** Most thought Christopher Amott crazy for leaving Arch Enemy a second time. He was in an internationally recognized metal band. They sold records. They toured the world. He played with his brother, Michael. It was a dream scenario. Well, the younger Amott wasn’t having any of it. He left Arch Enemy, relocated to the…

There’s something to be said for a band to willfully pose in front of an old boogie vans and not be the least ashamed. For Texas’ Father Sky, such objects are the focus of their non-musical affection. They scream back to a time when the sun felt warmer, the riffs fuzzier, the hems wider, and…

If you haven’t heard a good oddball metal record recently… well, then your head’s been under a soundproofed rock and you haven’t been reading enough Decibel reviews.  Get out there and listen, man! And be sure to check out the new Pyramids record when Profound Lore releases it in the middle of next month.  It’s dark,…

As some of you may know, I’ve been sailing on the good ship Decibel since it was christened. I’ve seen (and heard!) a lot of shit and even remember some of it! And yes, I’m the head knucklehead who wrote the oft-referenced-and-made-fun-of Dragonforce cover story. So, you’d think that having bounced 10+ years of deadlines…

Ashmedi is no stranger to this blog, having authored a 17-part “biographical column and chaotic metaphysical thoughts” series that ended in 2011. Now that his band Melechesh has returned with its first album since 2010, we’re happy to welcome his voice back in the form of a playlist. There’s no theme per se, but it’s…

At the beginning of the year we published an interview with author Peter Bebergal about his excellent new book Season Of The Witch: How The Occult Saved Rock and Roll. Among the topics discussed: why metal has picked up (again) on the occult approach and themes so popular in the 70s: “There’s just something about…

If you frequent metal blogs, and for our sake we at Decibel sure hope you do, you might remember the Slayer pizza that attracted some notoriety last year. Hell, the “raining blood from a lacerated pie” line still cracks me up. Anyway, the mastermind behind the most metal pizza ever, Minneapolis-based Chef John Hurkes, has…

“The Children of the Night takes off where The Formulas of Death ended,” says Tribulation guitarist Adam Zaars. “And if the latter was dark the former is pitch black, though the album ranges from murky forests to the brightest city lights. It is a celebration of the divine spirit and our ability to tread liminal…

Okay, I’m going to be honest with you guys here: by the time you’ll be reading this, I’ll be relaxing on a tropical island, listening to AC/DC bootlegs, and lamenting absolutely nothing except maybe sunburn. Still, I know most of you poor bastards are stuck in much more inhospitable climes. To that end, I have…

“The long wait is finally over,” says Carach Angren to Decibel. “We proudly present you our fourth full-length musical horror story telling the utterly dark tale of two children on a quest to escape total darkness. As the music and lyrics take you from chapter to chapter you will learn about the inevitable outcome…This Is…