Month: April 2014

Episode DB007 – Carcass

April 30, 2014

Hours before the final date of the third annual Decibel Magazine Tour, your editors sit down with three members of Carcass and special guest Blake Harrison of Pig Destroyer for a predictably contentious and uncomfortable podcast! We never got around to reading our favorite Liverpudlians Waldo the Parrot’s review of Surgical Steel—thank Christ. Featuring:Carcass “Mount…

STREAMING: Cradle of Filth’s “The Raping Of Faith”

April 30, 2014

It might seem like Cradle Of Filth has been around forever because, well, they have. But even the black metal superstars had their formative period. One of the documents of that time was Total Fucking Darkness, COF’s third demo. Decibel got the first sneak peak of this old but new material, the track “The Raping…

Sucker For Punishment: Go to Hell

April 30, 2014

Like many other metal fans, I’m a longtime admirer of the crew at Banger Films, who in the past decade have raised the bar when it comes to documenting the metal scene with the seriousness of anthropologists and the artistry of filmmakers. From Metal: A Headbanger’s Journey, to Global Metal, to Iron Maiden: Flight 666,…

Scorpions – “In Trance”

April 29, 2014

For most Americans, the earliest Scorpions song we remember is “The Zoo,” “No One Like You” or mega-hit “Rock You Like a Hurricane.” But the Hannover-based hard rockers had a storied history well before they were MTV and rock radio darlings.

LIFE TO FALSE METAL: Watter’s “Small Business”

April 29, 2014

Occasionally, it’s nice to listen to things that can’t be described as “brutal” or “crushing.” On the flipside, who the fuck wants to listen to Modest Mouse? That’s why it’s nice to have bands like Watter as palate cleansers. I’ve had This World on my stereo every night this past week as I went to…

Key Influences: Unlocking Truth

April 29, 2014

For a trio of Brooklyn seventh graders the boys of hep-hep-hepped-up, see-you-in-the-place-where-Judas-Priest-and-In-Flames-meet melodic metallers Unlocking the Truth have compiled quite a list of accomplishments over the last year or so including — though hardly limited to! — head-turning sets at Coachella, SXSW, and last Sunday’s Barclays Center NBA halftime show; signing a deal with The…

Full Album Stream: Ifing’s “Against This Weald”

April 28, 2014

Happy Monday. For your listening pleasure today please check out a full stream of Ifing’s debut folk/black metal album Against This Weald, available for preorder now from Blood Music and also available digitally soon via Bandcamp. The limited release (due May 6) will include 1,000 copies of a digipack CD and and a limited vinyl…

VEMOD GIVES NEW MEANING TO THE WORD “RITUAL” IN A NORWEGIAN MAUSOLEUM

April 28, 2014

Rituals are a dime a dozen. Any greasy-haired jabroni with a couple half-baked tremolo riffs and a motheaten cloak can stage a ritual; extra points if he cops a wood-burning kit for Christmas and goes to town on some dirt from outside his grandma’s prayer meeting to accent the seven copies of his upteenth Garageband…

Jyri Lustig, Niko Matilainen, Jussi-Pekka Manner and Matti Mäkelä (Corpsessed) interviewed

April 28, 2014

** Finnish death metal lords Corpsessed have come out of an unlikely grave. Formed in 2007 in the quaint town of Järvenpää from Tyranny and BeDimmed members, the Finns quickly set out to craft death based on their predecessors–no need to name names, really–but with a modern, individual touch. The group’s debut EP The Dagger…

For Those About to Squawk: Waldo’s Pecks of the Week

April 25, 2014

You know, the hardest part of this column here is looking for clever things to write in my intro (ignore the fact that it’s pretty squawking hard to type with your beak). Dust the crust, the oh-so-filthy AUTOPSY are back at it again with Tourniquets, Hacksaws and Graves on Peaceville.  If you’re a fan, prepare…

Utah’s Gravecode Nebula Chill In The Dark With “The Frozen Sun”

April 25, 2014

About six months ago, a Salt Lake City, UT band called Gravecode Nebula heaved out its first album, Sempiternal Void, despite the fact that the band has been playing together in some form since 2006.  Fellow Salt Lake slowniks and Decibel faves SubRosa have mentioned GN a couple times when discussing local bands they enjoy,…

BREWTAL TRUTH: Live in Chicago! Tonight! Special Guests!

April 25, 2014

Prepare to be Brewtalized, Chicago! The first The Brewtal Truth Guide to Extreme Beers book signing event in your city happens today from 4 to 7 pm at Northdown Taproom & Cafe (3244 N Lincoln Ave). Apologies for the last-minute notice, but there were a few loose ends that needed to be tied up before…

Hey Everyone, Gather ‘Round for KSP’s Over-Intellectualisation of Impaled Nazarene

April 24, 2014

Admittedly, I haven’t been an obsessive listener of Impaled Nazarene since their formation back in 1990 in the shadowy flanks of Finland’s goat brothels.

Decibrity Playlist: Floor

April 24, 2014

Florida may not always have the most sterling reputation, but it’s produced a slew of the bands that we cover and love. For starters, consider Atheist, Hate Eternal and many Morrisound alumni. As Jason Heller detailed in our latest issue, Floor–another Sunshine State spawn–returns next week with its first new record since 2004’s Dove (which…

Slayer Release New Song, Sign With Nuclear Blast

April 24, 2014

Almost exactly a year after founding guitarist Jeff Hanneman’s untimely passing at age 49, Slayer have reemerged with not only their first new studio recording in five years, but a surprising departure from their longtime label. The Big Four’s most consistent horseman — already recognized twice in the Decibel Hall of Fame — had been a mainstay…

Brainsqueeze II Photo Gallery

April 23, 2014

The second Brainsqueeze Fest put on by our friends at Tankcrimes was held last weekend in lovely Oakland. Our friend and frequent Decibel contributor Raymond Ahner was onhand for the second day to capture the festivities and document them. Check out our exclusive photo gallery below courtesy of Ray.

Sucker For Punishment: Dying, Screaming

April 23, 2014

Ever since I saw them play twice at Roadburn 2013, I’ve been spouting a lot of praise about power trio Satan’s Satyrs, whose idiosyncratic blend of proto-metal and Nuggets-era garage rock scratches an indescribable itch for yours truly. Equal parts boogie, psychedelia, and cheeseball horror, it’s ferocious, catchy, and enormously fun. Sure, it’s all reminiscent…

STREAMING: Aurvandil’s “Thrones”

April 22, 2014

Aurvandil play sick folk-influenced black metal. You can listen to our debut of their second screed to the darkness below, and in the meantime, here’s the man himself to explain what’s going on. What’s your writing process like? There are a lot of intricate layers going on in the music and that must be complicated…

Survival Knife’s Metal Edge

April 22, 2014

After an extended layoff Justin Trosper of the late, much-mourned noisy post-hardcore heroes Unwound has returned with an excellent infectious-if-still-decidedly-off-kilter outfit of musical subversion, Survival Knife. Our Deci-antennae really started vibrating, however, when Trosper cited Enslaved and Opeth, among other extreme metallers, as influences for his new venture in a great interview over at Stereo…

S. A. Destroyer (Nocturnal Breed) interviewed

April 21, 2014

** Norwegian thrashers Nocturnal Breed have been kicking it old-school for the better part of the last 15 years. Formed by guys originally associated with the black metal scene, but are now fully entrenched in the rigors of thrash, Nocturnal Breed know exactly what they’re doing on new album, Napalm Nights, the group’s first in…

BREWTAL TRUTH: Drink This Now!

April 18, 2014

One of the least brewtal beers we included in our Brewtal Truth Guide to Extreme Beers had to have been Shmaltz’s He’Brew Jewbelation Sweet 16. Well, the beer itself was pretty insane—16 hop varieties, 16 types of malt and brewed to 16% ABV—but the pastel-colored label, complete with little dancing unicorns, didn’t accurately represent the…

Noisem and Occultist release split covers 7″ on A389 Recordings

April 18, 2014

Record Store Day (RSD) is tomorrow, April 19th. Record Store Day was created to celebrate and extract cash from habitual brick and mortar record store junkies (hey, Decibel are record store junkies). But the best thing about RSD is that labels, large and small, produce cool one-offs for collectors (nay, junkies) to stash, drool on,…

Darken Your April With Decembre Noir

April 18, 2014

Finally, it’s here!  I’m referring to the one weekend every year when even the brightest eyed, bushiest tailed Christian joins our cult of death for 48 hours and worships the treachery of friends, agonizing torture and public humiliation, and the brutal suffocation of a (reportedly) innocent life, just before we all pay lip service to…

Gospel of the Witches – Kickstarter Campaign Final Days

April 18, 2014

Gospel of the Witches is a new project of Karyn Crisis (Crisis), Davide Tiso (Ephel Duath), Ross Dolan (Immolation), Danny Walker (Intronaut). If the lineup wasn’t cool enough, the musical statement — made by Ephel Duath’s Tiso — is quite something else. Check out Crisis’s explanation of the project. Says Crisis: “The album is a…

It’s About Time: Playing Enemy’s I Was Your City Issued on Vinyl

April 17, 2014

This bit of news may be a week or two old, but considering the connection to the Decibel family and that this album is one of the unsung, unheralded, un-everything albums of the 2000’s that you probably don’t own but should, we felt it merited some more mention. Here are a few informational snippets from…

Thanks for Making the Third dB Tour Unforgettably Radical

April 17, 2014

We’re still recovering from a long, drunken, ripping Sunday night in Silver Spring, MD, the last (slam) dance of the third annual Decibel Magazine Tour. Regional openers Coke Bust got their moniker hilariously plastered on the Fillmore’s marquee; Noisem, Gorguts and the Black Dahlia Murder were in full take-no-prisoners mode; and Carcass blasted through over…

INTERVIEW: Iron Thrones

April 17, 2014

Back in 2010, Scion ran the “No Label Needed” contest in which the car company enabled a band to “receive insight and instruction on the music industry from music industry professionals while recording an EP at the Machine Shop” (you can read more about it here). Minnesota’s Iron Thrones came away winners and proceeded to…

Low Fidelity: Thoughts On Record Store Day

April 16, 2014

As every Flexi lover and vinyl nerd knows this Saturday is Record Store Day. There’s no one better to break down what it all means than our main man, Low Fidelity columnist and record store employee Neill Jameson. He is the brains behind the great black metal band Krieg and also survived years as a…

Sucker For Punishment: Return of Mega Therion

April 16, 2014

I don’t issue perfect scores to new albums very often. As Craig Hayes so eloquently wrote a couple weeks ago, positivity and over-praise is a plague in metal criticism, so much so that some publications so constantly hover in the 7 to 10-out-of-10 that a 6 is a negative rating. Ratings, to be honest, are…

TRACK PREMIERE: Bludded Head’s “Rotten Demon Shit”

April 15, 2014

As fun as it is to cover everything Carcass and At the Gates are up to, occasionally it’s nice to shine a light on a truly underground band. Dallas’s Bludded Head definitely fall into that category, scooping out unpleasant sludge with a tendency towards the minimalist. Their misery comes from a real place, too – singer/guitarist…