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Polish black-death stalwarts Hate are set to drop their latest album, Crusade: Zero, on a very suspecting public on February 10th, and today they show off their video for the song “Valley of Darkness” here at the Deciblog.  Religious iconography will burn.  Fire (and salvation) will be breathed.  Corpses will be painted.  Beats will blast.  Lenses…

Christmas Day 2014 brought Rosetta fans–and really to anyone who likes a good story–a special gift in the form of Rosetta: Audio/Visual. The 65 minute documentary not only delves into the Philadelphia quartet’s history, but happens to capture the group at its most critical juncture. At its heart, the doc is just a story about…

**Matt Olivo is the founding guitarist of extreme metal trailblazers Repulsion, whose Horrified LP ranks as Decibel’s #1 grindcore album of all time. Because we know that every reader ever plays guitar, we are bringing his print column to the Deciblog. In issue #124 Matt gave his feedback on the Peavey ReVavlver 4, which “promises…

Well this is a new one, and a great one at that. In this Tumblr era of clever and creative reinterpretations of metal album covers, from animated to absurdly funny, Rafael Melandi has come along and trounced them all with a new series of illustrations that take classic metal album art and re-imagine them through…

One of yours truly’s favorite musical discoveries of 2013, enigmatic Finland doom collective Mansion made an immediate impression on the debut EP We Shall Live, and turned in a stunning live performance at the Roadburn Festival last April. The band had been working on new material throughout 2014, and eight months after the seven-inch release…

Apparently a council of wolves only consists of three beasts (which is maybe why they aren’t considered a pack). This particular trio of wolves have instruments, and they seem really into the Melvins and Kyuss. That’s the best kind of lupine! Preview the first track from their upcoming self-titled album below. Don’t worry, you won’t…

If you thought the fourth annual Decibel Magazine Tour lineup was already unbearably intense, you may not be able to cope with this news. Joining the likes of living legends At the Gates and Converge and death/doom supergroup Vallenfyre are none other than our 2014 Album of the Year honorees, Pallbearer! The Little Rock quartet expanded the…

If any album boasting song titles like “Genital Tumor,” “Alcoholic Mosh,” and “Obscene Symphony” can be reasonably compared to a precious stone then, sure, Brazilian proto-blackened death metallers Sextrash’s raw, deliciously-nutty-meets-brutal-as-fuck 1990 full-length debut Sexual Carnage is one helluva singular hidden heavy metal gem. Put another way, when the band’s label calls the record —…

People have been writing to ask about starting a yoga practice. Some common themes, or excuses, come up in these messages. The end of the messages usually end like this: “I’d do yoga, but…” • I’m not flexible; • I need to get into shape before I go to a class; • I need to…

** Chicago-based melodic death metallers (think: Children of Bodom meets Arsis meets Iron Maiden) Starkill are ready for world domination. New album, Virus of the Mind, is a significant step forward for the young bucks, blending black, death, and power metal together to form a sonic attack few have the wherewithal to pull off successfully….

Over the last 20 years, Orange Goblin have established themselves as a pillar of the international stoner/doom order. Last year’s epic full-length, Back From the Abyss, was the latest permutation in the always-evolving U.K. quartet’s unimpeachable discography, and if you (understandably) want more, we’ve got it, via the Flexi Series. Ben Ward and crew bash…

Does anyone else find it extremely annoying when Bradley Cooper says “Baybee” over and over again in the American Sniper preview? We Caro Lot (Saturday, 4:35 p.m. EST) It feels like Carolina started their season this past Sunday against the Falcons. Arizona goes into this game like it’s another day in quicksand. The problem Arizona…

A little more than a year ago, we got in touch with a Kent, Ohio quartet called Foul Spirits who delivered some slimy sludge-death with an EP called Live in Fear.  Now the boys have finished recording their full-length album, called Volatile Versatile, and if you’re interested in the kind of redlined destruction offered by bands like Gaza…

In only a few short months “Death Moines, Iowa” quintet Green Death will unleash Manufacturing Evil, the much-anticipated follow-up to the uber-excellent heavy metal melting pot that was 2013’s The Deathening. This morning Decibel is pleased to present the cover artwork by Eliran Kantor (Testament, Iced Earth, Sodom) along with the following behind the scenes…

There are 52 weeks in a year. Give or take a few holidays and medical procedures that equals more than 100 blog posts annually when you have slots on Monday and Wednesday. There’s literally no way anyone trying to make a living could create that much original content (although Decibel alumni and Invisible Oranges founder…

When you name your band Black Pussy you’d better tread carefully, and to their credit the Portland band has made it crystal clear why they chose to call themselves that. Drawing inspiration from the original title of The Rolling Stones’ classic “Brown Sugar” Black Pussy states on their Facebook page, “Black Pussy does not condone…

It’s been a while since I’ve recommended awesomeness available on the Bandcamp download service, and since a draconian new VAT policy goes into effect in Europe on January 1, this might be your last chance to grab some of these before shit gets wonky. Here’s a random assortment of awesome downloadable metal so you can…

This is one day you most assuredly do not want to be canonized: We’ve got an exclusive premiere courtesy the Decibel noise special issue-approved sonic nightmare factory that is Theologian, and good goddamn does this track from the band’s upcoming two disc set Pain of the Saints — out January 7 on Malignant Records —…

It’s instructive to look back at a collection of work over the course of a year. During 2014 we’ve endeavored to get you as many interviews we could on Mondays and Wednesdays in addition to streaming tracks, which are sort of a default necessity in music writing these days. If you take a look you’ll…

When we premiered Dysangelium’s “Ave Obscuritas Incarna” little over a month ago, faces melted and religions faltered (HERE). Well, Decibel and WTC Productions are hoping for a full skeletal collapse and for a great earthquake to swallow the Vatican whole after we premiere Dysangelium’s new album, Thánatos Áskēsis. “Every time we start working on new…

A few months back we hosted the full stream of Written In Blood, the much-acclaimed debut from Darkness Divided, and today the San Antonio quartet returns to the Deciblog to world premiere the video for “Eternal Thirst.” Get into it.

** A vocalist change is never easy. Now that Alissa White-Gluz is fronting Arch Enemy, The Agonist have in their ranks a multi-faceted replacement in Chicago-based sensation Vicky Psarakis. Found by The Agonist on Youtube doing a variety of metal and non-metal covers, along with originals, Psarakis represents a new chapter for the group. This…

Now that we’ve just squeaked past the Judeo-Christian holiday season, it’s time to resume our regularly scheduled blasphemies and blood feasting.  In the interest of not fucking around in any way whatsoever, today we bring your attention to Rochester, NY horror activists Malformed.  Their skull-stabbing death metal should sour all eggnog and extinguish all but…

The lines between Anna Kendrick and Tina Fey are becoming more and more blurred every day. Look to the Cookie, Everyone. Look to the Cookie. This week, instead of watching football at my house in the dark, I went to my aunt’s house to make Christmas cookies with her. As I walked through the door,…

Broken Hope’s Jeremy Wagner sat down with us beginning last week for his four-part shredder’s studio. Here is the second installment from the death metal veteran turned author. We’ll be running the final two takes at a time to be revealed in 2015. — Savatage: Sirens (title track) (1983) The guitar work of Criss Oliva…

Our annual holiday nightmare is almost over. If, like us, you haven’t seen daylight or experienced human contact in months, that might come as something of a surprise. But today is Christmas Eve Eve, so if you want to follow in the footsteps of Tom Cruise and Fake Like You Are Nice and Caring, we…

Welcome to Tales From the Metalnomicon, a column delving into the vast world of heavy metal-tinged/inspired literature and metalhead authors… Good goddamn can Revilement/Sledge City Slashers vocalist J.W. Henley spin a yarn! The Taipei-based death metal vocalist’s excellent debut novel Sons of the Republic is a fascinating study of the intricacies and tensions of the…

British progressive thrashers Sylosis have been destroying minds for four albums now, and their latest may be their most ambitious yet (10 minute acoustic track!). Produced by guitarist/vocalist Josh Middleton, Dormant Hearts contains some of their most malevolent material to date, containing a full hour of anger. To celebrate the release of the album, we…

February’s Napalm Death cover story opens with three full paragraphs pertaining to Barney Greenway’s undergarments. No, we haven’t gone full Maxim (although we know you’re still eagerly anticipating the sequel to the Hottest Doodz in Metal). Napalm, after all, are a band who’s most recent album was called Utilitarian, and writer Justin Norton is merely…

Virginia prog-rock djentlemen Iris Divine are in the progress of releasing their second full-length record, called Karma Sown.  We say “progress” because, while the album was released digitally earlier this month at Bandcamp, the music caught some label attention and is being considered for official release.  We don’t have details for you right now (we…