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** Dødheimsgard’s new album, A Umbra Omega, is no joke (see mental strongman Vicotnik’s argument at the very bottom). It’s a vicious mind-warp of an album, aggressive in its obtuseness and adventurous in its boundlessness. It’s at once black metal (free think!) and not at all (non-conformist!). A Umbra Omega riffs on, then destroys said riffs on, previous albums 666 International and Supervillain Outcast. This is Dødheimsgard. Extra-dimensional black from the deepest, darkest pits of space and time. A Umbra Omega is ritualistic in its abrasiveness, religious in the outcome of surviving its completeness.

From 666 International forward, Dødheimsgard has imbibed in the weird, the strange, and the obtuse. I figured you would’ve tried to pull the opposite of what you’re known for on A Umbra Omega. Maybe that’s too predictable too. So, you opted to stay weird. Was that kind of the idea?

Vicotnik: It was no specific idea as such, but since I love music, it is natural for me to get inspired by other genres as well. There was really never any moment in my life, where I only listened to black metal. I am also product from that school of reasoning that was very much present in the early ‘90s scene, that plagiarism is the biggest sin of them all. So if you look at 95% of the bands from my era, they all (for good or for worse) evolved in some shape or form. The black metal sound of the ‘90s was in itself a little piece of sonic evolution, since early black metal records of the ‘90s did not really have any specific counterparts from the ‘80s. In addition, you had the x-factor in the ‘90s, because nobody knew what they were doing, and the engineers that were set to produce these records had no knowledge of how a record like this was supposed to sound like. I like the idea of pursuing the unknown factor, that sets the table for creativity. There are viable reasons for bands to produce their record over and over again. They may be based on some sort of ideal, or success-recipe. Inadvertently this also means that these bands, to some degree, have to abandon the creative process. Musically one could say that the main focus of this album is the feeling/atmosphere, while the tools rendered to achieve that sought after atmosphere varied through different creative approaches.

**Matt Olivo is the founding guitarist of extreme metal trailblazers Repulsion, whose Horrified LP ranks as Decibel’s #1 grindcore album of all time. Because we know that every reader ever plays guitar, we brought his print column to the Deciblog. In issue #114 Matt took a trip to NAMM 2014, where “metal gear is indeed solid.”

The National Association of Music Merchants, or NAMM, or “The NAMM” (careful—only if you’re a vet) is a massive four-day convention held annually in Anaheim, CA. It exists so that music gear companies from every rank, tier and division can present their latest designs in hopes of making deals to distribute them for financial gain. Fortunately for us, the smell of new music gear is practically a clarion call for tattooed longhairs and hessian beardfolk. They crawl out from under manhole covers in all directions and make their way to the venue. Once inside, they sprinkle metal, lice and everything vice into the crowd, thus making it much more festive atmosphere.

What happens when Meshuggah and Decapitated are fused together in brutal staccato matrimony? Human Improvement Process. Based in Italy, but not sounding particularly “Italian” (or that they’re from the home of balsamic vinegar), Human Improvement Process (or HIP) are one of the country’s upcoming stars. They’re technical, atmospheric, yet highly aggressive. “We’re beyond excited to…

Something very radical has been brewing for a while to help someone in need and preserve another’s memory. Horror author/metalhead Dustin LaValley has been suffering from life-threatening Crohn’s/IBD issues while Metal Maniacs cofounder/former editor Katherine Ludwig lost her battle with non-hodgkin’s lymphoma earlier this year, leaving an irreplaceable void in the community. This inspired the…

Ottawa quartet Goetia have been heaving sludgy post-metal into the great northern atmosphere for some time now, and recently they joined forces with Deathbound Records – home of melancholic crushers Woccon and historical battlefield-stompers Catuvolcus – for an official release of their album Le Vide.  Lovers of grandiose epicness should take note, now that some…

And so it ends. My personal weeks-long salute to Relapse’s 25th anniversary in interview form, that is. The real celebratin’ hasn’t even yet begun – what with the upcoming fests, tours, beer collaborations, reissues and the loose promise of more Devourment thongs and booty shorts, it promises to be a crazy year steeped in warm…

As previously announced, VALLENFYRE will join AT THE GATES, CONVERGE, and PALLBEARER on the North American Decibel Magazine Tour that begins on March 27 in Los Angeles. In addition to the 15-date run, VALLENFYRE will also perform at the official Decibel Magazine Tour after party, which will take place at Saint Vitus after the sold-out Webster…

It’s been a pretty good stretch for doom lately, from Pallbearer and YOB garnering much deserved critical acclaim last year to Crypt Sermon, Elder and Brothers of the Sonic Cloth dropping strong releases already in 2015 with plenty more (Monolord!) on the way. There’s also that whole top 100 doom metal albums thing that no…

When Oliver Amberg was barely out of his teens he joined Celtic Frost as they started perhaps the most contentious shift in extreme metal history. But Amberg’s roots with the band stretch back several years; he was friends with bassist Dominic Steiner, who played on To Mega Therion (see the Hall Of Fame in our…

Hailing from Minneapolis, Kult of the Wizard quietly put out a pair of instrumental EPs in 2013 and 2014, but the foursome’s latest EP, The White Wizard, deserves to attract a good deal of attention from the doom crowd, especially those who are especially transfixed by the melodic tones, occult themes, and blues influences of…

It’s not like Oregon has a monopoly on great doom acts, but sometimes it feels that way. Between Witch Mountain, YOB, and now Maestus, the Beaver state seems like the place to go if you want to get massively bummed out. Which is weird, considering they have legalized pot and everything is organic there. Whatever…

What is the literal translation to the band name, Der Weg einer Freiheit? Is there a secondary, less obvious interpretation as well? Nikita Kamprad: It can be roughly translated to “The Way of a Freedom”, but actually I never liked any of the translations I came across. Writing and playing music live makes me feel…

The Ohio brothers behind the indomitable Hell’s Headbangers label don’t fuck with the formula. Their excellent releases during the past two years or so include Midnight, Nunslaughter (a new EP every month), Shitfucker and, err…Goat Semen. You can welcome the appropriately named bangers in Gouge to the extended dysfunctional clan. Like many of their brethren…

What will the neighbors think? After a bit of recent onstage drama Trey Oswald is out as the vocalist of Reagan Youth — “Please go get help that you so desperately need,” the “members” section of the band’s Facebook page not-so-subtly reads — and former Dead Kennedy’s frontman/punk rock documentarian Jeff Penalty is in. “There’s…

**Matt Olivo is the founding guitarist of extreme metal trailblazers Repulsion, whose Horrified LP ranks as Decibel’s #1 grindcore album of all time. Because we know that every reader ever plays guitar, we brought his print column to the Deciblog. In issue #115 Matt gave his feedback on Esoterik guitars, which “offer uncommon boutique intrigue.”…

What’s up, motherpeckers? The releases are coming fast and furious, but maybe your old pal Waldo is a little jaded and would like to review some stuff that I don’t need to birdshit all over. Well, anyway, let’s get to it. First off, we have the supergroup FULGORA from the frosty nether-regions of, well, Baltimore and…

Camping in the wooded wilderness; submitting to nature’s glories, mercies and otherwise; indulging in extreme metal.  We know what you’re thinking:  Time for another plane ticket to the Pacific Northwest.  Or to Norway. But no!  The Shadow Woods Metal Fest, planned for September 25-27 in beautiful (and probably seasonally chilly) Fannettsburg, Pennsylvania, will be held…

Here, we continue with the third of four weeks dedicated to Relapse-related interviews in celebration of the label’s 25th anniversary. Go check out the interview I did with founder and president, Matt Jacobson here and here. Beyond interviewing Matt himself, the next most obvious thing would have been to track down bands past and present…

It’s been busy times for Detroit’s Child Bite. The band has been writing new songs in anticipation of hitting the studio with Philip H. Anselmo down in NOLA later this year. Then there’s the fact that the group will appear on the upcoming musical “supplement” to the Morbid Tales! An Illustrated Tribute to Celtic Frost…

Sonically, Akhlys differs from Nightbringer, but what separates the two entities spiritually? Naas Alcameth: The subject matter of Akhlys is specific to certain dream and para-somnic experiences and their situation and importance within esotericism. All lyrics for The Dreaming I were inspired directly from my own dream experiences I have journaled over the last decade…

Having spent my teen years obsessing over thrash metal in Canada during the 1980s, the question’s come up 35 years later about what would Canada’s own Big Four of thrash be? For me, it’ll always be Sacrifice, Annihilator, Infernal Majesty, and the best of them all, Guelph, Ontario’s own Razor (sorry, Eudoxis). While Sacrifice is…

If you’re into heaviness and weirdness, you’ve come to the right place. No, not the Decibel blog, although there’s certainly no lack of weirdos here; I’m talking about Flummox. This power trio clearly digs Primus, Mr. Bungle, and Mastodon, and their first full length takes them to some unusual places. To their credit, despite some…

Toward the end of our conversation with Christopher Mazeika — proprietor and high priest of Philadelphia’s badass new temple of all that is extremely extreme, Vinyl Altar — we inquire how closely his life resembles what we saw/read in High Fidelity. It’s kind of an offhand, silly question, but what Mazeika gives us in response…

Tad Doyle has preached the Gospel of heaviness for the better part of his life. His seminal band TAD was one of the first out of the gate in Seattle’s grunge movement and one of the earliest bands signed to the legendary Sub Pop label. Although they never achieved the massive crossover success of their…

Long-running UK metallers Hellbastard have two basic planks in their party platform: 1. “Support the underdog & hail the mighty riff.” 2. “Raise hell and rock the fuck out.” Both of these admirable attributes are on display in this double-barrel exclusive premieres (!) of both the band’s trailer for the sure-to-be-sick upcoming album Feral… …and…

** UK black metallers Fen have plied the marshes of greatness since debut album, The Malediction Fields. But on new album, Carrion Skies, Fen are out of the swamps they’ve called home and they’re into the wild (dark) urban streets. They’ve gone above and beyond on Carrion Skies, reducing their ethereal qualities to bone-breaking effectiveness….

Last year, Mutoid Man slammed our faces into various solid objects by blasting on to the scene with their Helium Head EP. The quality of high-octane punky, rocking prog metal quickly saw them outgrowing their selling point as a simple side project of Stephen [Cave In] Brodsky and Ben [Converge] Koller to become a propulsive…

One look at the cover art for Enforcer’s new album, From Beyond, and it’s pretty clear the Swedes wish they were living in 1983. From the sci-fi D&D skull creature to the Tempest-ized Enforcer logo, it all screams early ’80s. Get under the presentation and, well, it’s still ’80s. “From Beyond” jets like a V-8…

Today we bring you an exclusive video premiere by Italian death/thrashers Krysantemia, celebrating the advent of their third album, Finis Dierum, on Memorial Records.  The band’s blustery/blistering confluence of influences has seen them perform alongside Obituary, Rotting Christ and Kataklysm, and is right now crisscrossing Europe in support of warmongers Marduk.  The new album was recorded…

Ok, this is the second part of our interview with Relapse’s El Presidente, Matt Jacobson. Go here for part one from last week and a bit more of a thorough explanation about this being done in celebration of the 25th anniversary of the label, even if the last part of this half of the interview…