black metal

TRACK PREMIERE: HEAR MRTVI CHANNEL THE ABYSS ON “NEGATIVE ATONAL DISSONANCE”

July 5, 2017

The UK/Serbian MRTVI describes itself as a “one-man black metal project concerned with exploring the negative dissonance and atonality of the aural and emotional spectrum,” secured the Facebook URL “/sustainedthroughdeath,” and has whittled its about section to a single Tolstoy quote: “I could not even wish to know the truth, for I guess of what it consisted. The truth was that life is meaningless” — which is a pretty steep goddamn self-created mountain of malcontent to scale. And yet “Negative Atonal Dissonance” — the long, dark sonic journey streamed exclusively below from the album of the same name out July 30 via Transcending Obscurity — manages to accomplish just that.  

Justify Your Shitty Taste: Lightning Round

July 3, 2017

Morgoth, Xysma, Destruction and more have their weakest work defended by our own Neill Jameson. 

Top 5 Worst Bathory Songs (Of The Black Metal Era)

June 26, 2017

Sacred cows have been slain before. They’ll be slain again. Today, we’re not butchering yet another divine bovine (not in total, we’d be nuts and in poor taste), but rather turning the tables on last week’s Bathory post, where we unsheath our Bathory collection (from 1984’s Bathory to 1988’s Blood Fire Death) listening for Quorthon’s sonic hell-born warts.

FULL ALBUM STREAM: HEAVEN IN HER ARMS “WHITE HALO”

June 21, 2017

White Halo — the seven-years-in-the-making third full-length from Tokyo quintet Heaven in Her Arms — is a fierce and lush amalgamation of post-metal atmospherics, classic screamo, black metal, prog rock, and trad metal sure to trigger metalgaze haters even as it subverts and expands the boundaries of that sub-subgenre. 

Track Premiere: Wildspeaker – ‘Renewal’

June 19, 2017

Stream “Renewal,” the closing track on Wildspeaker‘s second album, Spreading Adder. 

Top 5 Bathory Songs (Post-Twilight of the Gods)

June 19, 2017

Lists polarize. There, we said it. We’re click-baiting just like the big guns. Other websites lede (yes, lede) with must-click, must-share titles like: “Killswitch Engage Caught On Tape Stealing Soilwork Roadmap” or “Burzum’s Varg Launches Role-Playing Game” (well, that actually happened) or “Ozzy’s Six-Decade Sex Addiction — All The Sordid Details Inside!” Here at Decibel, we care enough to bait you with things like The Top 5 Bathory Songs… After Twilight of the Gods.

Venom Inc. Release New Track “Dein Fleisch” Via Decibel Flexi Series

June 15, 2017

Venom Inc., the new band featuring founding Venom members Jeff “Mantas” Dunn and Anthony “Abaddon” Bray along with former Venom bassist/vocalist Tony Dolan, are the latest addition to the Decibel Flexi Series.

The Worst Black Metal Album Covers of All Time, Part II

June 14, 2017

There’s some great black metal album art. And there is some not-so-great black metal album art. Krieg‘s Neill Jameson focuses on the latter in the second part of this series.

The Worst Black Metal Album Covers of All Time Part I

June 13, 2017

Not all black metal cover art is terrible. But a lot of it is. And Krieg’s Neill Jameson has uncovered the worst of the worst. 

Unmasked But Not Demystified, A Q&A With Farsot’s III.XXIII & X.XIX

June 12, 2017

The last time we talked to Farsot, bassist/keyboardist v.03/170 was fielding our inquiries into the band’s inner workings. The Germans had just released their second album, 2011’s stupendous Insects, and we here at Decibel were obsessed with what made the landmark effort tick. Now, seven years later, we inquire about album of the year contender (my opinion, natch) in Fail-Lure.

VIDEO PREMIERE: Khaos-Dei “Sous La Bannière Noire”

June 5, 2017

“I do not know if we can talk about concept because it really reflects our life concretely,” says Khaos-Dei vocalist Nacht. “Catechism is the natural evolution of our first album.

STREAMING: Kafirun “Lord of Blessed Murder”

June 1, 2017

Look up the word ‘kafirun’. In Arabic, it translates to ‘unbeliever’ or ‘atheist’, but Canada’s most violent black metallers Kafirun aren’t addressing Islam or its treatment of Al-Kafirun on debut album, Eschaton.

Venom Inc. Offer Exclusive New Recording for Decibel Flexi Series!

May 31, 2017

Order a deluxe Decibel subscription by Monday, June 5, and get this limited edition Venom Inc. vinyl featuring an exclusive recording!

STREAMING: Acherontas “Amarta (Formulas of Reptilian Unification Part II)”

May 22, 2017

For Greece-based Acherontas, it would seem as if black metal, as a genre, is secondary to the devotional aspects of what drives, inspires, and fulfills their physical and incorporeal beings.

Feeding the Trolls: Chatting With David Thiérrée

May 12, 2017

“This is something you can’t really control, you must draw, draw and draw again.”