Obituary

Christmas is in four days, but you have nothing to worry about thanks to these awesome gifts that don’t require any shipping. Happy holidays!

Sixth Annual Decibel Magazine Tour Lineup + Dates Announced! Kreator, Obituary, Midnight and Horrendous spearhead premier metal mag’s latest North American assault this March.

Our resident birdbrain is back to tackle the new Obituary, Warcrab and Waldgefluster. 

A few months after Heavy Metal Parking Lot celebrated its 30th anniversary, we remember the life of Dave Donahue, who made a short appearance in the film but left a lasting impression on his younger brother and friends. 

Hideous: a new old-school death metal supergroup worth readying that denim vest for!

Nick Menza — best remembered for his time in Megadeth — was one of the drummers that earned fierce love and respect. Menza died after collapsing on stage on Saturday, apparently from heart failure. Menza’s style, approach, and effortless invention were as essential to Megadeth as Bill Ward’s quirks and fills were to Black Sabbath or Dave Lombardo’s ferocity was to Slayer. 

I am gobsmacked that I’m being asked to defend Obituary’s World Demise, a record that, in my mind, is nothing less than a classic extreme metal record which I assumed was pretty much universally respected.

When Obituary returned in 2005 with Frozen In Time–at that point, its first album in eight years–Decibel was still in its infancy. Fast forward to today, and we’re about to throw two tenth anniversary shows on Saturday night while the death metal legends are about to drop their ninth studio effort, the long-time coming Inked…

In the late 90s, perhaps around 1998, I pulled over at a truck stop about 45 miles outside of Richmond, Virginia. I grabbed a few snacks and went to the checkout line when it occurred to me that the clerk was staring, somewhat horrified. I looked down and remembered why: my entire body was covered…

Metal musicians quote Nietzsche far too much, almost as much as they quote H.P. Lovecraft. Sometimes it’s for blatant and misdirected political purposes; other times, to add a veneer of intellectual heft to mediocre material. But when you consider the short life of musician Selim Lemouchi, one of the German thinker’s best known quotes resonates:…

In 2014, I resolve to: Descant the insalubrious. Yoko Ono Chimaira. Stop smashing hammer faces. Train my army of attack hamsters. Look into whether or not goat sacrifice requires a permit. Resist your touch of evil. Follow Darkthrone on tour. Convince Albert to do a Hall Of Fame on Nightwish’s Wishmaster. Transcribe Obituary lyrics. Watch…

UK underground champs Dead Beyond Buried are giving their new album, The Dark Era, and that’s pretty cool, right? Everyone likes free stuff. That’s a given. And especially free music. Eight out 10 features with bands at some point touch upon the music industry’s perilous position right over yon great fiscal abyss, into which it’s…

On the upcoming Carnival of Death tour Florida death metal legends Obituary will shred a “fan-generated” set drawn primarily from the vile trinity of Slowly We Rot, Cause Of Death and The End Complete — including some tracks that have never before been performed live. This seemed like the perfect opportunity to get Obituary vocalist…

As evidenced by our “Cutest Kitties in Metal” article back in the December 2009 issue, we here at Decibel are staunch friends of the feline. Sure, goats are semi-regularly sacrificed at Decibel HQ whenever we need a little bump in subscription numbers, but no cats are ever harmed in the making of our hallowed mag….

Veteran death metal guitarist James Murphy (Death, Obituary, Cancer, Disincarnate, Testament) has found that the brain tumor he defeated in 2001 has unexpectedly returned. Although the tumor is benign and is currently being treated pharmacologically — chemotherapy remains an option — Murphy needs our help. The medication Murphy has been prescribed has crippling side effects,…

Denial Fiend could be considered an all-star death metal crew but that’s kinda disengenious when it’s more a case of seasoned offenders stitched together by previous convictions and a jonesing for horror movies and punk. Since forming in 2006, Denial Fiend have been part of the new old-school death metal revival much in the same…

Scion A/V announced the partial line-up for the 2011 Scion Rock Fest. It was ridiculous! But it just got even more ridiculous! So much so, Scion A/V proposed to fly Decibot from his digital hovel to Pomona, CA to witness the awesomeness, but Decibot declined because the new Rev Theory album is imminent. OK, so…

Scion A/V just announced the line-up for the 2011 Scion Rock Fest. Uh, it’s ridiculous! Morbid Angel, Obituary, Death Angel, Municipal Waste, Agalloch, Integrity, Bastard Noise… Well, you can just read the handbill for the rest. This looks to be an awesome ear-destroying fest. And it’s fucking free (if you RSVP)! Also, Decibel are co-sponsors….

Death metal had never sounded so guttural and primal before Obituary’s 1989 debut, Slowly We Rot, infected record stores.