![]() ![]() The best death metal bands have cult followings and among heavy metal bands, their fanbases are among the most rabid. Satanism, the occult, religion, politics, mysticism and science fiction have all found their into death metal bands' lyrics. Lyrically, death metal addresses exactly what you'd expect the genre to focus on. Known for its distorted guitars, aggressive drumming, and growling and screaming vocals, death metal emerged in the 1980s in Florida and is still one of the best metal genres today. It’s intensely admirable that so many of the old guard are still out there slaying, but it makes a lot of sense that some may be pulling back after all, for all the gore and glory of it all, they’re still only human.Not to be confused with thrash metal and black metal, though both of which are instrumental in shaping its sound, death metal is one of the most popular subgenres of heavy metal. They’re not old men, but they’re not young, either, and they’ve given their entire adult lives to this genre, the same way that the bands that they and their peers have inspired-from Scorched and Tomb Mold to Horrendous and Gruesome-are doing now. Chuck Schuldiner (R.I.P.) would have been 51 this year. Let’s be really real: death metal is getting old. Now that Mullen’s final tour is looming, he’ll finally get his wish, and will get to take on the role of goofy-but-intimidating Long Island dad full-time. Cannibal Corpse’s iconic vocalist Corpsegrinder still seems to enjoy hitting the road, but was far more interested in talking about taking his daughters to Disneyland than in sharing tour stories the last time I spoke with him, and when I crossed paths with Frank Mullen on a friend’s tour bus few years ago, he also mentioned wanting to spend more time with his daughter. So I decided to step down rather than pretending.”įamily is a big theme in terms of death metal retirement, which makes sense-the musicians who’ve been out there since the genre’s early days in the mid-to-late 80s aren’t exactly spring chickens anymore, and many of them have partners and children who they’d understandably like to see for more than a few weeks at a time. I was simply losing the joy to be doing this, living a life on the road. As she told Roppongi Rocks in 2014, “There’s a time and place for everything. We’ve heard similar sentiments from hoarier metal statesfolk before, too-from stadium-fillers like Slayer’s Tom Araya and Slipknot’s Corey Taylor (who one assumes enjoy a far cushier ride than your typical van-dwelling underground band) and former Arch Enemy vocalist Angela Gossow, who retired from the band after 13 years as their firebrand frontperson to pursue other interests and spend time with her family (but stayed on as their manager). This shit will tire you out if you’re out in the audience, let alone onstage every night for weeks or months at a time. Touring is hard on the body, and extreme metal demands a level of physicality than other genres don’t always need to meet, whether we’re talking the insanely intense drumming, the complex guitar work, the throat-shredding growls, or the brain-rattling headbanging. So, I just wait in my hotel room to go out and do my thing.” ![]() So, me sitting back there looking like an old fart in the backstage area, it’s not good for morale. Because I’m 100 percent alcohol and drug free, so I’m not into the partying thing at all. In two, four, six weeks, it finally stops, but when you get home you’re mentally and physically exhausted… I just want to go out and entertain the kids and come home. Where you go on a trip for a couple of days - and it just don’t stop. “I always say it’s like going on a car ride with mom and dad that’s gone horribly wrong. “It’s a hard life on the road people think it’s all parties and fun, but it’s a lot of work, driving, and it’s like living like a carnival worker or somebody in a circus,” he told the Post. ![]() According to their publicist, there are no tour dates planned for 2018, which isn’t surprising the band has played only sporadically over the past decade, and evan as far back as 2009, Benton seemed fed up with touring. Benton eventually returned to the fold after his legal troubles had settled down (and released an extremely personal album, Til Death Do Us Part, about dealing with the fallout that included songs like “Hate of All Hatreds” and “Not as Long as We Both Shall Live”) and Deicide is now preparing to release a new full-length (their 12th!) on September 14. ![]()
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