How evil is Deicide? Sure, the group's name is Latin for killing God. And sure, it's one of the longest-running bands in the genre; formerly known as Carnage, and later Amon, it's been composed of professional blasphemers since 1987. And their feel-good catalog includes odes like "Where Heaven Burns" and "Death to Jesus" (seriously). And the lead single from their new album,
The Stench of Redemption -- a warp-speed return to form that's full of vintage thrash grooves and Cookie Monster vocals -- is titled "Homage for Satan." And, yes, the video for the song draws parallels between being a zombie and being religious. And the clip, available at
www.earache.com, features a fast-moving zombie running down a priest. And singer-bassist Glen Benton, a card-carrying satanist, wears an inverted cross on his forehead. But how evil is Deicide, really? In the mid-'90s,
Benton was implicated in a squirrel-shooting scandal. As Slayer put it, "Evil has no boundaries."