Steve Asheim

Steve Asheim
Steve Asheim, 2009
Background information
Birth name	Steve Asheim
Born	(1970-01-17) January 17, 1970
Genres	Death metal, black metal
Occupation(s)	Drummer, songwriter
Instruments	Drums, percussion, guitar, piano, bass
Years active	1987–present
Associated acts	Deicide Order of Ennead
Website	http://www.deicide.com/
Notable instruments
Paiste Pearl

Steve Asheim (born January 17, 1970) is an American drummer and primary songwriter for the death metal band Deicide. Asheim is endorsed by Pearl, Paiste, Vater, Axis^[1] and is known to collect guns, which can be seen in Deicide's DVD When London Burns. Asheim also plays guitar on the album Till Death Do Us Part. On November 20, 2007, Asheim joined the St. Petersburg, Florida-based death/black metal band Order of Ennead as their drummer.^[2]

Biography

Asheim first instrument was the trumpet but after few months he started playing drums as self-taught at age 11 and began to play in small bands at 13. He did his first demo in a studio of one of his school teachers in Freehold, NJ. In that period he developed his interest in extreme drumming. He left his former bandmates because they wanted to play Mötley Crüe while he was interested to play Slayer and Metallica. In 1985, he moved to Florida and joined "Carnage", where he met Eric and Brian Hoffman. "Carnage" covered Slayer, Exodus, Celtic Frost and Dark Angel songs. After Carnage disbanded in 1986, Asheim and the Hoffman brothers started writing the early "Amon" songs. In 1987 they met Glen Benton and started demoing. Later they changed the band name in Deicide.

Musical influences and tastes

Asheim was inspired by bands such as Metallica, Slayer, Dark Angel, Destruction, and Sodom.^[3] and his main drumming influences include Peter Criss, Clive Burr, Buddy Rich, Lars Ulrich and Dave Lombardo.^[4] Asheim also plays lead and rhythm guitar, bass guitar and piano. He listens to classical piano to derive a better idea of what is possible in constructing songs and music.

Bank incident

On 25 January 2007, when making a trip to a bank in Innsbruck, Austria to make a deposit from Deicide merchandise sales, he was arrested on suspicion of connection with a recent bank robbery. Staff were perplexed by his appearance and attire, as well as the fact he was handling money marked in red dye. Detained by police in the local station, he explained the banknotes were legitimate proceeds from touring, and that he had a leaky pen in his pocket which was responsible for the money's discoloration. He was released without further charge.^[5]

See also

• List of drummers

References