Month: September 2012

1. “Red All Over”Travis Ryan: Just a song about violence. Nice and simple… And bloody. Leon del Muerte: The fastest song I’ve ever written. This one and “Under the Weight…” were completed towards the end of the writing cycle, but I knew for sure that this would be the opener. That’s two-for-two on opening songs…

What’s up, Motherpeckers? It seems the fall is a little dry, at least this part anyway, so let’s plow through this. We’re going to start with the fucking evil HOODED MENACE, Effigies of Evil. This is old school death metal, and I mean old school. Slow, mean, nasty, heavy: These guys don’t need blasts to…

Bands like Gojira and Godflesh might be major brand names ‘round these parts, but mention them to your average Metallica-loving broseph and you’re likely to get a squinty-eyed, the-fuck-you-say? half-nod.  But Decibel just won’t quit.  We dig deeper, danker, darker and dirtier (though rarely fitter or happier) to turn up a few otherwise overlooked gems. …

According New Orleans-based sludge doom outfit haarp, their music is a weapon. Not the kind of weapon the U.S. government has in the High Frequency Active Auroral Research Program (H.A.A.R.P.), but more the ancient Celtic god kind; a weapon of enchantment. Though we really wouldn’t say our experience with haarp—stylized in all lowercase letters—is enchanting…

So, the other day, Repulsion’s bassist/vocalist/friend of Decibel, Scott Carlson sent us a link to a rather peculiar little article from the Washington Post with the comment attached, “Our music is truly Repulsive.” Check it out: Is Listening to Music Making You Worse at Your Job? Now, why out of all the bands that have…

It’s obvious that we have quite a lot of love for Grave around these parts. Don’t believe me? Just check out Greg Moffitt’s review or Jonathan Horsley’s profile in our September and October issues, respectively. While the Swedish death metallers just released their new album Endless Procession Of Souls last week, guitarist/vocalist Ola Lindgren had…

John Darnielle has delighted readers of Decibel since the magazine’s inception with his South Pole Dispatch backpage column, and we are certainly grateful to have his humorous, provocative and thoughtful commentary gracing our pages every month. But Darnielle has a long, colorful history of writing about metal, both as the mastermind behind the long-running Last…

First off, Michigan City is not in Michigan. It’s actually in Indiana, has views of the Chicago cityline, is closer to Gary, Indiana than anyone—even Michael Jackson—would ever want to be. Second off, Michigan City houses newly—as of 2008 at least—spawned sludge-doom outfit Yellowtooth. If you have yet to hear of Yellowtooth and their brand…

We’re chuffed to have a dB album of the year award winner take over the shredder’s studio this Wednesday. In this second installment, Tombs guitarist and vocalist Mike Hill tells us about the riffs that led him on a musical path of totality. While you are at it make sure to check out the new…

The last we had heard of Swedish black metal terrorists Ofermod, they were busy promoting their 2008 debut Tiamtü full-length and acting all anti-cosmic gangster—rumor has it headcheese Michayah Belfagor (aka Mika Hakola) has been involved in all sorts of untoward activity—while the rest of the world spun and burned like Belfagor and his unmerry…

We’re sorry to do this to you, but this little premiere we’re going to bust out today, is going to make the next several weeks drag on as you anxiously await the release of Family’s debut album for Pelagic, Portrait, on October 30. We can guarandamntee you we will be spinning our advance copy incessantly….

The Mayans were off by a month: The world will officially end on Saturday, January 19 at Union Transfer in Philadelphia, PA, when Decibel Magazine proudly brings you our truly apocalyptic 100th Issue Celebration Show! Faces will be decimated not only by Pig Destroyer Repulsion Municipal Waste Tombs and Evoken but a special surprise headliner…

Yeah, it seems kind of corny to talk of a “dream team” existing in doom’s dark, colorless realm but, shit, just consider Serpentine Path’s personnel. You’ve got Tim Bagshaw, guitarist for saturnine UK doom crew Ramesses and a founding member of Electric Wizard, jamming with entire crew of the now (sadly) defunct Unearthly Trance, Jay…

What do goat heads, goat head masks, inverted crosses, bullet belts and improperly held axes have in common? Normally, we’d say Sadistik Exekution or Impaled Nazarene during their sado-battle-goat phase, but the answer is neither. It’s actually Greek duo Satan’s Wrath, who, if we’re being kind, are a bit of throwback to times when posing…