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Explore one of Greece’s more extreme labels, Celtic Fog Productions.

We asked Bjørnson some questions about his newest baby, and we shared some of his thoughts with you in Issue #153 (July 2017, Integrity cover).  Catch the rest of the interview right here, alongside a few videos that exemplify what BardSpec is really all about.

There’s only one Duplicate Records.

The vast expanse of south central British Columbia in a town almost ironically/appropriately called Lone Butte isn’t the first place one thinks of for a female-centric metal fest. But it is.

Exist are your favorite new progressive metal band. 

Come for the Xasthur, stay for everything but.

Montreal’s MUTANK – all caps, all the time, I’ve been warned – is a crossover/thrash whose members not only love crossover thrash, but acronyms and plays on words using their moniker as the jumping off point. As the band begins/continues to make farther and wider strides, we figured it was time for an introduction via a short Q&A and a song premier.

If you’re not familiar with the MD/PA soundfuckers Full of Hell, we’re not really sure what you’re waiting for.  They’re restless, they’re fearless and they’re pissed as hell.  Earlier this month, they unleashed their latest mind-mauler, Trumpeting Ecstasy, on Profound Lore Records.  Decibel got vocalist Dylan Walker on the phone a couple months ago.  Find out what he said.

We asked doom-mentor Dorrian about how their contribution came about.  Here’s what he said.

Get familiar with Ripple Music, purveyors of doom, stoner, psychedelic and heavy rock and metal. 

Arkansas’ rich extreme music history isn’t exactly the richest. These days, Decibel cover stars Pallbearer are leading the charge and the past is sparsely littered with the likes of The Handshake Murders, Rwake (and various associated side projects) and Living Sacrifice. Debate amongst yourselves the merits and inclusion of Evanescence and Mutha’s Day Out.

California’s Mountaineer consists of current members of Lament Cityscape and former members of Secrets of the Sky and Ashes of American Flags. Their album, Sirens and Slumber, will drop on May 19th, but you can check out the video for the album’s final track, “Goodnight,” right here.

Possession Productions have been ingrained in the dark metal underground for two decades and are still going strong. 

Next month, Khemmis and Spirit Adrift will share their own approach to Southern folk music with a split that explores new ideas that come out of old music.  This week, we share with you “A Conversation with Death,” the Khemmis half of the split, due out on June 16th from War Crime Recordings.

Hailing from small town British Columbia, Slagduster is the sort of band that, through the lens of 2017, sounds like a tantalizing amalgam of genres that offer a look at where metal (or at least one strain of it) might head towards in the future.

Were you worried that Decibel wasn’t goth enough?  Get in here and let us prove you wrong! (?)

The four tracks of rumbly darkness from Poland’s Loathfinder’s slyly titled EP, The Great Tired Ones, sound exactly the way you want them to, if you’re a doom hound. 

Suffering Hour was destined to nab my attention. Today, we’re premiering some of the blackened death metal featured on their forthcoming album, In Passing Ascension.

Before their Decibel Metal and Beer Fest performance – and before Panopticon drop their much-anticipated next album – we got to hear “Sheep in Wolves’ Clothing” in the ongoing Decibel Flexi Series.  After dozens of listens, we wanted to get mastermind Austin Lunn’s perspective on the song and its creation.

On its own merits, entirely outside the context of the five masterworks to come, Calculating Infinity spits its own impressive fire and has most certainly made its own tempestuous mark on the heavy music of the past seventeen years.

Today, we’re showcasing Hyborian‘s video for “As Above, So Below,” an introductory interview with guitarist/vocalist Martin Bush and as rad a tour breakdown story as you’ll probably ever hear.

It’s no surprise we love Crypt Sermon‘s rendition of Mayhem’s “De Mysteriis Dom Sathanas.”

In this week’s Demo:Listen, let Washington D.C. plague Sickdeer tear your head off and replace it with something even more hideous.

I sincerely hope that everybody reading this piece takes an hour out of their Friday (then several more hours out of their weekend) to soak up the majesty of Pallbearer‘s newest album, Heartless.

America’s mid-west has a long, rich history of being home to the noisiest of noise rock’s champions and kings/queens. Chicago’s War Brides mimics the sound of humanity collapsing in a heap of defeated misery.

Happy Pi Day, nerds!  If you’re looking for some top shelf circumnavigation music, get in here for a listen of a new song by Montreal post-metal powerhouses Black Sails for Red Seas

Next week we get Dodecahedron’s brand new exercise in high-concept dissonance via Kwintessens, due out March 17 on Season of Mist.  We conducted a little Q&A with guitarist/songwriter Michel Nienhuis and vocalist Michiel Eikenaar, much of which can be found in issue #150 (Decibel Tour cover), but you can read the remainder of the interview here.

Blood Sun Circle has a new record entitled Distorted Forms on the horizon on their newly christened label and the Gorham brothers have made some exciting improvements to their retail space.

Early last year, Quebec’s progressive blackened death crew Hands of Despair revealed their stand-out sophomore record, Bereft, and successfully extended the sound and strengths that had made the debut, Hereafter, such an enjoyable listen.  Today we bring you their latest video single for Bereft‘s penultimate track, “Étoc,” along with the band’s explanation of the video’s origins and execution.

We spoke with Behemoth’s prime abominator Nergal about what it meant to return to the stage after his devastating illness, and what he could recall about his tourmates during that time.  Some of his remarks are exclusive to the Special Issue, but the remainder of that interview is here for you to check out right now.