Blistering.com: I got into you guys when a friend let me borrow a tape of Amon/Feasting the Beast. I dig the riffs and the hooks on that album.
SA: That’s old-school time and place, man. Those were songs we did back in ’89. That was a good demo. We did that whole thing fast, in about one night, ten hours or so. It was raw and just…you know when something comes together fast like that, it’s gonna have a quality to it, it’s gonna be raw. It has it, man. It’s tough to make that. You can’t spend a month on a record and make it sound raw like that. It has to actually happen raw. Raw records like that have a darkness that is part of the charm. It sounds underground.
Blistering.com: Till Death Do Us Part is the second album featuring ex-Cannibal Corpse guitarist Jack Owen. What has he brought to the band?
SA:Jack is a great guy. When the chips were down for Deicide, he stepped up and helped us continue on, as far as touring and stuff. What Jack brought to the band is definitely a stability that we needed. What he brings to the record is another set of Jack Owen leads. As far as the record, him and Ralph both stepped in and helped out with a lot of leads. I was glad to have them, and I hope they will be there to play some gigs if we can manage to get that done, too.
Blistering.com: Ralph Santolla (ex-Iced Earth, Obituary) has played on the last two albums. This album he is listed as a session member. Why is he only a session member and not a full member of the band? Will he be touring with the band?
SA: He’s a session member because he officially left the band to join Obituary, which was over a year ago. He did their record, and he’s been touring with them for about a year. He’s slated to tour with them for the rest of this year, and Deicide doesn’t have any shows. That’s why he stopped in as a session player, because he is not in the band anymore, although he meant to do the record. He actually had to get it done in between tours of Obituary. They would be on the road, they would finish up, and he would stop in the studio on a week off in between tours. He would stop off and play a few leads, and then go back out on the road. He actually did that twice. He did another tour, which was about five weeks, and then came back and was able to do another couple days of work in the studio.
For that reason, I say he is a guest/session member for us. If we can manage to get on the road, and Ralph doesn’t have to be busy with Obituary or some other project, we hope to get him out on the road with us. That is something that has yet to be seen. It just comes down to scheduling and stuff like that.
Blistering.com: How have the fans received your preview track, “In the Eyes of God,” on MySpace?
SA: They have had a pretty good go of it on there. They started with a preview track, a little snippet of about two minutes, about half the track. They got that up to about 75,000 plays in a few weeks time. Now, they have switched over to not just a snippet; they have the whole track playing. Now, the countdown is on for that one. People keep coming back to the site to play it, so they seem to be into it. We managed to rack up 100,000 plays in a matter of a few weeks. I think that is doing all right.
Blistering.com: Deicide is known for writing blasphemous lyrics, hence the band name. What are some of the blasphemies you refer to on Till Death Do Us Part?
SA: You’re right; Glen’s lyrics are notoriously blasphemous, shocking and satanic. This time around, they maybe are not as overtly blasphemous. His titles aren’t as over the top as previously. When you get to check the lyrics out, they are definitely his most hateful and most heartfelt hate he has ever had. There is blasphemy in his equating of real life, love and betrayal to betrayal by God. He has a twisted viewpoint on things, and it is hard for me to pinpoint where exactly he is coming from, sometimes. I think it is easy to say he is pretty angry. It may not be your “praise-hail-Satan Glen Benton” blasphemies from the past. There is the blast from the past; this is a blasphemy from the past. He is still up to his old tricks. He is definitely angrier. His vocal delivery is angrier than ever. You will still catch a few blasphemies in there.
Blistering.com: I spoke to Dave of Vital Remains at their show last year. We were talking about Glen not touring with them. He also said that Glen didn’t tour with Deicide in Europe. Does that have to do with his divorce? Is this why you aren’t touring right now?
SA:It actually is why we aren’t touring. It’s too bad. It is really an unfortunate situation for everyone, for Vital Remains, for Deicide, for Glen, especially for the fans. Our record company and everyone involved with Deicide were hit really hard by this, but there isn’t a whole lot anyone can done. There is life and there is business. The band is definitely a part of everyone’s life, but when it comes down to something like family, it definitely falls under business. Sometimes, you first have to take care of your family business, so that is what he had to do. He has taken quite a bit of time off—over a year and a half. He’s still taking time off. We are just doing what we can to keep ourselves busy.
For Vital Remains, life has to go on. It’s the same with Deicide and the same with me. I’m working on a bunch of other projects [note: Earache will make an announcement about his forthcoming project in the new few months]. I’m just trying to stay busy. I want to get back out on the road somehow. Even though he can’t go on the road, I still got a life. I don’t want to be sidelined for a year and a half for some problem that isn’t mine. I want to get back out there.
