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“Pale Pretender travels heavy hearted through ominous landscapes in a world where more is not enough,” says Callisto vocalist Jani Ala-Hukkala. Finns aren’t the most talkative of peoples, so it stands to reason Ala-Hukkala is letting the gravity of his statement (and the “Pale Pretender”) do most of the talking here, which is fine for…

Steffen Kummerer is better known for his stupidly good guitar and vocal work in the obscenely great tech death outfit Obscura. But Kummerer has a dark side. One that harkens back to the mid-’90s, when Swedish death metal tyrants Dissection reigned the cold winds of nowhere and drank, with pure joy, night’s blood with Elizabeth…

Some of us recognize Jeff Tuttle as a recent guitarist with the Dillinger Escape Plan, where he tore ears and brain matter from 2007 until 2012.  Jeff has also been active as a filmmaker (see his new-ish video for a new Child Bite song here) as he continues his musical pursuits in Old Gods and…

I’d like to take this opportunity to nip something in the bud: Cambridge, Ontario’s Greber is in no way associated with, saluting, paying homage to, or actually even really aware of, former NHL goaltender Martin Gerber. The first indication should have been that the moniker as selected by the two-man sludge/doom monolith is spelt completely…

Darth Raider Welp, Raiders fans: I hate to say it, but I think I’m going to be retiring Oakland Raiders talk for the rest of the season. With three weeks left, and teams fighting for their playoff lives, I don’t see how a two-win team could be worth mentioning. That said,  I’m going for one last…

Primordial dropped its eighth LP late last month, another stellar entry in an already impressive oeuvre. To celebrate, frontman Alan Averill (aka A.A. Nemtheanga) sent us a playlist that, as he describes, “might be something a little different.” After perusing his picks, it’s hard to disagree. We’ll let him take it from here: “I always…

I consider Botanist to be one of modern black metal’s great “projects.” Germinated by a solitary San Franciscan named Otrebor, it’s a band whose music is both utterly bizarre (floraphilic paeans from a misanthropic hermit, rendered only in drums, voice and hammered dulcimer) and emotionally devastating. This is all to say that when Otrebor tells…

Ampere — the band featuring Will Killingsworth of much-celebrated Amherst, Massachusetts scream-y, powerviolence-y trailblazers Orchid — is back with a new split on No Idea and, as the super-intense, raw-as-fuck exclusive stream below will surely attest, the band has not missed a single goddamn step… Here is what vocalist Stephen Pierce told Decibel about the…

Ah, December — the time of the year when everyone puts out their “best of” lists and thinks about albums that will come out in summer 2015. We’re just as guilty at Decibel; our annual top 40 extravaganza is probably on your nightstand. This would lead you to think that no new music comes out…

Brooklyn might be known for its rather healthy underground metal scene that revolves around more cutting-edge, extreme sounds, but it’s heartening to know that some folks in the borough are flying the old school, “true” heavy metal flag high and proud. The Defenders of the Old Fest has been kicking around the Eastern seaboard for…

Finland and fire are the cheapest special-effects for a metal video. Wolfheart have both! Started as a solo project by Tuomas Saukkonen (ex-Before the Dawn, Black Sun Aeon, a whole bunch of others), it’s since morphed into a full band effort. The video below comes from the upcoming reissue of his debut, Winterborn, so most…

They say to know the heart of a man first you must walk a mile in his shoesWhat I am learning from your footsteps…One day in my life would destroy you I remain firm where you falter I swim in the tears of your daughter So roars Alekhine’s Gun’s singular force of nature frontwoman Jessica…

We’re not at all shocked that a band called Couch Slut had trouble printing the artwork to their new album My Life As A Woman. And that’s before we even saw the image — a nothing-is-hidden illustration of felicitous fellatio too racy for ribald 70s tome The Joy Of Sex (check it out on their…

Lev Weinstein, Krallice drummer and extremely extreme baseball aficionado, asked us for a chance to nerd out on metal and MLB with ESPN senior baseball writer/bastion of sensibility Keith Law (whom we interviewed in the 2014 baseball preview). We’re not surprised that both of them stepped up to the plate with the following insightful and…

** 2014, the Year of the Horse. 2014, the Year of Horrendous. While Horrendous’ previous full-length, The Chills, sent death metallers back to the grave (whatever that means), new album Ecdysis made the stateside trio a household name (admittedly small number) and a contender for top spots on Year End lists. Trust us, the word…

Ok, ok, ok, it’s getting to be the end of the year, so the releases REALLY slow down here. I’m going to just go ahead and get my end of the year list out of the way now, in case you want to get your Xmas shopping on.  If you have a curiosity or have…

Two years ago, we tried to wrap our punk-savvy tech-death brains around Dimesland’s debut EP, Creepmoon.  The task proved too difficult to complete, but we sure enjoyed trying.  Complex frustration/anger/love is one of the perks of freaking out on heavy music. Next week, the Dimesland crazies will release their full-length, Psychogenic Atrophy, which features this gem we’re…

German/Yank quartet Downfall of Gaia have returned with their latest attack on the status quo with Aeon Unveils the Thrones of Decay, the band’s third complete full-length.  This is a late-in-the-year offering you’ll want to pay some attention, as it gathers all shades of darkness, then both pets and pummels you with it.  It’s occasionally sludgy,…

Some time ago, I introduced you to a new face on the NYC crossover scene, Activator (refresher course, here). At the time, they were on the eve of the release of their self-titled debut album. Since then, they have been relatively quiet, especially considering bands these days post every aspect of their musical and non-musical…

Black Hole Son Two weeks ago, I watched a game that captivated me like few have this season. It was a match between the then 7-3 Kansas City Chiefs (who are riding what I believe will be a massive tailspin) and the 0-10 Oakland Raiders. The Raiders had nothing to play for but their fans. As…

Axegressor hails from Finland, home of Decibel HOFers like Amorphis and Skepticism. As you can tell from the video below for “Command to Last”, even though the quartet might sound nothing like those fellow countrymen–it’s more thrash than anything else–like most Fins we’ve encountered in our worldly travels, the band seems to know how to…

By Mike McGinnis The point of no return. It’s not always the easiest concept to absorb. But approaching that point during the production of a record is both frightening and cathartic. After about a year of writing and almost half a year of demoing and recording eight new songs, we’re now approaching that point. We…

Old outlaw scumfucs never die. Actually, the virtuous go first and the bad people continue along in almost cockroach fashion. They’re unkillable. Case in point: Merle Allin, brother of the legendary musical outlaw GG. You might hate GG but you certainly know about him. Not only did Merle survive life with one of the craziest…

Holy shit, someone actually did a play on Van Halen’s most underwhelming (DLR-era) album. Don’t expect anything off of Devil Down to sound like “Dancing in the Streets,” however. Twingiant prefer their guitars low and slow, eschewing fancy musicianship for heavy grooves and psychedelic effects pedals. This is southern-fried stoner doom at its finest, and…

So, No Echo is hands down one of the most eclectic, interesting music culture websites out there these days and over the course of past year its erudite, seasoned proprietors — former Noisecreep editor Carlos Ramirez and Andrew Aversion — have been kind enough to invite a few Decibel writers to contribute. Here is what…

So, last week, we debuted the self-produced video for Fister’s “Life is Short, Life is Shit, Soon it Will Be Over.” That was done here. That was done in the lead-up to the split release with Denver’s Primitive Man which is out now via friends of Decibel, A389 Recordings. Primitive Man “deliver three savage new…

Right before people started pulling up their carts to head home for Thanksgiving we premiered the first making of video from the Canadian neofolk project Musk Ox, the perfect accompaniment to the time of the year when the days get shorter and much colder. In case you missed it you can check it out here….

Music sales and airplay charts document the most heard and purchased artists, albums and songs in music. Death metal and grindcore never get airplay and barely sell anything compared to less-niche genres. So the logic should be simple: charts are irrelevant to extreme metal bands and fans, right? Not entirely. The fact that almost nothing…

We are but a month away from J.C.’s birthday bash. Time to crash the party, Decibel-style. Treat either yourself or the misanthropic metalhead in your life to a killer deal sure to sour the Christmas spirit. It’s Cyber Monday once again, and today only, if you sign up for a 12-month or 24-month subscription to Decibel, you’ll receive one extra issue…

Highly proficient, super-classy death metal is rarity these days. That’s why Abysmal Dawn’s new album, Obsolescence, should be on your radar. It’s probably not, but we’ll do our part to change that. Forged in the great fire pits of Los Angeles and informed by a wide range of great artists, Obsolescence, immediately makes its mark….