CANFEST 2012: Taking Canned Beer Back From The Hipsters

October 2, 2012

The craft beer world is still trying to undo the damage done by shitty pale American lagers to canned beer’s reputation. It’s a sad fact that most craft beer drinkers think that bottled beer is “better” than canned beer, when the exact opposite is actually the case. If we all agree that craft beer is…

A Very Heavy Halloween: Vanessa Nocera of Wooden Stake

October 2, 2012

When we interviewed metal iconoclast Vanessa Nocera back in August for the Women in Metal issue she cited the “poetic atmosphere” of surrealist horror films as an prime influence, so we are extremely pleased and honored the Wooden Stake frontwoman has graciously agreed to help us kick off our Halloween month coverage with a truly…

LIVE REVIEW: Marduk and Immolation – Underworld, London

October 1, 2012

The concept of faith might be diametrically opposed to Marduk’s pitch-black worldview but the Swedish fundamentalists are worthy of yours. Of all the Second Wave black metal bands who still consider their iconoclastic craft a full-time concern, Marduk are the ones who always deliver. They could be accused of lacking a sense of adventure when…

Kowloon Walled City Studio Report, Part I

October 1, 2012

by Ian Miller There’s nothing like hearing a good drummer play a good drum kit in a room designed expressly for the purpose. In this case, the drummer is recovering from a head injury, but who can tell? I’m Ian Miller. I play bass in Kowloon Walled City. We’re about to record our third record,…

Agalloch – “The Mantle”

September 28, 2012

After nearly a decade of European dominance of all things anti-Abrahamic metal—starting with Bathory’s Viking-themed classic Hammerheart—Agalloch issued debut album Pale Folklore.

The Lazarus Pit Acrimony’s Tumuli Shroomaroom

September 28, 2012

Welcome to The Lazarus Pit, a biweekly look at should-be classic metal records that don’t get nearly enough love; stuff that’s essential listening that you’ve probably never heard of; stuff that we’re too lazy to track down the band members to do a Hall Of Fame for.  This week, we’re going on a 50 million…

Throw Me A Frickin’ Label Hack: Germany’s Oliver Kaah

September 28, 2012

Decibel knows you’ve got a metal wishlist 23 albums long and five gigabytes of Profound Lore records you still haven’t heard all the way through, but each week we like to give you the opportunity to tune in to a project that isn’t backed by anybody’s hype machine.  Because music is universal, expression is boundless,…

The Great Sabatini on Tour

September 27, 2012

Eagle-eye devourerers of Decibel will likely recall my review of Montreal’s The Great Sabatini’s latest album, Matterhorn in a recent issue. In reviewing their new record, I made reference to Pig Destroyer, Kyuss, Blind and Deliverance-era Corrosion of Conformity and described the proceedings thusly: “…hails from further out in left-field with more peaks and valleys…

Decibrity Playlist: Witchcraft (Magnus Pelander)

September 27, 2012

To celebrate the release of Legend, last week we brought you Witchcraft bassist Ola Henriksson’s playlist of weightlifting songs. We’d wager that this week’s entry, however, marks the first time any of the artists below have been, and likely will be, mentioned around these parts (other than this apparently). Not only did frontman and founder…

STREAMING: Bedemon’s “Lord Of Desolation”

September 26, 2012

Pentagram frontman Bobby Liebling has received much deserved attention for his comeback from a harrowing addiction and the revival of his musical career, not to mention late in life fatherhood. A few of his former bandmates might not have dealt with the same demons but they’ve had their share of tough times seeing their musical…