Did You See Them Live? Sam Black Church Documentarian Duncan Wilder Johnson Interviewed
January 16, 2014 Kevin Stewart-Panko
The email came in from Ol’ Man Mudrian a few days ago and it went, in part, like this: “Have you ever heard Sam Black Church? People from the New England area like to blow them incessantly, but people like me who “never saw them live” just think they accidentally invented nu metal. Either way,…
Live Review: Clutch
January 16, 2014 Zach Smith
The latest Clutch album may be the band’s best since 2005’s Robot Hive/Exodus, but the live setting is where these Marylanders have built their name over the years. So it was fitting that the quartet opened up its recent set in Port Chester, NY with “Earth Rocker”, a tune that in many ways sets forth…
STREAMING: Godhunter’s “Brushfires”
January 15, 2014 Justin Norton
For your streaming pleasure today we are premiering the track “Brushfires” from Arizona’s Godhunter, a nasty hybrid of thrash and sludge. Preorder the album City Of Dust here from The Compound. Some details on the track follow the stream. Brushfires is an analogy for the divisiveness that embroils the political nature of mankind. In that…
EXCLUSIVE: Danny Lilker Elaborates on Departure from Brutal Truth
January 15, 2014 Jesse Chase
On Friday, January 10, Brutal Truth bassist Danny Lilker announced via Facebook that he “will be retiring from being a full time recording and touring musician” on his forthcoming 50th birthday, October 18, 2014. The news flash resonated throughout the entire online extreme community, who, in the process, appears to have disregarded Lilker’s commitment to…
Sucker For Punishment: The New Wave of Moose Molten Metal
January 15, 2014 Adrien Begrand
I had an interesting conversation with a metal peer over coffee yesterday, and was asked what makes a “traditional” heavy metal album made in 2014 worth spending money on when all I have to do is listen to a Judas Priest album. I had to pause and consider that for a minute. For a writer…
TRACK PREMIERE: Soreption’s “Engineering the Void”
January 14, 2014 Jeff Treppel
I’m pretty sure “Soreption” is a made up word. I think maybe it’s a phonetic transcription of vocalist Fredrik Söderberg’s shrieks. These dudes play seriously gnarly technical death metal to the level where you might need a physics degree just to headbang to it. You can hear them constructing the framework of the abyss as…
Systems Re-Overloaded: Exclusive Integrity Premiere!
January 14, 2014 Shawn Macomber
A couple months back I was honored to usher the legendary 1995 Integrity album Systems Overload into the Decibel Hall of Fame and now, on the eve of a hell-freezes-over reunion at the A389 Recordings ten-year anniversary Bash in Baltimore, comes a new track from the Systems era line-up. Enjoy an exclusive stream of “7th…
Metal Noam: Heavy Music + Heavy Politics = Killer EP
January 13, 2014 Daniel Lake
Just as there are many roads that lead to metal (adolescent anger, an ear for complex music, etc.), there are multiple avenues by which a curious mind might encounter Noam Chomsky, one of our era’s great-thinking heavy hitters. Students of linguistic theory will certainly encounter his work, which in the middle of the last century…
At War With Sooners: Behind the Okie Baphomet Lawsuit
January 13, 2014 Justin Norton
We weren’t surprised to find out that one of the people involved with efforts to place a gigantic Baphomet statue on the Oklahoma Capitol grounds is connected with extreme metal. I guess we’re just happy that they are pursuing their goals through civil discourse rather than pulling a Burzum. Brian Werner is a High Priest…
Top 5 Worst Motörhead Albums
January 13, 2014 Chris Dick
Ian “Lemmy” Kilmister is a living legend. An untouchable icon. But Lemmy and his Motörheads didn’t always have ace albums. In fact, across Motörhead’s storied–we’re talking almost four decades–career, the monoliths of metal have had some real stinkers. While we implore you to check out Lemmy in our February 2014 issue (click HERE) we’re also…