Recently, I stumbled across a graffiti mural that read, “Every winner was once a beginner.” This got the gears turning, thinking about how long it’s been since Mastodon was considered an unknown, underground entity.

“Everything is permitted.” Considering that’s Norwegian experimental collective Ulver‘s genre description, hindsight confirms it’s no surprise they strayed so dramatically from the black metal that shaped their earliest albums. Following the release of their 13th LP, vocalist Kristoffer Rygg shares his thoughts on the band’s evolution and his own artistic journey.

With the song “Hover” the Brooklyn couple show that they’re louder than love. 

Equal parts bluesy sludge and trudging grind, Musket Hawk bring the slow despondency necessary on the most hungover of afternoons. 

Tune in. Fuzz out. Rock out. Free yourself from the tedium (of boring music). 

New album, Bereft, turns all the black/death goodness up to (generating random and completely unexpected number) eleven, and we demanded an audience with Côté.  You might have read some of Côté’s thoughts in Issue #139 (May 2016, Amon Amarth cover), but now you can check out the rest of the interview and get a listen to this consistently powerful underground metal act.

Head to the tombs to get, uh, this premiere streaming. 

Glorior Belli‘s flipped black metal’s atavistic script not once but six times since forming in 2002. Leader and intrepid boundary breaker Billy Bayou (notice it’s not stolen from Tolkien) has taken Glorior Belli into the bowels of Satan’s celestial abyss and back, with such notable releases as Manifesting the Raging Beast and The Great Southern Darkness serving as Bayou’s malign vehicle. Decibel is darkly pleased to present brand new Glorior Belli track, “Satanists Out Of Cosmic Jail”, from new album, Sundown (The Flock That Welcomes), along with a few Qs answered by Bayou from his throne atop the blackest black.

You might wanna double-check the price on that Purple Rain deluxe reissue.  

On this week’s Demo:listen, we gouge out our own eyes to better appreciate Rhode Island’s Enucleator.