Andrew Bonazelli

What up, fools? We got all of the things fine enough (or bad enough) for you to check out or don’t check out. So, let’s just get into it, shall we? Napalm Death release Apex Predator-Easy Meat. Attacking this one for review is a little difficult, as I typically don’t do the “this track, that…

They’re too young for Hall of Fame consideration, but that’s probably the only honor Decibel hasn’t already bestowed upon Pallbearer. Both of their full-lengths have appeared in the top five of our year-end Top 40 list (Foundations of Burden being our favorite extreme album of 2014); they’ve graced the cover; they scored two slots in…

Right now you’re either praising the demigods that 2015’s first Snowpocalypse has confined you to your nice, warm couch, or cursing them for not dumping enough white stuff to keep you out of work. Either way, we’re sure nobody on your social media destination of choice has shut up about it, so Decibel has your kind…

Rage Against the Machine, Arizona Concert Watch, 2015 New Millennium Homes Our first game of the weekend takes place in the House of Pain of Football (hold the Everlast), Gillette Stadium in Foxborough. New England is the serious favorite to win it all. No one is taking Batlimore seriously this year except the cast of…

If you thought the fourth annual Decibel Magazine Tour lineup was already unbearably intense, you may not be able to cope with this news. Joining the likes of living legends At the Gates and Converge and death/doom supergroup Vallenfyre are none other than our 2014 Album of the Year honorees, Pallbearer! The Little Rock quartet expanded the…

Over the last 20 years, Orange Goblin have established themselves as a pillar of the international stoner/doom order. Last year’s epic full-length, Back From the Abyss, was the latest permutation in the always-evolving U.K. quartet’s unimpeachable discography, and if you (understandably) want more, we’ve got it, via the Flexi Series. Ben Ward and crew bash…

Our annual holiday nightmare is almost over. If, like us, you haven’t seen daylight or experienced human contact in months, that might come as something of a surprise. But today is Christmas Eve Eve, so if you want to follow in the footsteps of Tom Cruise and Fake Like You Are Nice and Caring, we…

February’s Napalm Death cover story opens with three full paragraphs pertaining to Barney Greenway’s undergarments. No, we haven’t gone full Maxim (although we know you’re still eagerly anticipating the sequel to the Hottest Doodz in Metal). Napalm, after all, are a band who’s most recent album was called Utilitarian, and writer Justin Norton is merely…

In December of 2010, Decibel brought flexi back. Four years later, the obscure-yet-awesome medium is obviously here to stay. Our vaunted Flexi Series is going to be a whopping 50 deep as of the February 2015 issue, and there’s no better place to store and preserve these highly collectible, exclusive items than the Deluxe Edition…

Lev Weinstein, Krallice drummer and extremely extreme baseball aficionado, asked us for a chance to nerd out on metal and MLB with ESPN senior baseball writer/bastion of sensibility Keith Law (whom we interviewed in the 2014 baseball preview). We’re not surprised that both of them stepped up to the plate with the following insightful and…

We are but a month away from J.C.’s birthday bash. Time to crash the party, Decibel-style. Treat either yourself or the misanthropic metalhead in your life to a killer deal sure to sour the Christmas spirit. It’s Cyber Monday once again, and today only, if you sign up for a 12-month or 24-month subscription to Decibel, you’ll receive one extra issue…

At this time, I feel it is necessary to release an official statement of the facts in regard to my recent deportation from the country of Norway. First, I want to apologize to all Saint Vitus fans, and to my band members and crew for my lapse in judgment that ultimately resulted in me missing…

Holiday shopping is the worst. If you’re buying for a non-metalhead, that is. Luckily, we don’t associate with those kinds of jerks! So, if you or a loved one are an avid collector of our rare, exclusive and esteemed Flexi Series, we’ve got just the thing to put the grin in your Grinch: the brand…

Feeling depressed? Antisocial? Apathetic? We’ve got just the thing: The Top 100 Doom Metal Albums of All Time special issue! Hey, we never said we’d be good therapists. But let’s keep it real: all the counseling you need is in these pages. Our staff navigated six decades (!) of proto-doom, funeral doom, gothic doom, stoner doom melodic…

The Decibel Magazine Tour has established itself as the extreme music destination of the spring, bringing metalheads a thoughtfully curated lineup that celebrates the genre’s proud and diverse global legacy. The fourth installment is no different, as Swedish melodeath legends At the Gates join forces with U.S. hardcore heroes Converge and U.K. death/doom supergroup Vallenfyre,…

If you’ve been with us for a while, you surely remember our January 2008 issue, in which we not only bestowed Album of the Year honors on Pig Destroyer’s Phantom Limb, but talked to vocalist J.R. Hayes at length about major influence David Lynch. “With [Lynch], it’s like you’re watching paintings that move,” Hayes said…

It’s like eight zillion degrees in Philly today, so in the spirit of delusional wishful thinking, we’re telling ourselves that October 18 is riiiiiiiiight around the corner. October 18, of course, being the date of our “Decibel Takes Manhattan (and Brooklyn)” 10th anniversary shows, in which we’ll be wearing light jackets and merrily thrashing our…

Sometimes it’s really hard to do this column here, you know? There’s just nothing I want to crap on, or it’s generic, or it’s a well-known band that everyone knows will be good. Looks like it’s a noise rock kind of week. GODFLESH release Decline and Fall on Avalanche, and I gotta say, I beaking…

Looks like there’s some stuff worth talking about. Could it be? Two columns in a row? So, you leave Carcass, start a successful band, your ex-members make a comeback and kill it, and your singer quits. Where to now? ARCH ENEMY answer that with War Eternal. There seemed to be a lot of hurdles to…

America’s only monthly extreme music magazine is turning 10, and we’re too pumped up to settle for just one birthday party. On October 18, Decibel is taking Manhattan (and Brooklyn) with two exclusive, blowout concerts. First up at Best Buy Theater in Times Square: the globally renowned axework of Amon Amarth, Sabaton and Vallenfyre (the…

Wow, my beak is stuffed up. Who knew a parrot could get seasonal allergies? Finally we’re getting some traction here… MISERY INDEX are releasing The Killing Gods, their first for Season of Mist, and I gotta say: it’s pecking great.  In their amalgam of punk, grind, death, crust and doom lies, well, more of the…

AGALLOCH, who seem to be getting more and more press with every release, are putting out the full-length The Serpent and the Sphere on Profound Lore. The most immediately striking thing here is the mood. This is dark and takes the listener on a journey. Not one track alone can really sum this up: it’s…

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…

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…

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…

I’m not really sure what to make of this week. Just seems like it’s pretty dry out there lately. Hopefully that new Autopsy or Misery Index will be out soon. THE OATH S/T is released on Rise Above. They basically pump the fact that this is a female-fronted band; not that it matters to me,…

Attention, Canadians — and/or anybody crossing the border to catch the 2014 Decibel Magazine Tour in Toronto next Tuesday, April 8: We’ve got a venue change. The show will now be going down at the Opera House. The ticket link is still the same, so buy ’em while you can right here. Got it? Okay,…

Next to Queensrÿche and Bad Religion… ah fuck, who are we kidding? This is by far the least extremely extreme inductee in the Decibel Hall of Fame, and probably will be until we honor Jesu’s Kittens Upon Pillows of Limitless Down Luxuriating in Sunbeam EP in 2024.

OK, I know, its GOT to get better. There’s not too much I found this week, so I guess I’ll get into it. Nux Vomica releases the oh-so-crusty Nux Vomica (self-titled, for those of you that aren’t that quick on the uptake) on Relapse.  Calling this just crust would be a little unfair, sure there…

NFL free agency has been in full swing for a couple weeks now. Prong’s Ruining Lives drops courtesy of Steamhammer/SPV on April 28; we asked longtime mainman Tommy Victor what he would do if he were in charge of his favorite team, the New York Jets. Snap your fingers, snap the ball, do not buttfumble….