Chris Dick

“When you grow up Middle East, war is not another fantasy movie – but a reality,” says Hammercult to Decibel. “A reality driven by greed, economical, and political agendas, powered by a religious leaders to blind the masses. It doesn’t matter in which country you live in – your government wants you to fear, obey, follow blindly and swallow their lies – so that they could collect the Spoils Of War while you remain blind, deaf and dumb. Fight it back! Let’s take back our spoils of war. Our rights! Our freedom! This is the only war worth fighting for!”

All kinds of heavy shit happened in 1989. The Soviet Union crumbled; Salman Rushdie pissed off the Grand Iranian Poobah; the Exxon Valdez spilled black gold all over pristine Alaskan coastline; Pope John Paul II evacuated holy bowels in Africa; and Ron Hextall scored a goal in the NHL playoffs.

Of thrash’s three faces–sociopolitico, violent, comical–Atlanta’s Sadistic Ritual embody the aggro. They aren’t singing about saving whales and the injustice of corporate profits. Nor are they singing about keg parties and barf consistency in DayGlo Bermuda shorts. No, Sadistic Ritual, as the name implies, is about riots of violence, the realities of getting bombed–as in the thermobaric kind–and showing no mercy.

“Monday Is Here is about something that happened in my childhood that effects how I still perceive things,” says lead dreamweaver Mike VanPortfleet.

In life, that which doesn’t kill you makes you stronger. Back in 2013, Blaze of Perdition were traveling through Austria and were involved in a major car accident that left members severely injured and bassist Wojciech “Ikaroz” Janus dead. Uncertain whether to carry on, Blaze of Perdition invoked the power of the Elder Gods—both benign and malign—and asked them one question: should Blaze of Perdition continue to sing the praises of “Luciferian Illumination”? The weak-minded would’ve come away from the confrontation confused and bereft. Not Blaze of Perdition. They respectfully mourned the loss of Janus and vowed, with ensorcelled swords and overflowing blood chalices held high, to return to the lands of the blackest metal, spiritually and physically rejuvenated.

New Hampshire’s Vattnet Viskar aren’t your typical black metal act. Actually, they’re not black metal at all, but they’re rather informed by the genre that pivots on darkness and evil. Listen to the riffs on debut album Sky Swallower and tell us you don’t hear shades of Burzum or Emperor. Listen to the repetition on new album Settler and tell us you don’t hear vintage Enslaved or Wolves in the Throne Room. Certainly, Vattnet Viskar revolve around a different, non-Satanic set of principles, the deepest of which can be heard and felt on Settler, with its hope-filled (but the light of inspiration dies) cover art. Let’s dig deep with Vattnet Viskar!

Italy’s Forgotten Tomb may’ve helped spearhead depressive black metal, but they’ve moved on from the group’s early monochromatic, manic styling to emerge as a mature, self-aware black metal act with influences ranging from Burzum to Pitch Shifter to Eyehategod. Forgotten Tomb’s new album, Hurt Yourself and the Ones You Love, is massively heavy, penetratingly introspective, and, yes, pitch black dark. From its lyrics (read Ferdinando ‘Herr Morbid’ Marchisio’s response below), its stark cover, to its cross-over black, Hurt Yourself and the Ones You Love is Forgotten Tomb’s best work yet.

Untouchable. That’s Hate Eternal since 1999’s Conquering the Throne effort. It’s now 2015 and the Erik Rutan-led death metal powerhouse show zero signs that time is our most maligned enemy. In fact, Hate Eternal are more blistering now than they were when George W. Bush was leading the charge of a large-scale (and largely unjust) war in the Iraq. OK, so times don’t change too much, regardless of who is in charge. But Hate Eternal, regardless of release or year of release, continue to be relevant, vital, and crucial to all things extreme.

Brooklyn-based doomsters Fin’Amor, which translated to ‘courtly love’, were formed in 2008 to bring down the world and make its citizens perpetually glum. That is to say: No Fun. No Smiles. No Happy. No Sunrises. Along with Fin’Amor’s doom bringing they’re also taking in goth, progressive music, and death metal. Essentially, fans of My Dying Bride, Draconian, and Swallow the Sun are in for a true (and rare) American treat.

Most of us were busy keeping our Trapper Keepers shut and our pencils sharpened when the members of Death Angel were woodshedding in drummer Andy Galeon’s garage and recording a legendary demo with none other than Kirk Hammett.

Undead are so mysterious they aren’t even mentioned on the cover of Decibel’s July 2015 issue. Yet, they do, in fact, appear in said issue under the noms de guerre Necros and King Oscuro. See, nobody knows much about Undead. Even the label’s publicist put up his respective hands as to the band’s origins. Well, if anything is known about Undead it’s that they like Death. A lot. Pre-progged out Death. The group’s new album, False Prophecies, recalls 1988 perfectly. But it’s more than that. There’s aspects of Possessed, Master, and Obituary. Our blood bleeds old-school death (and Death). Yours should after Undead gets its fangs into you.

King Parrot don’t care that you’re snappy dresser, or smart as a whip, or have enough money to buy pussy for an eternity. They’re a grindcore band—actually more than that—with an all-fun, no bullshit disposition.

“Once this song was written, we had a much more clear idea of where the album was headed.  A more grimy, riffy direction,” says Vattnet Viskar’s Nick Thornbury to Decibel.

“I fucking hate metal band performance videos,” says Paradise Lost guitarist Greg Mackintosh (also of Vallenfyre), “so when I got told that we needed to do one I was obviously annoyed but then came the idea to do a performance video of utter misery. The slowest song we have ever recorded.

Full disclosure: Roadrunner Records funded my trip to Stockholm to hear Heritage and interview frontman Mikael Åkerfeldt and team for Decibel. Fuller disclosure: I’ve been a long-time Opeth fan—OK, let’s settle for fanatic, to be frank. 

Make what you want about Arch Enemy’s decisions since outing ex-Furbowl, ex-Carnage, ex-Hearse vocalist Johan Liiva, but they’ve never given up. 

German death metallers Morgoth were resurrected in 2010 after a long silence. In 2014, the group unleashed the God Is Evil 7″ to wide applause (from the death metal community, particularly in Europe). All seemed well for Morgoth’s return. 

Delaware is known as the First State, the Diamond State, or the Blue Hen State. Not sure what any of those things mean–except for First State–in the grand context of things, but it should now be known as the Death Metal State. And upstart death metallers Scorched are leading the charge.

“‘Monotony Fields’, is a song which reflects the album and its atmosphere the most for us. Slow trip into the mind of desperation,” says Shape of Despair in a band-released statement.

Click to read more and stream the premier of “Monotony Fields.”

Abyssal Gods
Colin Marston mixed and mastered the fucker, too
dB Rating: 8/10

SWARÞ’s origins and members are unknown. The group (could be quartet or a solo outfit), however, have managed to capture the imagination of black metallers everywhere over the course of three stridently evil demos. The first issue of SWARÞ’s demos, called Omines Pestilentiae, were issued last year as a double LP. Now, the CD version is on the black horizon. To celebrate the release of Omines Pestilentiae on CD, Decibel has teamed up with SWARÞ (no, we don’t know WHO they are) to premiere the entire Omines Pestilentiae in its entirety. The abyss is waiting…

Follow the leap into the abyss to stream Omines Pestilentiae:
 

Comprised of members from Aosoth, Antaeus, and Temple of Baal, France’s The Order of Apollyon aren’t the joking type. You won’t find jokes about gurgling menstrual blood-both for supper or day trips to the epicurean gynaecologist—that’s saved for the group’s gore-grind project, cutely named Genital Grinder. Instead, The Order of Apollyon are solely focused on flat-black darkness and the evil that swirls menacingly within.

Click below to view their blasphemous video:

Decibel sits down with Shining firebrand Niklas Kvarforth for a quick Q&A before premiering Shining’s new album, IX – Everyone, Everything, Everywhere, Ends, in its entirety. Stare into the abyss, please. You’re known to court controversy. Is controversy part of the overall plan?Niklas Kvarforth: I guess I have been accused of courting some kind of…

For a band that doesn’t interview (with anyone!), Ukraine’s Drudkh have a lot to say. Well, musically that is. Over the course of the group’s arboreal career, the Ukrainians have inspired and informed with their atmospheric and reflective black. So, it’s with great honor that we are able to work with Drudkh (and their label,…

Lancer’s self-titled debut garnered rave reviews when it crushed the competition in 2013. To years later, the Arvika-based quintet have returned with Second Storm. While most bands are jacking old-school heavy metal-isms without much sense of purpose, the Swedes in Lancer have made it point to pull the finer points of traditional German heavy metal–Helloween,…

In 2009, we heard Tribulation’s savage call, inviting them to take part in our New Wave of Old-School Death Metal piece. Turns out the Swedes, who were also paying bills in Enforcer, didn’t have the time to commit right away. Needless to say, long after the story was submitted Adam Zaars, guitarist, felt compelled to…

How do you separate what Enforcer does from something that’s deliberately throwback?Tobias Lindkvist: We don’t follow any trends in music. We play the music we love and always loved. Enforcer are not part of any movement and we don’t want to be labeled as some “New-wave-of traditional-whatever…” band. We play heavy metal our way and…

** Dødheimsgard’s new album, A Umbra Omega, is no joke (see mental strongman Vicotnik’s argument at the very bottom). It’s a vicious mind-warp of an album, aggressive in its obtuseness and adventurous in its boundlessness. It’s at once black metal (free think!) and not at all (non-conformist!). A Umbra Omega riffs on, then destroys said riffs on, previous albums 666 International and Supervillain Outcast. This is Dødheimsgard. Extra-dimensional black from the deepest, darkest pits of space and time. A Umbra Omega is ritualistic in its abrasiveness, religious in the outcome of surviving its completeness.

From 666 International forward, Dødheimsgard has imbibed in the weird, the strange, and the obtuse. I figured you would’ve tried to pull the opposite of what you’re known for on A Umbra Omega. Maybe that’s too predictable too. So, you opted to stay weird. Was that kind of the idea?

Vicotnik: It was no specific idea as such, but since I love music, it is natural for me to get inspired by other genres as well. There was really never any moment in my life, where I only listened to black metal. I am also product from that school of reasoning that was very much present in the early ‘90s scene, that plagiarism is the biggest sin of them all. So if you look at 95% of the bands from my era, they all (for good or for worse) evolved in some shape or form. The black metal sound of the ‘90s was in itself a little piece of sonic evolution, since early black metal records of the ‘90s did not really have any specific counterparts from the ‘80s. In addition, you had the x-factor in the ‘90s, because nobody knew what they were doing, and the engineers that were set to produce these records had no knowledge of how a record like this was supposed to sound like. I like the idea of pursuing the unknown factor, that sets the table for creativity. There are viable reasons for bands to produce their record over and over again. They may be based on some sort of ideal, or success-recipe. Inadvertently this also means that these bands, to some degree, have to abandon the creative process. Musically one could say that the main focus of this album is the feeling/atmosphere, while the tools rendered to achieve that sought after atmosphere varied through different creative approaches.

The Children of the night
Tribulation fly, wingless into the night, redefine modern death metal
dB Rating: 9/10

What happens when Meshuggah and Decapitated are fused together in brutal staccato matrimony? Human Improvement Process. Based in Italy, but not sounding particularly “Italian” (or that they’re from the home of balsamic vinegar), Human Improvement Process (or HIP) are one of the country’s upcoming stars. They’re technical, atmospheric, yet highly aggressive. “We’re beyond excited to…