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…

Ah, Mysticum, how you’ve been missed. There was so much talk for so long about the comeback album Planet Satan that we were convinced the record was either a myth or an elaborate troll. But no: Planet Satan was released this fall after decades of speculation, marking the return of a band audacious enough in…

Anatomy of Habit, Ciphers + Axioms (Relapse): Featuring members of Tortoise, Indian, and Bloodyminded, this Chicago noise rock supergroup has joined forces with producer Sanford Parker to create a spellbinding two-track, 40-minute opus that expertly blends dissonance and melody, aggression and introspection. The overall effect is not unlike that of Psalm Zero’s excellent debut from…

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…

No, this is not that dude who was in Marilyn Manson for about the length of a football season (that’s Zim Zum). This is ZOM and they come from Ireland bearing blackened death metal. Actually, they list their hometown as ANTI MATTER UNIVERSE on Facebook which sort of has the same ring as “From Parts…

My review of Dave Hofer’s excellent Perpetual Conversion: 30 Years & Counting in the Life of Metal Veteran Dan Lilker — out now on Handshake, Inc — will appear in an upcoming issue of Decibel, but the book is such a crazy, inspiring smorgasbord of gonzo metal history/wisdom a distillation of a dozen of its…

Early in 2014, your friends at the Deciblog premiered the self-titled full length from the French sludge metal band Drawers (yes, this is a real thing). My cohort Jonathan Horsley described it as “a heavy album, weighty enough to compromise the lumbar but not quite enough to crush the spirit; shit, it’s heavy and gentle,…

** Bethlehem have crafted one of the best albums of the year in Hexakosioihexekontahexaphobia. Strange, heavy, explorative, and dark are all adjectives to describe the group’s seventh full-length. As a concept album, Hexakosioihexekontahexaphobia picks up thematically where Mein Weg left off. Prepare yourself for a journey from a black, dangerous mind. Jürgen Bartsch’s mind. Have…

Ever since TRVE Brewing opened in Denver in 2012, we’ve been fans. It’s hard not to like a drinking establishment dedicated to both craft beer and metal worship and TRVE has been all about both since day one. We’ve featured TRVE and owner Nick Nunns in our “Brewtal Truth” column in the past and we…

So much not thrilling going on this week. I dunno, maybe my beak is sore from all of this typing, I have a (ahem) hunt-and-peck approach to typing, you know… BLOODBATH are releasing Grand Morbid Funeral; get your HM-2 pedals a-ready for the stompin’. It harkens back to the so-called glory days of early death metal,…