DEICIDE's GLEN BENTON: 'The Internet Has Made The World A Really Stupid Place'

In a new interview with Sense Music Media, Glen Benton of Florida death metal veterans DEICIDE addressed the fact that social media is often blamed for exacerbating incivility and partisan polarization around the world. He said (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): "I think the Internet has fucking completely made the world a really stupid place. I think it's generational but the politicians and the religious people, it's really turned into a real circus over the last 15 years, man. And I think we suffer from a lack of integrity in the world.

Referencing the fact that people offer their opinions on hot-button issues, ready to argue with anyone who disagreed, Glen said: "You can find a fight anywhere, man, in this world right now. Everybody is ready to throw down, man. The world is really on edge, man. It's just the way the world is, with inflation and the economies of the world, people are angry, man."

Benton went on to discuss the fact that there has been a backdrop of political polarization as the U.S. enters the 2024 election season, with many people frequently taking their grievances to the streets.

"I'm getting ready for it, 'cause it's an election year here in the States. And it turns into whatever," Glen said. "Any and every reason, man, to be able to destroy property and loot and rob and just riot and shit, people are just looking for any reason. And me, I think it's personally funded, man, because they do it religiously every election year, just to make whoever's sitting in the [White] House look bad. It's a weird thing, man. I try to stay out of the politics of it and shit. But this country — the state of Florida is a sweaty toilet seat, and the rest of the country is the toilet. Pretty much."

Asked who he thinks is going to win the U.S. presidential election in 2024, Benton said: "I'm with everybody else. I think everything is a fucking fix, man. I come from that old hippie school of shit, man, where it's, like The Man, that shadow government shit, man.

"As much as I hate organized religion, I hate politics," he continued. "Everybody that discusses politics. I can just be, like, 'You know what? You're an asshole.' And I always say that politics are for assholes, because it's such a useless and wasteless fucking topic because no matter what, everybody… I've been hearing about change and all this shit since I was a little kid, and It's still the biggest fucking dumpster fire that that had ever been. So I'd rather take a walk or go ride my bike or do something more useful with my fucking thoughts than think about a couple of old fucking dudes fucking fisticuffed behind a fucking shed somewhere. It's just stupid.

"I hope the best for our country, and I hope that things can turn around," Glen added. "And I mean, you've got one guy who's, like… I don't even think he's alive. I don't even know if he's breathing or not at times. When I look at him, I'm just dumbfounded, as a fucking country, that we would elect somebody that's so old that they can't even complete a sentence or walk. It's horrible, man. And it just makes us look ridiculous as a country. And I just that we can somehow try to turn things around a little bit here, 'cause it's gotten out of control.

"I was up in Pennsylvania this weekend," Benton said. "I'm looking to find myself a house up in the mountains and get the fuck away from people, man… I watch about 30 seconds of the evening news and I turn the fucking shit to 'Seinfeld'."

On the topic of how partisan media's role in America has grown, with the creation of "news bubbles," where political ideology drives news selection, rather than objective coverage and free-flowing information, Benton said: "It's all bullshit, man. It's all fucking bullshit. I was telling a friend of mine. He sits there and he watches that Fox News horseshit, and it's, like, you've got one that bullshits you blind, and then you've got another news agency that's trying to invoke your anger and shit. And I told him, I said, 'Man, all that time you're wasting on that bullshit, you could be spending it with your kids.' I said, 'At the end of the day, man, what's more important? Listening to somebody who's fucking ruffling your feathers and stoking the flames of hatred, or fucking go and take your kids for a walk or go to the park or some shit,' you know what I mean? So I said, 'You're wasting your shit on that stuff.' So, you can turn it around. Just turn it off. I just don't give a fuck about it. I'd rather listen to old music or some shit or stand around and get high and do my fucking thing and be stupid and Internet shop and browse eBay or whatever the fuck. It's, like, stop wasting your fucking mind on that shit because you're never gonna fucking change it, man. I mean, you can go and vote and do your best and shit, but at the end of the day, it's that shadow government shit, man. They're gonna put there who they want there… It's all bullshit. You can't believe a fucking thing. So do what you want. Leave me the fuck alone. And the world works better that way.

"When we were kids, we didn't know about politics," Glen added. "We didn't give a fuck about that stuff. And life was fucking great. I didn't give a fuck. Let it burn. That's the way I look at it now: let this fucking thing burn. You wanna burn it, burn it. I can't stop ya."

When the interviewer touched upon the fact that social media drives conflict and the alignment of identities along partisan lines, Glen said: "The Internet dictates what you can do, say or whatever. You've gotta walk on pins and needles around all these woke individuals and that. And I just don't give a fuck anymore, man. Banish me to hell. I don't give a fuck, man. I'm not gonna let the Internet or some 12-year-old kid from New Jersey fucking dictate how I should do, look, whatever, say and everything. I keep my fucking beliefs and my shit to myself, man. I don't push it down anybody's throat. I mean, I write the music that I write just like Stephen King writes the books that he writes. I just do what I do because that's just who I am. I don't give a fuck what you believe in, who you have sex with, who you fucking idolize, worship, who you think you wanna be. I don't give a fuck about any of that stuff. Just leave me the fuck alone with it. I don't come to you with it. Don't come to me with it."

DEICIDE's new album, "Banished By Sin", was made available on April 26 via Reigning Phoenix Music.

This past February, DEICIDE released the second single from "Banished By Sin", a song called "Sever The Tongue". The track was recorded at Smoke & Mirrors with engineer Jeramie Kling, while the mixing and mastering was handed by Josh Wilbur.

DEICIDE collaborated with David Brodsky from My Good Eye: Music Visuals for a visually arresting video for "Sever The Tongue" that complements the track's blasphemous undertones.

To close out 2023, DEICIDE celebrated Christmas with another blasphemous song called "Bury The Cross...With Your Christ".

DEICIDE played its first show with new guitarist Taylor Nordberg (THE ABSENCE, INHUMAN CONDITION) on May 21, 2022 at the Rickshaw Theatre in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.

Previous DEICIDE guitarist Chris Cannella amicably left the band in January 2022 after a three-year run.

Chris joined DEICIDE in 2019 following the departure of guitarist Mark English.

English became a member of DEICIDE in 2016 after the exit of longtime guitarist Jack Owen.