DEICIDE Drummer On New Album, Lack Of Touring

Darren Cowan of Blistering.com recently conducted an interview with DEICIDE drummer Steve Asheim. A couple of excerpts from the chat follow:

Blistering.com: How do you feel about your forthcoming album "Till Death Do Us Part"?

Steve Asheim: I feel pretty stoked about it. There was a really high expectation on it because of "Stench of Redemption". That album was highly regarded, as far as DEICIDE records are concerned. Trying to top that was a bit of a worry, but once we started rolling on "Till Death Do Us Part", I wasn't even thinking about "Stench of Redemption" anymore. "Till Death Do Us Part" almost wrote itself. The music was done in about three weeks, and then I thought, "This is gonna work just fine." It was a little bit until vocals and leads came together, but once they did This album is clearly up there with "Stench of Redemption" as far as quality, songwriting and stuff like that. Stench of Redemption" was maybe a little too melodic for most DEICIDE fans. "Till Death Do Us Part" tweaks that down, making it more disturbing, less melodic, and definitely more sinister sounding.

Blistering.com: Ralph Santolla (ex-ICED EARTH, OBITUARY) has played on the last two albums. This album he is listed as a session member. Why is he only a session member and not a full member of the band? Will he be touring with the band?

Steve Asheim: He's a session member because he officially left the band to join OBITUARY, which was over a year ago. He did their record, and he's been touring with them for about a year. He's slated to tour with them for the rest of this year, and DEICIDE doesn't have any shows. That's why he stopped in as a session player, because he is not in the band anymore, although he meant to do the record. He actually had to get it done in between tours of OBITUARY. They would be on the road, they would finish up, and he would stop in the studio on a week off in between tours. He would stop off and play a few leads, and then go back out on the road. He actually did that twice. He did another tour, which was about five weeks, and then came back and was able to do another couple days of work in the studio. For that reason, I say he is a guest/session member for us. If we can manage to get on the road, and Ralph doesn't have to be busy with OBITUARY or some other project, we hope to get him out on the road with us. That is something that has yet to be seen. It just comes down to scheduling and stuff like that.

Blistering.com: I spoke to Dave (Suzuki, drums/guitaris) of VITAL REMAINS at their show last year. We were talking about Glen not touring with them. He also said that Glen didn't tour with DEICIDE in Europe. Does that have to do with his divorce? Is this why you aren't touring right now?

Steve Asheim: It actually is why we aren't touring. It's too bad. It is really an unfortunate situation for everyone, for VITAL REMAINS, for DEICIDE, for Glen, especially for the fans. Our record company and everyone involved with DEICIDE were hit really hard by this, but there isn't a whole lot anyone can done. There is life and there is business. The band is definitely a part of everyone's life, but when it comes down to something like family, it definitely falls under business. Sometimes, you first have to take care of your family business, so that is what he had to do. He has taken quite a bit of time off over a year and a half. He's still taking time off. We are just doing what we can to keep ourselves busy. For VITAL REMAINS, life has to go on. It's the same with DEICIDE and the same with me. I'm working on a bunch of other projects [note: Earache will make an announcement about his forthcoming project in the new few months]. I'm just trying to stay busy. I want to get back out on the road somehow. Even though he can't go on the road, I still got a life. I don't want to be sidelined for a year and a half for some problem that isn't mine. I want to get back out there.

To read the entire interview, go to www.blistering.com.