Poland's Massive Music (www.massive-music.pl) report:

"On Friday (January 5th) DEICIDE kicked off their European tournee without frontman Glen Benton, who was forced to stay in the US due to some family problems. The decision was actually made in the very last moment, when the band arrived in Europe.

Deicide, in agreement with Massive Music, decided to not cancel the tour and Glen Benton consented to his replacement. Hopefully Glen will join the tour after solving his problems (all the best for him!) The more so because so far the tournee has been going great!

First two gigs in Eindhoven and Nijmegen were sold out! During the first 4 gigs Seth (SEVERE TORTURE, NOX, CENTURION) is handling vocal duties. In Manchester, Garbaty "Yaha" (from Polish death metal band DISSENTER) will join Deicide, taking care of bass and vocal duties as long as necessary.

Every night Deicide is going to play a killer 75-minute live set (17 songs!). New merchandise featuring new t-shirts, longsleeves, zippers, girly, stickers from band's latest album, Stench Of Redemption, is available during the tour.

Remember, Deicide, VISCERAL BLEEDING, PSYCROPTIC in cooperation with Massive Music are going to play this tournee till the last gig. There's no plan to cancel any show, now it all depends on local promoters. Hope this situation won't lead to any cancellations!"

Another message from Massive Music reads: "Due to many insinuations regarding Glen Benton's absence on Deicide's European tournee spreading around the Internet, Steve Asheim (drums) has released the following letter to the fans:

"Deicide understand how weird it is to tour without mainman Glen Benton, but considering other cancellations by the band in recent years, the option to cancel again is just not feasible to anyone, least of all the band. When weighing the options of cancelling or doing some shows without him, continuing on with the tour seems the only true metal thing to do... the show must go on.

And fans agree, as turnout has not been affected and fans leave the show feeling satisfied the band did all they could to dish out the metal. Deicide look forward to Glen rejoining the tour as soon as possible, but until then, the tour continues, as scheduled."

Stay tuned for further updates.