Shane Mehling

As with many artists, Jared Southwick’s passing has been a tragedy both emotionally and financially. His family are not only dealing with the loss of a loved one, but shouldering the burden of unpaid medical expenses. So Saturday, Sept. 3rd, Jared’s friends and fans have put together an amazing show to further pay tribute to…

Sean Yseult, White Zombie bassplayer, owner of a fun to say last name and the woman responsible for (something that’s supposed to be comical but comes off creepy and gross) in my youth, has released a one of a kind recording featuring herself, Phil Anselmo and Dime Motherfucking Bag Motherfucking Darrell.

When Decibel needs their Reviews illustration for every issue or the dopest drawing of Glenn Danzig ever wet-dreamed about, we go to Mark Rudolph. But there is more to Mr. Rudolph than Municipal Waste vomiting. In fact he is on his way to Kickstarting an amazing 70-page graphic novel. A reimagining of the short Lovecraft…

Violins. In metal that shit is real hard to justify. But honestly, when it comes to how Chicago prog-doom experts Living Fields are able to have these underappreciated instruments scrape at their strings, there’s enough furious noise that it really does seem okay. It also helps that “Glacial Movements,” off the exceptional Running Out of…

If you say you don’t know who Derek Riggs is, we can probably forgive you. But if you say you don’t know his work, you are clearly looking for a fight. The creator of arguably the most iconic mascot in all of music, Riggs’s art made him at one point practically the 7th member of…

After the untimely passing of Jared Southwick, another icon is no longer with us. Eric Swenson, one of the most visionary figures in the history of skateboarding, committed grisly suicide in front of a police station in San Francisco. The 64-year old Swenson, who co-founded both Independent Trucking Co and Thrasher magazine, put a gun…

While the news of his grave condition had been known, it still comes as a terrible shock that guitarist Jared Southwick has passed away from a liver and kidney condition in Muncie, Indiana. Most well known as the amazing six-stringer for The Dream is Dead, some like myself also got to see his incredible talents…

It’s time for another website to piss you off since it’s missing some bands or misdefines “Oriental Metal.” Regardless, Map of Metal is a pretty fun, interactive site that allows you to check out bands and songs from many, many different metal genres on a big, crazy jean jacket/There Be Dragons map thing. Just click…

It’s said that the opposite of love isn’t hate but indifference. And that has been the most common sentiment I’ve heard since the passing of Seth Putnam, singer of Anal Cunt and the man who called the world gay. Of course for his detractors, what else can you do? To actually celebrate his death would…

Well, I don’t even know where to start with this one. Licensed pilot Bruce Dickinson has stated that Maiden is unequivocally better than Metallica. He is not in a position to walk the statement back and we doubt Mr. Balls to Picasso would have any intention no matter what. So is he right? Well… Many…

If you were expecting the same old tidy power rock from Seattle’s Helms Alee, they have a whole lot of mindfuckery in store on their second album Weatherhead. A bold and experimental epic, the trio cracks time signatures in half, wades through indie harmonies and steers in bulldozers full of triumphant, psychedelic riffs. “8/16” is…

Noise punk. That’s a term I don’t get to swing around often enough. And 400 Blows are fucking noise punk. It’s been six arduous years since the release of Angel’s Trumpets and Devil’s Trombones but the half-crazed virtuosos are back with Sickness and Health. The band can clearly still flagellate their instruments as Scott Martin…

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6wy_mXuEsP0 Brent Hinds has twirled his Mastodong around by starring in a surprisingly well done commercial for Atlanta bar and restaurant Elmyr. We can only assume that Hinds truly enjoys their food and was happy to do it as I doubt a place that sells two kinds of PBR is flush with marketing cash. But…

Our second eulogy for dearly departed Metalgazers Isis includes more reminiscing from the band, more photos (again thanks to Mark Dawursk) and an old school live clip from one of our favorite songs. Let’s get to it: Bryant Clifford Meyer (Electronics, Keyboards, Guitar, Vocals) For some reason my memory has become slightly out of whack…

It’s been almost a year since thinking man’s metalheads Isis hung up the reverb pedals, but they have returned, in vinyl form, to celebrate their legacy. Five live albums are set to be released by the band, the first one coming at you this Tuesday, May 31st (pre-order here). And they have sent us video,…

“Underrated” is about as loaded a term as you can get when describing a band, but I truly believe that until Syracuse’s Engineer is invited to a renovated Total Request Live studio in Times Square they are not getting their due. It’s been four years since the noiserock quartet fucked a million faces with The…

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3dYWof3QZbQ I don’t particularly like Fucked Up but I do respect them. Their move from hardcore punk to anthemic art rock has never seem strained and gimmicks like their twelve-hour show asked more of them than anyone else in attendance. And furthermore on the topic of live shows, they always come through, much to the…

In a scheme akin to something Cosmo Kramer would cook up, Cro-Mag frontman John Joseph is now offering a gritty tour of the Lower East Side where he did much of his boozing, bruising and being a goddamn heroin mule. John Joseph who detailed his infamous life in his celebrated 2008 autobiography The Evolution Of…

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FgG-4VSnIPY I’ve never heard of Rasputin Music but I have to say, if you get a chance to stop by this Berkeley store, please fucking do. Trash Talk, who regardless of the quality of their music don’t take no shit from nobody when they step on stage, were brilliantly/foolishly asked to play an in-store. And…

After seeing this post on the Shreddit section of Reddit (where I steal much of my material), I wanted to ask the very few people who comment on here to offer their own opinions. Where do you draw the line when it comes to working for the man and maintaining your heavy metal lifestyle? Starting…

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1CvNR_TlaaI The legendary Pentagram is back in a big fucking way (if you haven’t noticed) so it’s the perfect time to crank out a dedication. D-beat lovers Hot Graves have actually slowed themselves down to pull off a faithful and killer cover of “Madman” from Pentagram’s Day of Reckoning. And they’ve gone further by releasing…

I’m not a big proponent of hyping a band based upon how few members they have. What I mean is I don’t love descriptors like “power trio” because so what if three guys can make as much noise as four or five. That doesn’t make a song inherently better. But with all of that said,…

Anyone want to add a circle and line over my man K.K. Downing because he has left Judas Priest before their fake farewell tour. One of the band’s founding members has decided to hang up his flying V after 40 goddamn years, citing internal problems with “elements of the band” and management. I’m not sure…

You ever heard “Piano Metal”? No? Well it fucking sucks.

1. You like that Incantation ad? Plenty more old school ephemera at Metal Archaeologist. 2. Another death metal murder, with a kiwi twist. 3. When Metallica was the best band in the world. 4. NPR interviewing Witch Mountain after a 10-year absence. 5. Some dumb shit about metal, Zakk Wylde and American Idol. 6. Gentlemen,…

Remember when you saw the cover of our issue with Watain and thought, “Holy shit that photo rules.”

I’m not going to add much to this incredible, truly incredible, Vice article on Botswana’s “Metalhead Cowboys” but I will implore you to read it and check out the wealth of photos. I mean this… this is some fucking shit. A country you couldn’t find on a map for a thousand dollars has an oddly…

Philadelphia is a great place for birthing democracy, eating pretzels and setting up Ponzi schemes disguised as metal publications. What it’s not good for is parking. Grindcore disciples Wormrot blasted through a big chunk of the country without incident until their van disappeared in Philly. And who can be blamed? The man. The Singapore trio…

Now no one is disagreeing that Despise You being back together is fucking awesome. And the chance to hear their first new tracks of drive-by power violence in almost ten years is going to be fucking awesome. But honestly, the real treat for me is the Agoraphobic Nosebleed side. Yes, the And On And On……

Brooklyn organ twisters Batillus will be releasing their debut album Furnace on Seventh Rule April 19th and there’s no doubt that this fearsome slab of noise-doom will be a favorite around my office (the closet I type in). As the band recently headed to SXSW, they created 55 silk-screened tour copies for ultimate ruling and…