Category: Music

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