Blistering.com: When you did that tour in Europe, who did you have replace him?
SA: That whole thing was such a crapshoot. We were totally flying by the seat of our pants. We kind of went out there expecting the entire tour to implode with the first show. Basically, we went because everything was already paid for. The tickets were bought, the bus was rented, all the gear was reserved, tickets were sold for the shows, and all the merchandise was printed and shipped. Glen cancelled just five days or a week before we were supposed to leave. We were gonna either totally fuck everybody or make sure everyone doesn’t get fucked, so we went over there. It was weird because the first show, which was in Holland, we weren’t sure what we were gonna do. We were basically going to play an instrumental set with no bass and ask people to stay. We got word that this cat, Seth Van De Loo, from this local band who was a big Deicide fan was coming down to bring us some weed or something and check out the situation. He came down around sound check, and he had some brutal vocals. He was doing backup vocals for his band, Severe Torture, which he plays drums in. He did sound check for us and his vocals destroyed!
We printed up a bunch of vocal sheets for him and asked him, “Dude, can you do the show, Can you do some of the tour?” He said he had to call his wife and call his job to let them know he wouldn’t be coming in for a week or whatever. We told him to get as much time off as he could. He got off a week of work, and joined the tour for a week until the tour organizer found another guy who actually played bass and sang. About a week into the tour after this guy joined, he decided to go back home. With this guy [the new guy] it was the same thing. He stepped up into a position where he knew nothing. In a week, he learned about ten or twelve songs on bass and vocals, so he joined the tour. We had some guest vocalists from the other bands help out until he was able to learn about fifteen or sixteen songs. A month later, we were still on the tour. The tour didn’t implode, it didn’t get cancelled and nobody got fucked! It wasn’t like we were trying to continue on a band without Glen Benton. It was definitely the only time you will ever see Deicide without Glen as the front man, and it was only to prevent a bunch of people from losing their ass. It would have put the tour company out of business if we hadn’t helped them from losing their ass.
Blistering.com: Was the fan response good, even though Glen Benton didn’t sing?
SA: The fan response was remarkably good! There was more promoter concern than fan concern. Over the course of the entire tour, twenty-five or twenty-eight shows, there were maybe fifty tickets returned, total. We were expecting fifty to a hundred returns every night! That just didn’t happen. They would post a sign outside the venue saying, “Attention, Glen Benton is not here. Deicide will still perform with a fill-in vocalist.” There were ten ticket returns here, five there, it wasn’t that big of a deal. It’s not like they didn’t want to see Glen, but once they got down there, they stayed because they would rather see something than nothing. I have to thank the fans for that one. They really came through for us. It wasn’t expected to go well, so we were really surprised. What I got out of the whole thing was it really wasn’t about Glen, the Hoffman Brothers or me. It’s about the songs!
Blistering.com: One of the improvements Deicide made on its last couple records was the drumming. How do you perceive your growth as a drummer?
SA: From my first recording—some of those Amon demos—I’ve always tried to improve my drumming. Naturally, it’s a progression as long as you don’t slack off on whatever it is you play. Each time I set up for a recording, I’m always trying to push some boundary back a little further. It could be the duration of a blast, pushing the speed a little faster, the duration of some kicks; I might do some triplets or some quads, flam fills, bigger rolls, more cymbals. Over the years, you incrementally push those boundaries back and back. Looking back over the few albums, you can hear the growth. It’s been no different over past couple of years. Even from Scars of the Crucifix, I pushed the pitch a little farther, and pushed Till Death even farther than that. I’m hoping on the next record to push it even further.
Blistering.com: How do you feel about landing the top spot with the troops in Iraq as a tool for torturing suspect terrorists?
SA: I’m pretty stoked about it. Moments like these make me proud to be an American! It’s funny because I say stupid shit like that because I don’t believe blasting music at people is torture; it’s something people pay to have done to them. It’s a funny headline. I could just picture one of these guy’s face as they are blasting this shit at him. I’m also trying to get the word out there, “Look, call our agent and book us. We will come play one of these interrogations live.” Sometimes, people are more serious about it, “How can you live with something like that,” so I have to get more serious with them. I don’t think it is torture, I think it’s funny. I do like the fact we are at least number one somewhere with somebody.
