News

As a jaded old man who still buys CDs, I’ve never thought much about how the youth of today kill time while ripping digital files off the information superdriveway. Well, some days you really do actually learn something new and thanks to a bit pulled together by the crack investigative journalism team over at Nerve…

I’m jet lagged and red-eyed to the tits right now, so apologies in advance if this post is incomprehensible. The photo above was taken last night by moi aboard a Virgin America airplane. Instead of having a steward or stewardess go through the whole “what to do in case of an emergency and a dude…

Time for another assemblage of random links that I have dutifully stolen from other much more responsible blogs and nice people. 1. The_Network doing an incredible cover of Deadguy’s “Pins and Needles.” http://www.pinsandneedleszine.com/DL/97N/netp&n.mp3 2. A not yet finished rerecording of a track from Polonium, the band the Austerity Program was before they were the Austerity…

So, alright, the G.G. Allin “throbblehead” was cool.

Perhaps Dlisted.com said it best with the headline And Satan Just Became Celibate. Taylor Momsen, she of The Grinch that Stole Christmas, Gossip Girl, and The Pretty Reckless, um, fame, performed over the weekend in Toronto in an I Fuck For Satan shirt. We’re pretty sure Satan doesn’t want anything to do with Little Miss…

By now you’re probably aware that Phil Vane of Extreme Noise Terror has passed away at 46. An official statement past the above has yet to be released and fans and friends are still reeling from the news. But if the internet is good for anything, it allows us to honor a musician in the…

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zKhGZw_wQVg There is nothing really new here. We know that. We know Apocalyptica releases a record in Finland every fifteen minutes. But for the sheer audacity and artistic license from some nutjob named Joey Molinaro, we have to direct your attention to this violin cover of eight Discordance Axis songs off The Inalienable Dreamless. From…

South Jersey’s Fight Amp always sound as if they’re one fragile step away from total collapse. Line-up changes, guts-everywhere noise…er, music, and partakers in all things hard partying (rumored; maybe) are partial reasons for this particular ‘feeling’, but hearing Mike, Mike, and John coherently explain Fight Amp’s challenges (and production techniques) in this video interview…

File this one under: shit that demands your inebriated attention. Come May 6, this movie is guaranteed to incite much forehead-smacking from Viking enthusiasts.

Geezer Butler confirmed this morning that, contrary to rumors, “there will be definitely no reunion of all four original members of Black Sabbath, whether to record an album or to tour.” I’d like to be one of the first people to say it publicly- Great. Black Sabbath is one of the only classic metal/rock bands…

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nw8oYZdO22o On the internet, anything weird can be out-weirded. No matter how shocking or absurd something is, there is always plenty more around the corner to make it look tame by comparison. But with that said, this new clip by Rotten Sound is fucking weird. It would be a bad idea to give away much…

Ever wonder what Vinnie Stigma would do if he encountered a litter bug while playing chess in a little piazza? The new video for the Madball track “All or Nothing” off Empire has the answer: He’d tell the punk to keep Brooklyn beaut-ee-ful, or else. Actually, prowling around the city looking for at-risk youth is…

The Grammys caused a commotion last night with two major shockers—Justin Bieber was denied and then Arcade Fire got top honors with Album of the Year. Right, we know, you don’t give a shit about either, whatever, but the craziness was too much for CBS reporter Serene Branson. After the jump, watch a video of…

For the few of you who aren’t resorting to celebrating this Valentine’s Day with, you know, whatever happens to pop up online, the big, annoying day’s right around the corner (Monday), and you probably haven’t gotten your significant other a damn thing yet. While nothing says love like inundating your cherished one with 12 months…

Listen, I can’t compete with a metal post about redheads from a nice guy who does cool shit like this. So time to come up with a generic headline and just link to ten random things, most you’ve probably already seen. Let’s, uh, do this: 1. Guy in corpsepaint somehow turns “The Alphabet Song” into…

It’s kind of ballsy to mimic the Moz with your band name — but I think the Latino-charming crooner would approve of this NYC band’s Smithsy moniker: Meek is Murder. The Moz is never one to keep his mouth shut, and neither are these guys (listen to the first 25 seconds of “Papercups” from their fall…

It saddened us to our very boogie-metal core to read about the death of Gary Moore, one of the most dazzling guitar players ever to plug in and rock out. Moore, 58, was found dead in a hotel room in Spain. Best known for his work on Thin Lizzy’s Black Rose, Moore also had a…

Many of us spend our lives making fun of music. We hate country or deathcore or smooth jazz; we talk shit about Limp Bizkit and Ke$ha and Suicide Silence. But for the most part, we have to admit that these musicians and genres contain a modicum of ability. While people who like the String Cheese…

Last week LA Weekly used an article on “identity, music and sexual attraction” from the journal Psychology of Music as a jumping off point for a round-up of various congruous research under the header “Can Bad Taste in Music Ruin a Relationship?” The material is mostly pretty thin gruel. (Not to mention manifestly debunked by our…

That’s “underworld,” not “underpants.” Moving on. We got wind of an upcoming National Geographic special called Snake Underworld hosted by Henry Rollins. According to reports, “Rollins spent about a week in Florida swamps exploring the fringe of America’s secret snake subculture: snake smugglers, snake breeders, and even those who ‘self-envenomate.’” We were kinda hoping for…

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OG-RNq7oRUM I had a whole stream of bile directed towards everyone’s favorite load of pre-teen pandering, Attack Attack!, when I realized their latest record actually came out like six months ago. I assumed an album was on the horizon and I typed out all these dire predictions about its quality. And a quick Googling showed…

Ukraine has had a tough go of it of late. The glow of the 2004 Orange Revolution has dimmed significantly, one of the nation’s most celebrated playwrights, The Pagans author Anna Yablonskaya, was killed in yesterday’s Moscow airport suicide bombing, and amidst these woes the international press seems predominantly interested in a human chain of…

All, well most, metal writers are members of or ghost message boards. You know, places where like-minded folk with very niche-musical tastes congregate. In fact, Decibel has a forum. You should join and sling your David-sized opinions against dB forum goliaths! Anyway, it’s where we digitally travel to pontificate (very important), research (not very important),…

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…

Stoner Noise. Is that a genre? Well it is now thanks to Shroud Eater. The Miami three-piece are riding dirty with granitic riffs, heaving basslines and suckerpunch rhythms. Also, vocalist/guitarist Jeannie Saiz’s bellow is monstrous, like screams through a throat made of industrial bong glass. They’ve released a new record, a turbulent full-length called ThunderNoise,…

Twenty-five years into a career of contemporary “murder metal,” the band that penned “Albert was Worse than Any Fish in the Sea,” “What the Heck Richard Speck (Eight Nurses You Wrecked)”, The Unabomber EP, and a twenty-six track 2000 concept record exploring the life of Jeffery Dahmer (sample chapters: “Drill Bit Lobotomy,” “McDahmers,” “Into the Toilet with You”) has…

We spoke recently about metal being appropriated by the masses and the sorrow that ensues. To help prevent such misdeeds, the Internut needs an enema. Badly. One of the first fecal bombs to be detonated would be this instructional video of two lunkheads in Mexican wrestler masks teaching viewrs how to headbang to a crab-core…

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….

Ehow.com, the chubby small town second cousin of Wikipedia has an article on “How to Write Death Metal.” I’m sure there are many of you who hang around here waiting for another Cee Lo posting but would like to see how you can get involved in this exciting and ever-changing genre. Well let’s see what…

The man responsible for bringing up the butt-end of every issue of Decibel, John Darnielle, is currently being courted (no pun intended) for a guest-spot on “Law & Order SVU.” Kinda. Technically, he’s being pimped out to the L&O powers that be by his fans—Darnielle’s that dude in that band the Mountain Goats, but that’s…