This past week I was lucky enough to have young Baltimore thrash phenoms Noisem roll through my part of the world, and while I was already an admirer of the band – Agony Defined is the best thrash album of the year – I was curious to see how their intense yet riffy brand of…

If you haven’t heard Earthless’s From the Ages yet, you are missing out on the best instrumental psych jam album of the year. These guys don’t NEED a vocalist; any singer would just get left behind, abandoned to float off in space forever. The members of the band were kind enough to give a track by…

Austin, Texas purveyors of kinetic riffage and uber-burly grooves American Sharks just dropped a sick self-titled debut back in September — check out a stream here — and are now on the road with Clutch and The Sword backing it up. Bassist/vocalist Mike Hardin checks in with this report… Saturday, Oct. 12th: Texarkana Day one….

We’re all listed out after totalling up the scores for the albums of the year and putting together our Top 100 Black Metal Albums of All Time special issue. But author Dayal Patterson, a man in league with unfathomable evil, kindly dipped into his wellspring of arcane ancient darkness to muster the energy to give…

If the name Christophe Szpajdel doesn’t ring a bell you probably don’t own CDs or LPs (or, you’re new to underground metal; hey, we all start somewhere). ‘Tis the conundrum of being the product of a digital age. Liner notes, credits, lyrics, etc. often get pushed to some dark corner of a binary folder (or…

** Hard to believe Jungle Rot’s been kicking death metal’s can since 1994. With seven full-lengths in their body bag—the most recent of which is this year’s Terror Regime—the Cheese Staters have written the book on Midwest death. We sit down with founding member Dave Matrise via the wonders of technology (that’s the Internet for…

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)…

There are all kinds of new products popping out of the woodwork in the Decibel Universe right now. You may have heard of this limited-edition 100th Issue Show: The Movie DVD that’s just arrived at dB HQ. Then there’s the Top 100 Black Metal Albums of All Time special issue that’ll be the perfect holiday…

** Katatonia recently ventured through the U.S. with Cult of Luna, Intronaut, and Anciients. I sat down with old buds Jonas Renkse & Anders Nyström to have a laugh, chat, talk about old shit (not transcribed), and highlight “experiment” album, Dethroned and Uncrowned. Read on Katacolyts! What was the motivation behind Dethroned and Uncrowned? Anders…

Given that fall is about halfway over and the weather, at least on the East Coast, is getting frigid, we thought it was a good time to present our second ever season-specific playlist. While Chris Alfieri’s “Song to Burn Leaves To: A New Englander’s Fall Music Companion” compliments Torche’s “Summer Fun” playlist quite nicely, Vattnet…