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.

The Children of the night
Tribulation fly, wingless into the night, redefine modern death metal
dB Rating: 9/10

What happens when Meshuggah and Decapitated are fused together in brutal staccato matrimony? Human Improvement Process. Based in Italy, but not sounding particularly “Italian” (or that they’re from the home of balsamic vinegar), Human Improvement Process (or HIP) are one of the country’s upcoming stars. They’re technical, atmospheric, yet highly aggressive. “We’re beyond excited to…

Grindcore
dB Rating: 9/10

Something very radical has been brewing for a while to help someone in need and preserve another’s memory. Horror author/metalhead Dustin LaValley has been suffering from life-threatening Crohn’s/IBD issues while Metal Maniacs cofounder/former editor Katherine Ludwig lost her battle with non-hodgkin’s lymphoma earlier this year, leaving an irreplaceable void in the community. This inspired the…

Ottawa quartet Goetia have been heaving sludgy post-metal into the great northern atmosphere for some time now, and recently they joined forces with Deathbound Records – home of melancholic crushers Woccon and historical battlefield-stompers Catuvolcus – for an official release of their album Le Vide.  Lovers of grandiose epicness should take note, now that some…

And so it ends. My personal weeks-long salute to Relapse’s 25th anniversary in interview form, that is. The real celebratin’ hasn’t even yet begun – what with the upcoming fests, tours, beer collaborations, reissues and the loose promise of more Devourment thongs and booty shorts, it promises to be a crazy year steeped in warm…

As previously announced, VALLENFYRE will join AT THE GATES, CONVERGE, and PALLBEARER on the North American Decibel Magazine Tour that begins on March 27 in Los Angeles. In addition to the 15-date run, VALLENFYRE will also perform at the official Decibel Magazine Tour after party, which will take place at Saint Vitus after the sold-out Webster…