01 May 2008
You know the deal, you’re thirteen, you can count how many pubic hairs you’ve got, girls laugh at your Iron Maiden shirts, you’ve got all the Black Sabbath and “good” Slayer albums and you’ve just realised Led Zepplin are gay. Where do you go from here? Death metal.
It’s the one way music trip for all losers and anti-social misfits that will damn your life forever. The first death metal album I heard was a cassette tape bootleg of Deicide’s Legion (note- cassette- way fucking cooler than vinyl). Like all death metal new comers, I was mildly unnerved by the vocals- mainly because all I could picture was an angry cookie monster singing whilst I listened to it. But once I realised how much girls hate death metal, I was hooked. It’s the best thing ever. Deicide are one of the O.G. death metal bands, they’ve been round a long time but are constantly dogged by their lead singer’s anti-christian obsession- which to be honest, gets on your nerves after a while.
Stu Zombie got to ask Deicide’s drummer Steve Asheim some really stupid questions about how they feel about ruining so many teenage boy’s lives.
The first time I heard death metal was when my A Level Psychology teacher gave me a tape copy of “Legion“. The first time I listened to it was on the way back from working at my local fish and chip shop. Just after the intro kicked in, like the bit with all the sheep bleating, my walkman died and all the sheep in the field I was walking past started to go mental and started screaming- I shat myself and thought “Oh Shit, I’m going to hell because I’ve listened to death metal.” What’s the weirdest thing that’s happened to you whilst listening to death metal?
WELL, THIS ONE GOES BACK A FEW YEARS TO ABOUT ’86, TECHNICALLY BEFORE DEATH METAL, BUT IT WAS WHILE LISTENING TO SLAYER SO I THINK IT STILL COUNTS. WE WERE ALL STANDING AROUND OUTSIDE OUR REHEARSAL WAREHOUSE UNIT. ME, THE GUYS FROM THE BAND, AND A COUPLE OF CHICKS. WE’RE ALL DRINKING AND BULLSHITTING AND EVERYTHING IS COOL. MY BUDDY PUTS ON “HELL AWAITS” AND BY THE TIME “KILL AGAIN” COMES ON, THESE CHICKS ARE CAT-FIGHTING LIKE IT’S A MATTER OF LIFE OR DEATH. NOBODY KNOWS WHY, I THINK THE SLAYER JUST FIRED ‘EM UP SOMEHOW. THAT WAS WEIRD.
It’s pretty rare these days to find good album cover art on the more popular death metal albums, but the cover for new record is a cracker, I’d hang it over my mantelpiece. Was it a conscious decision to move away from the predictable shit Photoshop stuff that Death metal bands have been using for the past decade?
I’M NOT SURE, MAYBE. GLEN PICKED THE ARTWORK TO COINCIDE WITH HIS LYRICS. I’M NOT SURE IF HE WAS LOOKING FOR SOMEHTING OLDER LIKE THAT WAS, OR IF HE JUST STUMBLED UPON IT AND LIKED IT. EITHER WAY, IT IS DIFFERENT FROM WHAT YOU’D NORMALLY SEE ON A COVER, BUT IT WORKS.
According to the ever reliable Wikipedia, you guys have sold close to 500,000 releases. Does that give you a kick? – I mean, I’m a skateboarder and I hate at least 90% of all skaters.
FIRST OFF, WIKIPEDIA IS COOL, BUT IT’S SHIT. IT’S UNRELIABLE BECAUSE ANY JERKOFF WITH A MOTIVE AND A KEYBOARD CAN GET ON THERE AND POST ANYTHING HE WANTS. I WAS ASKED ABOUT THE GUY FROM SOME BLACK METAL BAND WHO HELPED ME WITH GUITARS ON THE NEW RECORD. I ASKED THE GUY WHERE HE HEARD THAT BECAUSE IT WAS TOTAL BULLSHIT. HE SAID WIKIPEDIA. I TOLD HIM WIKIPEDIA IS FULL OF SHIT MAN. BUT CONCERNING YOUR QUESTION, I WOULD THINK WE’VE SOLD MORE THAN THAT AND YEAH, IT DOES GIVE A KICK.
I’ve also read Deicide is used to torture suspected enemy combatants by the US Army- do you really thing Deicide is gnarly enough to torture people with? What music would you use to torture people with?
HONESTLY, NO, I DON’T THINK IT IS TORTURE. I DO THINK IT’S KIND OF FUNNY THOUGH. THAT SEEMS TO PISS SOME PEOPLE OFF, WHICH, IRONICALLY, IS ALSO KIND OF FUNNY.
Why do you guys bother making new records? Why not just play your first two albums over and over?
BECAUSE WE’RE NOT THE GREATFUL DEAD. WE CAN’T JUST KEEP GOING OUT ON THE ROAD TO SUPPORT A 15 YEAR OLD ALBUM. BESIDES, I ENJOY WRITING NEW STUFF. IF YOU DON’T LIKE IT, KEEP LISTENING TO THAT 15 YEAR OLD STUFF.
Whenever my Mum, or girls in general, hear death metal, they always say, “But you can’t hear what they’re singing.” As I’ve got older and started listening to gore bands like Dead Infection and S.C.D that make a point of not singing lyrics- so why do you think it’s important that death metal bands continue writing lyrics?
TO SHOW THAT YOU’RE NOT A BLATHERING IDIOT, AND TO TRY AND ADD SOME SUBSTANCE TO THE MUSIC. SOMETIMES YOU MAY NOT BE ABLE TO UNDERSTAND THE LYRICS, BUT YOU KNOW THEY’RE THERE, AND IF THEY MEAN SOMETHING TO YOU THEN THE SONG BECOMES MORE POWERFUL.
Who writes the song lyrics/titles? Cause you’ve had some pretty meek song titles recently, like “Mad at God”- that’s pretty weak, it’s like saying “Mildly annoyed at God, I really don’t like him very much, oh I wish he would leave me alone that pesky creator”. Do you ever feel like fucking off the whole anti-Christian thing?
GLEN WRITES THE LYRICS AND TITLES AND IT MIGHT SEEM LIKE THE WELL HAS RUN A BIT DRY, BUT WHAT DO YOU WANT ME TO SAY… HE MUST HAVE BEEN MAD AT GOD THAT DAY. PEOPLE CAN’T WRITE ABOUT WHAT DOESN’T INSPIRE THEM, AND AS LONG AS HE’S INSPIRED BY THE ANTI-CHRISTIAN THAN SO BE IT. MY CONCERN IS MAKING THE MUSIC HEAVY AND MEMORABLE.
How much do you agree with the following statement: “Death metal is about furiously masturbating in your room, eating sugar puffs and poking road kill with sticks” (believe it or not, this is my life, and i blame death metal)
NOT AT ALL. LIFE IS WHAT YOU MAKE IT, MAN. IF YOU WANT TO JACK OFF ON ROADKILL, THAT’S YOUR BUSINESS – KNOCK YOURSELF OUT.
The recording quality of your new album, is as expected, extremely clear and polished. Do you ever wish you could fuck the recording studio off and record your music as raw as possible without the interference of producers?
NO, UNLESS YOU’RE GOAL IS TO HAVE A RECORD THAT SOUNDS LIKE SHIT. YOU MAY CALL WHAT YOU LIKE TO HEAR”RAW”, BUT WHAT’S THE ALTERNATIVE…SOUNDING EITHER MECHANICAL AND OVERLY SAMPLED, OR THIN WITH NO BALLS, OR LIKE SHIT OR ‘RAW” AS YOU PUT IT. I’VE BEEN MAKING ALBUMS A LONG TIME NOW AND WOULD RATHER SOUND GOOD THAN NOT GOOD, IT’S THAT SIMPLE.
p.s. if you don’t want to answer any of these questions, tell us to “Fuck off”- I won’t be offended and neither will Crossfire’s readers.
I ANSWERED ALL YOUR QUESTIONS, EVEN THE STUPID ONES……NOW “FUCK OFF!”
All the best- keep it death.
The new Deicide album Till Death Do Us Part is out now on Earache Records.
Find them at www.deicide.com
Jon Wolf’s movie ‘Subterranean’ can now be purchased direct from his site featuring skating in Boston, New Hampshire & Barcelona from Alex Vidal, Manny Aldana, Tommy Wisdom, Trevor White, Travis Reitano, Eric Kaye, Colin Fiske, Ed Driscol, Chris Keiley, Bradon Wheeler, Jeff Valcourt, Dana Ericson, and others.
Go to the store at www.subtskate.com to buy a copy and check out the new trailer below.
Death Skateboards have sent us their new graphics to brighten up your day.
These new pro models for Dan Cates and Lee Dainton will be in the shops ready for you to pick up as you read this.
Aledgedly Cates is teaching his hedgehog how to skate on a fingerboard, expect footage soon..
The Varukers, Sick On A Bus
The Purple Turtle, Camden London
April 28th 2008
Although there’s a distinct lack of actual purple turtles in Camden tonight, the punks are out in force and some of them do look a bit like Turtles. And one even had purple in his hair.
So, if, like me, you’re both old and punk then you will either by alarmed at the sheer volume of bands from your youth reforming and playing again or you’ll be happy as a punk in vomit at the thought of getting to see some of the greats and original innovators again. Over the years, some reformations have been great. Agent Orange, The Adolescents, Stooges, TSOL, The Ruts, Only Ones, The Sonics have all turned in fantastic high-energy sets recently. And some have been not so good. The less said about the Dead fucking Kennedys the better. I can’t believe they are coming back to Europe yet again on another Biafra-less tour in an attempt to milk the sacred cash cow (their words, not mine) that little bit more. Well guess what. We’re not going. Fuck you. You might enjoy playing the music BUT IT IS NOT THE DEAD KENNEDYS WITHOUT JELLO YOU DUMB FUCKS!!
Sorry, where were we? Oh yes, reformed bands. Systematic Death formed in 1983 in Yokohama Japan and split up in 1988. Between that time, alongside other classic Japanese hardcore bands like Gism, S.O.B., Gauze, Lipcream and Deathside, they created some of the most ferocious hardcore thrash punk to explode from this planet. The Japanese hardcore bands always had an edge and odd twist over their western contempories and Systematic Death were no different. I originally came across them as part of the classic ‘Thrash ‘Till Death‘ (with Lip Cream, Gauze, systematic Death, Outo) album that came out on the Pusmort label (Septic Death Singer/Zorlac skates and Metallica artist Pushead’s eighties hardcore record label). Their tracks stood their ground well in an album of heavy hitters. I never expected to see them live, certainly not in 2008. And guess what? They were fucking incredible.
Admittedly, some of this is down to the less than inspiring support bands. Sick On The Bus do a punked up, sloppy punk n’roll version of Motorhead (ending their set with a cover of Lemmy classic ‘Bomber‘) and The Varukers are old enough to know better. Some of their early eighties releases are good Discharge inspired hardcore punk but their sloppy set tonight lacked energy and bite. Both bands are damp squids compared to the whirlwind of fury that Systematic Death unleash. Drummer Hiromichi propels the whole band forward like a Tasmanian Devil, exploding like a jet-engine at the back and sending each grenade of a song exploding into the shell-shocked crowd! He manages to play stupidly fast and still hit the drums like sledgehammers as each song ricochets off the stage like a short sharp electric shock and sends as reeling.
This is how hardcore should be done. Watch and learn.
James Sherry
The mighty ANNIHILATION TIME are about to enter the UK on their Euro Tour from Hell.
Those of you who like stoner rock and hardcore are in for a treat as their live sets are raging. Go to www.annihilationtime.net for more or and check out III: Tales of The Ancient Age out now on Reflections Records.
May
Thu 1 The Hague, Holland @ Scorpio Rising
Fri 2 Köln, Germany @ Sonic Ballroom
Sat 3 Munster, Germany @ Sputnik Cafe
Sun 4 London, UK @ Old Blue Last
Mon 5 Newport, UK @ Le Pub
Tue 6 Liverpool, UK @ Korova
Wed 7 @ Sheffield, UK @ Casbah
Thu 8 Edinburgh, Scotland @ Henry’s Cellar Bar
Fri 9 Dublin, Ireland @ The Lower Deck
Sun 11 Belfast, Northern Ireland @ Auntie Annie’s
Mon 12 Newcastle, UK @ TBA
Wed 14 Stavanger, Norway @ Folken
Thu 15 Oslo, Norway @ Club Maiden
Fri 16 Stockholm, Sweden @ Snovit
Sat 17 Uppsala, Sweden @ TBA
Sun18 Linkoping, Sweden @ Skylten
Mon 19 Gotheborg, Sweden @ TKWM
Tue 20 Karlskrona, Sweden @ Oden
Thu 22 Copenhagen, Denmark @ Stengade 30
Fri 23 Arhus, Denmark @ 1000 FRYD
Sat 24 Berlin, Germany @ Koma F
Sun 25 Leipzig, Germany @ Zoro
Mon 26 Prague, Czech Republic @ 007 Klub
Tue 27 Vienna, Austria @ Arena Dreiraum
Wed 28 Belgrade, Serbia @ Danguba Club
Thu 29 Bolzano, Italy @ Bunker
Fri 30 Ilirska Bistrica, Slovenia @ TBA
Sat 31 Rome, Italy @ Sinister Noise
June
Sun 1 Milan, Italy @ Leoncavallo
Mon 2 Barcelona, Spain @ TBA
Tue 3 Oviedo, Spain @ La Antgue Estacion
Wed 4 Getaria, Spain @ Gaztetxe de Getaria
Thu 5 Lyon, France @ TBA
Fri 6 Paris, France @ Le Klub
Sat 7 Gent, Belgium @ Frontline
Sun 8 Arnhem, Holland @ The Stage
Mon 9 Amsterdam, Holland @ Bitterzoet
AntiSocial had their 3 Is The Magic Number mini-ramp contest recently, where teams of three were given a list of tricks to do and the most points gained won the day.
Basically, it was carnage and craziness with board transfer disasters and a whole load more, check the footage below:
When you skate this fast, it’s not surprising that every now and then you’re gonna take some beats.
Cardiel makes the concrete say ‘ouch’ with this selection of slams and frontside airs all set to the delights of Bad Shit over on Thrasher.
Anthony Demascio is now skating for The Gyppo Army.
Kevin McKeon and his merry men are on the rampage this year and will probably be plastering up your local spot soon. Check out their blog for updates on decks and all Gyppo activity including some footage from our friend Momo down in Marseille who you will learn much more about in a Marseille scene feature on this site very soon.
Thursday‘s Geoff Rickley has joined forces with Ben Koller of