Who can ever forget that moment in Penelope Spheeris’s The Decline of Western Civilization Part 2: The Metal Years, when then-W.A.S.P. guitarist Chris Holmes did an interview while drunkenly floating in a swimming pool, presumably guzzling vodka while his embarrassed mother sat nearby? Although that interview was staged, it remains one of the defining portraits…

Last week in a rare over-ground win for underground art and authenticity the preconceived notion-smashing At the Gates comeback record At War With Reality won the Swedish Grammy for Best Hard Rock/Metal Album of 2014. We, of course, would like to believe this is at least in part the International Federation of the Phonographic Industry’s…

Tech death. It has lyrics. Generally they are hard to notice underneath the infinite pretzel knots of the instruments, but they are there. This lyric video from Continuum proves it. Of course, said lyrics sound like technobabble from 1970s Marvel cosmic comics, but they exist! Continuum is the brainchild of Chase Fraser (Decrepit Birth, Animosity),…

There is a whole motherfucking lot to recommend Berserker II: The insane line-up (see flyer below), a punk rock “swap meat” hosted by Tesco Vee of the Meatmen, a sweet ass T-shirt designed by Decibel‘s own Mark Rudolph, etcetera… We recently reached out to fest organizer/Child Bite vocalist/guitarist Shawn Knight to get the inside scoop…

It’s hardly a news flash — particularly if you read Neill Jameson’s reports from his time as a record store clerk — but physical music is either in its death throes or experiencing a painful rebirth. Whether it’s A or B depends on who is involved in the conversation. Aqualamb Records is banking on the…

The upcoming self-titled full-length from Tasmanian tech-death wrecking crew Psycroptic really brings the band’s brand of manic, virtuoso brutality to another level. But don’t take our word for it — delve into the entire aural beast below. And then head over to Prosthetic to pre-order yourself a copy of this brain scrambler. Check out the…

Originally released in 2004, Choosing Death: The Improbable History of Death Metal and Grindcore is widely recognized as the definitive history of its titular extreme music subgenres. Eleven years later, author Albert Mudrian, editor-in-chief of Decibel Magazine, has chosen life after death in the form of a revised and expanded Choosing Death, which boasts a…

Eight years have passed since Greek black metallers Devathorn issued debut album, Diadema. Certainly, the trio were too busy channeling “Qliphotic” chaos to focus on music, but sometime in the last year or so they emerged from the abyss to write 11 hymns of hate. On new album, Vritra, Devathorn return! Recorded and mixed at…

**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 #116 Matt spent some time “hammering on Brent Hinds’ bloody, thunderous new pickups”…

We’re your friend! We’re not one of them! Want proof? The latest installment in the Decibel Flexi Series is controversial March cover star Leviathan tackling Black Flag’s legendary “My War.” See? As always, we have your best, most demented interests at heart. The one-man U.S. black metal trailblazer known as Leviathan (a.k.a. Jef Whitehead) has struck…