Daniel Lake

Poland darkens your doorway once again with a new song by In Twilight’s Embrace.

Cavernlight play emotionally important music.  If you plan to doom today, doom to this.

As a way to introduce younglings to metal (as well as excite the Obi-waning among us), Galactic Empire are starkillin’ it.

Yes, way too much music comes through our inbox to make sense of it all. Yes, lots of it is good, scratching all those familiar itches in just the right way. No, music doesn’t have to reshape your mental cosmos to be worth your time. But when something shoulder-checks your face as hard as the…

Today, Whore of Bethlehem‘s sophomore full-length Extinguish the Light sees release, and we also spoke with guitarist Phil King about the band’s latest endeavor.

We recently got turned on to Ontario blackened sludge fiends Longhouse, who also just became a part of the Deathbound family.  We also asked the band a few questions, which they graciously answered for your reading pleasure.

Now that Venom Inc.’s current trio is about to release this year’s Avé (August 11th on Nuclear Blast), we had the opportunity to celebrate (and anticipate) the upcoming full-length with our Flexi Series. This month (Issue #154, August 2017, Suffocation cover), Decibel brings you a demo version of “Dein Fleisch,” a song that will appear in album form on Avé. While you cruise through the song’s effortless evil, check out bassist/vocalist “Demolition Man” Tony Dolan’s responses to our inquiries about the song’s origins and creation.

1995’s Destroy Erase Improve was Meshuggah’s first complete statement.  It ushered in a new kind of technicality, one that is still being celebrated two decades later (not always in the most listenable ways).   Today, let’s breakdown the band’s breakthrough by counting down the songs on this Hall of Fame entry.

Tired of Khemmis yet?  Neither are we.  Find out more about Flexi addition “Empty Throne,” this latest addition to the string of Khemmis successes.

We asked Bjørnson some questions about his newest baby, and we shared some of his thoughts with you in Issue #153 (July 2017, Integrity cover).  Catch the rest of the interview right here, alongside a few videos that exemplify what BardSpec is really all about.

Exist are your favorite new progressive metal band. 

Come for the Xasthur, stay for everything but.

If you’re not familiar with the MD/PA soundfuckers Full of Hell, we’re not really sure what you’re waiting for.  They’re restless, they’re fearless and they’re pissed as hell.  Earlier this month, they unleashed their latest mind-mauler, Trumpeting Ecstasy, on Profound Lore Records.  Decibel got vocalist Dylan Walker on the phone a couple months ago.  Find out what he said.

We asked doom-mentor Dorrian about how their contribution came about.  Here’s what he said.

California’s Mountaineer consists of current members of Lament Cityscape and former members of Secrets of the Sky and Ashes of American Flags. Their album, Sirens and Slumber, will drop on May 19th, but you can check out the video for the album’s final track, “Goodnight,” right here.

Next month, Khemmis and Spirit Adrift will share their own approach to Southern folk music with a split that explores new ideas that come out of old music.  This week, we share with you “A Conversation with Death,” the Khemmis half of the split, due out on June 16th from War Crime Recordings.

Were you worried that Decibel wasn’t goth enough?  Get in here and let us prove you wrong! (?)

The four tracks of rumbly darkness from Poland’s Loathfinder’s slyly titled EP, The Great Tired Ones, sound exactly the way you want them to, if you’re a doom hound. 

Before their Decibel Metal and Beer Fest performance – and before Panopticon drop their much-anticipated next album – we got to hear “Sheep in Wolves’ Clothing” in the ongoing Decibel Flexi Series.  After dozens of listens, we wanted to get mastermind Austin Lunn’s perspective on the song and its creation.

On its own merits, entirely outside the context of the five masterworks to come, Calculating Infinity spits its own impressive fire and has most certainly made its own tempestuous mark on the heavy music of the past seventeen years.

It’s no surprise we love Crypt Sermon‘s rendition of Mayhem’s “De Mysteriis Dom Sathanas.”

Hope Attrition
Answer the unending call (won’t go to voicemail)
dB rating: 8/10

In this week’s Demo:Listen, let Washington D.C. plague Sickdeer tear your head off and replace it with something even more hideous.

I sincerely hope that everybody reading this piece takes an hour out of their Friday (then several more hours out of their weekend) to soak up the majesty of Pallbearer‘s newest album, Heartless.

Happy Pi Day, nerds!  If you’re looking for some top shelf circumnavigation music, get in here for a listen of a new song by Montreal post-metal powerhouses Black Sails for Red Seas

Next week we get Dodecahedron’s brand new exercise in high-concept dissonance via Kwintessens, due out March 17 on Season of Mist.  We conducted a little Q&A with guitarist/songwriter Michel Nienhuis and vocalist Michiel Eikenaar, much of which can be found in issue #150 (Decibel Tour cover), but you can read the remainder of the interview here.

Early last year, Quebec’s progressive blackened death crew Hands of Despair revealed their stand-out sophomore record, Bereft, and successfully extended the sound and strengths that had made the debut, Hereafter, such an enjoyable listen.  Today we bring you their latest video single for Bereft‘s penultimate track, “Étoc,” along with the band’s explanation of the video’s origins and execution.

Hope
Black metal change you can believe in
dB rating: 8/10

We spoke with Behemoth’s prime abominator Nergal about what it meant to return to the stage after his devastating illness, and what he could recall about his tourmates during that time.  Some of his remarks are exclusive to the Special Issue, but the remainder of that interview is here for you to check out right now.

Nearly ten years since its inception, high-concept Belgian brutalizers Saille bring down the fire with their fourth album, Gnosis, to be released through Code666 Records on March 13th.  Today we bring you a lyric video for the record’s opening track, “Benei ha’Elohim.”