Chris Dick

What is the literal translation to the band name, Der Weg einer Freiheit? Is there a secondary, less obvious interpretation as well? Nikita Kamprad: It can be roughly translated to “The Way of a Freedom”, but actually I never liked any of the translations I came across. Writing and playing music live makes me feel…

Sonically, Akhlys differs from Nightbringer, but what separates the two entities spiritually? Naas Alcameth: The subject matter of Akhlys is specific to certain dream and para-somnic experiences and their situation and importance within esotericism. All lyrics for The Dreaming I were inspired directly from my own dream experiences I have journaled over the last decade…

** UK black metallers Fen have plied the marshes of greatness since debut album, The Malediction Fields. But on new album, Carrion Skies, Fen are out of the swamps they’ve called home and they’re into the wild (dark) urban streets. They’ve gone above and beyond on Carrion Skies, reducing their ethereal qualities to bone-breaking effectiveness….

One look at the cover art for Enforcer’s new album, From Beyond, and it’s pretty clear the Swedes wish they were living in 1983. From the sci-fi D&D skull creature to the Tempest-ized Enforcer logo, it all screams early ’80s. Get under the presentation and, well, it’s still ’80s. “From Beyond” jets like a V-8…

Eight years have passed since Greek black metallers Devathorn issued debut album, Diadema. Certainly, the trio were too busy channeling “Qliphotic” chaos to focus on music, but sometime in the last year or so they emerged from the abyss to write 11 hymns of hate. On new album, Vritra, Devathorn return! Recorded and mixed at…

** Most thought Christopher Amott crazy for leaving Arch Enemy a second time. He was in an internationally recognized metal band. They sold records. They toured the world. He played with his brother, Michael. It was a dream scenario. Well, the younger Amott wasn’t having any of it. He left Arch Enemy, relocated to the…

There’s something to be said for a band to willfully pose in front of an old boogie vans and not be the least ashamed. For Texas’ Father Sky, such objects are the focus of their non-musical affection. They scream back to a time when the sun felt warmer, the riffs fuzzier, the hems wider, and…

“The Children of the Night takes off where The Formulas of Death ended,” says Tribulation guitarist Adam Zaars. “And if the latter was dark the former is pitch black, though the album ranges from murky forests to the brightest city lights. It is a celebration of the divine spirit and our ability to tread liminal…

“The long wait is finally over,” says Carach Angren to Decibel. “We proudly present you our fourth full-length musical horror story telling the utterly dark tale of two children on a quest to escape total darkness. As the music and lyrics take you from chapter to chapter you will learn about the inevitable outcome…This Is…

It took us a good 10 years to get it right, but Rwake is really just pronounced “wake”. Good to know since Relapse is re-issuing the group’s debut demo, Xenoglossalgia (The Last Stage of Awareness), with stunning limited 3D art with 3D glasses. We can finally sound intelligent while descanting about Dostoyevsky’s formative years, vegan…

It’s not often a new band drops jaws. Dutch black metallers Kjeld, from Friesland, are one such band. Corrupting the good minds of northern Netherlands (and Germany) for the better part of their eight years as a band, Kjeld is modern yet reflective on new album, Skym. They play “Proud and pure Frisian black metal…

Europe had Metal Forces, Kerrang!, Metal Hammer and a host of language-specific publications—Rock Hard and Aardschok, for example—for literate longhairs to satisfy their hard, fast and heavy fix. The States, however, had no real unifying print magazine. Until Metal Maniacs. The staff had enough experience under their bulletbelts for it to feel like a veteran…

When Moonspell emerged in 1994 with the Goat on Fire / Wolves from the Fog 7″, there was no indication they’d be killing it two decades later. Initially, their homeland (Portugal) was a strike against the Lisbon-based black metallers. The Iberian Coast wasn’t Norway, Sweden, Finland, Greece, or Great Britain; it didn’t have the Nordic…

After Tiamat crawled out of black metal nasties Treblinka in 1989, the main principals—namely Johan Edlund (previously known as Lucifer Hellslaughter)—likely had no idea they’d be writing an album as groundbreaking and mind-altering as Wildhoney five years later.

** Philadelphia isn’t the hottest bed of heavy metal activity. Not since Cinderella and Britny Fox has the City of Brotherly Love engaged in traditional metalisms with any seriousness. And, let’s face it, apart from certain songs on Night Songs, there isn’t much heavy metal in either Cinderella or Britny Fox. So, it’s with denim…

** Our February 2015 (HERE) issue features a fantastic expose on the upcoming releases of 2015. Here’s five crucial releases by killer bands that weren’t part of our list. 5. Hate – Crusade:Zero Hate are viewed as underlings to the kingdom Vader built, but over recent years the Warsaw-based trio have come into their own….

5. BaneOriginally from Serbia but now located in Canada, death/black metallers Bane (possible connection to album title Storm of the Light’s Bane, but none to the Massachusetts-based hardcore band of the same name) take only the fastest, brutalist, sickest moments in Dissection’s oeuvre for the The Acausal Fire album. Actually, that’s not true, Bane are…

“We have unleashed our new video upon humanity,” says Incantation frontman/death metal legend John McEntee. “Brought to you by the tireless efforts of Black Arts Media and filmed at the Vermillion Haunted School House in Ohio. Many thanks for allowing us the use of your establishment. For it’s notable aggression and speed, amidst the albums…

** Chicago-based melodic death metallers (think: Children of Bodom meets Arsis meets Iron Maiden) Starkill are ready for world domination. New album, Virus of the Mind, is a significant step forward for the young bucks, blending black, death, and power metal together to form a sonic attack few have the wherewithal to pull off successfully….

When we premiered Dysangelium’s “Ave Obscuritas Incarna” little over a month ago, faces melted and religions faltered (HERE). Well, Decibel and WTC Productions are hoping for a full skeletal collapse and for a great earthquake to swallow the Vatican whole after we premiere Dysangelium’s new album, Thánatos Áskēsis. “Every time we start working on new…

** A vocalist change is never easy. Now that Alissa White-Gluz is fronting Arch Enemy, The Agonist have in their ranks a multi-faceted replacement in Chicago-based sensation Vicky Psarakis. Found by The Agonist on Youtube doing a variety of metal and non-metal covers, along with originals, Psarakis represents a new chapter for the group. This…

** See Armageddon contest info at bottom of post! It’s no secret guitar wiz Christopher Amott is no longer sharing albums and stage with his brother Michael in death metal sensation Arch Enemy. The younger, blonder Amott has moved on to his labor of love called Armageddon (no relation to the ’70s hard rock band…

“Pale Pretender travels heavy hearted through ominous landscapes in a world where more is not enough,” says Callisto vocalist Jani Ala-Hukkala. Finns aren’t the most talkative of peoples, so it stands to reason Ala-Hukkala is letting the gravity of his statement (and the “Pale Pretender”) do most of the talking here, which is fine for…

Steffen Kummerer is better known for his stupidly good guitar and vocal work in the obscenely great tech death outfit Obscura. But Kummerer has a dark side. One that harkens back to the mid-’90s, when Swedish death metal tyrants Dissection reigned the cold winds of nowhere and drank, with pure joy, night’s blood with Elizabeth…

** 2014, the Year of the Horse. 2014, the Year of Horrendous. While Horrendous’ previous full-length, The Chills, sent death metallers back to the grave (whatever that means), new album Ecdysis made the stateside trio a household name (admittedly small number) and a contender for top spots on Year End lists. Trust us, the word…

By Mike McGinnis The point of no return. It’s not always the easiest concept to absorb. But approaching that point during the production of a record is both frightening and cathartic. After about a year of writing and almost half a year of demoing and recording eight new songs, we’re now approaching that point. We…

Highly proficient, super-classy death metal is rarity these days. That’s why Abysmal Dawn’s new album, Obsolescence, should be on your radar. It’s probably not, but we’ll do our part to change that. Forged in the great fire pits of Los Angeles and informed by a wide range of great artists, Obsolescence, immediately makes its mark….

There are plenty of times when the Decibel staff will put down our Bolt Thrower, Watain, Paradise Lost, and Napalm Death LPs in favor of something more, well, rocking. If our EIC had his druthers—and he does—The Darkness might edge its way into the Hall of Fame one day. So, it stands to reason, Aussie-‘Merican…

“You can expect it to sound like us,” said the Dysangelium brotherhood to Imperiumi recently. “We do not follow any specific path in terms of music and we have never been any need to try to sound like, for example, Swedish, Finnish or German. We improvise and experiment with a variety of things designed to…

Napalm Death. Three decades of grindcore! The Birmingham-based bashers are no stranger to Decibel, having graced a covers, tours, and being uniquely positioned in the heart of hearts and mind of minds in our senior leadership. It’s with absolute delight that we’re able to premiere “Cesspits” off new album, Apex Predator – Easy Meat. “Sometimes…