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Says David Hall: “I almost died making this video….I passed out and woke up covered in beer and bong water and all the candles I had set up had been knocked over, but luckily they landed in a puddle of my urine and didn’t burn my tits off.”

Meta is Car Bomb‘s second self-released record, and if you heard 2012’s cryptically titled w^w^^w^w then you probably know where this one is headed.  Spend a little time in Car Bomb’s headspace and you can be sure to either evolve or disintegrate into your very own pool of primordial goo.  And yes, both Joe Duplantier (of Gojira) and Frank Mullen (of Suffocation) lent their talents to parts of Meta.

Ritual & Revival deliver extreme jams. THESE ARE LITERALLY EXTREME JAMS.

Here’s a near-full recounting of our conversation with drummer Tomas Haake (for the juiciest quotes, you’ll need to grab a copy of the magazine itself).  Here, he tells Decibel a bit more about the writing and recording process and describes some of the more technical aspects of touring and continuing to be relevant in 2016.

More Agathocles!

Recently the band has embarked on a Transylvanian trilogy, meant to explore the various elements of deep traditional life in the band’s homeland.  We asked main man Negru a few questions about the current state of the band and their direction.

We had the opportunity to speak with Tucker before the release of The Grey Eminence.  Catch most of the conversation here, and if you haven’t done so yet, put your ears on the new record now.  Discover what is hidden.

Dead Kennedys guitarist East Bay Ray sat down for a rare interview with Decibel and discussed Trump, his inimitable guitar style and how the Internet breeds fascism. 

Not only does Calgary’s Krepitus straddle the divide between death and thrash metal, but the quartet does so with an every-cloud-has-a-silver-lining thematic uniqueness. Sure, the world is fucked and we’re all fucked, but there’s no point in revelling in being bent over and reamed by the forces that be

In a couple weeks, the Chi-town quartet Arriver will blast their frenetic, exacting noise of death out through your ass, by way of their December 2nd release, Emeritus.  Today, we give you the song “URSa,” as good an entry point as any (though it’s the record’s penultimate track) to the band’s sound.  Don’t let this be your only dip into their pool, though.

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

Get in here and get savaged!

Gigfly.ca is a recently launched website designed to assist working members of the music community develop and maintain a more hands-on approach to business outside the rehearsal room.

Amid the noise of a dozen gnarly fall tours this year, Gorguts and friends stand out as a must-see bill with zero filler.

Happy Halloween! Get in the spirit with an exhaustive Decibel oral history of The Electric Hellfire Club, the innovative 90s band that blended metal, industrial music, and Satanism. Burn, baby, burn!  

We got lucky when we sought out voices to comment on Meshuggah‘s continued power and relevance – our search led to a conversation with tourmate Wacław “Vogg” Kiełtyka of Decapitated.

I recently discovered Into the Storm the old fashioned way: their PR representative held me hostage at gunpoint in a windowless room for three days…but it didn’t have to be that way.

Refinement?  Bah!  Technical acumen?  Bwaaaahhh!  This is crude, grave-stomping, bone-grinding death metal tuned for pit domination and soul desecration.

Fans of Melechesh, Rotting Christ, Tengger Cavalry and the more extreme moments in the Orphaned Land catalog should absolutely make time for the new album by Singapore “Vedic” metallers Rudra this fall.  The band has been active (and prolific!) since the 90s, and their eighth full-length is due to singe ears and elevate consciousnesses this December.

Another addition to the growing number of festivals exploding out of the Western Canadian woodwork as of late is Edmonton’s Black Mourning Light, set to be held at the Rendezvous Pub in the town that Wayne Gretzky built on October 21-22.

Chicago, Illinois has long been home to some of the harshest, ugliest metal sounds, and Polyptych continue the tradition in splendid form.

A few months after Heavy Metal Parking Lot celebrated its 30th anniversary, we remember the life of Dave Donahue, who made a short appearance in the film but left a lasting impression on his younger brother and friends. 

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

To suggest that I’ve been excited for Black Table to release their debut full-length would be something of an understatement. 

Oaken Palace Records teamed up with noise godfather Merzbow for a half-hour drone/noise release whose profits will go to the Kakapo Recovery Trust with the intent of helping this aviary species grow to more robust numbers.

There are few things Innsbruck, Austria has going for it. Bringing up the rear of the “trambahn” are local (with some added Dutch flavour) clown kings of crossover, Insanity Alert.

Very little is funny about Aum and their heady/dirty death offensive, Om Ah Hum Vajra Guru Padma Siddhi Hum, but get your ears on this if you like dense, ugly destruction that also finds time to paint with a little light.

In our final metal teacher installment, we bring you two men who hold down less traditional teaching positions:  Voivod’s Dan Mongrain, who teaches music at the college level; and Rage Nucléaire’s Lord Worm (Dan Greening), who teaches English language skills to business people who have left behind the traditional classroom setting.

And now for something from the farthest reaches of left field, if not outer space.

French soul-threateners Aum will release their highly destructive (and equally esoteric) force, debut record Om Ah Hum Vajra Guru Padma Siddhi Hum, this Friday on Iron Bonehead.  We asked the band some questions, and we got some enthusiastic and thoughtful responses.  Read up on Aum’s focus and vision right here.