Deicide in Washington DC

About Deicide

Deicide formed in 1987 as one of the first legitimate death metal bands, arriving before most of their peers even had contracts. Glen Benton's vocals are an acquired taste—raspy, surgical, designed to cut rather than soar—and the band built their entire identity around anti-religious imagery and lyrics that wouldn't pass a content filter. They weren't subtle about it. Songs like 'Once Upon the Cross' and 'Fuck Your God' established them as the band parents would actually worry about, not for shock value alone but because the musicianship backed up the blasphemy. They've been relentless about it for three decades, which either makes them admirably consistent or stubbornly repetitive depending on who you ask. Either way, they showed up and stayed put while countless other extreme metal bands faded or reinvented themselves.

Deicide shows are straightforward metal violence. Pit opens immediately. Benton doesn't acknowledge the crowd much; he's there to deliver the material with precision. The music hits harder live than recorded, which is where technical death metal either works or completely falls apart. This version works.

Known for Lunatic of God's Creation, Once Upon the Cross, Fuck Your God, Dead by Dawn, Homage for Satan

Deicide + Washington DC

Deicide rolled through Washington DC on October 7, 2014 at Empire, bringing their particular brand of blasphemous death metal to a city that's seen its share of extreme music over the decades. The band tore through their catalog with the kind of relentless precision you'd expect from a group that's been doing this since the late '80s. Glen Benton's vocals hit different in a packed venue, especially when they dug into the deeper cuts alongside the hits everyone came for. It was the kind of show where you could feel the band still had something to prove, even after all these years of doing exactly what they set out to do.

Deicide in Washington DC News

• Gojira Announce Fall 2021 US Headlining Tour Consequence of Sound · May 3, 2021
• How US interrogators use music as a tool of torture The Guardian · Jun 18, 2008

Live Music in Washington DC

DC's metal scene has always been more about substance than flash. The city's produced some genuinely heavy bands and maintains a solid underground that respects the craft. Death metal isn't exactly mainstream here, but the people who care about it care deeply. Venues like Empire have historically provided the kind of intimate-but-loud spaces where a band like Deicide can do serious damage without pretense. The DC metal crowd doesn't need flash or hype—they just need the riff to hit hard.

Washington DC road trip to see Deicide?

Stay in Georgetown or Capitol Hill, both walkable neighborhoods with excellent restaurants and bars. Book a table at Kinfolk in Capitol Hill for refined New American cooking, or head to Pineapple and Pearls for something more elaborate if you want to splurge. During the day, the Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden offers world-class contemporary art without the crowds of the main Smithsonians. Walk the C&O Canal towpath if the weather cooperates. Hit up one of the city's serious record shops like Smash! Records before the show.