Interviews

Wretch’s Karl Simon talks about how the band’s debut LP came to be, how his friend and ex-bandmate Jason McCash’s death affected his songwriting process, and his plans for a brand-new chapter in his life.

On Future Echo Returns, Irish cosmonauts Slomatics fuse sci-fi and doom heavier than a dying planet.

Decibel had the opportunity to interview bassist Andreas Vidhall and guitarist/keyboardist (and occasional vocalist) Pär Stille about what makes Stilla tick. 

If there’s one album in 2016 that deserves top honors but is likely to not get noticed it’s the new Hammers of Misfortune platter, Dead Revolution.

Carcass main main Jeff Walker talks motivations for pairing with Deafheaven for co-headlining run this November. 

Metalcore forward-thinkers Norma Jean always have something new up their sleeve, a trend that continues on Polar Similar.

now we put you in touch with two more teachers who like to yell and throw elbows even when they’re not surrounded by confused adolescents:  Mike Score of All Out War, and Mike Armine of Rosetta.

Ode to the Flame sounds like a typical Nuclear Blast release. A valiant knight astride a white armored horse. The knight’s hand is aloft, in it he’s holding a great flaming sword, for which he’ll use to the slay the malignant flying beast perched behind him on the top of a snow-capped mountain. But Ode to the Flame isn’t a typical Nuclear Blast release. Not by its cover or band the band, Mantar, that created it.

“When someone like Geezer Butler tells you that he loves your music, that’s a pretty big affirmation!”

Kunal Choksi is working around the clock with Transcending Obscurity to spread the good word. We caught up with Choksi to get his good word.

Our Times of Grace Hall of Fame interview with Neurosis touches on how the band decided to record a companion album of ambient music under their Tribes of Neurot moniker (Grace) with the specific intention of creating an “active listening experience,” but alas, the cursed restraints of print media only allowed for part of the story to be told. Thankfully, you’re on the Internet right now, so you can simply read on to hear the rest of the tale.

Back to school means it’s time for At the Gates‘ Tomas Lindberg to go back to his other job: teaching. 

If summer camp for metalheads wasn’t already cool enough for you, Shadow Woods Metal Fest is an open air festival built around underground talent and grassroots organization. 

Two nerds enter. Two nerds leave. Choosing Death: The Improbable History of Death Metal & Grindcore author Albert Mudrian and Black Metal: The Cult Never Dies Vol 1. author Dayal Patterson talk creative process, Lords of Chaos, Swedish Death Metal and more. 

For the first time in western Canada in a long-ass time, and for the first time on one stage ever, hoser headbanging heavyweights…

Unless you’ve got a sensory deprivation chamber, Voidspawn’s debut EP Pyrrhic is the closest you’ll get to the dark interstices between the dimensions.

When metal-inspired ideas leave the guitar behind and embrace their ebony/ivory duality, you get Goatcraft.  In this interview, you get more Goatcraft.

Terence Hannum of Locrian talked to Decibel about his new novella Beneath The Remains.

2016 is the year progressive metal emerged from its long-standing shadow. The genre, long associated with haughtiness and a self-serving nature (music for musicians), is far more advanced now. So too are its audience and exposure points. This brings us to progressive metal stalwarts Redemption, a band that’s enthralled smart-minded music fans since its eponymous debut hit shelves (actual store shelves) in 2003.

For Nate Garrett, the healing power of heavy riffs is nothing new. Many know the Arizona-based musician as the guitarist in Gatecreeper and Take Over and Destroy, but 2016 introduces a new chapter in his musical career: the one-man doom project Spirit Adrift. With the release of the band’s debut LP, Chained to Oblivion, a mere week away, we caught up with Garrett to talk about the events that led to its creation.

Boston post-metal explorers SEA explore the murky depths of post-metal on “Stone Ship” before embarking on a European expedition with WeedWolf.

Pittsburgh’s Brown Angel don’t want to crush you. They want you to listen as they crush themselves. 

Whatever trajectory Heathen Beast were on seems to have led them to self-destruct, and whether that is permanent or simply a momentary lapse is unclear.  Before they broke up, however, they left us with twelve impressive diatribes and responses to the following questions.

Belgian death-grind outfit Aborted just celebrated their 20th Anniversary. Well, last year they did. But think of it. 20 years of death, grind, and chopping up listeners into little sanguine bits. The group’s new album, Retrogore, isn’t too far removed from its predecessors, but where it stands on its own, is in the songwriting.

A manga-themed progressive metal band that sounds like a cross between Ghost, Faith No More and the Mars Volta pimping an ‘80s/VHS-quality surrealistic, horror-themed video as part of the celebration of the release of their fifth album. Really?

Necromancing the Stone has an all-star lineup and an upcoming record offering a new take on traditional heavy metal. 

Decibel caught up with death metal legend Stevo do Caixao and Howling/Wooden Stake mainwoman Vanessa Nocera for a chat about the Surgikill origin story and its reworking/resurrection of the lost/last Impetigo song “Planet of the Vampires.”

This month, Integrity dig back into the exquisitely obscure by bringing out a righteously energetic cover of “Deathly Fighter” by Japanese (mostly) solo effort, the Randy Uchida Group.  We asked vocalist/mainstay Dwid Hellion about the process of choosing and recording the song, and here’s what he had to say.

Brujería vocalist Juan Brujo doesn’t mice words on Donald Trump in the cover story of the September Decibel. 

You probably didn’t hear traditional metal powerhouse Damien Black in 1992, so, here’s a second chance.