Deciblog interview

We’ve pulled excerpts from some of our favorite interview subjects from the past calendar year, from old-school hardcore vets to legendary professional wrestlers. 

Sera Timms of Ides Of Gemini talked to us about her path in an ancient art often derided as fortune telling and why there’s more to it than many expect.

The Decibel Hall Of Fame inductee (along with the rest of Agnostic Front for Cause For Alarm) talked to us earlier this year about the old New York and his new life thousands of miles away in Arizona.

Immortal Bird vocalist Rae Amitay talked to us about Eminem albums, music school and the difference between keeping the rhythm and fronting a band.

The proverbial long way to the top has definitely been a long one for Byzantine, which started in a part of rural West Virginia with minimal access to heavy metal and widespread economic problems. Many of the band’s best songs since their formation have touched on the problems of Appalachia, particularly rampant prescription drug abuse. Decibel  talked to frontman Chris “OJ” Ojeda about his long metal apprenticeship and one of the world’s most dangerous jobs: prescription pharmacy delivery driver in rural America. 

In New York’s flourishing metal scene the experimental death metal band Pyrrhon is a bit of an outlier. Formed when most of the band members were in college, Pyrrhon received widespread acclaim for their 2014 album The Mother Of Virtues, a blend of lyrical and instrumental virtuosity. Pyrrhon is fronted by Doug Moore, a onetime high school athlete and University Of Pennsylvania graduate who rejected conventional paths to success to pursue music. He talked to us about cross-state commutes to band practice and the end times.  

Let’s clear away any confusion at the outset: Mark SaFranko is not someone’s father who has decided to moonlight in a metal band or one of the few remaining music talent scouts. SaFranko is an American author based in New Jersey who, for more than three decades, has lived a writer’s life and all it…

It’s instructive to look back at a collection of work over the course of a year. During 2014 we’ve endeavored to get you as many interviews we could on Mondays and Wednesdays in addition to streaming tracks, which are sort of a default necessity in music writing these days. If you take a look you’ll…

Jamie Myers: her voice is the stuff of both fever dreams and Byzantine nightmares. Since getting involved with underground music back in the 90s she has progressed from punk bands to playing bass and singing in Hammer of Misfortune and a guest slot with Wolves in The Throne Room. After returning to Texas to start…

No matter how many people think black metal has gone mainstream or become hip because a few dozen bands from Brooklyn have small label deals the reality is that the vast majority of the population doesn’t know a thing about it. They’re listening to .38 Special or Lana Del Rey. If there is a black…