Peter Dolving, famed blogger, questionable haircut enthusiast and camo shorts philosopher, has un-amicably split from the band he successfully, after many failed attempts, completely destroyed. Dolving's confirmation was cryptic, angry and brief: I am officially quitting The Haunted. After years of working with the band, I am out. I have had it. I will NOT answer questions to why. It's no ...

Recently Anthropic Records -- purveyors of excellence and, in their own apt formulation, "heart-breaking, chest-crushing noise and doomed psychic soundscapes" -- unleashed Anthrosphere III, yet another fantastic (and free!) compilation of the latest gnashing and wailing coming out of the Philadelphia metal underground. To mark the occasion we invited Anthropic proprietress Shannon Marie to share ...

Much of Bobby Liebling's life seems completely improbable. The Pentagram singer, despite a decades-long battle with drug addiction, is alive today and still performing. And Pentagram's musical career/trajectory has been even more bizarre. Starting in the early '70s, the band has experienced tumultuous lineup changes (and break-ups), botched recording deals and enough drama for a dozen bands. And, ...

Without spilling too much digital ink, we'd like say we're pretty chuffed -- as Mick Harris would say circa '91 -- to be premiering not one but two studio reports for beloved doom metal outfit Paradise Lost. The Yorkies -- not the dog, natch -- are preparing for the release of new album, Tragic Idol, which as far as we're concerned is a natural evolution of the group's recent (i.e., ...

Before getting round to talking about the imminent reissue of Napalm Death’s now 25-year-old [iconic/seminal/etc.] debut Scum, the Deciblog is engaging Mick Harris in a discussion about his favorite fish—the barbel. You see, Napalm Death’s drummer from the years between ’85 and ’91 has long since put his sticks down, and—in his words—has dropped out of the music scene, retiring ...

Now that we've announced doom gods Evoken and black-sludge purveyors Wolvhammer as regional openers of the inaugural, totally tits Decibel Magazine Tour, it's time we bring the music down a few shades of color. See, Evoken are a dark shade of grey, clouds of doom and desolation, so to speak. Wolvhammer slide along the grey color spectrum; sometimes they're almost black, others they're a lighter ...

What’s up, mothersquawkers? Let’s get it the peck on. Deep, minimalistic, black, doomy and cold. You like where this is going? This is a great way to describe Omens by the French band MONARCH! Fuzzy guitars, pounding drums and haunted vocals are the norm here for these doomsters. This thing is beaking DENSE, like a slow pummeling, until you get a brief ambient/noise interlude with a blast ...

Tearing half-empty venues apart with earnest vigor is all just part of the job when you’re KEN mode and opening a three-band bill on schoolnight. But y’know there are worse ways to working your ticket across Europe, spreading at-once fierce and reflective metal/hardcore/noise jams to crowds that might lack the numbers but not the appreciation. It’d be real cold in here if it wasn’t for ...

The same bunches of you reading this who are still scratching your heads over why this post from a couple weeks ago created any amount of anything, anywhere in anybody are the same bunches of you who’ll likely be confused when we mention how compilation records used to be fucking awesome. “How the fuck?” we hear you ask. “The entire goddamned internet is a compilation, you bald dummy. You ...

I covered Asphyx in Decibel #89 [Municipal Waste cover] and from that feature, I quickly realized that across Asphyx's impressive, if somewhat under sung, discography, the Dutch outfit has the word 'death' in nearly half of its discography; 3 out of 8, to be more precise. Well, that fact wasn't lost on drummer/songwriter Bob Bagchus, who said: "It's coincidental, but it does fit the music. Maybe ...