DEICIDE Drummer STEVE ASHEIM On Satanism, America's Gun Laws And DAVE LOMBARDO

Journalist Joel McIver recently interviewed DEICIDE drummer Steve Asheim for the U.K.'s premier drummer magazine, Rhythm. Excerpts from the conversation appear below.

On Satanism:

Rhythm: Are you a Satanist, like DEICIDE frontman Glen Benton?

Steve: No. I support DEICIDE and their stance — I mean, it's all music and it's all entertainment. I don't have a problem with the message, but I don't hate religion, although I think it's pretty stupid to follow a particular religion. I think it's a waste of time, and life is so short. I just can't afford to waste time praying for anything.

"For me, it's just two sides of the same stupid coin. I like the fact that DECIDE can be a wake-up call for people not to be a demagogic follower. Just open your eyes and use your mind! I don't mind if you want to worship a tomato, but you know — just wake up.

"Trying to abolish religion is not going to solve people's problems. It's going to come down to people waking up and saying up that they don't need it, or they don't need to be an extremist, or whatever. It's like on 'Star Trek' when they find a new civilisation that worships a potato — they think, 'How primitive!' That's the same thing for me when I hear people on Earth worshipping this or that — I think, man, how primitive. God this and God that. Aren't we past this?"

On Glen Benton:

Rhythm: Glen has had his fair share of his controversy, particularly in the British press, for the squirrel-shooting incident in the mid-'90s.

Steve: "And that's from the home of fox-hunting! Y'know, when I was 25 and people were threatening to bomb our shows and stuff, we could laugh it off. If that happened again today, I would laugh it off. It was a massive gainer of attention, and people are still talking about it 10 years later."

Rhythm: Glen also foresaw his own death at 33.

Steve: That's something else that still comes back to bite him. People still ask Glen, 'Dude, you're still alive, man — I thought you were going to kill yourself at 33?' Well, sorry to disappoint you all…"

On guns:

Rhythm: On DEICIDE's last DVD, you showed the interviewer your gun collection. A lot of people think that Americans are obsessed with guns. How do you feel about that?

Steve: "If that's what they think, then fair enough. I don't think I'm obsessed with guns. There are not just plenty of people in America who are obsessed with guns, but also with sex, money and whatever else. It's just the ease with which guns are available, particularly down here in the South. I think it's all part of the government's strategy to keep guns proliferated down here in the South."

Rhythm: How does that benefit the government?

Steve: "It's gonna make it harder for people to land here. I mean, why are there no guns in New York, but there are a million and ten guns in Florida and the entire South — Texas, Alabama and all the way up to Maryland?"

Rhythm: Can you just walk into a shop and buy a gun over the counter?

Steve: "I can. I have a carrier's permit, which means the FBI has my fingerprints and they've done a background check on me. It means I'm not a criminal, and I don't have mental problems. I've been entrusted by the state, so I can carry a gun with no problems. I can buy rifles and shotguns or whatever on the same day and leave. Handguns have a five-day waiting period, so they can do a check on you."

On the possibility of SLAYER playing death metal:

Rhythm: On "Supremist" on the new SLAYER album "Christ Illusion", there's a moment at about [40 seconds into the song] where [Dave] Lombardo almost — but not quite — does a blastbeat.

Steve: "There's actually a lot of debate about that round here! I dunno — first I thought it was a syncopated snare fill, but listening back I think it's a blastbeat. He's building up to it, and he's working his ass off to try and do it. I hate to say 'try,' like he can't do it, but for SLAYER to agree to have a blastbeat in a song at all is amazing! That's like them saying that they've shunned death metal long enough, and now let's try and use it. For me, that's one of the most redeeming things about it. Not that he played it, but that the rest of the band said, 'Yeah, let's do a blastbeat.' Maybe next time they'll do a whole song like that — and I'm really psyched about it."

The interview will appear in Rhythm's January 2007 issue, out December 20. More info: www.joelmciver.co.uk.