Deicide returns with their new LP, Overtures of Blasphemy, tomorrow (14th) and the band delivers a cache of extremely tight, bitingly thrashing tracks that are going to take you back to the glory days of the late 80’s and early 90’s. We caught up with Glen Benton, vocalist and bassist of the band, to talk about this new gem:
Can you tell me about your approach to mixing and recording this record?
Glen Benton: At our age and with all these things in the music industry that are affecting a lot of artists, there has been a lot that has really sucked the life out of what we do (as artists). Now, after all these years we have developed a “I’m just doing this for myself approach.” I didn’t have anything in mind in terms of objectives except for getting this record completed for Century Media and doing it on a high note.
We approached the record with a simplistic look. I wrote songs, Steve wrote songs and Kevin wrote songs for the record. I wrote some (initial) songs and Steve and Kevin showed me what they thought and after the first song (we worked on together) they definitely knew where I was going with this (record). We wanted to write an album that was fun to play and groovy with hooks and catchiness with killer leads and harmonies. (We said) “Let’s approach it with the music we grew up with the music we listened to – with that catchiness – from the days of old.” That’s what we wanted to recapture. But we went at it with a more barbaric approach instead of turning it into elevator music with pro tools.
I was listening to “Compliments of Christ” and I went “Wow. I don’t think I’ve ever heard that type of lead work in Deicide song.”
It works for us. We always wanted to have a guitarist that could play like this… I mean it’s one thing to go out there and do a shitload of dive bombs that make no sense… but it brings another element to it when you got a sweep player involved. We sound better with a sweep style lead guitar.
Honestly every song on this record is incredibly well done. I’m assuming that you’re going to take this on the road soon, What are you looking forward to playing the most on this new record?
Well, we’re looking forward to playing what the general public wants to hear the most. We’ve been sitting on our hands with this thing for four or five months. We want the firms to determine what to play. We’re rehearsing all the songs right now (on this record)… we’ve been playing all the songs and we’ve been tightening them all up so we can easily play them all live.
I noticed a more prominent bass sound in the mix on this record compared to some of Deicide’s early work. What did you differently here?
I used a Fender Jazz Deluxe Bass on the album. That’s the first time that I’ve ever stepped outside of the (other brands). I wanted that old school sound and I got that. The bass on the album is loud and solid in the mix and you hear it when you hear it. When you hear it on a loud system with a nice powered subwoofer you’re going to be like “whoa!” It’s that heavy. I’ve seen Geddy Lee playing a Jazz Deluxe on that last (Rush) album and I was like “I gotta have that sound.” … If Geddy Lee can use a jazz bass on an album, I’m going to.
Overtures of Blasphemy releases on September 14 and can be ordered here.
