Background and career
Glen Michael Benton (born June 18, 1967) is an American musician, best known as the lead vocalist, bassist and lyricist for the Florida death metal band Deicide. He and drummer Steve Asheim are the only original members left in the band. He was also a member of the band Vital Remains, occasionally recording and performing with the band. Benton is considered to be among the most prominent and influential "Satanic" death metal musicians in the subgenre's history. He is known for his extremely low and powerful growls, high shrieks, and overtly anti-Christian lyrics. He also widely recognized for an inverted cross that he had burned into his forehead several times during his youth. His music and personal life have been subject to controversy at various points throughout his career.
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, began at an early age. His father was a practicing Roman Catholic and his mother was Lutheran, and he was dealt what he described as "the worst of both worlds." Additionally, Benton's 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?'" He also stated that the family "lived at war with each other" due to differences in religion. He stated: "People wonder why I am the way I am, well I say man, I was exposed to things at an early age that were like, creepy, haunting and fucked up at the same time." 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 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.
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, the most recent being Banished by Sin in 2024.
Benton was notorious for his unyieldingly provocative public persona early in Deicide's career, and was known for making bizarre and shocking statements to the music press during this time. In a 1991 interview, Benton stated that his intention was "to create the most evil-est music and to gain entrance into the seven gates of hell," describing Deicide's live performances as a "focal point to express [his] Satanism." He described his understanding of demonic possession as "when you come to a certain point [where] there's no turning back [...] and your body is possessed, and there's no way you can turn back." 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 on his showmanship. Early in Deicide's career, Benton wore an armored suit with spikes while performing, which he said was to deter stage divers. He recalled: "They would come smashing into me! That’s why I was wearing that shit — to keep them idiots from jumping on top of me. I used to wear all the armor, but nowadays things have changed, man. Once you’ve been sued a few times you learn to roll it back."
Benton writes all of Deicide's lyrics, and the band's themes rarely deviate from blasphemous topics such and anti-Christian sentiment and Satanism. Benton stated that: "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." Comparing lyrical composition to defecating, he stated that "you want it to [...] flow out of you naturally." He further explained that his lyricisms are not intended to exclusively attack Christianity, saying: "When I say God or Christianity or Jesus, whatever you want to refer to it, I mean all your Jesuses, all your gods, all your so-called prophets, all religions. All of it. I'm not picking on one. I'm picking on all of it, okay? People can interpret it the way they want to interpret it, towards their god or whatever." 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. Although Benton played bass guitar with his fingers early in Deicide's career, he eventually switched to using a pick. He found a pick easier to play with the speed and precision required for the band's music, and also said his approach to bass guitar "should be more like a guitar. It's just like playing rhythm guitar". He self-describes as "more of a rhythm player," and composes many of his musical contributions to Deicide on the guitar.
Sources
Net-worth figure: Celebrity Net Worth (October 2026), in USD. Biography and career facts: the person's Wikipedia article and linked reporting. Snapshot date for all StarWorth figures: 28 October 2026.
