Historically speaking, Deicide is perhaps one of the most brutal and blasphemous entities that the Metal scene has ever given us and for over twenty five years have been bringing their dark message to the masses with insidious resolve. Tonight the band would return to the B.B. King Blues Club along with two opening acts and remind their fans about their fearful musical prophecies and you can learn more in the full review by clicking the logo below. Then keep on scrolling in the blog post to see some of the images that are only presented here for your indulgence.
Artist: Deicide
Venue: B.B. King Blues Club
Opener: Eyes Of The Dead, Mahavatar
Date: 11/5/2012
Label: Century Media Records
Written By: Ken Pierce (copyright 2012) for PiercingMetal.com
The devastating effects of the recent Hurricane Sandy had left their mark upon the residents of NYC and its surrounding regions but now it was time to rebuild, recover and heal as best as was possible. There were a number of shows cancelled or rescheduled last week thanks to the storm and that left the Metal legions a little stir crazy and aching for a live show and now it was time to release all that frustration with the one and only Deicide. The show this evening would be at the venerated B.B. King Blues Club and feature two support acts. Here is how the evening went for those who did not manage to attend.
Opening the show tonight were New York City’s own Mahavatar which is a kind of Experimental Groove Metal band fronted by Lizza Hasson. I’ve enjoyed their work for a few years now but was unable to catch their set based on the overall timing of my night. When I did get to the venue I chanced upon Lizza who had told me that there was a completely new lineup in the band outside of one of their guitarists and that they were going for a more straight ahead Metal vibe now than any experimentation. I look forward to hearing it whenever they get to some recordings and send over a copy for deeper examination. Also on the bill were Eyes Of The Dead were also appearing as the direct support for this show and I guess along the span of touring dates that Deicide was doing. They are a Thrash Metal/Death Metal band from Connecticut and are not to be confused with the very similarly titled Through The Eyes Of The Dead who originates from Florida. I caught about three of their fast moving numbers and felt that they were commendable on the stage and managed to stir up the fans that made it out tonight just enough for the mighty Deicide who unless I was mistaken by the time were going to be onstage within minutes.
Deicide: The last time that Deicide played NYC was only maybe six months ago and it was definitely an interesting show because for some reason Glenn was unable to sing. To my recollection he had cited being ill and not well enough to sing but had preferred not to cancel the performance. That found the entire set being delivered as a quasi-instrumental and karaoke show with the audience singing back the tunes to the band with occasional growling assistance from guitarist Kevin Quirion. It was different to say the least. Tonight the band hit the stage with their typical intensity and it would be a no-nonsense delivery of their destructive sounds. They would open with “Homage To Satan” from their critically acclaimed “Stench Of Redemption” album and of course were still on the touring warpath in support of their Century Media Records debut “To Hell With God”. Glen started off the Metal festivities by informing us all that he once again had a voice and it was good that he did that because it was very likely that most of this crowd tonight had been at that previously referenced show. The set list seemed to mirror the one that was delivered back in March with the only difference being the fact that this time the vocals from Benton were there along with his acerbic and sometimes scatological commentary between numbers. At one point a fan must have been annoying him from the front and Benton informed him the dude that he “was making his asshole bleed”. He continued along by dedicating the next song to this same fans mother’s reproductive organ. He said it slightly different from how I phrased it of course. You cannot make this shit up if you tried my friends.
Musically this was a no-holds barred assault with the powerful and insane drumming of Steve Asheim driving every notorious melody forward with precision and bone rattling speed. The twin guitar work from Kevin Quirion (now a full time member of the band) and Jack Owen really impressing the axe slingers in the crowd. Benton himself was uhm, Benton. The main man monster on the stage whose vitriol and anger manifested itself again and again as each song was delivered for the set. As I mentioned just before this set seemed to be a line for line redelivery of that March 2012 performance. That meant that nothing would come from the bands previous release “Till Death Do Us Part” which surprised me because it generally received favorable reviews from the media but four in total would hail from their most recent “To Hell With God” recording. The rest of the set was peppered with the bands most classic material and the songs that make their fans the most ravenous when delivered on the stage. There were nineteen songs in all but it went by like a fast moving train. Sadly I would miss a couple of numbers as I had to get over to the Best Buy Theater and photograph Blue Oyster Cult but I still got the complete vibe of what the appearance was about. This will have been my fourth time reviewing a Deicide show in my city and while I stress some caution based on your belief structure, they are a band to see at least once if you support the Extreme Death Metal scene.
The only downside for this particular event was that it did not bring out the biggest crowd that I had seen for this band in the past. Perhaps it was the strength of the overall package or the fact that many who might have wanted to come in and get some Metal music relief were still unable to do so safely and easily thanks to the after effects from the hurricane. Those who did make it in all seemed to have a Hell of a time. Pardon the very obvious and bad pun. Until next time.
Deicide Set list:
1. Homage for Satan
2. Dead by Dawn
3. Once Upon the Cross
4. Scars of the Crucifix
5. When Satan Rules His World
6. Serpents of the Light
7. Save Your
8. Hang in Agony Until You’re Dead
9. Conviction
10. Blame It on God
11. They Are the Children of the Underworld
12. Death to Jesus (Omitted)
13. Witness of Death
14. Desecration
15. Into the Darkness You Go
16. How Can You Call Yourself a God
17. Kill the Christian
18. Sacrificial Suicide
19. Lunatic of God’s Creation
20. Oblivious to Evil
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It wouldn’t be a presentation of a B.B. King Blues Club show if I didn’t snare a visual of the bands name across the venue marquee. It’s been a little over three years since Deicide last played this particular venue. Yes they have been over at the Gramercy Theatre a couple of times since that gig but this place feels a whole lot different when a band like this one comes a calling.
The merchandise for the band was pretty cool. Here are some of the shirts that I glimpsed. The opening band Eyes Of The Dead had some CD’s on sale but I did not photograph them.
The poster for the evening’s event looked pretty ominous as well. Fans have started collecting these when the venue makes them available for early entry tickets or from the ones that are hanging on the walls of the club. I think I mentioned liking the smaller cards if they make them. They are cool to snag some autographs on if you do that kind of thing.
No real time for any candid shots of the band this time around because they were ready to hit the stage when I arrived. I did however snap the dressing room signs and mostly because they had a little fun with the support acts sign.
Periodically I try to snare some of the tech that is involved in the bands performance and this time around the word “snare” totally applies as I grabbed us a quick visual of Steve Asheim’s drumset. This was pre-pummelling of course. Nice kit.
I also got a shot of Mahavatar’s singer Lizza with Glen Benton shortly before they hit the stage.
