** The following five questions with the legendary King Diamond were part of a series of interviews I set up for the XXX: Three Decades of Roadrunner Records [click HERE for more info] boxset, for which I wrote the liner notes. Former Roadrunner Records Senior VP A&R Monte Conner facilitated the initial exchange with King…

** Back in August, Decibel premiered new Twilight of the Gods tune, “Destiny Forged in Blood.” Click HERE to listen. Since then, we’ve imbibed heavily on debut album, Fire on the Mountain, which is the product of guys and ex-guys from Dimmu Borgir, Einherjer, Thyrfing, and, of course, Primordial saluting age-old heavy metal with a…

As a music writer who’s supposed to help guide people to the most worthy holes to shove their money, time and psyches into (because spending any of those things on your own children is simply preposterous), I always worry a little bit that I’ve tumbled way too far down the rabbit hole of my own…

The latest closet metalhead, Jessica Pimentel, is not exactly a closet metalhead. Currently appearing in the hit Netflix series Orange Is the New Black, she refers to herself as a “closet actress.” That’s because Pimentel is well known in her native New York City for holding it down in local hardcore and metal bands, including…

Given the opportunity to write about craft beer every month in Decibel has been eye-opening. The idea that our “Brewtal Truth” column would have lasted more than four years (and counting) and even spawn a book—The Brewtal Truth Guide to Extreme Beers, out in November—is pretty amazing. Now it’s time to bring a little “Brewtal…

“The Unwound path crossed a lot of different scenes.” – Justin Trosper “We took our music in a lot of different directions, though always staying very Unwound.” Sara Lund The above quotes from Unwound guitarist/vocalist Trosper and drummer Lund basically explain and justify the appearance of the not-metal band this week on the ol’ Deciblog….

Paradise Lost have done a retrospective compilations before—The Singles Collection, Reflection, and more recently 2012’s Lost in Time—but none of them are as special as Tragic Illusion 25, a collection of old and re-worked tunes celebrating the Brits’ 25th year as a functioning, productive outfit. And by re-worked, we’re not talking something stupid like an…

The fact that I know anything about The Golden Grass happened by accident. Last month, I went to see Windhand with every intention of missing both opening bands. Unfortunately, my ability to time arrivals at shows–even when the venue announces set times in advance–is on par with Andy Reid’s clock management skills. So, not surprisingly,…

When I took over the Headbang blog at MSN Music in August 2011, I was thinking of ways I could set it apart from the rest of the metal blogs out there. Everyone seems to only list the new releases every week, so why don’t I review as many as I can? It seemed easy…

Leah Sottile already made the obvious Smiths joke in her post on these guys back in 2011, which totally ruins my planned lazy intro. So fine. Meek Is Murder are super into Botch and other music that makes your ears hurt, which is always a good thing. Of course, that’s only appropriate, considering that, in…