Lists

Ashmedi is no stranger to this blog, having authored a 17-part “biographical column and chaotic metaphysical thoughts” series that ended in 2011. Now that his band Melechesh has returned with its first album since 2010, we’re happy to welcome his voice back in the form of a playlist. There’s no theme per se, but it’s…

One of the more pleasant surprises for me so far this year has been Karma to Burn‘s new LP. I’m a big fan of Almost Heathen (especially these two neck snappers), and the reason Arch Stanton–much like 2001 precursor–works is simple: the riffs. Just check out “Twenty-Three” below (yes, all of their song titles are…

** Our February 2015 (HERE) issue features a fantastic expose on the upcoming releases of 2015. Here’s five crucial releases by killer bands that weren’t part of our list. 5. Hate – Crusade:Zero Hate are viewed as underlings to the kingdom Vader built, but over recent years the Warsaw-based trio have come into their own….

5. BaneOriginally from Serbia but now located in Canada, death/black metallers Bane (possible connection to album title Storm of the Light’s Bane, but none to the Massachusetts-based hardcore band of the same name) take only the fastest, brutalist, sickest moments in Dissection’s oeuvre for the The Acausal Fire album. Actually, that’s not true, Bane are…

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…

When you invite a a published novelist to the shredder’s studio expect a narrative. Such was the case with death metal veteran and Broken Hope founder Jeremy Wagner. Not only did Mr. Wagner visit the shredder’s studio — he provided your host with a near novella on the riffs that shaped him in chronological order….

Primordial dropped its eighth LP late last month, another stellar entry in an already impressive oeuvre. To celebrate, frontman Alan Averill (aka A.A. Nemtheanga) sent us a playlist that, as he describes, “might be something a little different.” After perusing his picks, it’s hard to disagree. We’ll let him take it from here: “I always…

Because synthesizers are awesome, and movie soundtracks are awesome, we asked the duo of British film composer Paul Lawler and American drummer AE Paterra (Zombi/Majeure), collectively known as Contact, to put together a playlist for us with their favorite soundtrack tunes and some words on each. This week, we have Paterra’s picks; click here to check…

** Decibel’s Top 100 Doom Metal Album of All Time issue is available now (HERE). So inspired by England’s place on the map (OK, list) and equally inspired by Anathema’s early catalog inclusion, I wanted to Top 5 songs that aren’t on Last.fm lists, have been spurned by Anathema (no remake of “Suicide Veil”?), or…

** Broughton’s Rules are from Pittsburgh. Pittsburgh is on the western side of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. It’s a former rustbelt city that’s experienced a rennaisance in recent memory. Its citizens are no-bullshit and its music, espeically Broughton’s Rules, follow a similar mindset. Well, Broughton’s Rules (formed out of the ashes of instrumental wonderkids Don…

Last week, we brought you the first part of Aaron John Gregory’s “epic love letter to music.” When he left off, Giant Squid‘s vocalist/guitarist was in some baby cephalopod bands (The Pedestrians and The Connection) and listening to tons of Subhumans and Citizen Fish. Now, of course, the Californians have a fantastic new record out…

Because synthesizers are awesome, and movie soundtracks are awesome, we asked the duo of British film composer Paul Lawler and American drummer AE Pattera (Zombi/Majeure), collectively known as Contact, to put together a playlist for us with their favorite soundtrack tunes and some words on each. This week, we have Lawler’s picks; check back next…

Giant Squid‘s debut LP, Metridium Fields, was re-recorded in the very early days of Decibel and we’ve been following the group’s musical trajectory ever since. Fortunately, the band is still going strong, having released a new album at the end of October. While guitarist/vocalist Aaron John Gregory described the record as a “giant love letter…

We have a lot of love for Bastard Feast around these parts. Adrien Begrand lauded the band’s latest album, Osculum Infame, in his Sucker for Punishment column, Dan Lake interviewed the quintet earlier this summer and the Oregonians snagged a local spot opening for Carcass and company on this year’s Decibel tour. Now with the…

Shadowy metallic hardcore antiheroes The Banner are set to return this December with Greying, the long-awaited full-length follow-up to 2008 crusher Frailty. In honor of the band’s imminent resurrection and well-known affection for the horrific aesthetic, Decibel requested and received the following Halloween week list of frontman JSS’ Top Five Risings From the Dead… 1….

As previously expressed in these pages, the concept behind the new Encoffination record is “the glorification of death: an offering to the embodiment of death’s creation, and to sing the wretched hymns of death’s omnipresence, to kneel to death’s crown as we all shall fall under death’s eventual grasp…If the last record were a tool…

When Obituary returned in 2005 with Frozen In Time–at that point, its first album in eight years–Decibel was still in its infancy. Fast forward to today, and we’re about to throw two tenth anniversary shows on Saturday night while the death metal legends are about to drop their ninth studio effort, the long-time coming Inked…

Here at the shredder’s studio we usually have one chair in the virtual office. Today, we need to pull up two. Nate Garnette and Scott Hedrick agreed to spend some time with us and walk us through their many influences. Please welcome the dual shredders of Skeletonwitch to the shredder’s studio, our 14th episode! Even…

When Revocation‘s David Davidson told me about his band’s upcoming album Chaos of Forms back in 2011, the guitarist/vocalist was pretty excited about using his past experience with horn and big band arrangements to compose a horn section for “The Watchers”. Between that and his focus on jazz while at the Berklee College of Music,…

Last week, we brought you the first part of Chris Naughton’s landscape themed playlist. While his first six picks covered some well traveled territory–Drudkh, Bathory and Ulver to name a few–the rest dive a little deeper underground. According to Winterfylleth‘s guitarist/vocalist, however, all “capture the very essence of their environment and their history through the…

Instead of rambling on about how great the new Winterfylleth album is and coming up with some clever way to introduce what Chris Naughton decided to cover in his playlist (spoiler alert: it’s one of my favorites), we’ll just let the guitarist/vocalist handle the intro himself: “Considering topics that would make for an interesting playlist…

Our Managing Editor and I share a fondness for many bands, but if I’m remembering correctly, he was responsible for introducing me to one in particular via his review of The Ruin of Nová Roma way back in the day: Taint. While the trio broke up in 2010, guitarist/vocalist Jimbob Isaac has resurfaced in Hark….

By the time this goes live, KEN Mode’s first round of what promises to be another couple years of non-stop touring will have come to a close and the boys will be getting set to kick their feet up for about 20 minutes before hitting Europe with HARK. See all the details and particulars at…

UK time travelers Deconstructing Sequence have recorded a new 2-song EP called Access Code, amounting to more than 16 minutes of new music.  Yeah, that doesn’t really sound like a lot, but the futuristic mech-out violence metes out a very high quality to make up for the relatively low quantity.  They pack as much music…

Despite teases here and there, it’s now been five long years since the last Irepress record (yes, I realize this is a Lazer/Wulf playlist–I’ll get there next sentence, I promise). Given that the group is one of my favorite acts around, it’s high praise that stumbling upon Lazer/Wulf has helped satiate my craving for new…

Since their debut When All Became None was released about four years ago critics have struggled to find a moniker that fits Coffinworm. Are they blackened crust? Doom punk? Blackened death? Blackened tilapia? After a while all of these phrases begin to sound a lot like the Applebee’s menu so we’ll settle with the trustworthy…

Last week, we brought you the beginning of Evan Patterson’s “dark country and folk” playlist. In two-and-a-half years of doing these, it’s safe to say that his picks–most of which originated on 7″ singles–are some of the more obscure, yet fascinating, we’ve encountered. While Part 1 tackled tracks from 1956 to 1963 (don’t miss the…

Given how well our last and only playlist from a Louisville native turned out courtesy of Coliseum’s Ryan Patterson, we had high hopes for one from his brother and fellow Derby City dweller Evan. While the former focused solely on Killing Joke and caused me to listen to “Total Invasion” on repeat for months, the…

Mutilation Rites’ last record, Empyrean, landed on our top 40 records of 2012. To these ears, however, the group’s new LP tops that effort and so we’ve been playing it on a near daily basis since it dropped last week (Daniel Lake also streamed the whole thing here earlier this month). Since the Brooklynites just…

Misery Index is no stranger to these playlists. In fact, we were in the midst of winter 2013 when bassist/vocalist Jason Netherton regaled us with “bleak tunes that recall those snowbound blizzards from yesteryear.” This time around, guitarist Mark Kloeppel went in a totally different direction to get you in the know about “hard” jams….