Satanic Planet Dead Deities is out now, the second album from the band that brings together The Satanic Temple co-founder Lucien Greaves, Planet B producer Luke Henshaw, Slayer drummer Dave Lombardo and San Diego’s own Justin Pearson. The 11-track record arrived Oct. 30 on Relapse Records, according to the band’s official Bandcamp.
Pearson is the San Diego link. He is known for San Diego bands including The Locust and Swing Kids, and he started the San Diego label Three One G Records in 1994. Three One G released Satanic Planet’s self-titled debut in May 2021, according to ReGen Magazine. Dead Deities moves the band to Relapse.
Satanic Planet Dead Deities: The Album
The label’s announcement, published by Blabbermouth, says the four members are “now a fully together-in-the-studio band,” and describes the record as a “call-to-arms against autocracy in the age of Christian nationalism.” Greaves says the material is more personal and more closely aligned to the goals of The Satanic Temple.
The Bandcamp credits list Satanic Planet as Greaves, Henshaw, Pearson and Lombardo, with additional musicianship by Emma Tiemann. Henshaw recorded at Penguin Studios and Lombardo at Ritmo Studio, Tiemann was recorded by Ryan Wasoba, Daniel Scheltt mixed the album at Soundwork International, and Nathan Joyner mastered it. The design is by Felipe Froeder/Arcano XV Collage.
Satanic Planet Dead Deities Tracklist
- Damnatio Memoriae
- Antichrist
- Church Burning
- Dead Deities
- Sam Alito’s Mom
- Headless Man
- Dr. Green
- Cannibal Syndrome
- Ouroboros
- Ammosexual
- Satan’s Spawn
“Sam Alito’s Mom” and the Songs Behind It
The first single, “Sam Alito’s Mom,” references Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito, whom the announcement describes as “known for his work in helping to overturn Roe v. Wade.” Greaves explained the song’s connection to The Satanic Temple’s work:
“In an effort to preserve reproductive rights in the face of theocratic opposition, The Satanic Temple has opened three abortion clinics and is currently working toward opening a fourth. We named the first of our clinics ‘Sam Alito’s Mom’s Satanic Abortion Clinic’, and following the opening of the fourth clinic, we are going to sue to establish our religious freedom to ship abortion pharmaceuticals to any state in the U.S. regardless of their restrictions on bodily autonomy. This is our fight, and this is our song about that fight.”
“Church Burning,” released in September with a video directed by Rodrigo Espinosa, addresses the 2022 fire at The Satanic Temple’s headquarters in Salem. Greaves said: “This is a song about the hypocrisy of religious violence and how our opposition destroy their own ethical credibility every time they have attacked us with arson, bombs, and violent assaults. We will always rebuild. It is their own church they burn.”
What Critics Say About Dead Deities
Pitchfork reviewed the album Oct. 30. The review’s subhead calls it “a provocative, maximalist, and pretty solid second album.” Writer Sadie Sartini Garner wrote that Lombardo “largely dials back the mile-a-minute thrash of Slayer in favor of the kind of looping, lyrical drum lines that he laid down with Fantômas.” The review closes by saying the band will “have to settle for having made a pretty good record.”
New Noise Magazine rated Dead Deities 4 out of 5. Reviewer Wyatt Soullier wrote, “Each song on Dead Deities sounds scarier than anything A24 could pay a composer for a horror movie score,”. He also wrote, “Lombardo’s percussion performance on Dead Deities is the blood and adrenaline fueling Satanic Planet’s every note.”
Satanic Planet in San Diego
Satanic Planet played the Casbah on April 28, 2026, according to the San Diego Reader. That show was part of a short run of dates ReGen described as a prelude to the album, presented by Three One G Records and The Satanic Temple: Los Angeles on April 27, San Diego on April 28, New York City on April 30 and the Satanic Revival gathering in Baltimore on May 2.
For those spring shows, ReGen listed Greaves, Pearson and Henshaw on stage with Kevin Avery, Scott Osment and Emma Tiemann. Lombardo was not named in that live lineup. The band has not said whether Lombardo will play future shows.
No San Diego release show or 2027 tour dates had been announced as of Oct. 31. Dead Deities shares its Oct. 30 release date with another San Diego record, Black Sunday’s debut album ‘Looking Down’.
Satanic Planet Dead Deities FAQ
Dead Deities Puts a San Diego Name on Relapse
Satanic Planet Dead Deities is the band’s first album since the 2021 debut on Pearson’s Three One G, and its first on Relapse. It runs 11 tracks, opens with “Damnatio Memoriae” and closes with “Satan’s Spawn.”
It is available now through Relapse and the band’s Bandcamp. Live plans beyond this spring’s shows, including any return to San Diego, have not been announced.
SDMETAL
