I’ll just come out and say it: Sannhet‘s Revisionist is one of my favorite albums of the year so far. So I was stoked when John Refano–that’s him below–agreed to participate in this little series we’ve been doing for three (!) years now. I’ll let the guitarist/loopist explain what “Kill Yr Idols” is all about:…

If you’re a doom metal fan and don’t know Ufomammut, go hang your head in shame and sit in the corner for a while, then check out one of the most inventive discographies ever in the entire history of heavy music and then come back here for their latest. Ecate is ostensibly about Greek gods…

Atlanta foursome Royal Thunder will be releasing Crooked Doors, the much-anticipated – and outstanding – follow-up to 2012’s standout CVI on April 7 via Relapse, but in the meantime the band has steadily been premiering new songs across the metal/hard rock internet, and today it’s our turn. Not only that, but we’ve been given one…

You like formless shrieking, right? Hell, what’s NOT to like? Especially when it sounds like it’s taking place in the void of space. Yes, I know technically you can’t hear anything in space, but nobody told these guys that. Terra, despite their name being rather earthbound, go for the more cosmic sort of black metal….

Varg Vikernes, a 42-year-old father of three who lives in France, is only interested in one simple thing: Never shutting the fuck up. At least that seems to be what his Youtube channel is trying to prove. Burzum would’ve released roughly ten additional records about Orcs if Vikernes spent a little more time with his Casio…

Brett Netson. One of the most soulful, inventive, vivifying shredders on the face of the planet.

Bringer of sublime aural sturm und drang via roots-y-alt-rock-meets-psychedelic-doom outfit Caustic Resin. Art rock force multiplier in Built to Spill. Vanquisher of smarmy motherfuckers. And, now, mastermind of a ridiculously killer multidimensional, dark snarling rock trio, Brett Netson & Snakes.

On the occasion of the release of Snakes’ transcendentScavenger Cultit seemed as good a time as any to ask the group’s iconoclastic leader for a playlist of his heavier influences.

We expected eclectic, and Netson did not disappoint…
 

Poland’s Infernal War has been relatively quiet for the better part of a decade. The band is about to release their new full-length album Axiom via Agonia Records. Here’s their take: “Axiom is the essence of Infernal War. At the same time, it’s not a copy of our previous works. The new material is more…

I hate studio reports because I get to hear about music instead of the actual music. Like yeah, it’s great you’re doing something but I need that goodness hurled into my sound pits right now. But we should all be willing to wait for something like Drugs of Faith, the grind and roll three-piece led by…

** Dødheimsgard’s new album, A Umbra Omega, is no joke (see mental strongman Vicotnik’s argument at the very bottom). It’s a vicious mind-warp of an album, aggressive in its obtuseness and adventurous in its boundlessness. It’s at once black metal (free think!) and not at all (non-conformist!). A Umbra Omega riffs on, then destroys said riffs on, previous albums 666 International and Supervillain Outcast. This is Dødheimsgard. Extra-dimensional black from the deepest, darkest pits of space and time. A Umbra Omega is ritualistic in its abrasiveness, religious in the outcome of surviving its completeness.

From 666 International forward, Dødheimsgard has imbibed in the weird, the strange, and the obtuse. I figured you would’ve tried to pull the opposite of what you’re known for on A Umbra Omega. Maybe that’s too predictable too. So, you opted to stay weird. Was that kind of the idea?

Vicotnik: It was no specific idea as such, but since I love music, it is natural for me to get inspired by other genres as well. There was really never any moment in my life, where I only listened to black metal. I am also product from that school of reasoning that was very much present in the early ‘90s scene, that plagiarism is the biggest sin of them all. So if you look at 95% of the bands from my era, they all (for good or for worse) evolved in some shape or form. The black metal sound of the ‘90s was in itself a little piece of sonic evolution, since early black metal records of the ‘90s did not really have any specific counterparts from the ‘80s. In addition, you had the x-factor in the ‘90s, because nobody knew what they were doing, and the engineers that were set to produce these records had no knowledge of how a record like this was supposed to sound like. I like the idea of pursuing the unknown factor, that sets the table for creativity. There are viable reasons for bands to produce their record over and over again. They may be based on some sort of ideal, or success-recipe. Inadvertently this also means that these bands, to some degree, have to abandon the creative process. Musically one could say that the main focus of this album is the feeling/atmosphere, while the tools rendered to achieve that sought after atmosphere varied through different creative approaches.

**Matt Olivo is the founding guitarist of extreme metal trailblazers Repulsion, whose Horrified LP ranks as Decibel’s #1 grindcore album of all time. Because we know that every reader ever plays guitar, we brought his print column to the Deciblog. In issue #114 Matt took a trip to NAMM 2014, where “metal gear is indeed solid.”

The National Association of Music Merchants, or NAMM, or “The NAMM” (careful—only if you’re a vet) is a massive four-day convention held annually in Anaheim, CA. It exists so that music gear companies from every rank, tier and division can present their latest designs in hopes of making deals to distribute them for financial gain. Fortunately for us, the smell of new music gear is practically a clarion call for tattooed longhairs and hessian beardfolk. They crawl out from under manhole covers in all directions and make their way to the venue. Once inside, they sprinkle metal, lice and everything vice into the crowd, thus making it much more festive atmosphere.