Get TWO free FLEXIS in the next DECIBEL!

January 31, 2014

Due to an equipment failure at our flexi disc printer, we were unable to include a flexi in the March issue of Decibel. Since we never leave our loyal subscribers in the lurch, you’ll be chuffed to find not one, but two flexis in the April issue! Fire up those turntables, as Decibel Magazine Tour…

Throw Me a Frickin’ Label Hack: Bulgaria’s Claymore

January 31, 2014

Because every day another band records another song.  Because 83% of those songs are unlistenable and you can’t be bothered to sift through the dreck.  Because metal is about not giving a shit and waking your own personal storm.  Because music is universal, expression is boundless, and even indie labels (whatever that means these days)…

BREWTAL TRUTH: Drink This Now…Whatever It Is

January 31, 2014

Anyone who’s sampled more than a few craft beers can attest to the fact that it’s not always clear from the label what’s going to be inside the bottle. Oh sure, it might say something like “Brettanomyces-fermented Belgian quad aged on oak with cherries and bottle conditioned,” but figuring out what that’s going to taste…

Streaming (some of) the Monuments Collapse/Breag Naofa Split and Why Physical Copies Don’t Suck

January 30, 2014

The fucking hassle and amount of fucking time I wasted just to put this stupid stream up wasn’t worth it. San Francisco’s Monuments Collapse and Seattle’s Breag Naofa have had a split release available since last month. It originally came out around the Christmas rush and was probably forgotten/ignored for that reason. Here, we present…

Decibrity Playlist: Indian

January 30, 2014

After dropping the best album of its career earlier this month with From All Purity, the dudes in Indian are in the midst of (hopefully) enjoying some time off before hitting the road at the end of March. Given that guitarist/vocalist Will Lindsay is also probably not all that enthused about stepping out into the…

Grind! Stream the new Cripple Bastards song

January 29, 2014

Here’s some fresh new grind to get you through midweek. Below, stream the new track “Nemico A Terra” from certified legends and lifers Cripple Bastards. It’s off the new album Nero In Metastasi, due in North America on February 18th and available for preorder from Relapse. Frontman Giulio The Bastard says: ‘Nemico A Terra’ translates…

Sucker For Punishment: Dutch Lessons

January 29, 2014

On paper it looks like a fairly slow week for new releases, but actually the quality versus quantity ratio is better than average, with no fewer than three albums I heartily recommend. Enjoy and savor, because these kind of weeks don’t come along very often. Astrophobos, Remnants of Forgotten Horrors (Triumvirate): Well, if this isn’t…

EXCLUSIVE: At the Gates’ first interview about new album

January 29, 2014

On Monday, Swedish death metal legends—that’s right, fucking legends—At the Gates announced that they signed to Century Media and planed to record and release their first new studio album since 1995’s landmark Slaughter of the Soul later this year. No biggie, right? Well, Decibel thought it was worth looking into a little further, so frontman…

STREAMING: Fluisteraars’ “Dromers”

January 28, 2014

Continuing the trend of posting streams from bands whose names I can’t pronounce, this week we have a full album stream from Fluisteraars. Apparently it means “the whisperers” in whatever language they speak in the Netherlands. Not a hell of a lot of whispering going on to these ears, but there are definitely some nuances….

Beyond “Bear Claw Tavern”: Scythia Premiere “Reflections”

January 28, 2014

Last month Canadian epic/progressive metallers Scythia made a viral digital splash with the absurdist Pogues-meets-Dream-Theater-meets-drunken-hobbits video for the rousing anthem “Bear Claw Tavern” off the upcoming album …Of Conquest, and now the band reveals another exclusive jam here this morning. “This track is a ‘one-of-a-kind track’ on the record,” guitarist/vocalist Dave Khan tells Decibel. “‘Reflections’…