Deicide is a death metal band that started as Amon in Tampa, Florida during 1987. The band's first albums were on Roadrunner Records; they changed their name to Deicide for their first self titled release in 1990. The band's original line-up consisted of front man Glen Benton, guitarists Eric and Brian Hoffman, and drummer Steve Ashiem. Since then, brothers Eric and Brian left and were replaced by Jack Owen and Dave Suzuki. Jack Owen was previously a member of Cannibal Corpse and Dave Suziuki is a former member of the bands Death and Iced Earth.http://www.earache.com/bands/deicide/navigation/biography.html

The band's lyrics and imagery are heavily satanic and often contain anti-christian views. Deicide has generated controversy all over the world for these messages, and have had concerts canceled by local church concern.http://www.earache.com/bands/deicide/navigation/biography.html In 2005 front man Glen Benton appeared on a BBC article and news clip titled The Death Metal Murders. Benton was interviewed because of a cult linked to murders in Italy called the "Beasts of Satan". Benton was asked to be a part of the article because the group stated publicly that Deicide was their favorite band. In his interview Benton said "I say don't blame people like me and [Marilyn] Manson, because we never said: 'Hey, we're going to be role models for all your kids.' That ain't what this is about. It's about entertainment."http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/programmes/this_world/4446342.stm

In 2008, a report by Mother Jones Magazine gave a list of songs that were used as torture at Guantanamo Bay. The list of artists included Metallica, Rage Against The Machine, and Deicide. A song off their 2004 release, Scars of The Crucifix was played on repeat at high volume to enhance interrogation or to prevent sleep. When news of this spread to the artists both Deicide and Metallica were not angered by this, however affiliates for Rage Against The Machine asked that their music not be used. Drummer of Deicide Steve Asheim said: "It's cool. If we're up to military standards of audio abuse, it makes me feel like Deicide's doing our part for the troops."http://blogs.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=blog.view&friendId=48503703&blogId=362201645#ixzz10MfNbcmk

In 1987 Amon released a demo tape that quickly caught the attention of Roadrunner Records. By 1990 the band released their first album titled Deicide, it was then that the band decided to officially change their name. This album later went on to be featured in the article "Top 100 Metal Albums of the 90's" by England's Terrorizer magazine. In 1992 they released their second studio album Legion, this album's success prompted Roadrunner to re-release the Amon demo tapes in 1993.http://www.earache.com/bands/deicide/navigation/biography.html According to Soundscan, the first two albums are considered to be the second and third best selling death metal albums of all time after the top selling album Covenant by Morbid Angel.http://www.roadrunnerrecords.com/blabbermouth.net/news.aspx?mode=Article&newsitemID=16769

In 2005 guitarists Brian and Eric Hoffman left Deicide because of a "lack of spirit" towards the band. Since then, the brothers have tried to claim the rights to Deicide's back catalog before 2005 and have started other bands. This comes just three years after the band changing record labels to Earache in 2002. The first record to be released on Earache was Scars of the Crucifix, since then all of their albums have been on this record label.http://www.earache.com/bands/deicide/navigation/biography.html

Discography

• 1990 - Deicide
• 1992 - Legion
• 1993 - Amon: Feasting The Beast
• 1995 - Once Upon The Cross
• 1997 - Serpents of The Light
• 1998 - When Satan Lives
• 2000 - Insineratehymn
• 2001 - In Torment in Hell
• 2003 - Best of Deicide
• 2004 - Scars of The Crucifix
• 2006 - The Stench of Redemption
• 2008 - Till Death Do Us Parthttp://www.discogs.com/artist/Deicide