Zach Smith

LISTEN: Rosetta’s The Anaesthete

August 8, 2013

As many notable websites have pointed out this week (Grantland and HitFix to name two), it’s been ten years since The O.C.–and one of the best first seasons of television ever made–premiered on August 5, 2003. While I would have loved to come up with a post that actually related to Sandy Cohen and company,…

LIVE REVIEW: Dawnbringer

August 1, 2013

It was only fitting that Dawnbringer’s first NYC show was at Saint Vitus. After all, the middle stop of a three-day stint that was “the closest thing to a Dawnbringer tour that has ever happened” brought a band whose last two outstanding records have given it some well deserved recognition to a joint that has…

VIDEO PREMIERE: Beneath Oblivion “The Atomic Mother”

July 25, 2013

Beneath Oblivion put out a monster of a record back in 2011 in the form of From Man To Dust. As our own Shane Mehling–never one to sugar coat things–once explained on this very site, “[r]arely do you hear a doom band so good at integrating other influences, from folk to death metal to experimental…

Scaling The Fitness Summit With Chris Letchford

July 18, 2013

Last week, Scale the Summit guitarist Chris Letchford (that’s him second from the left) shared his workout playlist. Fortunately, he was also kind enough to pass along tips for working out and eating well while on tour, all of which are pretty useful even if you’re not in a band. Despite what Chris may say…

Decibrity Playlist: Scale The Summit

July 11, 2013

We here at the Deciblog are proponents of good health. So when we were presented the opportunity to present a playlist with that lofty goal in mind, it was an easy choice (not to mention we’re big fans of Scale the Summit’s instrumental musings). As guitarist Chris Letchford explains, “I spend five days a week…

Decibrity Playlist: Mikael Stanne (Dark Tranquillity) (Part 2)

June 27, 2013

To continue our celebration of the recent release of Construct, we asked Dark Tranquillity vocalist Mikael Stanne–that’s him in front–to a pick a non-DT record that related in some way to each of his band’s ten full-length records (plus one hand-picked EP). Last week, Mikael’s entries took us from 1992′s A Moonclad Reflection EP up…

Decibrity Playlist: Mikael Stanne (Dark Tranquillity) (Part 1)

June 20, 2013

If you’ve followed our print mag over the years, you’ll know that we have quite an affinity for Dark Tranquillity, a love affair that extends from old (The Gallery was inducted into our HOF in 2010) and new (Chris Dick gave newest album, Construct, a glowing review…not to mention you may want to check out…

Decibrity Playlist: Mouth of the Architect

June 13, 2013

If memory serves me right, I have Kevin Stewart-Panko to thank for my introduction to Mouth of the Architect via his review of the band’s debut, Time and Withering, way back in one of our first issues. Since I’ve been keeping up with the Ohioans ever since, it was a no brainer to ask keyboardist/vocalist…

Decibrity Playlist: Howl

June 6, 2013

While bands seem to really like doing these playlists, there is one theme that has become prevalent over the last 18 months: what gets listened to in the van while on tour. We’ve had the likes of Ufomammut, Intronaut, BATILLUS, Anciients and Kowloon Walled City (Side A of their list being my personal favorite) tell…

Decibrity Playlist: Kings Destroy

May 30, 2013

As someone who takes the subway every day, I’m disappointed in myself for never having thought to pair albums with various lines. So I give loads of credit to Kings Destroy vocalist Steve Murphy for not only coming up with the idea (not to mention his preference for express trains and disdain for the L),…

Decibrity Playlist: Zozobra

May 23, 2013

Adam McGrath plays by his own rules, nobody else’s, not even his own. So when he sent over a list that simply included five “sweet” songs, who were we to argue? Not only does his time in Zozobra (guitarist/vocalist) and Cave In (guitarist) give him more than enough cred, judging by his selections (the first…

CONTEST: Win Tickets to See Fight Amp in Philly!

May 16, 2013

Want to know how excited Fight Amp is to be playing its first hometown show of the year? So excited that my fellow South Jerseyans decided to give away a pair of tickets to their May 28th show at Philadelphia’s Kung Fu Necktie and asked us to help. Oh, did we mention that the evening…

Decibrity Playlist: Call Of The Void

May 9, 2013

When Call of the Void is not on the road (most recently in support of recently released Dragged Down A Dead End Path), guitarist Patrick Alberts returns to work and, as he describes it, deals with PTSD (“Post Tour Super Depression”). Having never been on tour, I can’t identify other than to say that his…

Decibrity Playlist: Saint Vitus Bar

May 2, 2013

If you live anywhere near NYC and love extreme music, hopefully you’ve had a chance to check out Saint Vitus Bar in Brooklyn. Once you find and step through the black doored entrance, not only does the front bar offer a wide variety of drafts and specials, but the back room hosts some of the…

Decibrity Playlist: Coliseum

April 25, 2013

In case you haven’t heard, the new Coliseum record—which was one of our Top 20 Most Anticipated Records of 2013—comes out on Tuesday. Our May issue not only has Shane Mehling’s review of Sister Faith (spoiler alert: he likes it), but Adrien Begrand’s profile of the Louisville trio. In fact, said interview with Ryan Patterson…

Decibrity Playlist: Woe

April 18, 2013

One of my favorite albums so far this year, Woe‘s Withdrawal, drops on Tuesday. To mark the occasion, guitarist Ben Brand sent along the following playlist that I’m pretty sure only he could adequately describe: “In honor of the transition into Spring, I want you all to start thinking about getting that garden growing. Inch…

Decibrity Playlist: Anciients

April 11, 2013

The dudes in Anciients will release their debut album, Heart Of Oak, on Tuesday. Just in case Jeff Treppel’s lead review in our April issue or Kevin Stewart-Panko’s profile the following month weren’t enough to convince you of the Vancouver quartet’s awesomeness, guitarist/vocalists Chris Dyck and Kenny Cook passed along some of the records they’ll…

Decibrity Playlist: Soilwork (Part 2)

April 4, 2013

Last week, as part of what became an unofficial Soilwork week around these parts, the Swedish sextet’s drummer Dirk Verbeuren gave us a glimpse into his diverse listening habits. As promised, we now present five more tracks from frontman and founder Björn “Speed” Strid, each of which helped meld his musical tastes during his more…

Decibrity Playlist: Soilwork (Part 1)

March 28, 2013

Given that Soilwork unleashed its first double album (and ninth overall), The Living Infinite, earlier this month, it’s only appropriate that the long-running Swedish outfit passed along a double playlist. Up first: a collection of tracks from drummer Dirk Verbeuren, each offering an insight into his diverse tastes (Prince is becoming quite a fixture in…

Decibrity Playlist: Intronaut

March 21, 2013

Not only did Intronaut just release its fourth full-length, Habitual Levitations (Instilling Words With Tones), on Tuesday, but the band also recently wrapped up a tour in support of Meshuggah. Needless to say, the quartet probably spent quite a bit of time driving from show to show. Sacha Dunable was kind enough to pass along…

Decibrity Playlist: BATILLUS

March 14, 2013

BATILLUS kicked off a month of shows in support of its latest record, the awesome Concrete Sustain, at the end of February. The trek has seen them scoot across the Midwest, over to the left coast and, most recently, Pitchfork’s Show No Mercy SXSW showcase in Austin, TX (check out the band’s remaining dates below)….

Decibrity Playlist: Inter Arma

March 7, 2013

Last year, Torche was so stoked about the coming of summer that it passed along a “summer fun” mix. To help get ready for the warmer weather this year, we enlisted the assistance of Inter Arma guitarist Trey Dalton to tell us about some albums to spin once “spring has come and it’s time to…

INTERVIEW: Brutal Panda’s Bob and Mike

February 28, 2013

We spend a lot of time talking to artists—whether in blog posts or in each month’s issue—and rightfully so. After all, they put their blood, sweat and tears into making the music that brings us together. We haven’t necessarily dedicated a lot of space to the people actually putting out those releases, however, so we…

INTERVIEW: Astrohenge

February 21, 2013

Astrohenge was yet another band I stumbled across last year while perusing what was once a plethora of music blogs. As our Q&A with their fellow countrymen Dragged Into Sunlight indicated, Astrohenge is part of a diverse crop of UK bands “doing their own thing.” Although it’s been over a year since the London quartet’s…

VIDEO PREMIERE: Incantation’s “Invoked Infinity”

February 14, 2013

We couldn’t think of a better way to spread some Valentine’s Day love than premiering the brand new Incantation video for “Invoked Infinity”. Before you start headbanging at your desk to the opening track to last year’s Vanquish In Vengeance (and the band’s first video in ten years), we’ll let bassist Chuck Sherwood and Kristoff…

Decibrity Playlist: Helen Money

February 7, 2013

Helen Money, aka Alison Chesley, dropped a new album earlier this week via the inimitable Profound Lore Records. As our Brent Burton described in Issue #101, the cellist’s playing is rather unorthodox as she “stretch[es] and distort[s] the possibilities of amplified cello with a bevy of effects.” To celebrate the release of her third record…

Live Review: Graveyard/The Shrine

January 31, 2013

It’s only been a year since Graveyard last came to New York City, and coupled with last week’s sub-freezing temperatures and a second show in Brooklyn two nights later, I was curious to see just how many people would show up to Friday night’s performance. By the time I arrived at the Bowery Ballroom a…

Decibrity Playlist: Misery Index

January 24, 2013

With the throes of winter usually comes a dearth of new releases. So after perusing the innumerable year-end lists, there’s no better time to catch up on all of the records you missed, not to mention your back catalog. If you’re in a band, it’s also a good time to put out something new given…

Decibrity Playlist: Ancient VVisdom

January 17, 2013

The dudes in Ancient VVisdom’s have already put together a pretty impressive resume considering they only got started in late 2009. For starters, the Austinites have put out a split and debut full-length and hit the road with Ghost and Blood Ceremony (and, along with Pallbearer and Royal Thunder, will be supporting Enslaved starting January…

Decibrity Playlist: Holy Grail

January 10, 2013

If you’ve been keeping up with our last two issues (which also happen to be our year-end and 100th), you’ve probably noticed that there’s a new Holy Grail record coming out this month. While you’ll have to wait until January 22nd to see if your excitement about Ride The Void even comes remotely close to…