Month: June 2011
AND THE HEADLINES SCREAM…
June 30, 2011 Kevin Stewart-Panko
Admittedly, I’ve never been big on checking out heavy metal’s nerve center for news, Blabbermouth. Once in a while, I’ll take a peek at the site and see what’s going on, who’s in the studio, who’s on tour and even indulge in a little bit of gossip, but I personally don’t have the time or feel…
Lordi: Fakest Metal Band Ever
June 30, 2011 Chris Dick
Finnish “heavy metallers” Lordi have gone 3-times Platinum (90,000 copies sold) in their native Finland, Gold (30,000 copies sold) in Sweden, Gold in Germany (100,000 copies sold) and have probably earned sales medals throughout Europe. Pretty neat considering Lordi are nothing but a bunch of fakers. Check out this clip from 2006. The horror-masked Finns…
Eddie’s Daddy Speaks
June 29, 2011 Shane Mehling
If you say you don’t know who Derek Riggs is, we can probably forgive you. But if you say you don’t know his work, you are clearly looking for a fight. The creator of arguably the most iconic mascot in all of music, Riggs’s art made him at one point practically the 7th member of…
Disposable Heroes: At the Gates’ “Slaughter of the Soul”
June 29, 2011 Kevin Stewart-Panko
There’s little more annoying on this planet than the immoral majority telling you how essential, transcendent and (huh-huh) seminal a particular extreme album is, when you know that it’s overrated as fuck. Hence, our new Wednesday morning column, “Disposable Heroes,” in which one brave soul sails against the current to inform all you clones why…
Cradle of Filth – “The Principle of Evil Made Flesh”
June 28, 2011 Chris Dick
Formed in 1991 in Ipswich, about 82 miles northeast of London, Cradle of Filth started out as, to quote frontman Dani Filth, a “gore-flecked death metal” band.
Big 4: Comic Relief
June 28, 2011 Chris Dick
If you’re a Decibel subscriber, issue #82 [Scott Ian cartoon cover] should be arriving via angry postman shortly. In this month’s cover, longtime dude’s dude Nick Green detailed in fantastic fashion the link between comics and extreme music. With a (spoiler alert!) fold-out cover illustrator by Henry and Glenn inklord Tom Neely, issue #82 boldly…
Stupid Shit: The Motion Picture
June 28, 2011 Andrew Bonazelli
You may have seen this on MetalSucks earlier in the week, but it’s too rad not to repost. Waterloo Records in Austin, home of Snore by Snorewest, got four dudes from the esteemed Tombs and Kill the Client to play the time-honored game of “What the Fuck Does Your Stupid Band Logo Actually Say?” (MS…
Seth Putnam Remembered
June 28, 2011 Shawn Macomber
Were he somehow able to observe the aftermath of his own recent passing from on high amidst the ether, it is easy to imagine Seth Putnam’s glee at the kids clambering atop digital platforms to ostentatiously proclaim righteous ambivalence over his death or the Village Voice’s lengthy tut-tutting. You do not do or say the…
Would If I Could
June 27, 2011 Kevin Stewart-Panko
If you’re in Los Angeles this coming Friday and Saturday, make your way down to the Nomad Gallery for the two days of the second New Weird America Festival. If on Friday you’re choosing to not embark upon a sympathetic celebration of the socialist welfare state to the north known as Canada (July 1st is Canada Day,…
STREAMING: So Hideous, My Love… “To Clasp A Fallen Wish With Broken Fingers”
June 27, 2011 Chris Dick
So Hideous, My Love… may not have the best band name, but musically they’re the best post-insert-subgenre-here band since Arvo Pärt joined Burzum and the daring duo started covering Godspeed You! Black Emperor B-sides. Seriously though, Pärt hasn’t joined Varg in any capacity, but So Hideous, My Love… feels like the next step in whatever…
The Women of Metal (According to SPIN)
June 27, 2011 Jeanne Fury
Photo: Birtha, armed to the teeth with proto-metal chops. To combat the impeding death of print journalism, I still subscribe to plenty of magazines. SPIN happens to be one of them. In between articles about bands that I can stomach as easily as putrid flesh, there are bits I enjoy, one of which is the…
Black Metal 1969
June 24, 2011 Chris Dick
Some say the first wave of black metal started in England. We happen to be of the opinion — a silly one, mind you — that the first wave of black metal started, at least sonically, in America in 1969, with the release of New York-based Cromagnon’s sole album, Orgasm. We’re not the first ones…
The Lazarus Pit: Aeternus’s …And so the Night Became
June 24, 2011 Jeff Treppel
Welcome to The Lazarus Pit, a biweekly look at should-be classic metal records that don’t get nearly enough love, stuff that’s essential listening for students of extreme metal that you’ve probably never heard of. Stuff that we’re too lazy to track down the band members to do a Hall Of Fame for. This week, we…
Eric Swenson R.I.P.
June 23, 2011 Shane Mehling
After the untimely passing of Jared Southwick, another icon is no longer with us. Eric Swenson, one of the most visionary figures in the history of skateboarding, committed grisly suicide in front of a police station in San Francisco. The 64-year old Swenson, who co-founded both Independent Trucking Co and Thrasher magazine, put a gun…
5 Things Musicians Need To Understand To “Succeed”
June 23, 2011 Chris Dick
5. MANAGERS: Self-managing a band is a load of work. Arch Enemy does it, actually. But unless you have a few A-types who actually know how things work, it’s probably a good idea to get a manager. Again, someone you can trust. Someone with a sterling reputation. Someone who manages other bands in good standing….
Jared Southwick R.I.P.
June 22, 2011 Shane Mehling
While the news of his grave condition had been known, it still comes as a terrible shock that guitarist Jared Southwick has passed away from a liver and kidney condition in Muncie, Indiana. Most well known as the amazing six-stringer for The Dream is Dead, some like myself also got to see his incredible talents…
Don’t Be a Dick: A Tale of Indie Filmmaking, Extortion and MDF
June 22, 2011 David Hall
David Hall is the director of Disgorge, Mexico: The Movie, Axis of Eden: The Feature Film, Maryland Deathfest: The Movie and Maryland Deathfest: The Movie II. He attended Maryland Deathfest last May 26 – 29 with the intention of shooting the second sequel. Suffice it to say, things did not go as planned. Hunker down…
Justify Your Shitty Taste: Sepultura’s “Against”
June 22, 2011 Jonathan Horsley
Almost every band has that album: you know, the critically and/or commercially reviled dud in an otherwise passable-to-radical back catalog. Well, every Wednesday morning, a Decibel staffer or special guest will take to the Deciblog to bitch and moan at length as to why everybody’s full of shit and said dud is, in fact, The…
Andreas Kisser (Sepultura) interviewed
June 21, 2011 Chris Dick
You picked Roy Z as a producer for Kairos. Why Roy?Andreas Kisser: Roy was a great choice for this album. He’s a very experienced produced, working with the best singers in metal. He’s a great guitar player. He’s a great musician, too. He more or less knows how to play his instruments. And he’s active…
Exhume to Commune
June 21, 2011 Shawn Macomber
Following hot on the heels of the induction of No More Color into the hallowed Hall of Fame, Decibel contributor Etan Rosenbloom probes deeper into the (surprisingly supple) risen corpse of Coroner in this interview with Ron Royce and Marky Edelmann for the American Society of Composers, Authors, and Publishers. I could try to find…
The Metal Detektor
June 20, 2011 Chris Dick
It takes too long to go through every online distro, e-store, virtual shop to find the best prices on the latest…uh, precious metal titles. Want the new Arch Enemy Khaos Legions for less than $10? Try Amazon. Or Century Media’s CM Distro. Want the new Morbid Angel wooden box set for less than three Bens?…
Studio Report: YOB
June 20, 2011 Jeanne Fury
Artist: YOB Title: ATMA Producer: Mike Scheidt Studio: Dogwood Recording, Eugene, OR Recording Dates: May 3 to 24 Release Date: Aug. 16, 2011 Label: Profound Lore YOB frontman Mike Scheidt has spent the past 10 minutes describing the new gear he’s rounded up for the band’s sixth album, titled ATMA. Having about as much expertise…
STREAMING: Harm’s Way “New Beginnings”
June 17, 2011 Chris Dick
Chicago-based metallic hardcore outfit Harm’s Way are right down the middle of our proverbial plate. That’s a baseball reference — made by a non-baseball fan — if you were thinking of fine china or the affordable stuff you get in boxes of 50 at Ikea. Seriously, hearing Harm’s Way’s new album Isolation immediately made us…
For Those About to Squawk: Waldo’s Pecks of the Week
June 17, 2011 Andrew Bonazelli
Every other Friday, Waldo the African Grey Parrot, frontbird of thrash-grind immortals Hatebeak, will get you caught up on the week’s latest “extreme” releases. What’s up? Waldo here. Want to know whose liner notes are at the bottom of my cage for the next few upcoming weeks? Well, I’m here to tell you… In a…
What, No Pirate Metal?
June 16, 2011 Shane Mehling
It’s time for another website to piss you off since it’s missing some bands or misdefines “Oriental Metal.” Regardless, Map of Metal is a pretty fun, interactive site that allows you to check out bands and songs from many, many different metal genres on a big, crazy jean jacket/There Be Dragons map thing. Just click…
LIVE REVIEW: Amon Amarth May 6, 2011, TLA, Philadelphia
June 16, 2011 Chris Dick
Let’s put this in perspective. I can’t recall — ever! — a band of Amon Amarth’s music style and profile doing a full U.S. tour without direct or local support. That includes every legend in the book. Entombed, Morbid Angel, Cannibal Corpse, Vader, Carcass, Napalm Death, Obituary, etc. Sure, they may’ve done a string of…
Seth Putnam: Rest In ???
June 15, 2011 Shane Mehling
It’s said that the opposite of love isn’t hate but indifference. And that has been the most common sentiment I’ve heard since the passing of Seth Putnam, singer of Anal Cunt and the man who called the world gay. Of course for his detractors, what else can you do? To actually celebrate his death would…
Justify Your Shitty Taste: Voivod’s “Phobos”
June 15, 2011 Jeff Wagner
Almost every band has that album: you know, the critically and/or commercially reviled dud in an otherwise passable-to-radical back catalog. Well, every Wednesday morning, a Decibel staffer or special guest will take to the Deciblog to bitch and moan at length as to why everybody’s full of shit and said dud is, in fact, The…
Norway Makes – The World Takes
June 14, 2011 Chris Dick
In the ‘90s, the antics of Varg Vikernes and several others pushed black metal into an unwelcome, possibly unintended spotlight (though one can argue razing Stave churches was an attention-garnering move). But black metal, from a Norwegian perspective, is no longer musica non grata. Having witnessed in person Dimmu Borgir’s NRK-funded and sponsored (effectively the…
Don’t Kill Yourself Quite Yet
June 14, 2011 Shawn Macomber
Okay, so maybe the (free!) Suffer Mental Decay demo isn’t quite as showy as a mass rock plateau suicide, but, good goddamn, the not-overly-modern-death-metal-with-a-twist of Masada sure is an awesome breath of fresh air in these deathcore-laden days. Featuring ex-members of Immolation and Goreaphobia and fronted by Crucifier’s “Black Lourde of Crucifixion” Cazz Grant, this…