“Pale Pretender travels heavy hearted through ominous landscapes in a world where more is not enough,” says Callisto vocalist Jani Ala-Hukkala. Finns aren’t the most talkative of peoples, so it stands to reason Ala-Hukkala is letting the gravity of his statement (and the “Pale Pretender”) do most of the talking here, which is fine for…

Steffen Kummerer is better known for his stupidly good guitar and vocal work in the obscenely great tech death outfit Obscura. But Kummerer has a dark side. One that harkens back to the mid-’90s, when Swedish death metal tyrants Dissection reigned the cold winds of nowhere and drank, with pure joy, night’s blood with Elizabeth…

Some of us recognize Jeff Tuttle as a recent guitarist with the Dillinger Escape Plan, where he tore ears and brain matter from 2007 until 2012.  Jeff has also been active as a filmmaker (see his new-ish video for a new Child Bite song here) as he continues his musical pursuits in Old Gods and…

I’d like to take this opportunity to nip something in the bud: Cambridge, Ontario’s Greber is in no way associated with, saluting, paying homage to, or actually even really aware of, former NHL goaltender Martin Gerber. The first indication should have been that the moniker as selected by the two-man sludge/doom monolith is spelt completely…

Darth Raider Welp, Raiders fans: I hate to say it, but I think I’m going to be retiring Oakland Raiders talk for the rest of the season. With three weeks left, and teams fighting for their playoff lives, I don’t see how a two-win team could be worth mentioning. That said,  I’m going for one last…

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…

I consider Botanist to be one of modern black metal’s great “projects.” Germinated by a solitary San Franciscan named Otrebor, it’s a band whose music is both utterly bizarre (floraphilic paeans from a misanthropic hermit, rendered only in drums, voice and hammered dulcimer) and emotionally devastating. This is all to say that when Otrebor tells…

Ampere — the band featuring Will Killingsworth of much-celebrated Amherst, Massachusetts scream-y, powerviolence-y trailblazers Orchid — is back with a new split on No Idea and, as the super-intense, raw-as-fuck exclusive stream below will surely attest, the band has not missed a single goddamn step… Here is what vocalist Stephen Pierce told Decibel about the…

Ah, December — the time of the year when everyone puts out their “best of” lists and thinks about albums that will come out in summer 2015. We’re just as guilty at Decibel; our annual top 40 extravaganza is probably on your nightstand. This would lead you to think that no new music comes out…

Brooklyn might be known for its rather healthy underground metal scene that revolves around more cutting-edge, extreme sounds, but it’s heartening to know that some folks in the borough are flying the old school, “true” heavy metal flag high and proud. The Defenders of the Old Fest has been kicking around the Eastern seaboard for…