We’re Just Going With The Times

In a recent interview with Poland’s Soundterror, Deicide‘s drummer Steve Asheim spoke out again about the controversy surrounding the cover art of the band’s latest album, Banished By Sin. The album, which was released on April 26 via Reigning Phoenix Music, sparked debates among fans, with many accusing the band of using artificial intelligence to generate the artwork.

Asheim previously explained the cover was an intentional throwback to the band’s 1990 self-titled cover, it was designed by a jewelry designer associated with Deicide, and that an actual human got paid for creating the cover.

This time around Asheim expressed his thoughts on the growing influence of A.I. in creative fields, stating: “They’re doing it with music and with writing, and A.I.’s getting into everything. How do you stop it? I don’t know. Go back to a guy with a paintbrush and a canvas and that kind of thing. Sure, they still exist. A lot of people do their art on computers with art programs or whatever. I don’t know the names of any of them, but I know people are going with the latest technology, and this seems to be it.”

He acknowledged the backlash that has arisen, noting that such reactions are not uncommon in the ever-evolving landscape of art and technology. “If there’s a backlash — there’s usually some kind of backlash against stuff every so often, so we’ll see how that plays out and what will really happen for our next record. We’ll see what’s available then. We’ll see, I guess. We’re just going with the times.

“In ’92, for Legion, we did computer art. And I don’t know if you would — they weren’t considering it A.I. at the time, certainly, but it wasn’t a guy with a paintbrush or anything. No one had a problem with that then. I don’t know what the problem is now,” Asheim reflected.

Bassist and vocalist Glen Benton has also weighed in on the controversy and said he doesn’t lose any sleep over it. During a May interview with Belgian Jasper, he emphasized his deep connection to art and its purpose to provoke thought. Benton shared: “For me, I’m an artist. I come from a family of artists. I love art. I go to museums. I’m into that. To me, it’s more deeper than what’s on the surface.”

He further elaborated on the nature of art and the reaction it should elicit. “We live in a day and age of bandwagon years — everybody’s just ready to jump on the next bandwagon — and I knew it was gonna disturb people,” he continued. “And that’s the whole point of it, man. Art is supposed to get you thinking, and that’s where I am. I’m not gonna dumb down my artistic creativity just because somebody finds it offensive or I didn’t use their cousin who draws anime or whatever. I mean, this is about art, man.”

“If you ask an artist to draw a picture of something for you and they do it in a way where it really creates controversy, you’ve done your job, man. And the fact that I got all these crybabies constantly trying to… We gave all the wrong people a voice — that’s all I can say. There are some people that really just don’t need to be heard from in society, and we gave those people — those unhappy, angry, mean, upset, self-loathing individuals — we gave them all an avenue, and it’s just a sad commentary on life right now,” Benton added.

Despite the criticism, Benton remained unfazed, viewing the controversy as a sign of success in their artistic expression. “You know what? Bad press is good press,” he stated. “I learned that on my first album. So if people are talking and people are disturbed, listen, man, you did a good job.”