Deicide leader Glen Benton has sounded off on the state of the modern heavy metal scene.
In short, Benton feels that things have simply gotten less metal, citing the hyper sub-categorization of the genre and the onstage attire of those who play it.
Benton’s remarks hail from a new interview with KNAC.com. At first, Benton describes his upbringing when he was surrounded by classic metal such as Black Sabbath and Judas Priest — the music that motivated him to the career path he’s been on for decades.
“I remember being at the breakfast table 7:30 in the morning with my boombox blasting ‘Paranoid’ at my mother,” he said (as transcribed by Blabbermouth).
In his opinion, a lot has changed.
“Metal was metal back then,” said Benton. “Metal right now — you have so many subcategories of metal now, it’s ridiculous. I understand individualism and that, and we can really use a lot more frontmen like that, like Ozzy [Osbourne] and Ronnie [James Dio] and all them people, Lemmy and that. We don’t have that anymore.”
He continued: “All we have is a bunch of wannabe Weezer-looking dudes trying to play metal. Everybody’s sporting black-frame glasses and wearing trucker caps. Nobody gives a shit about imagery anymore, looking the part of metal and that. I walk around 24 hours a day looking [like I do]. I can’t shake it, man. I’m never gonna fall into that. I’ve always been that way, too, about the guys onstage, man. You’re not gonna come out there wearing a fucking plaid shirt and white tennis shoes. It’s not happening.”
Benton and Deicide just released their new album Banished by Sin. For more from the ever-opinionated death metal pioneer, stay tuned for Heavy Consequence‘s forthcoming interview with Glen Benton.
Listen to Benton’s interview with KNAC.com below.