Two of our most memorable live concert experiences ever happened at Unsane shows in Seattle. This NYC trio originated from the same scene that spawned Helmet, Pussy Galore, Boss Hog and a bunch of other earhole-scraping noise mongers in the early 1990s. Between their Am Rep/Sub Pop label connections and the general loud/heavy/distorted aesthetic, they shared something of a bond with a lot of the ...

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.  This week, we go back to Japan, by way of New Orleans, for Greenmachine's D.A.M.N.  (Man's Ruin). Last time I tackled ...

If you didn't know it by now, Coliseum's Ryan Patterson is an inhuman machine that runs solely on guitar riffs and beard hair. His newish project is a throwback to the 90s hardcore scene of Louisville where sweat flowed like beer and beer pretty much stayed in the fridges at the convenience store. Joined by members of Black Cross, Young Widows, Endpoint and the inimitable By The Grace ...

It ain't often the Deciblog gets its dirty paws on black metal. It's even rarer that when we do get black metal to unfurl to the masses like some plague-wielding flag of hate and disgust, it's of the weird, wait-is-this-real variety. Well, folks, today is your lucky day if you A) worship Varg's made-in-Norway booties and B) surrealist painters who happen to call the tippie tips of mountains home. ...

If trends and interests and habits and all that sort of bullshit moves in cycles, I guess I’m presently going through the second phase of voraciously listening to a bunch of stuff that’s borderline unlistenable. And loving it. Let me explain… If you were a tape trader back in the 80s, you’ll remember scoring N th generation copies of demos, rehearsal and live shows from a shitload of ...

By now, Norway progressive/black-ish/folk-ish metallers Borknagar should be a familiar entity to most 'bangers. They've managed nine quality albums -- including new long-player Urd -- across a 17-year timeline and had the balls to recall and then host former frontman ICS Vortex alongside screamer/crooner Vintersorg, which is something most bands don't do unless they're on a reunion tour/album and ...

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.  You people can't bitch that I picked the wrong album from this week's artist, because they only HAD one album.  SUCK ...

A sharp blast of powerviolence and sludge, with intricate lyrics and a pitch-perfect cover of Napalm Death’s “You Suffer,” Maine trio Robocop’s 2011 full-length Robocop II is easily one of the best releases on Grindcore Karaoke to date. Maybe we’re a little biased, because Robocop guitarist Ryan Page is consistently one of the most droll and on-point posters on the Decibel forum. ...

The name of Scourge Schematic's debut is not exactly cryptic. Life Savings is what the four-piece cashed in to record this EP, hoping somebody out there would give a damn. Money well spent, dudes. Clearly influenced by the death and grind giants of the 90s, the band has soldered elements of thrash and punk rock onto these tracks with a quad-vocal salvo that hits from all sides. ...

To honor national prog day -- yes, it really is 2.1.12 here in the United States, where we don't mess up the date by transposing the month and day -- Decibel was originally going to get Rush to perform Opeth covers in our offices, but logistics proved the event's undoing. They were all up for it, believe us! We mean, can you imagine Rush doing "Forest of October" or "Devil's Orchard"? We can. ...