The new Locrian record Return to Annihilation is out today and — perhaps predictably — it’s fucking awesome and epic and enthralling and, yeah, maybe a little nutty. Go hear for yourself here, buy it here, and check out the band’s exclusive track-by-track listening guide below. 1. Eternal Return We wanted to start out the…

New week; new grind, folks. . . And this one’s a doozy, all the way from Switzerland and four years in the making. Courtesy of the good people at Relapse, we’ve got an exclusive premiere stream of Flies Will Starve from Mumakil. It is kind of ironic for a band who made their name with…

Orphaned Land doesn’t have it easy. As the ambassadors of metal in the Levant and its nearest neighbors, the Israel-based outfit are trying to bridge an incredible cultural, linguistic, religious, and think gap. Through five studio albums, the most recent of which is All is One, they’ve tried to represent both sides of the struggle…

 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)…

Welcome to Tales From the Metalnomicon, a twice-monthly column delving into the surprisingly vast world of heavy metal-tinged/inspired literature and metalhead authors… Dean Swinford is very likely the first and almost certainly the last author in the history of Western literature to pen an epigraph comprised of equal parts Shakespeare (“Is not lead a metal…

I first experienced Fargo, ND’s Sleeping in Gethsmane while on tour with KEN Mode. The scene was a show in the band’s hometown and I remember expressing my enjoyment of their set to guitarist Brandon LaPlante, describing them as “one of the few instrumental math rock bands out there with some balls.” Brandon must have…

If you’ve followed our print mag over the years, you’ll know that we have quite an affinity for Dark Tranquillity, a love affair that extends from old (The Gallery was inducted into our HOF in 2010) and new (Chris Dick gave newest album, Construct, a glowing review…not to mention you may want to check out…

This is our third post from director Aaron Beaucher on the making of the new A Pale Horse Named Death video “DMSLT.” An updated gallery follows. — We spent some time over the past week shooting some of our effects layers for the “DMSLT” video. As you will read below, the process is fairly involved…

** Mortuary Drape are Italy’s oldest black metal export. But don’t rely on our words for the truth. Many a Norwegian—you know, the guys who made black metal a household name—genuflected at the altar of the Alessandria-based outfit. Just ask Fenriz next time you see him. He’ll tell you the demos were on par with…

Decibel is (more or less) proud to bring you its first Extremely Extreme Podcast! Enjoy the intro music, courtesy of GWAR’s Oderus Urungus, stay for the expletive-ridden banter between Editor in Chief Albert Mudrian and Managing Editor Andrew Bonazelli, who preview the August issue. Featuring: Pig Destroyer “Piss Angel”Dark Tranquillity “Sorrow’s Architect”