Hall of Fame
The Jesus Lizard – “Goat”
January 28, 2011 Nick Green
In the run leading up to 1991’s Goat, “Tight N Shiny”—a corrosive instrumental from the band’s transitional LP Head—offered a regular excuse for Yow to take a much-needed smoke break and introduce the unsuspecting audience to the art of genital origami.
Corrosion of Conformity – “Animosity”
January 4, 2011 Adem Tepedelen
In 1985, any punk band with the temerity to add metal elements to their sound were rather haphazardly lumped into the “crossover” category.
Satyricon – “Nemesis Divina”
November 23, 2010 Chris Dick
This much is known: though black metal from the kingdom was initially informed by Venom, Bathory and Hellhammer, inventive teenagers and twentysomethings in Oslo, Bergen and various towns all over the country quickly transformed it into something else.
Venom – “Welcome to Hell”
October 20, 2010 Adem Tepedelen
The decision to induct Venom’s debut, Welcome to Hell, rather than the band’s second album, Black Metal, came down to one simple fact: there would be no Black Metal—the album or the genre—were it not for Welcome to Hell.
Incantation NYC Hall Of Fame Show – Moved
October 18, 2010 Chris Dick
U.S. death metallers Incantation have had their Onward To Golgotha Hall of Fame show moved to Club Europa on November 20th, 2010. Again, the show will not take place at Rebel as previously published. Club Europa is located at: Europa Night Club 98 Meserole Ave. (corner of Manhattan Ave.) Brooklyn, NY 11222 Incantation will perform…
Angel Witch – “Angel Witch”
October 6, 2010 Adem Tepedelen
Because Angel Witch’s debut turned out to be not only their best album, but the only one recorded with anything resembling a stable lineup, it seems all the more precious today.
Amorphis – “Tales From the Thousand Lakes”
October 5, 2010 Chris Dick
Tales From the Thousand Lakes is a pivotal album. Not just for Amorphis—if it weren’t for loads of ambition, wide-open minds and a bit of dumb luck, this induction would never be—but for death metal post-1994.
Refused – “The Shape of Punk to Come”
August 18, 2010 Nick Green
The story of Refused’s last—and best—album starts with the first line of Allen Ginsberg’s “Howl,” which drummer David Sandström scrawled across one wall of the band’s recording space as a mantra: “I have seen the best minds of my generation destroyed by madness.”
Dismember – “Like an Everflowing Stream”
August 1, 2010 Decibel Magazine
Mea culpa: It’s hard not to mention Entombed when discussing this month’s Hall of Fame inductee, Dismember’s 1991 debut full-length Like an Ever Flowing Stream. It’s also a bit tired and unfair to both.
Type O Negative – “Bloody Kisses”
June 14, 2010 J. Bennett
Steele (who was still working for the NYC Parks Department), guitarist Kenny Hickey, drummer Sal Abruscato and producer/keyboardist Josh Silver descended upon Systems Two in Brooklyn to record the album that would propel them into the bright lights and big titties of international rock stardom.
Pentagram – “Relentless”
June 13, 2010 J. Bennett
As convoluted back-stories go, it doesn’t get much more tangled than the one behind Pentagram’s Relentless.
Motörhead – “Ace of Spades”
May 1, 2010 Adem Tepedelen
After 60-plus Hall of Fame inductions, one thing that stands out is that precious few of those albums contain and are best known for a single truly classic song.
Dark Tranquillity – “The Gallery”
April 13, 2010 Chris Dick
Contrary to popular belief, the New Wave of Swedish Death Metal—also known by its acronym NWOSDM or synonym “The Gothenburg Sound”—wasn’t a cohesive movement.
Saint Vitus – “Born Too Late”
March 1, 2010 J. Bennett
Saint Vitus were a living, breathing anachronism in every possible way.
Enslaved – “Frost”
February 13, 2010 Chris Dick
If black metal was defined by a single year, it would have to be 1994.
Watchtower – “Control and Resistance”
January 1, 2010 Kevin Stewart-Panko
As the popularity of our Hall of Fame feature grows, so do the chances of us throwing a wild card at you folks.
Trouble – “Psalm 9”
December 1, 2009 Adem Tepedelen
It’s strange that the one of the cornerstones of doom is actually one of the most lyrically positive albums in the entire secular metal canon.
Accept – “Restless and Wild”
November 1, 2009 Adrien Begrand
In early 1982, Accept were in dire need of an identity, onstage and especially on record.
Cynic – “Focus”
October 1, 2009 Chris Dick
Focus almost never happened. Hurricane Andrew (a Category 5 storm that devastated South Florida in 1992), bassists frequently exiting and three separate visits to Morrisound Studios could’ve cost the world Cynic.
D.R.I. – “Dealing With It”
September 1, 2009 Adem Tepedelen
It’s hard to say who was more shocked—punks or metalheads—by hardcore band D.R.I. signing with Metal Blade Records via the label’s new Death Records imprint in 1985.
Judge – “Bringin’ It Down”
August 1, 2009 Kevin Stewart-Panko
Upon finding out the next album our vaunted Hall of Fame was going to open its pearly gates to was slated to be Judge’s Bringin’ It Down, an anticipatory buzz broke out amongst the extreme music luminaries hanging around the Decibel table at the most recent Maryland Deathfest.
S.O.D. – “Speak English or Die”
July 1, 2009 Adem Tepedelen
In 1985, the hardcore punk and metal scenes were like the pre-Civil Rights deep South: segregated. The two just didn’t mix.
Nile – “Amongst the Catacombs of Nephren-Ka”
June 17, 2009 Chris Dick
Nile didn’t play cribbage with the Lord of all Fevers and Plagues. Entrails were never ripped from an unfortunate virgin’s cunt as far as we know.
Suffocation – “Effigy of the Forgotten”
May 1, 2009 Kevin Stewart-Panko
When five unassuming, working-class dudes from Nassau County (Long Island, NY) released their debut full-length in 1991, it initially didn’t seem destined to have the atomic bomb of impact that it would eventually ascertain with the passage of time.
Autopsy – “Mental Funeral”
April 1, 2009 Chris Dick
There is influence and under the influence. California’s Autopsy were both.
Discordance Axis – “The Inalienable Dreamless”
March 17, 2009 Kevin Stewart-Panko
Dateline: Summer 2000. My former band has just finished our 30-minute spot on the rickety stage at New York City’s CBGB as one of eight opening acts for what is supposed to be grindcore experimentalists Discordance Axis’ last show.
Incantation – “Onward to Golgotha”
February 17, 2009 Decibel Magazine
By 1989, John McEntee was growing increasingly disenchanted with his membership in technical thrash band Revenant. With the aid of Revenant drummer Paul Ledney, McEntee set out to pursue his own brand of blackened death metal, christening it Incantation.
Candlemass – “Nightfall”
January 1, 2009 Decibel Magazine
From a brief moment in 1986, bassist, songwriter and lyricist Leif Edling, almost by sheer willpower alone, managed to raise the leaden monolith of Candlemass from their murky depths and into an upright position.
Metallica – “… And Justice for All”
December 1, 2008 J. Bennett
Many will cry sacrilege, but we’re gonna say it anyway: …And Justice for All is Metallica’s finest hour.
Kyuss -“Welcome to Sky Valley”
November 18, 2008 J. Bennett
Rolling from Los Angeles into the parched sandbox of the Mojave, anyone familiar with Welcome to Sky Valley will see almost all the relevant landmarks along the 10 East freeway.