Bathory's Under the Sign of the Black Mark turns a whopping 25 years old today. To honor the landmark, Swedish Death Metal author Daniel Ekeroth parallels his adolescence with the band's inimitable path. TO GROW UP WITH BATHORY by Daniel Ekeroth As a young teen, I could probably have been caught up in any kind of music. Luckily, at the age of four, I was fortunate enough to get introduced ...

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 everyday was get coffee for the office. I had to order each cup of Starbucks coffee "As black as the ...

So I'm a day late in writing this, I was supposed to yesterday but I felt like the walking dead after driving through a blizzard to Salt Lake City yesterday. So I passed out on a couch and slept ‘til about 10 minutes before the show. I feel much better now, time to write this thing. My memory is getting really foggy -- I think this is the 30th show with no day off yet. I feel like hell, but at ...

I woke up at 5 a.m. this morning to drive to Iowa, all the way from Cleveland. Cant sleep any more so I guess it is time to recap the last week of tour... Ill pick up where I left off last time, in New York. I was kind of antsy about this show, as we were booked in a big, nice venue with our name on the marquee and all, and you want the show to do well especially in those kinds of conditions. ...

Nowadays, I manage a record store, it’s that simple. I went to the source. Not because, like a junkie moving to Nepal to grow poppies, I was cutting out the middle man, more because there is not much else I can do or have an inexhaustive knowledge of. I know things that are of absolutely no use to anyone at all. HARVEST RECORDS opened its doors in 1975 a few doors down from the tenement ...

If you met Riley online or at a show, you may talk about the new Wolves in the Throne Room or Primordial or Agalloch. What you'd probably skip is dietary restrictions and a jogging regimen at six in the morning. But this metalhead is trying to lose some fucking metal weight. "Being fat is dumb; being fat and into metal is even dumber. It's a skinny person's scene and we pudgesters try, with ...

German forward-thinking metallers The Ocean give us Part 2 of their recent trouble-filled trek through the U.S. and Canada. What to expect? A pro-filmed video, a few different accents (British, German, Australian), quick shots of front row boobage, the realization that the Job for A Cowboy dudes pump iron like Stallone, the group’s driver disappearing in a Girls Gone Wild bus, and tour bus ...

Here I am back after a long silence. What can I say?! I naively thought I could be writing while on tour... I was wrong. For one, I was sick as a dog during the majority of the European tour, so for the most part the routine was: from bed to stage to bed. Day in. Day out. After the tour, I had a few days off [so I] went to the hospital got checked up and adequate medication. Eventually, I got ...

What: The Zone - Inferno When: May 7th, 2011 Where: Lisebergshallen, Göteborg, Sweden The card was headlined with three title matches: Lightweight, Welterweight and Middleweight, but before we go to that, there were some great moments! Lots of submissions, a head kick knock out and a women's match that made you cringe (in a good, violent way). UFC fighter Alexander Gustafsson (who has ...

Friday, March 11, 2011: Philadelphia, PA (Kung Fu Necktie) After hastily packaging our new Viking Funeral LPs, meeting up with our most excellent roadie and merch extraordinaire, Jeffrey Hollis, bidding farewell to our friends at The Acheron and The Anchored Inn (best new bar in town! 59 Waterbury Street 11206), and packing all our gear into our seemingly large trailer when empty; we immediately ...