Steven Kenneth Asheim was born in Freehold, New Jersey and is of
Norwegian descent through his grandparents who were from
Stavanger. His first instrument was the
trumpet, but after a few months, he started playing self-taught drums 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, New Jersey. 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 in playing
Metallica and
Slayer. 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 to
Deicide. On January 25, 2007, when making a trip to a bank in
Innsbruck, Austria, to make a deposit from Deicide merchandise sales, Asheim 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 leaking pen in his pocket which was responsible for the money's discoloration. He was released without further charge. He announced an upcoming classical piano solo album in March of 2026. == Artistry ==