Chris Dick

** Greek black metal legends, Varathron, are readying new album, Untrodden Corridors of Hades, for the blackest of legions. We summoned our inner Hellas and ancient spirit to commanded lead Varathron sorcerer Stefan Necroabyssious to answer important questions as a preface to the streaming premiere of the entire “Untrodden Corridors of Hades” album. What was…

** Decibel’s Top 100 Doom Metal Album of All Time issue is available now (HERE). So inspired by England’s place on the map (OK, list) and equally inspired by Anathema’s early catalog inclusion, I wanted to Top 5 songs that aren’t on Last.fm lists, have been spurned by Anathema (no remake of “Suicide Veil”?), or…

** Broughton’s Rules are from Pittsburgh. Pittsburgh is on the western side of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. It’s a former rustbelt city that’s experienced a rennaisance in recent memory. Its citizens are no-bullshit and its music, espeically Broughton’s Rules, follow a similar mindset. Well, Broughton’s Rules (formed out of the ashes of instrumental wonderkids Don…

** Bethlehem have crafted one of the best albums of the year in Hexakosioihexekontahexaphobia. Strange, heavy, explorative, and dark are all adjectives to describe the group’s seventh full-length. As a concept album, Hexakosioihexekontahexaphobia picks up thematically where Mein Weg left off. Prepare yourself for a journey from a black, dangerous mind. Jürgen Bartsch’s mind. Have…

Like most early black metal acts, Switzerland’s Samael (pronounced saa-mail) had little to go on. Resources were limited, label interest nonexistent, and diehard fans of the band were relegated to sharing their darkest secrets by letter and parcel.

Philly noise merchants Ladder Devils aren’t the most verbose of bands. They don’t have long, philosophical treatises on the whys, hows and whens of their origins and music. They simply state: “We are a four-piece band from Philadelphia and we make music.” OK, they’ve added a bit more: “Ladder Devils, formed in 2009 are a…

The Flight of Sleipnir aren’t your typical doom-stoner-folk metal outfit. Actually, the fusion of folk with stoner is incongruous. And doom folk is a rare breed unto itself. So, it’s with keen interest The Flight of Sleipnir spearhead this relatively new combo of genres on new album, V. Actually, the Colorado-based duo aren’t new. Sure,…

Few projects are as ambitious as Project Rogue – TITANS. Featuring 25 artists from Fear Factory (ex), System of a Down, Lamb of God, Cannibal Corpse, Cynic, Revocation, Napalm Death, Obituary, Static X, Charred Walls of the Damned, and many more, Project Rogue – TITANS aims to bridge the many metals into one sonic force…

** Ne Obliviscaris may have a mouthful of a band name and their music may be at the mad end of progressive, but there’s something alluring about the Aussies’ approach. Every song is a labyrinth, begging to be figured out at every turn. We flew down to Australia via digital highways to catch bassist Brendan…

** Decibel Hall of Famers Sick of it All know what it’s like to persevere. They’ve been around longer than most of us have been alive, toiling in the unsteady waters of hardcore/punk like strongmen of the Five Burroughs. Well, the legends have returned in the shape of new album, Last Act Of Defiance. It…

By Mike McGinnis Positive and negative. Quiet and loud. Angst and ease. Can’t have one without the other. This is a primary concept we’ve been working with on our new record and trying to incorporate as much contrast as possible in both the sound and the themes without steering too far from the sound we’ve…

Originally slated for a 2012 release, Necrophagia’s new album, WhiteWorm Cathedral, is finally seeing the light of day through Season of Mist. Main maggot Killjoy (aka Frank Pucci) isn’t one to let the products of his darkest and bloodiest desires get the best of him, so he let WhiteWorm Cathedral stew in a pot of…

Finland’s Ghost Brigade might be the best band you’ve never heard of. True, they’ve been around since 2005 (debut album, Guided by Fire, received rave reviews in 2007), but Jyväskylä-based sextet haven’t toured much and most of their respective catalog has resided on import status here in the US. And true import status means jack…

** Texas-based thrashers Rigor Mortis have returned. Sadly, minus guitarist Mike Scaccia, who died with his boots on while performing on stage in 2012. The Mortis aren’t letting their legacy (their self-titled debut is in the Hall of Fame) die lightly. They’re about to issue new album, Slaves to the Grave, through crowd-funded IndieGoGo and…

Hexakosioihexekontahexaphobia. Say that once. Hell, don’t even say it once. The tongue-twister simply means the fear of the number 666. U.S. presidents have feared the number 666, so it’s fair to say some others will as well. The Number of the Beast has affected untold millions since it was written in some stupid book ages…

By Mike McGinnis Harsh riffs make for harsh vibes in the studio. Embrace the angst and capture it on 2″ tape. That’s the plan. It’s been around two and a half years since Fight Amp recorded an album. Halfway through the writing of 2012’s Birth Control, we made another drummer switch and immediately hit the…

“This album is a schizophrenic array of heaviness,” says the Pharaoh dudes from their hometown of Somerville, New Jersey. “Musically and lyrically it gathers from a lot of our separate influences as a band yet each song is its own. We have definitely showcased growth and way more of what we can do as a…

** U.S. black metallers Nightbringer are an entity unto themselves. The Colorado-based trio make music unlike any other. The group’s new album, Ego Dominus Tuus, is a haunting reality check of the darkness that is around us and the darkness that consumes us. Claustrophobic, uncompromisingly intense, and yet very musical (think Classical), Ego Dominus Tuus…

** Mysticum have mystified black metal purists for decades. The Norwegians’ debut album, In the Streams of Inferno, split black metal into tiny shards, its fans wondering what the fuck in its wake. Originally slated to be released on Euronymous’ Deathlike Silence Productions, the ground-breaking, genre-defying release found a home on American black metal label,…

Medusa Records is a label most metalheads won’t recognize. Based in Culver City, California, the label had a decent stint from 1986 to 1990, releasing a cadre of thrashers from Wrath and Wasted Youth to Christian metal acts Barren Cross and Vengeance Rising (remember their inexplicable inclusion in Hard ‘N Heavy’s Grindcore Special Issue VHS?)….

As one of the greats of American black metal Xasthur left its mark on the indelible and the hard-won. Sadly, Xasthur, as of 2010, is no more but the legacy of main black Scott Conner carries on in not-so-new project, Nocturnal Poisoning. Certainly a sound to divide fans right down the middle of Xasthur’s “X”,…

Wolf = heavy metal. Leather, beer, whiskey, spikes, chainsaws, and greasy, long hair. Since the beginning of time Wolf has laid waste to posers (and poseurs) and pretenders, bands and forum-junkies too easy to extol the virtues of some C-level band no one has ever cared about except some A&R guy at CBS who is…

Slaughter of the Soul is arguably one of the best death metal records of the modern era. Genuine classics like “Suicide Nation,” “Slaughter of the Soul,” “Blinded by Fear” and “Under a Serpent Sun” call our neck and brain to action.

After the untimely passing of Rigor Mortis guitarist (Mike Scaccia; also of Ministry) in December 2012, the remaining members decided it was Scaccia who would’ve wanted to see new album, Slaves to the Grave, released to the wide world of longhairs, headbangers, and rebel angels. The group has already premiered ripping new track, “Flesh for…

** Valkyrja has largely existed in a vacuum of uncool. The Swedes’ brand of fiery black is likened to Watain fucking around with early period Enslaved, but that’s the extent of Valkyrja’s Satan-powered volcano. Throughout the group’s three-album discography they tap an unknown darkness. They make you feel as if you’ve stuck your head and…

** Sólstafir have been roving the plains of Iceland for the better part of two decades. Though originally a black metal act, replete with corpsepaint, the Reykjavikians transformed into something else years later. We’re not entirely sure if Sólstafir are post-metal, post-rock, or post-themselves, but whatever genre of music they fall into, they’re entirely unique….

** UK/US prog metallers—the ‘djent’ tag is now deprecated—Monuments have a new album out, The Amanuensis. If you can’t pronounce ‘amanuensis’ or don’t know what it means, well, guitarist/songwriter John Browne provides an explanation below. Now joined by ex-Periphery vocalist Chris Barretto, Monuments are stronger than ever. The Amanuensis is a more straight-forward effort, but…

One of the coolest bands on the planet are UK psych-rock-doom outfit Uncle Acid & the Deadbeats. Having come off a strong third album in 2013’s Mind Control, Uncle A is poking their tweed ‘n’ weed heads out of the bong water long enough for the lucky among us to hear new tune, “Runaway Girls”….

“Traditional, classic death metal,” is how guitarist/vocalist Damian Herring describes Horrendous.

Krieg’s new album, Transient, is killer. It’s a logical step after The Isolationist with a few surprises. No, Krieg braintrust Imperial (aka “record store” guy, Neill Jameson, aka Imperial) hasn’t injected his USBM crown with EDM beats (or light show) or Juggalo culture aesthetics. He’s simply taken Krieg and its music to the next logical…