black metal

Whatever trajectory Heathen Beast were on seems to have led them to self-destruct, and whether that is permanent or simply a momentary lapse is unclear.  Before they broke up, however, they left us with twelve impressive diatribes and responses to the following questions.

Black Metal ist sad. Also, did you know that Dis Manibvs autocorrects to “Dis Minibus”? Tr00 story.

The troubling early history of depressive suicidal black metal pioneers Bethlehem is revealed in this exclusive Black Metal: The Cult Never Dies Vol. 1 excerpt.

Under a Better-Than-Average Moon.

This August, Portland-based multi-instrumentalist A.L.N. will bring his one-man black/doom metal project, Mizmor, to the stage for the very first time at Migration Fest in Olympia, Washington. We caught up with A.L.N. to talk about the process of transitioning Mizmor into a live band, the challenges that come with creating music by yourself and the finer points of rehearsal room tomfoolery.

The Curling Flame of Blasphemy from Northeast legends Profanatica is our new favorite fist in the face of god.  

Decibel Books is proud to announce the release of the U.S. edition of Black Metal: The Cult Never Dies Vol. 1. Pre-orders are now available.

As grind-infused industrial black metal levelers Anaal Nathrakh put the finishing touches on the band’s as-yet-untitled ninth full-length — tentatively slated for an October release via Metal Blade — Decibel caught up with vocalist Dave Hunt for a illuminating chat.

Australian incendiaries Denouncement Pyre like their dying stars the same color as their metal: BLACK.

Decibel has been labeled Social Justice Warriors from the right. And attacked by actual SJWs from the left. Should everyone maybe just shut up for a second? 

Few are the bands who will still gleefully slaughter your favorite pet in service of the seething abyss.  Sweden’s Astrophobos are one of these few.

While the weather outside is warm- everything here is so cold.

On this week’s Demo:listen, we bear the marks of New Hampshire’s Northern Curse.

Atlanta-based dark metal conspirators Cloak comb the blackest shadows of rock ‘n’ roll on the opening track off their eponymous EP.

The grandiose, striking and remarkable rush forth mere minutes into Anthems to the Welkin at Dusk’s prologue “Alsvartr (the Oath).” Nightmarish berceuses haunt mercilessly from the darkest corners of imagination, while frontman Ihsahn poetically invokes the illustrious nightspirit, as if there’s ordinary business in need of attending on the edge of town.

Temple Nightside welcome you to their “Fortress of Burden and Distress.” 

Emperor‘s Ihsahn, Ulver‘s Garm and Darkthrone’s Fenriz venture beyond the genre’s confines.

Take a little trip with “Eulogy” from the much anticipated debut LP from Shataan. 

Man-up with a new black metal burner from Norwegians Mistur.

Guitarist/vocalist Jason Mendonça is excited and filled with positivity. And you should be, too. 

Get the scoop the new Blekkmetal film and Enslaved‘s Ivar Bjørnson’s BardSpec project.

Black metal duo Inquisition deliver first new song in nearly three years, and Decibel‘s got it.

When I first saw extreme metal Brooklynites Kosmodemonic, they were killing it on a stage Watain doused with pig’s blood soon after.

Philip H Anselmo returns with black metal supergroup Scour. 

Home is where the (broken) heart is for Canadian black metallers.

** Twenty-two years. That’s how long Dark Funeral has been at it. It, being black metal. It, being the black metal lifestyle. It, being two EPs and six full-lengths, going back to 1994, when black metal wasn’t hip in your neck of the woods (unless it’s Olso, Bergen, or Stockholm). For the past seven years, the Swedes have been writing new album, Where Shadows Forever Reign. They’ve changed vocalists, with Emperor Magus Caligula exiting after 15 years of service to be replaced by Heljarmadr (Cursed 13). New drummer Dominator (The Wretched End) is an inspired blast machine. And bassist Natt (Angrepp) rumbles Lucifer’s great thunder. Reinforced with dark legions, Dark Funeral will take Where Shadows Forever Reign across the globe. Rise… Legions!

“Everything is permitted.” Considering that’s Norwegian experimental collective Ulver‘s genre description, hindsight confirms it’s no surprise they strayed so dramatically from the black metal that shaped their earliest albums. Following the release of their 13th LP, vocalist Kristoffer Rygg shares his thoughts on the band’s evolution and his own artistic journey.

New album, Bereft, turns all the black/death goodness up to (generating random and completely unexpected number) eleven, and we demanded an audience with Côté.  You might have read some of Côté’s thoughts in Issue #139 (May 2016, Amon Amarth cover), but now you can check out the rest of the interview and get a listen to this consistently powerful underground metal act.

Glorior Belli‘s flipped black metal’s atavistic script not once but six times since forming in 2002. Leader and intrepid boundary breaker Billy Bayou (notice it’s not stolen from Tolkien) has taken Glorior Belli into the bowels of Satan’s celestial abyss and back, with such notable releases as Manifesting the Raging Beast and The Great Southern Darkness serving as Bayou’s malign vehicle. Decibel is darkly pleased to present brand new Glorior Belli track, “Satanists Out Of Cosmic Jail”, from new album, Sundown (The Flock That Welcomes), along with a few Qs answered by Bayou from his throne atop the blackest black.

You’d be hard-pressed to describe Finland’s Moonsorrow without using some kind of synonym for “epic,” so the fact that their new LP, Jumalten Aika, out-epics anything they’ve done is nothing short of astounding. We caught up with guitarist/vocalist Mitja Harvilahti to discuss the musical, thematic and personal influences that helped bring this beast of an album to life.