Interviews

** The following five questions with the legendary King Diamond were part of a series of interviews I set up for the XXX: Three Decades of Roadrunner Records [click HERE for more info] boxset, for which I wrote the liner notes. Former Roadrunner Records Senior VP A&R Monte Conner facilitated the initial exchange with King…

** Back in August, Decibel premiered new Twilight of the Gods tune, “Destiny Forged in Blood.” Click HERE to listen. Since then, we’ve imbibed heavily on debut album, Fire on the Mountain, which is the product of guys and ex-guys from Dimmu Borgir, Einherjer, Thyrfing, and, of course, Primordial saluting age-old heavy metal with a…

As a music writer who’s supposed to help guide people to the most worthy holes to shove their money, time and psyches into (because spending any of those things on your own children is simply preposterous), I always worry a little bit that I’ve tumbled way too far down the rabbit hole of my own…

The latest closet metalhead, Jessica Pimentel, is not exactly a closet metalhead. Currently appearing in the hit Netflix series Orange Is the New Black, she refers to herself as a “closet actress.” That’s because Pimentel is well known in her native New York City for holding it down in local hardcore and metal bands, including…

“The Unwound path crossed a lot of different scenes.” – Justin Trosper “We took our music in a lot of different directions, though always staying very Unwound.” Sara Lund The above quotes from Unwound guitarist/vocalist Trosper and drummer Lund basically explain and justify the appearance of the not-metal band this week on the ol’ Deciblog….

The fact that I know anything about The Golden Grass happened by accident. Last month, I went to see Windhand with every intention of missing both opening bands. Unfortunately, my ability to time arrivals at shows–even when the venue announces set times in advance–is on par with Andy Reid’s clock management skills. So, not surprisingly,…

** My interview with Dan Swanö appeared in Decibel, but decided the long-form version of my chat with the omnipresent Swanö would best read out in its entirety. Why am I talking to Swanö? He’s the lead man (well, half) of new project Witherscape. The group’s new album is The Inheritance, which is available now…

Muscular, mournful prog metal, anyone? In the Silence are a pretty new find for me, but they don’t fit the Frickin’ Label Hack pattern because they’re sittin’ pretty with a label already.  Initially self-released, the band’s A Fair Dream Gone Mad saw a release through Sensory Records a few months back.  That’s cool, though.  I…

It would appear that amongst the many names I get lovingly and not-so-lovingly referred to as, the ether has added “fest guy” to the list. Have a fest to promote or chat up and I’ve become yer go-to-man. Not that I have a problem with this, jus’ sayin’ is all so you’re not surprised and/or…

In our September cover story, Erik Danielsson told J. Bennett that “it will be interesting to see people’s reaction to [The Wild Hunt].” Those comments were made shortly before Century Media hosted a pre-release private listening party, but Watain‘s frontman could have easily been talking about public reception, particularly now that his band’s fifth full-length…

Welcome to Tales From the Metalnomicon, a twice monthly column delving into the surprisingly vast world of heavy metal-tinged/inspired literature and metalhead authors… Writer/editor extraordinaire Kriscinda Lee Everitt‘s brand new Despumation Press “seeks to champion writing that explores the diverse themes metal customarily addresses using language in such a way as to evoke the feeling…

I love me some Secrets of the Sky.  I loved their album To Sail Black Waters when I first heard (half of) it last year.  I loved it more when the other half made it to the Soundcloudosphere (beyond the stratosphere, just underneath the Bandcamposphere).  I love it now that it’s being released by Kolony Records….

If you read Jonathan Horsley’s interview with Ben Ward last week, you’d have learned that the dudes in Orange Goblin recently quit their jobs in order to commit full-time to the band. You’d have also read that the UK quartet was about to embark on a massive North American tour that starts tomorrow in New…

There are few guitarists on the planet that get the shredder’s studio worked up as much as former Asphyx and current Grand Supreme Blood Court guitarist Eric Daniels. He writes the riffs that awaken your inner caveman. Eric was kind enough to drop in from across the pond and tell us how he started playing…

** Morne’s third album, Shadows, is a best effort from our favorite funeral doom outfit from Beantown. Come to think of it they’re the only funeral doom band from Boston. So unique was previous album, Asylum, we had to catch up with guitarist Milosz Gassan and bassist Max Furst to see why, in 2013, Morne…

Seeker are heavy, technical, and here to eat all your stuff. Lock up your women, children, and refrigerators, and when you’ve done that, kneel at the feet of vocalist Bryce Lucien and prepare to receive some serious wisdom.   Here we are, on tour as we have been for the better part of the last…

How did Napalm Death get its first Peel Session? Shane Embury: “I joined Napalm in July ’87, so the first thing I ever did with Napalm Death was a Peel Session—even before we had played live or anything, strangely enough. At that time, the BBC would have contacted Earache and this guy Martin Nesbitt was…

Activator is a relatively new four-piece from New York playing New York-styled crossover/hardcore/thrash in a New York state of mind. Their self-titled debut album was just released a couple days ago and features all the stuff 80s and 90s Lower East Side dreams were made of all lovingly caressed by a modern thrashing edge. Feel…

It’s hard to believe (for me, at least) that God Is An Astronaut is already into its second decade as a band. In fact, the Irish post-rockers just dropped their seventh full-length, Origins, earlier this month. The record marks a return to Rocket Girl, which also happened to license the first album I heard from…

Prior to the release of 2012’s A Eulogy for the Damned, the Deciblog met up with Orange Goblin and found a band that was pretty much a long-standing institution turned part-time concern. Breaking bread over a table henged with pint glasses of cider and beer, the English quartet were talking about making their first studio…

Because every day another band records another song.  Because 83% of those songs are unlistenable and you can’t be bothered to sift through the dreck.  Because metal is about not giving a shit and waking your own personal storm.  Because music is universal, expression is boundless, and even indie labels (whatever that means these days)…

Tell your average schmoe on the street that you’re doing an interview with Matt Harvey and they’ll probably think the topics of conversation are set to include pitch selection, what it’s like having Andrew Bonazelli as a stalker and season ending surgery. What automatically comes to mind when you mention the name Matt Harvey to…

The dudes in Primitive Man spent much of the summer on the road in support of their debut, Scorn. Like any other touring band, the Denver trio–which features drummer Isidro “Spy” Soto, vocalist/guitarist Ethan Lee McCarthy and bassist Jonathan Campos–has a batch of go-to tunes when it comes time to traverse the good ol’ U.S….

There are a lot of hooks on Surgical Steel, but that has always been the case with Carcass; no matter how brutal it gets, it’s always hummable. Has that been deliberate?“Well yeah, I’m glad you think that. Yes some of the music is difficult to the untrained listener but we do wanna have hooks; they…

** Niklas Sundin and I first interviewed back in ’93 after the release of Skydancer. Well, this year Skydancer, Dark Tranquillity’s stunning debut album, turns 20. To honor how time has been kind to this stellar release, Niklas agreed to answer a few nifty questions. More importantly, Dark Tranquillity have acquired the rights to both…

OK, maybe not quite, though if you do this long enough chances are you’ll be on both ends of hellish interviews. Thankfully, the only thing really wrong with this particular chin wag with From Hell is that it’s been sitting on the back burner for a while, so it may seem more general and vague…

Romanian black metal trio Persekutor’s Angels of Meth was the best album nobody heard in 2006, an anger brownie with hatred frosting. Unfortunately, a protracted legal dispute between the band and its former label Thousand Year Reich over rights to the masters has cast an official stateside release in doubt, and the only official copy…

Metal has always been a global phenomenon. However, one of the communities we don’t hear too much about outside of some fine work by filmmaker Sam Dunn is India. Decibel wanted to get a closer look at what’s going on in India and how globalization and cultural shifts are shaping metal music there. We had…

Gorguts released its long-awaited fifth album today, the band’s first in over 12 years. To celebrate, vocalist/guitarist Luc Lemay decided to take a breather from death metal and reveal a little bit of his softer side, highlighting five songs/pieces of music that show the “beauty and poetry in music.” Once you’re done checking out Luc’s…

Check out all this sonic extremity that German label/distributor Iron Bonehead is trying to drill through your thick skull!  On Friday, we brought you a tasty helping of ugly old school death from Abyssous.  This morning (as some of us return to work from a sun-baked Labor Day weekend) we serve up an entire platter…