Vancouver's Scythia is a confusing bunch. Are they pirate metal? No, not really. Folk metal? Nah. They may have folk elements, but they're not that dour. Yeah, you heard me. Battleshield metal? I made that up, but it makes them sound a lot tougher and more sinister than they actually are. Let's go with what I found on their Facebook page: "BC based theatrical metal band with costumes and an oboe ...

Back in 1998, Philly's Troc hosted a fantastic triple bill featuring Sepultura, Vision Of Disorder and Earth Crisis. Notably, each band had released a record that year that, for better or worse, would serve as a turning point in its career. While Sepultura ushered in the Derrick Green era with Against and Earth Crisis jumped to Roadrunner to release the criminally underrated Breed The Killers, ...

We get a lot of music in these parts that doesn't make you feel good. So dB will gladly accept sweet party anthems secure in the knowledge that many readers give ample spins to Appetite for Destruction when they are claiming to dissect some obscure 80-minute black metal opus. "War Woman" comes from Oakland's Lecherous Gaze, who describe themselves thus: "#1 Rockin' band in the entire world... ...

This morning Decibel has the pleasure of bringing you an appetizing little slice of "mile-high deathgrind" courtesy Denver's own Enemy Reign. Culled from the super-solid, old-school-meets-new-school-and-for-once-they-actually-get-along upcoming full-length pummeller Between Hell and Oblivion, "Bathed in Flames," guitarist Nick Guenther tells us, "puts everything we love about metal on display." ...

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 in a Disney sort of way. Rather, ...

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 other ideas about what direction to take his ...

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 cohorts had something to do with it. Four ...

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. We tell you this mostly because we want to make you feel bad. What's all the fuss about? ...

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 Newman on bass, Darren Verni on drums and Ryan Lipynsky on ...

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 with stage props was somewhat frightening to little boys ...