At the beginning of the year we published an interview with author Peter Bebergal about his excellent new book Season Of The Witch: How The Occult Saved Rock and Roll. Among the topics discussed: why metal has picked up (again) on the occult approach and themes so popular in the 70s: “There’s just something about…

If you frequent metal blogs, and for our sake we at Decibel sure hope you do, you might remember the Slayer pizza that attracted some notoriety last year. Hell, the “raining blood from a lacerated pie” line still cracks me up. Anyway, the mastermind behind the most metal pizza ever, Minneapolis-based Chef John Hurkes, has…

“The Children of the Night takes off where The Formulas of Death ended,” says Tribulation guitarist Adam Zaars. “And if the latter was dark the former is pitch black, though the album ranges from murky forests to the brightest city lights. It is a celebration of the divine spirit and our ability to tread liminal…

Okay, I’m going to be honest with you guys here: by the time you’ll be reading this, I’ll be relaxing on a tropical island, listening to AC/DC bootlegs, and lamenting absolutely nothing except maybe sunburn. Still, I know most of you poor bastards are stuck in much more inhospitable climes. To that end, I have…

“The long wait is finally over,” says Carach Angren to Decibel. “We proudly present you our fourth full-length musical horror story telling the utterly dark tale of two children on a quest to escape total darkness. As the music and lyrics take you from chapter to chapter you will learn about the inevitable outcome…This Is…

In the new edition of Decibel with our tour headliners on the cover J. Bennett gets into a fascinating conversation with Liturgy frontman Hunter Hunt Hendrix (aka Triple H) about just what constitutes “black metal,” among other topics. There’s no need for any investigation or atom splitting when it comes to this band. Hacavitz is…

What It Once Meant — the documentary detailing the life, death, and (semi) resurrection of Indecision, hands down one of the smartest, most audacious, uninhibited hardcore bands ever — is a real triumph of an often fumbled form: Poignant and funny, harrowing and inspiring, the film opens up a window on a unique assemblage of…

Counting members of such forward-thinking hardcore acts as Have Heart, Fucking Invincible, Verse, and Soul Control amongst its ranks, Sweet Jesus‘ vivifying and powerful debut full-length You Destroy Yourself pays homage to late 80s/early 90s D.C. emotive hardcore without sliding into pure imitation. Today Decibel brings you a taste of what’s to come with the…

So Decibel assumes at this point you’ve got your dozen roses, the perfect card, maybe some wine. All these have been easily attainable and, really, almost unavoidable for the last four to six weeks. Valentine’s Day mood music, on the other hand, has remained maddeningly elusive for those inclined towards the extremely extreme. Until now….

Later this month, Dutch sextet Izah will release their first full-length document of sludgy aggression through the always dependable Nordvis Produktion.  It represents a major step in a very long road for the band, and its four gargantuan tracks make that point crystal clear.  But these aren’t the sprawling teases that some bands employ in…