Month: January 2012
Overkill – “The Years of Decay”
January 31, 2012 Chris Dick
No strangers to the north east thrash metal scene—then dominated by Hall of Famers Anthrax—New Jerseyans Overkill famously peeked out from the underground on ‘88’s Under the Influence.
R.I.P. Riot Guitarist Mark Reale (1955-2012)
January 31, 2012 Adem Tepedelen
We’re obviously not breaking the news that Riot guitarist, Mark Reale (far L in photo), passed away on January 25 from complications from Crohn’s disease. Nonetheless, we wanted to pay tribute to a musician—and more importantly, a band—that hasn’t gotten his/their due in American metal history. Reale was not only a founding member of Riot,…
Not Dead Yet
January 31, 2012 Shawn Macomber
Get ready to put whatever trivial bullshit you were planning to bitch and moan over today on hold: The upcoming documentary Jason Becker: Not Dead Yet is imbued with the kind of uplifting against all odds triumph and spellbinding never-say-die persistence that reorients perspective in a serious way. After making a name for himself in…
HYSTERICAL: Hysteria – The Def Leppard Story, awful biopic, comedy gold
January 30, 2012 Jonathan Horsley
Firstly, kudos to Ben Ward of Orange Goblin for posting this on Facebook today and reminding us that This is Spinal Tap doesn’t have a monopoly on eliciting belly laughs at the expense of rock and metal’s superstars. You may like Def Leppard, and even those who don’t may still appreciate “Rocks Off” from On…
Murder Death Kill Mired In Controversy? No, Stupidity.
January 30, 2012 Chris Dick
Metal writers (sorry, not journos) are subjected to a slew of email proclamations from publicists, labels, and other label-centric interests. Stuff like “on tour now”, “new promo materials”, “x band celebrates the release of y album”, and so on. Basically, every day it’s email after email of one band’s new album release after another. Well,…
Say hello to the weekend with RED FANG’s “Hank is Dead” video
January 27, 2012 Jonathan Horsley
Oh praise be! The most miserable month of the year is all but over and it’s the weekend. This has been such a dry-mouthed hump of a month, but when Red Fang released their video for their super-catchy loose-minded stoner jam “Hank is Dead” the Deciblog made like Barney Gumble with the non-alcoholic champagne and…
From the Middle East to Southern Ontario. An Interview with Nephelium
January 26, 2012 Kevin Stewart-Panko
The band’s name may not be familiar to the majority of you and their moniker isn’t going to help them stand out from the crowd, but Toronto’s Nephelium is bound to garner interest solely based on the fact that they originally called Dubai home. And not the “new” Dubai where everything seems like it prolapsed…
Black Insect Laughter present: “Top 5 albums to download before they shut down the internet”
January 26, 2012 Frank Lemke
The sirens have sounded, and gears too big to comprehend are turning. In the wake of MegaUpload swallowing a massive Viral Load, it’s time to hurry up and download anything at all that you think you might need in your music catalog. It’s crunch time. Our laissez faire internet and “music is free attitude” may…
We Like ‘Girls Don’t Like Metal’
January 25, 2012 Shane Mehling
As any old schooler can attest to, gender equality in metal has never been better. But that doesn’t mean there still isn’t a very vocal contingent of the ever expanding scene that thinks chicks are dumb sluts who only go to shows because they’re drawn by the arousing potpourri of dread, sweat and a beer…
Fenriz (Isengard, Darkthrone) interviewed
January 25, 2012 Chris Dick
How does the commentary track thing work? Are you talking over the music in real-time or is the commentary track spliced in after it’s finalized? Fenriz: Lord have mercy! Just listening to Viking’s Do or Die album from ‘87 on vinyl and starting the interview. Well, it works like a commentary track on a movie—I…
STREAM/DOWNLOAD: Ferocious Fucking Teeth “Hinkley”, Albini-produced downcast noise-rock.
January 24, 2012 Jonathan Horsley
We’ve never been over to visit and the tourist information website was fucking useless, but we’d like to think that New London, Connecticut is just the sort of place where parents just vacate their family homes en masse for months at a time, and leave their surly offspring to mulch around in unwashed jeans and…
Decibel Magazine Tour Dates Revealed/Tickets on Sale Now!
January 24, 2012 Albert Mudrian
The lineup reveal of the inaugural Decibel Magazine Tour (featuring the star-studded, blackened Euro-revue of Behemoth, Watain, the Devil’s Blood and In Solitude) shook the world last week. But today we finish off with the announcement of the cities, venues and ticket info for the 26-date run. Start salivating, then go to http://decibelmagazinetickets.com and grab…
Requiem Metal Podcast: Pinged, Weakened & Chuffed by Hard ‘N Heavy’s Grindcore Special
January 24, 2012 Chris Dick
There are game changers and then there are game changers. I wouldn’t say Hard ‘N Heavy’s Grindcore Special Issue was a game changer in the same way Entombed, Paradise Lost, Napalm Deafth (phonetic spelling, natch), Bolt Thrower, Tiamat, and many others were in the dimmest part of the early ’90s, but it, unlike any Xeroxed…
Streaming: Goatwhore Premiere from Blood For the Master
January 23, 2012 Adem Tepedelen
Talk about a kick-ass way to start the week. Not only did we put the Big Easy’s finest purveyors of blackened thrash, Goatwhore, on the cover of our current issue, we managed to wrangle a new tune off their upcoming Metal Blade album, Blood For the Master. “When Steel and Bone Meet” is everything we…
Sven De Caluwe’s (Aborted) Top 5 ’80s Slasher Flicks
January 23, 2012 Chris Dick
#5 – Halloween End of the ’70s to be exact… But hey, Michael Myers is a bad-ass and one of those slow stalker killers that for some reason never go down and make the body count go higher by each sequel. It has to be said though that this is also one of the very…
The Lazarus Pit: Sanctuary’s Into the Mirror Black
January 20, 2012 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 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. I wasn’t sure if this week’s entrant was…
Decibel Magazine Tour Lineup Announced!
January 20, 2012 Albert Mudrian
Blackened clouds are gathering overhead, and it’s all our fault. North America’s premier heavy metal magazine is launching the maiden edition of its annual earth-scorching tour this April. The inaugural Decibel Magazine Tour will feature not just the long-awaited stateside return of Polish blackened death metal overlords Behemoth, but support from Swedish black metal provocateurs…
IRON REAGAN: Hardcore/crossover crew feat. Municipal Waste/Darkest Hour
January 20, 2012 Jonathan Horsley
All of you long-haired wastoids presently staring at the fridge, beer bong ready, weed order placed, Cheetos-in-bowl, etc… impatiently waiting for the new Municipal Waste record to drop, you might want to wrap your headbang around the new demo from Iron Reagan. Featuring Waste singer/party enabler Tony Foresta and bassist Phil “LandPhil” Hall, the line-up…
Into the Pit: A389 Records 8th Anniversary Bash
January 19, 2012 Kevin Stewart-Panko
In a couple days time, if you’re looking for something to do in Baltimore that doesn’t involve dodging bullets or dealing with shitty temperature fluctuations, why not mosey your bulbous buttocks down to the Sonar Compound to help celebrate A389 Records’ eighth birthday? The label is one of our favourites around these parts and now…
An Average Day Interning At Decibel
January 19, 2012 Frank Lemke
Out of all the things I’ve done in my life, the most common question I’m ever asked is: “What was it like interning at Decibel Magazine?” Well, years after the fact, I’ve finally decided to take a look back and reminisce about what it was like being “The Fucking Intern.” The first thing I did…
Win the 12″ for Birds in Row: ‘Collected’
January 18, 2012 Shane Mehling
The overblown, furious, tarnished melodies of Birds in Row is the reason why Deathwish Inc. is going to be releasing the French trio’s debut full-length. But the always killer Vitriol Records was able to slip in first and release Collected, a vinyl compendium of everything the band has bruised folks with so far. Vitriol is…
Jan Kuhanen & Ismo Toivonen (Unholy) interviewed
January 18, 2012 Chris Dick
What do you make of Second Ring of Power after all these years? It’s getting a second chance at life, so to speak.Jan Kuhanen: All of our albums have been re-released, so Second… is in no way specific. Plus, we have some bonus stuff with all of them except with the first one. Ismo Toivonen:…
Reunited English Dogs Lineup Goes Forward Into Battle Again
January 17, 2012 Adem Tepedelen
As far as back-together-for-the-first-time-since-’85 reunions go, we’ll take a newly reformed English Dogs—one of the UKs prime purveyors of crossover back in the day—over Van Halen any day. And lucky for us here in the U.S., three-fifths of the lineup that brought us the essential-listening thrash classic Forward Into Battle—drummer Andrew “Pinch” Pinching, lead guitarist…
Enter the Lair
January 17, 2012 Shawn Macomber
It’s your lucky day, readers. Ever-evolving Nashville pitch-black metallers Enfold Darkness have graciously sent along a new track for Decibel to premiere and it is a doozy! Check it out below… Enfold Darkness: “Lairs of The Ascended Masters” by Decibel Magazine Here is what Enfold Darkness founder/lead guitarist Matt Brown had to say about the…
Unsigned Bands: Jump aboard The Blast Beat Network’s Promopalooza for 100 bucks
January 16, 2012 Jonathan Horsley
Being in an unsigned band can be a slog. Flip through that Rolodex and there is no record company honcho to get you press, to hustle embattled magazine staffers to review your record and maybe get some broke freelance guy to call you up and write a feature. There’s no one leaning on promoters and…
Scion A/V: Label Showcase with Origin
January 16, 2012 Chris Dick
The ever-resourceful (not to mention corporately brave) folks at Scion A/V have targeted Los Angeles as the city where they’ll corral a label — this time Nuclear Blast Records — and ask select number of the label’s artists to perform for an audience. Of course, they’ll be performing for an audience. It’s not like Deicide’s…
For Those About to Squawk: Waldo’s Pecks of the Week
January 13, 2012 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. Holy reissues, Batman! Wow, just like the end of the year, the beginning doesn’t hold that much, but there are some reissue type things that’ll be a good peck for you,…
WIN STUFF: Celebrate 25 years of Earache by winning a bunch of swag!
January 13, 2012 Jonathan Horsley
Earache records is officially 25 years young this year. While it was the vinyl-only release of The Accüsed’s The Return of Martha Splatterhead that marked the label’s debut, it was the release of Napalm Death’s inconic/incendiary/etc debut, ‘87’s Scum, that started an uncanny hot-streak for the label, one which saw them go on to bogart…
“I’LL TAKE QUOTABLE NOTABLES FOR $300, ALEX.”
January 12, 2012 Kevin Stewart-Panko
Between the variety of magazines, websites and projects that currently leave me little time for much else in life outside of writing for the variety of magazines, websites and projects I have on the go, I do a fuck of a lot of interviews. Sometimes, you’ll find me writing about the same band/person in multiple…
Javelina & Whores – Brooklyn, NY, 01/04
January 12, 2012 Frank Lemke
Another awesome show at Saint Vitus. This was a Brooklyn Vegan / Brutal Panda event, and you got to love them BP boys. Philly’s heavy rockers Javelina headlined, plus Atlanta’s latest excellent development, Whores, plus some openers. For eight bucks: not bad. Factor in a pint of Fleischmann’s whiskey and some pounders of Bud, and…