Alright beak freaks, it’s that time again: time for me to spout a whole lot of horseshit about some upcoming releases that you fools should cram (or not) into your filthy ear holes soon.

Metal writers have so little time to devote to new music that you think you can win us over by playing up your lack of image, persona, willingness to be antisocial as a way of looking “dangerous” and “mysterious”? Come on.

But then you get one recording in your inbox that compels you to try it out, and lo and behold, it winds up being one of the biggest revelations of the year.

The average day at the office for David Karon in the laboratories of KHDK Electronics is, it would seem, not so average.

“Banshees and ghouls and demons,” he tells Decibel. “We pretty much knew from the start of this project we’d be rolling in that realm of evil.”

The effort in question is the Ghoul Screamer, a supercharged, lithe, insanely versatile, more sinister take on the classic tube screamer pedal painstakingly developed and perfected over a period of three years with company cofounder/Metallica lead guitarist Kirk Hammett — and set to be unleashed, appropriately, on Halloween.  

While Junius prepares their way overdue full-length follow-up to 2011’s excellent Reports From the Threshold of Death, here’s a new band featuring two members… that sounds nothing like Junius.

A Metalhead’s SPOOKTACULAR Guide to the NFL.

Art-damaged French hardcore/punk envelope-pushers Birds in Row are ready to unveil their new album, Personal War.

Olympia-by-way-of-Phoenix black metallers Abigail Williams are back with a vengeance. 

Andrea Subissati is a Toronto-based sociologist, writer and co-host of The Faculty of Horror podcast. We talked to her ahead of All Hallows’ Eve to get her take on horror, metal and why the two are eternally intertwined.

They will not take on the form of a giant sloar.

Normally I don’t like to talk about myself in these things, so as not to overshadow anything else in the magazine with grand stories of a life spent being grumpy, but this month I figured I’d give it a shot in the attempt to bring clarity to things you may have heard about me.