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Some say the first wave of black metal started in England. We happen to be of the opinion — a silly one, mind you — that the first wave of black metal started, at least sonically, in America in 1969, with the release of New York-based Cromagnon’s sole album, Orgasm. We’re not the first ones…

Welcome to The Lazarus Pit, a biweekly look at should-be classic metal records that don’t get nearly enough love, stuff that’s essential listening for students of extreme metal that you’ve probably never heard of.  Stuff that we’re too lazy to track down the band members to do a Hall Of Fame for.  This week, we…

5. MANAGERS: Self-managing a band is a load of work. Arch Enemy does it, actually. But unless you have a few A-types who actually know how things work, it’s probably a good idea to get a manager. Again, someone you can trust. Someone with a sterling reputation. Someone who manages other bands in good standing….

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…

David Hall is the director of Disgorge, Mexico: The Movie, Axis of Eden: The Feature Film, Maryland Deathfest: The Movie and Maryland Deathfest: The Movie II. He attended Maryland Deathfest last May 26 – 29 with the intention of shooting the second sequel. Suffice it to say, things did not go as planned. Hunker down…

Almost every band has that album: you know, the critically and/or commercially reviled dud in an otherwise passable-to-radical back catalog. Well, every Wednesday morning, a Decibel staffer or special guest will take to the Deciblog to bitch and moan at length as to why everybody’s full of shit and said dud is, in fact, The…

You picked Roy Z as a producer for Kairos. Why Roy?Andreas Kisser: Roy was a great choice for this album. He’s a very experienced produced, working with the best singers in metal. He’s a great guitar player. He’s a great musician, too. He more or less knows how to play his instruments. And he’s active…

It takes too long to go through every online distro, e-store, virtual shop to find the best prices on the latest…uh, precious metal titles. Want the new Arch Enemy Khaos Legions for less than $10? Try Amazon. Or Century Media’s CM Distro. Want the new Morbid Angel wooden box set for less than three Bens?…

Chicago-based metallic hardcore outfit Harm’s Way are right down the middle of our proverbial plate. That’s a baseball reference — made by a non-baseball fan — if you were thinking of fine china or the affordable stuff you get in boxes of 50 at Ikea. Seriously, hearing Harm’s Way’s new album Isolation immediately made us…

Every other Friday, Waldo the African Grey Parrot, frontbird of thrash-grind immortals Hatebeak, will get you caught up on the week’s latest “extreme” releases. What’s up? Waldo here. Want to know whose liner notes are at the bottom of my cage for the next few upcoming weeks? Well, I’m here to tell you… In a…

Let’s put this in perspective. I can’t recall — ever! — a band of Amon Amarth’s music style and profile doing a full U.S. tour without direct or local support. That includes every legend in the book. Entombed, Morbid Angel, Cannibal Corpse, Vader, Carcass, Napalm Death, Obituary, etc. Sure, they may’ve done a string of…

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…

Almost every band has that album: you know, the critically and/or commercially reviled dud in an otherwise passable-to-radical back catalog. Well, every Wednesday morning, a Decibel staffer or special guest will take to the Deciblog to bitch and moan at length as to why everybody’s full of shit and said dud is, in fact, The…

In the ‘90s, the antics of Varg Vikernes and several others pushed black metal into an unwelcome, possibly unintended spotlight (though one can argue razing Stave churches was an attention-garnering move). But black metal, from a Norwegian perspective, is no longer musica non grata. Having witnessed in person Dimmu Borgir’s NRK-funded and sponsored (effectively the…

1. hol·o·caust [hol-uh-kawst, hoh-luh-]“a great or complete devastation or destruction, especially by fire.” — Immortal’s Abbath Doom Occulta would disagree with this definition, especially the “fire” bit. His definition of “holocaust” is 100 years of winter followed by 100 years of brutal rule by the autocratic dictators of the frost-bitten kingdom of Blashyrkh. 2. tox·ic…

Welcome to The Lazarus Pit, a biweekly look at should-be classic metal records that don’t get nearly enough love, stuff that’s essential listening for students of extreme metal that you may not have ever heard of.  Stuff that we’re too lazy to track down the band members to do a Hall Of Fame for.  This…

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…

Opinions on Illud Divinum Insanus have gone from applauded to appalling. Mostly appalling. Check out the 35 (and growing) reviews on Amazon. Thus quoteth some Amazon reviewers: “a Spinal Tap level embarrassment”, “Inexcusable”, “An eight year wait for an absolute train wreck”, “How the mighty have fallen!”, and (my favorite) “It’s not completly [sic] terrible……

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…

Almost every band has that album: you know, the critically and/or commercially reviled dud in an otherwise passable-to-radical back catalog. Well, every Wednesday morning, a Decibel staffer or special guest will take to the Deciblog to bitch and moan at length as to why everybody’s full of shit and said dud is, in fact, The…

Fuck Starbucks! While soccer moms and day traders sip delicately and importantly on iced caramel macchiatos and munch through $40 mini carrot cupcakes, we here at the dB HQ start our uliginous days off with a grisly jigsaw (breakfast) stew of flesh and bone. Munificent amounts of gore topped with good stone ground mustard, actually….

Every other Friday, Waldo the African Grey Parrot, frontbird of thrash-grind immortals Hatebeak, will get you caught up on the week’s latest “extreme” releases. Get yo perch on, if you know what I mean. Waldo here, and I’m going to be cracking seeds and skulls on some upcoming releases for you. First up is ALESTORM,…

OK, what is the central idea to Amplicon? I read bits of what sounded to be a neat concept.Runhild Gammelsaeter: In a bout of delusions of grandeur, I decided to make a soundtrack of the cycle of the universe, from its birth by the big bang to its collapse, the big crunch, or whatever the…

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…

Almost every band has that album: you know, the critically and/or commercially reviled dud in an otherwise passable-to-radical back catalog. Well, every Wednesday morning, a Decibel staffer or special guest will take to the Deciblog to bitch and moan at length as to why everybody’s full of shit and said dud is, in fact, The…

Most people are picking up on Lifelover at Konkurs due to the Prophecy re-issue. Is that a good starting point for people interested in Lifelover?Kim Carlsson: Definitely, even though any of our albums would be a good starting-point Konkurs involves many of our trademark elements, so if it’s followed by our current release Sjukdom the…

Welcome to The Lazarus Pit, a biweekly look at should-be classic metal records that don’t get nearly enough love, stuff that’s essential listening for students of extreme metal that you may not have ever heard of.  Stuff that we’re too lazy to track down the band members to do a Hall Of Fame for.  This…

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,…

Almost every band has that album: you know, the critically and/or commercially reviled dud in an otherwise passable-to-radical back catalog. Well, every Wednesday morning, a Decibel staffer or special guest will take to the Deciblog to bitch and moan at length as to why everybody’s full of shit and said dud is, in fact, The…

Here I am back after a long silence. What can I say?! I naively thought I could be writing while on tour… I was wrong. For one, I was sick as a dog during the majority of the European tour, so for the most part the routine was: from bed to stage to bed. Day…