Ralph Santolla

Santolla was a practicing Roman Catholic, which caused some controversy among Deicide fans, many of whom are against Christianity and are aware of frontman Glen Benton's open Satanism. Many were surprised that Benton even allowed Santolla join the band, due to his frequent criticism of the religion. However, Santolla stated that he was "not going to pretend to be some dark and evil person just so people think I'm metal," and also stated that he respected Benton for not being afraid to be true to himself, despite differences in their religion and beliefs. He also said his religious background "doesn't have anything to do with Deicide." He said, "I think a lot [sic] of these stupid fucks who are so up in arms about bands like Deicide [...] It's stupid. If they want to like, really worry about evil and shit like that, they shouldn't be worrying about a metal band, they should be worrying about child molesters and fuckin' Darfur and things like that." Santolla took pride in his Italian heritage, and he played guitars by Jackson and Ibanez with the Italian flag painted onto them, as seen in Death's "The Philosopher" video.

On May 31, 2018, it was reported that Santolla had suffered a heart attack and fallen into a coma. He was taken off life support and died on June 6, 2018 at St. Joseph's Hospital in Tampa, Florida. He was 51 years old. Deicide frontman Glen Benton, from whom Santolla had been estranged following his departure from the band, stated that the two had "made peace" prior to his death. Benton is quoted saying: "I hope he's in a better place, and I hope he's happy."