Evil seldom walks alone they say, and this was true for the final day of Metalcamp.
About half an hour earlier Belphegor had finished their God-defiling set on the main stage of the festival, and now it was time for none other than Deicide to pick up right where the others had left off...

Seeing how I was somewhat underwhelmed by Deicide’s show at Copenhell earlier in the summer, I must admit that expectations for this gig wasn’t of the highest calibre. On the other hand, I had seen Glen Benton walk on the sunny beach a few hours earlier looking rather jolly, so who knew, maybe this would turn out good after all?

”What is this, a barbecue party?”
- Glen Benton (vocals/bass)

The first thing I took notice of as the band took the stage and began pounding us with its blasphemous music was that the band was one guitarist short; for some unknown and unexplained reason Ralph Santolla was missing from the line-up, and Deicide had to make do with only the finger-work of Jack Owen, who on the other hand did what he could to fill the shoes of two guitarists.
But I’m lying, that was actually not the first thing that caught my eye at all. The first thing I noticed was the most notorious death metal band in the history of mankind almost smiling, and certainly enjoying themselves! What was this, this certainly did not go well with the image!
On the other hand though, it did go down well with me, and it certainly went down well with the Slovenian crowd. Imagine your favourite death grunters to show up at your door step, and then actually have them like what they see! That must have felt pretty awesome.
The crowd in return showed its appreciation of the band by kicking up a dust storm of unholy grace in the impressive moshpit which had formed when the thundering notes began rolling out of the speakers. Admittedly, the ones not participating in the mosh took things considerably easier than their wild brethren, and only nodded along to the beating of Steve Asheim’s drums.

”Thanks for the shitty food and crazy fucked up beers. It’s been fucking fun!”
- Benton (vocals/bass)

It wasn’t the audience that was the key element of the show however, but the band, and the constant attempts of its members not to look like they actually enjoyed themselves as much as they evidently did.
A crew-man played pranks on Owen, appearing like he was trying to take the other mans guitar away from him, and it was all Owen could do to try and keep a straight face, but in the end it was the extremely good mood of Benton which made all the difference.
Sure they were blasting out songs at hyper-speed, but the compact man with the inverted cross on his forehead still let fly a word or two between the bands material which proved to all that he wasn’t as ill-tempered as the music would have us believe, and to tell the truth, it made all the difference in the world!

I was quite surprised when I caught myself actually digging the show taking place in front of me, this was totally unexpected!
Sure, the sound was pretty good, a big difference from the last time I saw the band, and that helped lift its share as well, but in the end it was the positive atmosphere which won me over. If every Deicide concert was like this, I wouldn’t mind seeing them again. I still probably wouldn’t seek them out, but if we were to cross paths I certainly wouldn’t avoid them at least, and that’s a pretty big change for someone of my taste...

Setlist (incomplete):

Once Upon The Cross
When Satan Rules His World
Conviction
They Are The Children Of The Underworld
Dead But Dreaming
Deicide
Into The Darkness You Go
Kill The Christians
Lunatic Of God’s Creation
Sacrificial Suicide