Interviews

Italy’s Forgotten Tomb may’ve helped spearhead depressive black metal, but they’ve moved on from the group’s early monochromatic, manic styling to emerge as a mature, self-aware black metal act with influences ranging from Burzum to Pitch Shifter to Eyehategod. Forgotten Tomb’s new album, Hurt Yourself and the Ones You Love, is massively heavy, penetratingly introspective, and, yes, pitch black dark. From its lyrics (read Ferdinando ‘Herr Morbid’ Marchisio’s response below), its stark cover, to its cross-over black, Hurt Yourself and the Ones You Love is Forgotten Tomb’s best work yet.

A few months ago, French grinders Nolentia and stoner doomers, Drawers were invited to participate in 2015’s edition of the long-running Brutal Fest, an annual tour that brings European bands to Cuba. We got in touch with Nolentia guitarist/vocalist, Ghis and Drawers drummer Olivier Lolmede to get an account of the experience.

Tribulation have psych rock elements, their drummer has a psych rock band. Coincidence?

Back in 2005, I talked to Starkweather guitarist Todd Forkin about his band’s then new album for issue #16.  It was one of my first freelance pieces for the magazine after leaving the friendly confines of 1032 Arch.  At the time, Croatoan was the band’s third LP and first since 1995’s Into the Wire.  While the Philadelphians have dropped another LP and split in the intervening years, April saw the re-release of their first two records via Translation Loss. So 113 issues later, it’s fitting in some way that vocalist Rennie Resmini closes out this little series after the break. To every one who has contributed to or read even one word of these playlists over the last three plus years — thank you.

Undead are so mysterious they aren’t even mentioned on the cover of Decibel’s July 2015 issue. Yet, they do, in fact, appear in said issue under the noms de guerre Necros and King Oscuro. See, nobody knows much about Undead. Even the label’s publicist put up his respective hands as to the band’s origins. Well, if anything is known about Undead it’s that they like Death. A lot. Pre-progged out Death. The group’s new album, False Prophecies, recalls 1988 perfectly. But it’s more than that. There’s aspects of Possessed, Master, and Obituary. Our blood bleeds old-school death (and Death). Yours should after Undead gets its fangs into you.

We at the Deciblog have spoken to Dr. Vivek Venkatesh a few times already, learning about his work and his simultaneously academic and visceral interest in the more extreme forms of metal.  Last October, we had the opportunity to speak with him again, this time in preparation for an article that focuses on the intersecting paths of academic study and metal.

Even though Gruesome “pays homage to death metal’s most celebrated founding American acts, Death” (according to a press release), the band’s tastes in the genre don’t stop and end there.  That shouldn’t come as much of a surprise given that the group features members of Exhumed (Deci-fav Matt Harvey), Possessed, Malevolent Creation and Derketa.  So while Savage Land, the quartet’s debut, may sound very Schuldiner-esque, guitarist Dan Gonzalez was kind enough to tell us about some other death metal bands. 

In Decibel‘s June issue cover story, we offered several examples of well loved and respected authors of extremity who dig the Noisem sound and overall ethic.  Blake Harrison of Pig Destroyer, Matt Harvey of Exhumed and Gruesome, and Bill Steer of Carcass all sounded off on their enjoyment of the, uh, blossoming band.

Carcass drummer Dan Wilding also had a few things to say about the band, and while we weren’t able to fit them into the article, that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t hear about them anyway.  Here now, for your reading pleasure, are Mr. Wilding’s thoughts on Noisem from the time he spent touring alongside them.

It’s been over 20 years since Sigh’s debut album dropped in 1993. Not surprisingly, not only has the extreme music landscape changed since then, but so has the Japanese outfit’s musical output.

One of the reasons Napalm Death has been so successful is their relationship with producer Russ Russell. Russell has worked with the band since 2000 and will probably be with them when they are making albums in their 70s. He joined us from England for a chat on working with the grind legends. 

While it was a pretty brutal winter here on the East Coast, we have no doubt that our friends in the North Star State had a much rougher go of it weather-wise.  Or, as Tanner Anderson told us last month (more of which you’ll be able to read more about very soon in print), “I haven’t seen my testicles since November of last year.”  Fortunately none of that stopped the Obsequiae frontman from finishing up his band’s excellent second album, Aria of Vernal Tombs, which is set for release next month.

Meet the new ruler of the Planet of the Apes, listen to his music, and enjoy some cocaine-dipped bananas with our exclusive premiere of The Humans Soundtrack Volume II.

Poland’s one-man, one-woman (and thus, probably Church approved) blackened frost-treaders Mornië Utúlië offer one of those perfect blends of intent, image and music.  Calling a black metal record Sny (Polish for “dreams” and, coincidentally – thanks Google Translate – Afrikaans for “cuts”) and draping the cover in a field of stars certainly sets up expectations that this might be a toothless, undistorted bliss-out, but Mornië Utúlië’s adventures into the void turn out to be way more Darkspace roar than Alcest sigh.  Like the subtle merging of Nosferatu and nebula on the cover, Mornië Utúlië throttle up the terror in in their yawning darkness and never settle for mere atmospheric meandering.

We asked Bartosz Brożek, the man behind the music, about his journey and his newest creation, so you can read all about it after the jump while you stab through the cosmos with Sny and a video for the late-album cut “W Nocy Płynie Chłodny Wiatr” featuring gal-vocalist Ewa Kleszcz.  If you dig, be sure to head over to the Mornië Utúlië’s Facebook site or Bandcamp page, where the album lives.

Live long, prosper, eat the weak and fear your dreams! 

While Royal Thunder‘s sophomore effort may be an early contender for album of the year, it’s way too early to tell if Crooked Doors will forever change lives.  Why the hyperbole?  Well, RT guitarist Josh Weaver was kind enough to tell us about some records that changed himforever.  “I’m sure I’ll be kicking myself thinking of other albums after I submit this,” explains the axeman.  “[But] these bands and albums played a huge role in influencing the music that I write and play today. I am forever thankful for these albums and hope they have as big of an impact on you as they did to me!”  In the meantime, we’ll continue to be grateful for the musical stew that this recipe has created in the form of the Atlanta quartet. 

You can pick up a copy of Crooked Doors here (bandcamp) or here (physical) and be sure to catch the band on tour in a city near you in the very near future.

Check out a Royal Thunder song stream, their Decibrity playlist, and upcoming tour dates after the jump. 

If he hasn’t already, I hope Karl Agell gets to read Scott Seward’s “Filthy 50” list from our September 2007 issue (again, probably my favorite Decibel feature ever) and starts downloading compilations from The Day After the Sabbath (Rich has only put together a mere 117 at this point).  After all, the former Corrosion of…

Enslaved recently wrapped up a month-long North American tour that saw them play several tunes off their latest album, In Times—another progressive masterpiece for the band’s impressive portfolio. We talked to vocalist/bassist Grutle Kjellson to find out what the band thinks about the “progressive” label and how that translates to their musical output. What does…

Last week, we brought you the first part of John Refano’s “Kill Yr Idols” playlist and then were lucky enough to see him and bassist AJ Annunziata and drummer/sampler Christopher Todd headline Saint Vitus in honor of the release of Sannhet‘s sophomore LP Revisionist.  Now that we’ve recovered from the celebration, here’s part two, which…

How do you separate what Enforcer does from something that’s deliberately throwback?Tobias Lindkvist: We don’t follow any trends in music. We play the music we love and always loved. Enforcer are not part of any movement and we don’t want to be labeled as some “New-wave-of traditional-whatever…” band. We play heavy metal our way and…

Last October saw King Diamond’s glorious return to the lighted stages of North America after nearly a decade away. The shows were unanimously well-received—audiences throughout the land were captivated by the massive stage setup, delightful theatrics and spot-on set list. In fact, our #3 extreme vocalist of all time says everything went about as smoothly…

I’ll just come out and say it: Sannhet‘s Revisionist is one of my favorite albums of the year so far. So I was stoked when John Refano–that’s him below–agreed to participate in this little series we’ve been doing for three (!) years now. I’ll let the guitarist/loopist explain what “Kill Yr Idols” is all about:…

I hate studio reports because I get to hear about music instead of the actual music. Like yeah, it’s great you’re doing something but I need that goodness hurled into my sound pits right now. But we should all be willing to wait for something like Drugs of Faith, the grind and roll three-piece led by…

Ottawa quartet Goetia have been heaving sludgy post-metal into the great northern atmosphere for some time now, and recently they joined forces with Deathbound Records – home of melancholic crushers Woccon and historical battlefield-stompers Catuvolcus – for an official release of their album Le Vide.  Lovers of grandiose epicness should take note, now that some…

And so it ends. My personal weeks-long salute to Relapse’s 25th anniversary in interview form, that is. The real celebratin’ hasn’t even yet begun – what with the upcoming fests, tours, beer collaborations, reissues and the loose promise of more Devourment thongs and booty shorts, it promises to be a crazy year steeped in warm…

When Oliver Amberg was barely out of his teens he joined Celtic Frost as they started perhaps the most contentious shift in extreme metal history. But Amberg’s roots with the band stretch back several years; he was friends with bassist Dominic Steiner, who played on To Mega Therion (see the Hall Of Fame in our…

What is the literal translation to the band name, Der Weg einer Freiheit? Is there a secondary, less obvious interpretation as well? Nikita Kamprad: It can be roughly translated to “The Way of a Freedom”, but actually I never liked any of the translations I came across. Writing and playing music live makes me feel…

Here, we continue with the third of four weeks dedicated to Relapse-related interviews in celebration of the label’s 25th anniversary. Go check out the interview I did with founder and president, Matt Jacobson here and here. Beyond interviewing Matt himself, the next most obvious thing would have been to track down bands past and present…

It’s been busy times for Detroit’s Child Bite. The band has been writing new songs in anticipation of hitting the studio with Philip H. Anselmo down in NOLA later this year. Then there’s the fact that the group will appear on the upcoming musical “supplement” to the Morbid Tales! An Illustrated Tribute to Celtic Frost…

Tad Doyle has preached the Gospel of heaviness for the better part of his life. His seminal band TAD was one of the first out of the gate in Seattle’s grunge movement and one of the earliest bands signed to the legendary Sub Pop label. Although they never achieved the massive crossover success of their…

** UK black metallers Fen have plied the marshes of greatness since debut album, The Malediction Fields. But on new album, Carrion Skies, Fen are out of the swamps they’ve called home and they’re into the wild (dark) urban streets. They’ve gone above and beyond on Carrion Skies, reducing their ethereal qualities to bone-breaking effectiveness….

Last year, Mutoid Man slammed our faces into various solid objects by blasting on to the scene with their Helium Head EP. The quality of high-octane punky, rocking prog metal quickly saw them outgrowing their selling point as a simple side project of Stephen [Cave In] Brodsky and Ben [Converge] Koller to become a propulsive…