Ah, Satanism and metal–the happiest of bedfellows. How serious is the connection? That depends on who you ask. For the likes of Iron Maiden and Black Sabbath, the dark themes were always about horror movie theatricality. Later though, Norwegian black metal bands were murdering each other and burning down churches. And death metal band Deicide’s Glen Benton branded an inverted cross onto his forehead. Now that’s commitment!
Deicide rolled into Hollywood in May with Polish “blackened death metal” band Behemoth, plus Greek group Rotting Christ, and openers Immolation (who we missed because of an early start time). The tour was dubbed The Godless IV, which fits quite comfortably given the thematic nature of all involved.
Deicide were glorious. Brutal, ferocious, and a little more “on it” than the last time we saw them (which, weirdly, was over a decade ago). Benton’s hairline might be a little higher these days, but his voice is just as guttural.
“Dead By Dawn” and “Sacrificial Suicide” from the self-titled 1990 debut sounded gloriously evil, as did “Behead the Prophet (No Lord Shall Live)” from the 1992 Legion masterpiece. If we have any complaints, it’s that there was only the one song from Legion. But hey, you can’t have everything.
“Homage for Satan” from 2006’s The Stench of Redemption ended the set, before Benton and his troops gloriously exited the stage, leaving the crowd with the smell of smoke and sweat, and the ringing of tinnitus.
Behemoth brought much more of a “show” to the Palladium than Deicide. Dry ice, makeup, props and elaborate decor–it was nice to see the lads make an effort.
There are huge differences musically too. Deicide go straight for the throat, no nonsense. Behemoth’s “blackened death metal” is operatic, epic and moody, while pummeling the listener when necessary. So it’s more dynamic.
The set was excellent, mainly pulling from the last four albums, with just a couple from anything previous. The opening “The Shadow Elite” plus the title track are played from 2025’s excellent The Shit Ov God opus. There’s an awesome cover of Bathory’s “The Return of Darkness and Evil,” while the closing “O Father O Satan O Sun” is positively, wonderfully terrifying.
All together now: “GROOOAAAGGHHHHH!”
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