What a difference 16 years can make; there were probably more people at Failure’s first reunion show than bought their last album, 1997’s Fantastic Planet. The (mostly white male) fans packed into the El Rey Theater in their hometown of Los Angeles last Thursday night, February 11, for an evening with the heavy rock heroes….

Just as much as metal needs its forward thinkers, it also needs its defenders of the faith. Traditionalism in heavy metal is equally as important as progression, and in this day and age where young bands foolishly mistake “extreme” one-upmanship as being the most important tenet of the genre – sorry kids, power is paramount…

We’re exactly one month out from the release of Immortal, the sicker-than-a-resurrected-centurion-werewolf debut blaster from Sacramento death metallers Alterbeast, and to whet your appetite the band has graciously sent over an exclusive stream of a sonic power-up called “Vile Remnants.” Check the track out below, pre-order the record here, and, for the youngsters, check out…

Prizehog’s fourth album is called Re-Unvent the Whool. That should give you an idea of just how weird these weirdos are. They come from Portland, because of course. Disconnected sludge floating in an abyss of fuzz, “Shed” is a pretty good example of what you’re going to get when you contaminate your turntable with the…

The True Mayhem. Ground zero for Norwegian black metal. Since 1984, the Oslo-based outfit has made waves. Though it would take a good number of years—about three, actually—before Deathcrush hit posers hard, the group’s coup de grace was posthumous debut album, De Mysteriis Dom Sathanas. With Euronymous dead and the Norwegian scene reeling from heavy…

If you don’t live along the east coast of the United States, then maybe you’re having a chest-beating trad metal day, or a beat-on-your-desk black/thrash day, or even a middle-finger-hoisting death metal day.  But if you were in the path of the snow storm that dumped a few lead-heavy white blankets up and down the Eastern Seaboard, then you probably…

What do members of Napalm Death, DragonForce, and Hate Eternal have in common? Normally, we’d have no fucking clue, but today the members premiere a new song from the Mitch Harris-led Menace. Now, most Decibel readers know Mitch Harris. He of Napalm Death. One of the fastest grind guitarists around. But he’s not shredding bar…

What’s up, you loveless fucks? As the year rolls along, so do the new releases — finally, it seems. Here’s my anti-Valentine’s Day rant. Gridlink release Longhena, and this thing is a pecking barn-burner.  Their longest effort to date, this record moves, kicks, and boy does it grind. There is a lot of non-traditional grind…

Last month, Decibel spent a few chilly Baltimore days taking in A389’s 10th Anniversary Bash.  That exceptional label has been responsible for lots of great releases, including #9 on our list of 2013’s best, Noisem’s Agony Defined.  The 4-show festival that celebrated the label and its friends was overwhelming in the number of bands that…

Long before there was a Brewtal Truth column in Decibel or Municipal Waste was celebrating the Art of Partying or Three Floyds was making beers for its favorite metal bands, Bill Yurkiewicz and his grindcore band, Exit-13, were not only drinking amazing beers from around the world, they were writing songs about them. Yurkiewicz, who…