Welcome to Tales From the Metalnomicon, a twice-monthly column delving into the surprisingly vast world of heavy metal-tinged/inspired literature and metalhead authors… Though perhaps currently better known as one of the most innovative and imaginative artists currently plying his trade in the world of heavy metal design, Joshua Andrew Belanger also happens to be an…
To paraphrase my favorite comic, Mitch Hedberg (R.I.P.), Semantik Punk is a Polish experimental punk outfit that people will either love or hate, or think they’re okay. They’re hardcore enough to sound like a badly scratched Converge or Dillinger Escape Plan CD that won’t stop skipping to random spots on the disc; they’re rock enough…
Welcome to Tales From the Metalnomicon, a twice-monthly column delving into the surprisingly vast world of heavy metal-tinged/inspired literature and metalhead authors… Though the teeming masses may not have caught on quite yet, Dark Discoveries has long been one of the absolute best magazines for lovers of horror fiction/culture, casting an aesthetic net wide enough…
Early in 2011, I was floored by a band I had never heard before making noise I never knew I always wanted to hear. They’re from Finland, so, yeah. Duh. At this point I expect sweet Finnish lullabies to kick my ass and melt my face. The phrase “Wisdom through Agony into Illumination and Lunacy”…
Courtesy of the good people of Horror Pain Gore Death Productions, the Deciblog is honored to roll up with this exclusive album stream of Floridian doom quartet DRUID LORD‘s debut LP, Hymns for the Wicked. Hymns originally dropped on Hallowe’en, 2010, sold out on CD and vinyl, and is now up for reissue tomorrow (February…
Welcome to Tales From the Metalnomicon, a new twice-monthly column delving into the surprisingly vast world of heavy metal-tinged/inspired literature and metalhead authors… If any subcultural phenomenon has ever truly earned the designation “stranger than fiction,” surely it must be the late eighties/early nineties youth crew/krishnacore straight edge scene. Yet, outside of a couple oral…
No matter what you give the object of your affection this Valentine’s Day, they will ultimately flee in terror. After all, you’re a Decibel reader. It’s not your fault that you take romantic cues from Chris Barnes; it’s how you were raised. The good news is, your crush surely shares at least a few of…
Welcome to Tales From the Metalnomicon, a new twice-monthly column delving into the surprisingly vast world of heavy metal-tinged/inspired literature and metalhead authors… The general outline of the rock bio is by now well established — young, innocent spitfire achieves dream against all odds only to find fame, riches, and rock n’ roll excess does…
Welcome to Tales From the Metalnomicon, a new twice-monthly column delving into the surprisingly vast world of heavy metal-tinged/inspired literature and metalhead authors…
Have you heard? Decibel Magazine just launched its 100th issue! We’ve kinda kept it quiet, only hyping it every other day or so for only the past several months. Turns out we’re hosting a celebration show in Philly this weekend! Who knew? I wonder who will headline… As this extremely extreme monument edged closer to…
Gorehounds, gut-sifters, and comic book ghouls will no doubt be aware that Bay Area death metal titans Autopsy have been immortalized in in Feast for a Funeral, a band-authorised comic by E-Comix. As you’d expect from Autopsy’s generously gruesome back catalogue, and gather from the promotional video trailer for the comic [below], Feast for a…
Welcome to Tales From the Metalnomicon, a new twice-monthly column delving into the surprisingly vast world of heavy metal-tinged/inspired literature and metalhead authors… Gonzo dark fiction author, screenwriter, martial arts sensei, serious connoisseur of heavy metal and hardcore — there’s a lot thrown into the mix when it comes to the literary force of nature…
Well boys and girls, we’ve survived the apocalypse, and there’s not much coming out soon, so I’ll review my best of this year. In case you missed my expertly honed reviews, you should check these out. I will put a caveat that these are in no particular order. Napalm Death, Utilitarian Grind, grind and more…
Welcome to Tales From the Metalnomicon, a new twice-monthly column delving into the surprisingly vast world of heavy metal-tinged/inspired literature and metalhead authors… “We have to raise hell, man,” Jake Hamer chides his wavering rock n’ roll brethren early on in John Skipp and Craig Spector’s 1988 let’s-give-the-fucking-PRMC-something-to-really-fear barnburner The Scream. “It’s our sacred duty….
Welcome to Tales From the Metalnomicon, a new twice-monthly column delving into the surprisingly vast world of heavy metal-tinged/inspired literature and metalhead authors. Enjoy! And if you have suggestions for future Metalnomicon columns, feel free to make them known in the comment section… Despite the prophecy issued more than forty years ago by Black Sabbath,…
Opinions are like assholes: everyone IS one. We’ve noticed that Hollywood tends to spend a lot of time chortling while you spend perfectly good alcohol/meth/falafel money on the anal fissures of their “imagination.” Justin Smith of cinema-grind moguls Graf Orlock occasionally plumbs those depths in Graf Orlock Steadicam Reviews. It seems obvious, yet oft unacknowledged,…
The forthcoming What Are You Doing Here: A Black Woman’s Life and Liberation in Heavy Metal is such an exquisitely rendered, inspiring melange of memoir, cultural criticism, extreme music history, and fiery, righteous polemic it only seemed natural to offer up some Deci-space to author Laina Dawes for a list of five albums the spurred…
Ok motherfuckers, starting tomorrow, one of the most fun-filled touring adventures of the year kicks off in Springfield, Virginia. A co-heading run featuring grind grand pappies Napalm Death and the travelling bachelor party known as Municipal Waste with the reigning good-time guardians of gore grind, Exhumed offering direct support would normally be enough to top…
Manetheren’s Time is about as casual an experience as the sprawling dozen-plus-tome story that gives the band its name. (Robert Jordan’s Wheel of Time series became so outrageously complex that now, even five years after Jordan’s death, a secondary author is still finishing the three books needed to complete the tale.) Don’t belly up 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….
We knew there would be some Decibel dissenters when we bagged on 10 albums that we wouldn’t be celebrating the 30th anniversary of in 2012.
In a recent dB article (issue #92), author Jeff Wagner opined that “there are too many death/doom bands out there these days.” Upon reading such a flagrantly deranged statement, I gagged on my mouthful of burrito, my left arm went all limp and tingly, and I blacked out for what might have been hours but…
At the end of March, Agalloch announced that it had completed work on new EP Faustian Echoes. The band had originally planned to release the effort—one 20+ minute song (the longest of its career) recorded live onto two-inch tape—on its upcoming US tour, but on Sunday, roughly a week before its first show, made it…
On today’s edition of Into the Depths we invite Karl Sanders out of the catacombs for a conversation on how a hippie-admiring kid from San Francisco became a visionary force of nature in extreme music destined to single-handedly summon the improbable subgenre of ithyphallic death metal into being. From having to pawn their guitars on…
We may not write about these Canadians very often, but it’s undeniable that Rush has had a profound effect on legions of artists that we do cover. So to celebrate next week’s release of the ubiquitous band’s 19th (!) full-length studio album, we compiled a “best of” Rush playlist that features tracks hand-picked by some…
Mike IX Williams, Eyehategod’s multitalented vocalist, is no stranger to extracurricular activities (and we’re talking the purely legal ones here, folks). He’s a published author and poet (check out his book Cancer As A Social Activity if you get a chance); sings with a side outfit Arson Anthem and also released a spoken word seven-inch…
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 contract a severe case of…
Former Decibel cover stars Shadows Fall just released their seventh album, Fire From The Sky, on Tuesday. As Kirk Miller pointed out in giving the record his seal of approval in our June issue, the ten tracks have a little something for everyone, leading us to wonder what tunes these Massholes were blasting throughout the…
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…
As above, so below. Through his work with EyeHateGod, Outlaw Order, Arson Anthem, and The Guilt of… Decibel readers have long known Mike IX Williams as one of extreme music’s most distinctive, subversive and iconoclastic voices. Less attention has been paid, however, to Williams’ similarly idiosyncratic and visionary literary output, including his excellent collection of…