The Metal Detektor
June 20, 2011 Chris Dick
It takes too long to go through every online distro, e-store, virtual shop to find the best prices on the latest…uh, precious metal titles. Want the new Arch Enemy Khaos Legions for less than $10? Try Amazon. Or Century Media’s CM Distro. Want the new Morbid Angel wooden box set for less than three Bens?…
Studio Report: YOB
June 20, 2011 Jeanne Fury
Artist: YOB Title: ATMA Producer: Mike Scheidt Studio: Dogwood Recording, Eugene, OR Recording Dates: May 3 to 24 Release Date: Aug. 16, 2011 Label: Profound Lore YOB frontman Mike Scheidt has spent the past 10 minutes describing the new gear he’s rounded up for the band’s sixth album, titled ATMA. Having about as much expertise…
STREAMING: Harm’s Way “New Beginnings”
June 17, 2011 Chris Dick
Chicago-based metallic hardcore outfit Harm’s Way are right down the middle of our proverbial plate. That’s a baseball reference — made by a non-baseball fan — if you were thinking of fine china or the affordable stuff you get in boxes of 50 at Ikea. Seriously, hearing Harm’s Way’s new album Isolation immediately made us…
For Those About to Squawk: Waldo’s Pecks of the Week
June 17, 2011 Andrew Bonazelli
Every other Friday, Waldo the African Grey Parrot, frontbird of thrash-grind immortals Hatebeak, will get you caught up on the week’s latest “extreme” releases. What’s up? Waldo here. Want to know whose liner notes are at the bottom of my cage for the next few upcoming weeks? Well, I’m here to tell you… In a…
What, No Pirate Metal?
June 16, 2011 Shane Mehling
It’s time for another website to piss you off since it’s missing some bands or misdefines “Oriental Metal.” Regardless, Map of Metal is a pretty fun, interactive site that allows you to check out bands and songs from many, many different metal genres on a big, crazy jean jacket/There Be Dragons map thing. Just click…
LIVE REVIEW: Amon Amarth May 6, 2011, TLA, Philadelphia
June 16, 2011 Chris Dick
Let’s put this in perspective. I can’t recall — ever! — a band of Amon Amarth’s music style and profile doing a full U.S. tour without direct or local support. That includes every legend in the book. Entombed, Morbid Angel, Cannibal Corpse, Vader, Carcass, Napalm Death, Obituary, etc. Sure, they may’ve done a string of…
Seth Putnam: Rest In ???
June 15, 2011 Shane Mehling
It’s said that the opposite of love isn’t hate but indifference. And that has been the most common sentiment I’ve heard since the passing of Seth Putnam, singer of Anal Cunt and the man who called the world gay. Of course for his detractors, what else can you do? To actually celebrate his death would…
Justify Your Shitty Taste: Voivod’s “Phobos”
June 15, 2011 Jeff Wagner
Almost every band has that album: you know, the critically and/or commercially reviled dud in an otherwise passable-to-radical back catalog. Well, every Wednesday morning, a Decibel staffer or special guest will take to the Deciblog to bitch and moan at length as to why everybody’s full of shit and said dud is, in fact, The…
Norway Makes – The World Takes
June 14, 2011 Chris Dick
In the ‘90s, the antics of Varg Vikernes and several others pushed black metal into an unwelcome, possibly unintended spotlight (though one can argue razing Stave churches was an attention-garnering move). But black metal, from a Norwegian perspective, is no longer musica non grata. Having witnessed in person Dimmu Borgir’s NRK-funded and sponsored (effectively the…
Don’t Kill Yourself Quite Yet
June 14, 2011 Shawn Macomber
Okay, so maybe the (free!) Suffer Mental Decay demo isn’t quite as showy as a mass rock plateau suicide, but, good goddamn, the not-overly-modern-death-metal-with-a-twist of Masada sure is an awesome breath of fresh air in these deathcore-laden days. Featuring ex-members of Immolation and Goreaphobia and fronted by Crucifier’s “Black Lourde of Crucifixion” Cazz Grant, this…