Class is in session, and old school death revivalists Sentient Horror are on the syllabus.

Echoes of Dismemberment
Hack ‘n’ slash flashbacks
dB rating: 8/10

White Empress revamp after bout with boredom with extreme metal/horror short”Revenant.”

Deathblow Productions director/writer Ryan Oliver revels in B-movie bliss in Child Bite’s “Vermin Mentality” music video.

Italian bruisers Profanal prove Swedeath is the sweetest death on Supreme Fire.

Belgian black/death cosmonauts Kosmokrator take a giant leap forward on First Step to Supremacy.

Romanian black/folk metal pathfinders Negura Bunget prowl through the woods in the hypnotic video for “Stanciu Gruiul.”

Experience pure sonic violence with Trap Them‘s Crown Feral, then recover from your beatdown with a macabre arts & (darker hand)crafts lesson from vocalist Ryan McKenney. 

Cambridge, MA tattoo shop/art gallery Eridanos hosts Dan Seagrave’s mind-bending swarm of winged creations.

If something smelled like “Sweet Beef” in Philly, it was “Drive Thru Metal” concept band Mac Sabbath.

On Future Echo Returns, Irish cosmonauts Slomatics fuse sci-fi and doom heavier than a dying planet.

Psychedelic Seattle shapeshifters warn of shroom-doom and shapeshifting dolphins in the climax of their phantasy thrashterpiece Hallucinogenesis.

Carcass. Crowbar. Ghoul. Night Demon. A basement filled with rowdy Philadelphians. Who will survive and what will be left of them?

Boston post-metal explorers SEA explore the murky depths of post-metal on “Stone Ship” before embarking on a European expedition with WeedWolf.

Psychedelic doom rockers EERIE are here to prepare you for the zombie apocalypse with “Immortal Rot.”

British black metal blasphemers Cradle of Filth recently joined forces with Cacophonous Records to release the original recording of Dusk…and Her Embrace (called The Original Sin, out July 8th). To celebrate, Decibel revisits the first collaboration between the band and label: 1994’s sanguinary trailblazer The Principle of Evil Made Flesh.

Australian incendiaries Denouncement Pyre like their dying stars the same color as their metal: BLACK.

Atlanta-based dark metal conspirators Cloak comb the blackest shadows of rock ‘n’ roll on the opening track off their eponymous EP.

Emperor‘s Ihsahn, Ulver‘s Garm and Darkthrone’s Fenriz venture beyond the genre’s confines.

Heads up, Charm City: Decibel will infiltrate Maryland Deathfest like a leprous plague from May 26th to May 29th. Come visit Decibel’s booth Friday through Sunday, within screaming distance of the Edison Lot.

When I first saw extreme metal Brooklynites Kosmodemonic, they were killing it on a stage Watain doused with pig’s blood soon after.

The Labyrinth

RIFYL your demos and your steaks rare

dB Rating: 8/10

“Everything is permitted.” Considering that’s Norwegian experimental collective Ulver‘s genre description, hindsight confirms it’s no surprise they strayed so dramatically from the black metal that shaped their earliest albums. Following the release of their 13th LP, vocalist Kristoffer Rygg shares his thoughts on the band’s evolution and his own artistic journey.

Commencing with the ritualistic application of corpse paint, feature-length documentary Blackhearts shares the stories of three black metal bands from drastically different backgrounds visiting the genre’s birthplace in Norway.

Originally printed in our April 2016 issue, get acquainted with death ahead of the big event (Choosing Death Fest, that is). 

Decibel’s all about honoring 1991’s 25th anniversary – just check issue #137’s Metal Maniacs design homage and the “Top 30 Albums of 1991” feature. So when it comes to celebrating our favorite album covers from that landmark year, there’s no better place to start than with Dan Seagrave.

Where were you when you first unlocked an unlisted track after a long period of dubious silence as a record played possum? Or when you noticed an album creeping up to track 69, where Tool’s “Disgustipated” lurked at the edge of Undertow? If you were born after 1995, maybe never.

If you didn’t catch Richard Christy’s review in Decibel #136, let me introduce you to the most metal horror film ever: Deathgasm. It’s a Kiwi midnight party flick made for and by metalheads where blackened doom riffs unlock portals to demonic dimensions and “metal up your ass” is less of a threat than a literal promise. We’re talking corpsepaint, monsters, hilarious black metal music video parodies, dildo fights, and enough blood to satiate the most demanding gorehounds.

All Fours
Screamo’s not a dirty word
dB Rating: 8/10

Brooklyn Night Bazaar – June 15th, 2014 Photography by Rodrigo Fredes of PhotoTerco It was Father’s Day, so I arrived early and called my pops outside the venue. I informed him I was seeing a Swedish metal band named Watain shortly, who would likely spit animal blood at the audience. “Well have fun, enjoy your…