goes the reunion tour…’ …They fuckin’ sealed their fates. …They’re their own worst enemies. They did this shit to themselves. When you say something about someone\'s parent passing away in such a manner on the internet, like that in public…they did it to themselves, man. Steve has nothing but hate for those two fuckers now, man. But we don’t walk around dwelling about it…only when we have to talk about it. With this record, we both know we’re gonna have to deal with the Hoffman issues. …After the first couple of shows, I didn’t hear anyone yelling for Eric or Brian anymore. …We’ve got two guys that smoke all over their leads, ya know? And we all have fun and people see that. Before, thirty five minuets in, they were walking off the stage on me. Now, we play an hour and thirty five minuets and everyone’s happy to be up there doin’ it. …People used to bitch about our sets being short, but now that we’ve got all of that out of the way, things are where they should be right now, ya know?”



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