# Glen Benton

Glen Michael Benton (born June 18, 1967) is an American musician, best known as the lead vocalist, lyricist and bassist for the Florida death metal band Deicide.
In addition to his work with Deicide, Benton was also a member of the band Vital Remains, occasionally recording and performing with the band. He is known for his extremely low and powerful growls, high shrieks, and overtly anti-Christian lyrics. Benton's music and personal life have been subject to controversy at various points throughout his career.

## Career
### Early life

Glen Michael Benton was born in Niagara Falls, New York but was raised in Clearwater, Florida. His family eventually relocated back to New York only to relocate back to Florida several years later.
Benton's resentment of organized religion, for which he would eventually become notorious for, began at an early age. His father was a practicing Roman Catholic and his mother as Lutheran, and he was dealt what he described as "the worst of both worlds." His mother was a Sunday school teacher, and he recalled being forced to participate in his church's Christmas pageant at age 8 against his will. He said, "I was singing at the front of the church thinking, ‘How did I get myself into this shit?’" Benton was expelled from several public schools in Niagara Falls before enrolling in Catholic school, where he jokingly recalled not “even [making] it past the first 20 minutes.”
Like his dissension of religion, Benton's interest in music also began at an early age; he claimed he knew he wanted to be a professional musician as early as age "9 or 10". He described himself as "the kid in the mirror rocking out with a tennis racket", naming Chuck Berry, The Beatles, Little Richard, Elvis Presley and The Rolling Stones as his earliest inspirations. He eventually began creating music by experimenting with his father's guitars, claiming to have been heckled by his "douche bag brother" in the process.
Benton's musical interests took a drastic turn when he was exposed to Black Sabbath for the first time. He reflected, "I remember being at the breakfast table 7:30 in the morning with my boombox blasting ‘Paranoid’ at my mother." Benton later worked in a local record store, which exposed him to extreme metal. He decided he wanted to become a metal vocalist during a night spent tripping on psychedelics and listening to the album Seven Churches by Possessed.

### Deicide

On July 21, 1987, after guitarist Brian Hoffman replied to Benton's advertisement in a local music magazine, Deicide was formed. Within days the band, consisting of Benton (bass/vocals), Hoffman, Hoffman's brother Eric (guitars) and Steve Asheim (drums), was named "Amon", after the Egyptian deity. Within a month, Amon had recorded the crude Feasting the Beast 8-track demo in Benton's garage and had started playing the occasional gig in the Tampa area. In 1989, Amon recorded their second demo, Sacrificial, at Morrisound with producer Scott Burns.
Benton had his tonsils removed when he was 24 years old, following the release of Deicide's second album Legion. The procedure was financed by Roadrunner Records. He toured Europe with Deicide two weeks later while still recovering from the surgery.
Since 1990, Benton has recorded and released thirteen full-length studio albums with Deicide.

## Artistry
### Satanism and personality

Described as "an artist whose public persona and music will forever be intertwined," Benton has been referred to as "the face of Satanic death metal". Metal Injection said Benton "will absolutely go down as one of death metal's most well-known characters". Benton believes modern heavy metal bands lack the theatric personalities in their frontpeople that inspired him during his youth, such as Ozzy Osborne and Elvis Presley. Benton recalls being referred to as "the evil little bastard" by family members while he was growing up. He said, "I just fell into it, and it’s the persona I’ve had ever since I was a little kid, through school and through everything else. I don’t even really know why, but do I get off on raising eyebrows and ruffling feathers? Fuck yeah, I do! [...] Most kids rebel, and I wanted to fight the powers." He claims he is motivated by dissenters, saying "the more you tell me not to do this, I'm gonna do it." Benton has cited Black Sabbath, Dio, Judas Priest, Ozzy Osbourne, and Ronnie James Dio as influences.
Despite having claimed in an interview he shares a "spiritual link" with Lucifer, who tells him "what to say and what to write about," the nature of Benton's 'Satanism' is obscure and a subject of controversy, particularly due to allegations by former Deicide guitarist Eric Hoffman, who dismissed it as insincere and spurious. In early years, Benton was ostensibly a theistic satanist; he implied he had held the belief of the Christian God but worshipped Satan instead. However, Benton's claims are generally considered to have always been tongue-in-cheek, as his purported "Satanism" has since largely been defined as vehement anti-Christian atheism complemented with theatrics suitable for the band. Additionally, Benton has called himself a "showman," and has stated that there is no ideological agenda in Deicide, and that the music is foremost. Hence, his beliefs have been questioned by followers of Anton LaVey's Church of Satan, an organization which Benton has denounced as an organized religion.
Benton is notorious for an inverted cross he has repeatedly branded into his forehead over the years, beginning when he was 22. According to Deicide drummer Steve Asheim, this act was likely in response to previous press attention the band received when Brian Hoffman burned an inverted cross into his arm with a cigarette. Benton estimated that he had burned the cross into his skin twelve times, adding that the most recent time he was able to see veins and bone from his skull. He eventually stopped this practice after his mother begged him to. Benton commented: "To this day, I don’t know what the fuck I was thinking, but I knew that I had been christened Catholic as a child, and I felt that the best way to take care of that would be my symbolic way of taking that Catholic mark off of my skin."

### Lyrics and vocals

Benton had a religious upbringing with a Catholic father and a Lutheran mother. Benton is known for his Satanist and anti-Christian beliefs, and Deicide's lyrical content rarely deviates from blasphemous topics. Benton said: "It’s beaten into me, so I can’t sing about anything else. If I try to sing about other things, I draw a complete blank. I let the universe speak through me, and if I have to force it, it just won’t come." He explained, “Like taking a shit, you want it to [...] flow out of you naturally.” Deicide's 1990 self-titled debut album featured a song titled "Sacrificial Suicide", in which Benton was alleged to have claimed that in order to achieve a life opposite that of Jesus he planned to die by suicide at age 33. This claim that he would kill himself at the age of 33 continued throughout the 1990s. However, he passed that age in 2000 and did not die. In 2006, he stated that these statements had been "asinine remarks" and that "only cowards and losers" choose to kill themselves. Benton attempts to incorporate double messages into his lyrics, and claims to have been deeply disturbed by some of the messages he has heard while playing Deicide songs backwards.
Benton's vocals alternative between high shrieks, death growls, and screaming (which he self-describes as his "angry man voice"). Benton claims that getting his tonsils removed at age 24 has contributed to the tone of his singing voice.

### Bass guitar playing

Although Benton played bass guitar with his fingers early in Deicide's career, he eventually switched to using a pick. He elaborated: "The reason I switched to a pick is because in this style of music, the bass player has to be tight because it’s just so fast. It’s hard to play that dynamic with your fingers. When you’re speed – when you’re blasting, all you hear is “beep-boop-bl-bleep- boop.” It should be more like a guitar. It's just like playing rhythm guitar". He describes himself as "more of a rhythm player," and composes many of his contributions in Deicide on the guitar.

## Equipment

In May 2015, Benton was endorsed by ESP guitars, and has been using a custom-made EX bass with a reverse headstock and EMG pick-ups since then. He has also used Phoenix and Stream bass models.

## Controversies
### Bob Larson controversy

In the early-to-mid-1990s, Benton was a frequent opponent guest to Christian radio shows, such as Bob Larson's "Talk Back" show. Though a serious discussion rarely took place on the program, the exchanges between the two mainly consisted of taunts from Benton and tongue-in-cheek teasing. Larson continually invited Benton to his talk show, but Benton often declined. Benton claimed he was “roped into” the appearances on Larson's show, which he said were arranged by Roadrunner Records. Despite rumors that Benton had mailed a scab to Larson, the former eventually refuted these claims, saying: "Bob Larson is a fucking carny. He's a showman, like myself. He does what he does for ratings and to sell his fucking cult-shit videotapes and his cassettes to you, the weak-minded fuck. Okay? [...] Bob Larson has actually admitted this shit to me. Bob Larson and me are actually kind of friends [...] Bob Larson does what he does to make fucking money to support his prostitute habits."

### Allegations of animal abuse

In 1992, newspapers reported that Benton had expressed an interest in, and participated in, the slaughter of live rodents such as rats and squirrels. During an interview with NME Magazine, Benton shot a squirrel in the head with a pellet gun: Benton explained it was to prevent any further damage to his electrical system and other contents in the attic of his home where the interview was being held. The publicity led to an attempted bomb attack on Benton during Deicide's Legion tour at the International 2 in Manchester, England, by an animal rights organization. Benton was also beaten up in Bradford. A similar attack was attempted at a previous show in Stockholm, where a supposed small fire bomb was set to detonate during Deicide's set. No one was injured, but the bomb damaged the venue. The bomb was reported to be an M-80. The tour was curtailed.

## Personal life and views

Benton has two sons, Daemon Michael Benton and Vinnie Benton. He has an interest in motorcycles, which can be seen in the music videos for the Deicide songs "Scars of the Crucifix" and "Conviction". On the role of religion in society, Benton said "I think people know how to treat each other, and don’t need a book full of bullshit to tell them how to do it." Benton elaborated on his stances in a backstage interview, saying "If I was going to hate every Christian in the world, or hate people that believe in God, I would have nothing to do with my parents. I would have nothing to do with alot of people in my world. That's just ignorance to condemn somebody for what they believe. That would be totally [hypocritical on my part]. I believe what I believe and I have the freedom to do that. [...] I ain't gonna condemn you for believing in God, I just think you're an idiot."
Although Benton has admitted to hard drug use and heavy drinking during his younger years, he claims to have adopted a healthier lifestyle in his later years. He was quoted saying, "You know what? Who hasn't experimented with a few things in their life? Big deal. So what if I experimented? [...] Look, I don't even drink anymore. [...] I'll have a Heineken every once in a while, but I was drinking a bottle of Jack Daniel's every night before I went onstage and another bottle while I was playing. That starts catching up with you real quick, and I started going blind in my right eye. So after a nice scare at the doctor's office about four years ago, I stopped."