Chris Dick

Spoiler alert! The new Gorguts album, Colored Sands, rules. But you knew that already. The band that put Canadian death metal on the map—with Considered Dead and Erosion of Sanity—and then sent death metal into fits of spiral rage on 1998’s Obscura and 2001’s From Wisdom to Hate have returned, with class, chops, and curveballs…

The last time we spent time with melodic death metallers Mercenary was on 2011’s Metamorphosis effort. With a revamped lineup, the Danes managed to change their sound—much to the dismay of long-time fans—but the change opened up a whole new world of potential. They’re no longer stuck to the melodic death construct that made them…

Neo-barbarians is how Twitching Tongues has been described. Now, most of the time when you hear the word barbarian you picture classic bronzed ‘n’ buffed Arnie in a majestic loincloth and wielding the Atlantean sword. Well, I guess barbarians of present day dress in black and instead of decapitating with a finely crafted weapon of…

** Now that Slumber is ancient history, AtomA on ice, and Rapture in perpetual hibernation, few bands (let’s give props to Enshine) have been able to take melodic doom-death to heights of awesome. Enter Fractal Gates. Formed in Paris, France, the members of Fractal Gates made one hell of a debut in Altered State Of…

** It’s been an age since Ulver have had anything to do with metal. Yet, somehow, Ulver, like others who departed from the dome of metal, have managed to capture our minds and hearts. Musically speaking, Ulver have very little business on the Deciblog—all things being fair—yet here they are, connected via an ability to…

Back in the day (about four years ago), Trouble’s follow-up to Simple Mind Condition was titled, The Dark Riff. Pretty cool title. Succinct and descriptive. Well, the title’s changed to, The Distortion Field, and we’re pretty sure it’s just as descriptive, but there’s a little more to interpret. We won’t try, of course. The title…

** Dark Tranquillity have a new album out. It’s called Construct. As one of the many requirements of writing about metal is interviewing bands when they have new albums out. Hence, this feature. Actually, scratch that. I’ve been interviewing Dark Tranquillity for almost 20 years now, since the Skydancer effort, so me and the Gothenburg…

By Jon Leon (White Wizzard) 5. Watchtower’s Control and Resistance (1989) Possibly the most over-the-top falsetto vocals of all time…Mixed with some of the most technically proficient playing I have ever heard. Everyone talks about Voivod, who are great, but I think this album is superior to anything any technical metal band did in the…

Dan Swanö. The man. The myth. The machine. The dude’s got more bands, projects, one-offs, production credits, and engineering nods than anyone in the so-called ‘biz.’ Well, he’s returned, with buddy and guitarist extraordinaire Ragnar Widerberg in tow, on new outfit Witherscape. Those in the Swanö Swanclub have known about Witherscape for a day or…

By Joseph Michael (White Wizzard) 5. Savatage’s Edge of Thorns (1993) This is one of my favorite albums to listen to on LSD. Great vocals, guitars, and songs. RIP Criss Oliva. The solo on “Edge of Thorns” is worth the price of the album alone. 4. Marty Friedman’s Dragon’s Kiss (1988) This is the guitar…

** Sharon Ehman is a Toronto, Canada-based clothing designer and sole proprietor of Toxic Vision, a unique label creating one-of-a-kind designs. New collections, based off her interest in and love for metal as well as the supernatural, are available every month at the Toxic Vision website. Ehman’s work has been seen on members of Watain,…

Orphaned Land doesn’t have it easy. As the ambassadors of metal in the Levant and its nearest neighbors, the Israel-based outfit are trying to bridge an incredible cultural, linguistic, religious, and think gap. Through five studio albums, the most recent of which is All is One, they’ve tried to represent both sides of the struggle…

** Mortuary Drape are Italy’s oldest black metal export. But don’t rely on our words for the truth. Many a Norwegian—you know, the guys who made black metal a household name—genuflected at the altar of the Alessandria-based outfit. Just ask Fenriz next time you see him. He’ll tell you the demos were on par with…

** Impiety are Singapore’s longest standing black metal act. Once reviled by just about everyone in their home country, Impiety have, in fact, won over many, their impassioned live performances, dedication, and purveyance of the dark arts proving to be an unstoppable force. To celebrate Impiety’s upward climb from the bowels of Southeast Asia’s cleanest…

Enshine and AtomA share similar traits. High concept atmospheric metal. Lots of instrumental passages. A space-like art direction. In your view, how do they differ, seeing as though both bands were once upon a time part of Slumber?Jari Lindholm: Although all the bands mentioned share the basic set of instruments and ingredients for the most…

** The “Wild Hunt” listening party was held at Duff’s in Brooklyn, New York on June 8th. Century Media hosted, with Erik Danielsson acting as infernal master of ceremonies. The track-by-track review was written on first listen at Duff’s. Track 1: “Night Vision” Big slow intro build. Heavy metalesque segue, twin harmonic leads cutting the…

I think I’ve said it before and I think I’ll have to say it again. Black metal, on the Deciblog, isn’t represented fairly.

** The Black Dahlia Murder’s Trevor Strnad details the band’s new album, Everblack, in this track-by-fucking-track run-down. Whether you’ve followed the Detroit-based outfit from their humble Motor City beginnings to the mountainous perch from which they gaze down lovingly and loathingly (that’s a word, shut up) at fans and critics alike, Everblack’s a monster of…

Floor’s history is fraught with turmoil, disappointment and what could have been. Yet, between three untimely breakups, countless empty-room performances, super-short stints on various record labels and a revolving cast of collaborators, Floor crafted the full-length of full-lengths, the heaviest of heavies, the mountain of mountains.

How’d Highness come together?Brent Eyestone: Highness is a name I’ve wanted to use on “something” over the course of several years. There’s been just about as many lineups while the ultimate realization was being formed. Originally, the band was to be half of the All-American Rejects and half of Forensics when Mike, one of their…

You started recording in December 2012 and finished in April 2013. That’s a long time to track. Who are you? Metallica? I’m kidding. It was done in pieces, correct?Dez Fafara: [Laughs] Yes it was. The first part was that we had the demos and went on a two month run in the states and I…

Things always come full circle. And when they do it’s either super-rad or pretty depressing. For Repulsion’s first visit to Stockholm, Sweden, it’s super-rad. Why? Let’s just say, the extremely extremes of Sweden’s early metal scene influenced Flint, Michigan’s grindcore/death metal revolutionaries Repulsion and, in turn, the dudes from the city whose motto is “Strong,…

How would you describe Aosoth to a newcomer?BST: We’re a French black metal band. The project has been created in 2002, but started really being an active band when MKM (vocals) asked me to join as a guitarist and song writer. That led us to record our first EPs and our first album. What originally…

There are times when you need to strip away the blastbeats, the growling, the hyperbolic horror movie cover art, the hyper-aggressive posturing and just rock. Plain and simple rock. Clutch does it. Maybe they jam a bit, but the core is tried and true rock. Same with Zakk Wylde when he isn’t over using pinch…

OK, where’d this come from? Majestic Loincloth’s been in the works for a while, right?Richard Christy: Yes, I actually filmed Majestic Loincloth as a low budget live action film with all my metalhead drinking buddies back in Florida in 2002 and 2003. I’d gather everyone together on a Sunday, buy a case of beer, and…

Sight of Emptiness are the first melodic death metal act from Costa Rica. The six-piece are currently shopping their recently completed album, Instincts, to interested labels. Guest appearances include Christian Älvestam (AtomaA, Miseration), Glen Drover (Megadeth), Ralph Santolla (ex-Deicide, ex-Obituary), Ole Halvard Sveen (Lengsel), Whitfield Crane (Ugly Kid Joe), and the Costa Rican Minister of…

5. Saint Vitus. Crosses galore on the second Vitus logo. Three of them. For the Trinity perhaps. The original SVS logo only had one. Three’s a crowd, we say. But this logo is boss. Looks a bit cheap and overdone at first blush, but the barbed letters? Could be heavy metal cliché. Nope. Crown of…

For a long while, Shining (SWE) and Shining (NOR) were swappable entities to the uneducated metal hoi polloi. Thankfully, they’re hardly interchangeable sonically (and visually), as one’s firmly razor-deep in DBM and the other is applying jazz, rock, and black into something rather undefinable—they call it ‘blackjazz’—but altogether Norwegian. Guess which one we have on…

Contrary to popular belief, Carcass’s fourth full-length wasn’t the result of a bunch of product guys, A&R gurus and major label marketing geniuses.

The last time we had our balls in the same pool as Boston-based thrashers Ramming Speed was a long time ago. They were guest blogging about dive bars (HERE) and we were tickled florescent green. Since then, Ramming Speed have visited more dive bars, helped jean-jacketed heshers snap a neck or two, signed to Prosthetic…