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Back when I started getting into punk and metal, I was naïve enough to believe that ideals were enough to keep someone making music that barely sold and appealed to almost nobody. Of course, my parents were paying my way through middle and high school in those days. How could I have understood that the…

Satyrs are super horny (literally!) goat people. Satyress is the female version of that. Do not do a Google image search of the term unless you want to feel dirty. But if you want some awesome occult doom with an intense vocalist, Satyress the band are your thing. Their debut, Dark Fortunes, contains so many…

This is not an April Fool’s joke, except on the politically correct thought police: We have the first new Meatmen track in two decades! When I was a kid I sat in my room and cranked The Meatmen at ridiculous volumes and memorized Tesco Vee’s banter on the classic Meatmen platters. So to say this…

Maybe it isn’t a complete surprise that a rising death metal band would adopt a circa-1993 song title from Swedish extreme music legends (and Decibel Hall of Famers) Dismember as its moniker. How well Southern California’s Skinfather captures the spirit and unadulterated sonic brutality of that glorious moment in time, on the other hand, is…

Gravehill rule for a whole bunch of reasons. The Californian alpha-headbangers just have this anything goes attitude to playing gory ol’ school death metal and would just as soon mix in a little hardcore punk and crust feel as they are to bring it down slow and low and meditate upon a doom riff for…

“…that fuzzed out soundscape was exactly what we were looking to achieve. We actually didn’t have any specific genre in mind starting this band, we just wanted to make music as heavy and gritty as possible. If anyone wants to label it doom, stoner or sludge is entirely up to them. But we’re totally fine…

Why does every baseball fan everywhere look forward to opening day of Major League Baseball more than any other day of the season? For some it’s the only day their team isn’t in the cellar (Houston) or languishing in mediocrity (Chicago Cubs) or headed toward another 100-loss season (Seattle). For others it’s the possibility of…

OK, I know, its GOT to get better. There’s not too much I found this week, so I guess I’ll get into it. Nux Vomica releases the oh-so-crusty Nux Vomica (self-titled, for those of you that aren’t that quick on the uptake) on Relapse.  Calling this just crust would be a little unfair, sure there…

A little over a week from now, Skogen will release their fourth album in five years, called I Döden, meaning In Death. The three Swedes have compiled an hour of farsighted, contemplative black metal – not quite folk, even though quiet acoustic passages exist; often raucous but with the sharpest edges all filed away by…

We’ll get the self-congratulatory crap out of the way right up front. We’ve been writing about craft beer in America’s only monthly extreme music magazine since 2009. No one else was writing about beer and metal at the time. So, we’ll go ahead and plant the we-were-there-first flag in that one. But, if you’ve been…

Sao Paulo, Brazil thrash brigade, Nervosa had their debut album, Victim of Yourself hit the streets very recently, although the buzz in the patch-jacketed ‘n’ bullet-belted underground has been swirling around this trio for a couple years. Being a trio of staunch and avowed all-tits-no-dicks thrash heads hailing from a faraway, sun-kissed land will always…

Sure, it’s been a year since Iron Reagan dropped its debut full-length. Despite the various other commitments of its members, the band recently began a run of tour dates that will take them through April, all while wrapping up work on their sophomore LP (which, by the way, will be for Relapse). Given how much…

NFL free agency has been in full swing for a couple weeks now. Prong’s Ruining Lives drops courtesy of Steamhammer/SPV on April 28; we asked longtime mainman Tommy Victor what he would do if he were in charge of his favorite team, the New York Jets. Snap your fingers, snap the ball, do not buttfumble….

In case the lineup of Carcass, The Black Dahlia Murder and Gorguts isn’t enough to convince you to attend the San Francisco stop of the Decibel Tour tonight (in which case you’re crazy) there’s another treat on hand: an exclusive appearance by Hall Of Fame verified legends Repulsion. Repulsion is near and dear to both…

Everyone dies. Of course we all know that, we’re aware of it from an early age. Yet in metal the idea of death, actual death, not phony-baloney doom and gloom play-acting, has always been overly romanticized rather than dealt with head-on. The explanation is simple: heavy metal is still a very young subculture. Prior to…

Raw Power have long been one of the most underappreciated bands of the early crossover movement (I even did a Lazarus Pit on them a few years back). Still going after 30 years of punk fury, their 10th full-length, Tired and Furious, is about to kick everyone’s ass. We have the first track for you,…

Back in January Philadelphia grind-punk all-stars Die Choking — bassist/vocalist Paul J. Herzog (ex-Total Fucking Destruction), drummer Joshua T. Cohen (Cop Problem), guitarist Jeffrey V. Daniels (Burden) — hit the ground running, unleashing a leveling sonic devastator in the shape of a debut self-titled digital E.P. as infectious as it is unsettling. A few weeks…

Chicago’s Indian are presently hauling their blackhearted nihilism across the tarmac of the UK and Europe in support of the Decibel-approved From all Purity. It’s a sick record from disturbed men, maybe more noisy, more off-the-chain than anything they’ve cut to record before, and if your record collection exists primarily to harsh your mellow (which,…

In the late 90s, perhaps around 1998, I pulled over at a truck stop about 45 miles outside of Richmond, Virginia. I grabbed a few snacks and went to the checkout line when it occurred to me that the clerk was staring, somewhat horrified. I looked down and remembered why: my entire body was covered…

Power metal isn’t a frequent sight on the Deciblog. For that we (kinda) apologize. There are times when powerful metal, with soaring vocals, eagle cries, and shiny battle armor rules our respective roosts. But most of the time it doesn’t. Power metal, at least of the Euro variety, is, well, too Euro. We do have…

“We haven’t changed our style dramatically”, vocalist and bassist Niilo Sevänen explains. “Fans can rest assured that it is still classic Insomnium. Of course there’s also some new flavors here and there, and maybe it’s even more diverse compared with the last album. The easy stuff is easier than before, the heavy stuff is heavier….

Candles?  Flowing hair?  Human bones?  Leather?  Bullet belts?  A moustache?  Song titles like “Shocker” and “Possessed by Heavy Metal”?  We all know what this leads to… Vancouver rollickers Spell used to be called Stryker, and under that earlier name the trio released an EP and a split full of trad-heavy love.  Next month, they’ve enlisted…

Apologies first off, if you go looking for this specific beer and can’t find it. Consider it an example of the kinds of beers that are subject of this week’s online Brewtal Truth. The topic at hand is “gypsy brewing,” or if you find that term offensive, “itinerant brewing.” Basically, if you’re a brewer, but…

I get sent a lot of shit* to review; more than I can fit in any one place at one time. But because folks out there take the time to send me their wares, I usually feel obligated to give some sort of mention, nod, kudo or deliver a full-on scathing, hatchet job to those…

Last we’d heard from Fight Amp, the trio was just off a red-eye after spending 30 days last fall playing 30 shows across Europe with Black Tusk. Now that the South Jersey natives are set to hit the road yet again–a brief jaunt of seven shows in seven days–guitarist/vocalist Mike McGinnis passed along five current…

Shitfucker caught our attention with their 2013 Hells Headbanger’s release Suck Cocks in Hell, which received an “8” in the pages of our print sibling. The record contains some of the most infectious, rocking songs that have crept from the underground in a dog’s age. Shitfucker took it up another notch with the wonderfully low-fi…

One of the best ideas the music industry has had in the last couple years is the mini box set. Either consisting of a band’s entire discography or a certain era in its history, these reasonably priced little collections of CDs in replica vinyl sleeves, usually housed in either a clamshell box, cardboard sleeve, or…

There have been many proposed Hall of Fame features that have been derailed by inner-band animosity and grudges, but our recent spotlight on Agnostic Front’s groundbreaking NYC crossover masterpiece, Cause for Alarm, in the March issue, actually brought the five musicians that played on the album back together. Guitarists Vinnie Stigma and Alex Kinon, bassist…

Danny Lilker is a goddamn legend in the metal scene. His long history includes stints in bands as diverse and influential as Anthrax, Nuclear Assault, Storm Troopers of Death, and Brutal Truth. Now on the verge of his 50th birthday, he’s announced his retirement from the touring life, and what better to celebrate his accomplishments…

You’ve patiently waited out one of the grimmest winters in recent memory. Now it’s time to collect your reward: The third annual Decibel Magazine Tour is finally upon us, as Carcass, the Black Dahlia Murder, Gorguts and Noisem descend upon Orlando’s Beachum Theater tonight before traversing North America for 21 dates of vintage and modern death…