Decibel Magazine - January 2016 [#135]

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JAN 2016 // No. 135

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January 2016 [T135] decibelmagazine.com

upfront 12 metal muthas:

david hall

Blame Canadian muthas

20 vastum Down in a hole, losing their soul

14 low culture A year to disinherit

22 saviours Vision works

15 brewtal truth All cheers, no jeers

24 yautja They ain’t got time to bleed

16 studio report:

inter arma

Burial righteous 18 vreid Winter solstice soldiers

26 graveyard Decline phase 28 satan Splitting the indifference 30 twitching tongues Bilingual brutality

features

reviews

32 call & response:

79 lead review A leaner, meaner Baroness gets off the mat in style

intronaut

Instilling words with music criticism 34 q&a: jaz coleman Primitive feelings 39 the top 40

albums of 2015 Better luck in 2017, Faith No More

54 the decibel

hall of fame Sacrifice redefined crossover thrash on Forward to Termination

80 album reviews Artists that work hard, play harder, crush skulls hardest, including Cult Leader, Abigail Williams, Cryptopsy and Swallow the Sun 92 sub:culture Silver Bullet keeps it wolf 96 south pole dispatch We would say delete that

66LAMB OF GOD COVER STORY

The long hard road out of hell

COVER AND CONTENTS PHOTO BY TRAVIS SHINN

Decibel (ISSN 1557-2137) is published monthly by Red Flag Media, Inc., 1032 Arch Street, 3rd Floor, Philadelphia, PA 19107. Annual subscription price is $29.95. Periodical postage, Philadelphia, PA, and other mailing offices. Submission of manuscripts, illustrations and/or photographs must be accompanied by a stamped, self-addressed envelope. The publisher assumes no responsibility for unsolicited materials. Postmaster send changes of address for Decibel to Red Flag Media, 1032 Arch Street, 3rd Floor, Philadelphia PA 19107. Copyright© 2016 by Red Flag Media, Inc. All ISSN 1557-2137 | USPS 023142 rights reserved. Reproduction in whole or in part without written permission of the publisher is strictly prohibited.

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PRO DOMINION, BLACK BEAUTY

PRO DOMINION ™, IVORY

DX2, TRANSPARENT BLACK

DX2, SATIN BLACK

Mark Morton, Lamb of God

HEA R MARK MOR TON ON LAMB OF GOD’S LAT EST RELE ASE , VII: STURM UND DRANG

jacksonguitars.com Photo: Scott Uchida ©2015 Jackson/Charvel Manufacturing, Inc. Jackson ® and Dominion™ are trademarks of JCMI. All rights reserved.

GRAB THE MA RK MORTON SIGNAT URE MODEL S AT AN AUTHORIZED JACKSON RET AILER OR CHECK ’EM OUT ONL INE AT JACKSO NGUITARS.COM

www.decibelmagazine.com

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January 2016 [T135]

PUBLISHER

EDITO R-IN-CHIEF

Alex Mulcahy

CONTRIBUTING WRITERS

alex@redflagmedia.com

Albert Mudrian

albert@decibelmagazine.com MANAGING EDITO R

Andrew Bonazelli

andrew@decibelmagazine.com ART DIRECTOR

Bruno Guerreiro

bruno@decibelmagazine.com MARKETING/ PROMOTION BOOKKEEPER

CUSTOMER SERVICE

The headliner has kinda been featured on a previous Decibel cover. The headliner has also kinda had at least one album inducted into the Decibel Hall of Fame.

Megan Matuzak

finance@redflagmedia.com

Patty Moran

patty@decibelmagazine.com

CONTRIBUTING ARTISTS

Chuck BB, Mark Rudolph

ADVERTISING

Albert Mudrian

albert@decibelmagazine.com

Though it’s obviously a missed oppor-

tunity for a monthly international holiday, we simply can’t guarantee that everyone receives his or her copy of Decibel on the same day each month.

So, depending on how big of a stoner your mail carrier is, the lineup for the 2016 Decibel Magazine Tour may have already been announced by the time you read this.

We’ll bet against the odds of the USPS’s competence—always a safe wager—in an effort to not reveal any potential spoilers, should you be reading this prior to our November 16 announcement. But we can present the following Deci-related clues to the identities of the four acts that will partake in the fifth iteration of our annual North American tour de fucking force:

James Lewis

james@decibelmagazine.com

540.878.5756 UNDERTONES SECTION

Drew Juergens

drew@decibelmagazine.com

Online DECIBLOG EDITOR

Andrew Bonazelli

ONLINE ADVERTISING

Ben Umanov

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1032 Arch Street, 3rd Floor, Philadelphia, PA 19107 Tel: 215.625.9850 / Fax: 215.625.9967 www.decibelmagazine.com

Anthony Bartkewicz Adrien Begrand J. Bennett Shawn Bosler Brent Burton Richard Christy Liz Ciavarella-Brenner John Darnielle Chris Dick Jonathan K. Dick Sean Frasier Jeanne Fury Nick Green Jonathan Horsley Neill Jameson Scott Koerber Daniel Lake Shawn Macomber Shane Mehling Kirk Miller Justin M. Norton Andy O'Connor Matt Olivo Dutch Pearce Forrest Pitts Etan Rosenbloom Rod Smith Zach Smith Matt Solis Kevin Stewart-Panko Adem Tepedelen Jeff Treppel CONTRIBUTING PHOTO GRAPHERS

Scott Kinkade Jonathan Pushnik Ester Segarra Travis Shinn Gene Smirnov Frank White

RECORD STO RES

To carry Decibel, call 1.215.625.9850 x105 DECIBEL SUBSCRIPTIONS

The main support band has definitely been featured on a previous Decibel cover. The main support band has also definitely had at least one album inducted into the Decibel Hall of Fame.

Decibel subscriber service/change of address: 215.625.9850 x105 or contact@decibelmagazine.com To order by mail: Consult the subscription page To order by phone: 215.625.9850 x105 To order by fax: 1.215.625.9967 To order online: www.decibelmagazine.com

The seccond of the four acts has been featured on a previous Decibel cover. They have recorded and released a track for the Decibel Flexi Series. This band has also performed at a previous Decibel-related event.

VISA/MASTERCARD/DISCOVER accepted Subscribers: please alert us of any change of address 6-8 weeks before the date of your move. Decibel is not responsible or obligated to re-ship issues missed because of a move we were not informed of 6-8 weeks before the move took place.

The opener is currently recording a track for the Decibel Flexi Series.

They have a record that has placed in this issue’s Top 40 Albums of 2015 (alongside a record from one of the other three bands on the tour).

OK, that’s all you’re getting. But in the event that you’re reading this after November 16, this information is pretty redundant, so enjoy the other 99 pages in this issue, as we tie a bow on 2015 and plunge face-first into Decibel’s 12th year of extremely extreme-ness. Thank you for the perpetual support; we will continue to reward it. albert mudrian, Editor-in-Chief

DECIBEL BACK ISSUES/MERCHANDISE

To order by phone: 1.215.625.9850 (10 a.m. – 5 p.m. EST) To order by fax: 1.215.625.9967 To order online: www.decibelmagazine.com Decibel (ISSN 1557-2137) is published monthly by Red Flag Media, Inc., 1032 Arch Street, 3rd Floor, Philadelphia, PA 19107. Annual subscription price is $29.95. Periodical postage, Philadelphia, PA, and other mailing offices. Submission of manuscripts, illustrations and/or photographs must be accompanied by a stamped, self-addressed envelope. The publisher assumes no responsibility for unsolicited materials.

Postmaster send changes of address for Decibel to Red Flag Media, 1032 Arch Street, 3rd Floor, Philadelphia PA 19107.

Copyright ©2016 by Red Flag Media, Inc. All rights reserved. Reproduction in whole or in part without written permission of the publisher is strictly prohibited.

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READER OF THE

MONTH

Craig Jackson La Crosse, WI

You started subscribing to Decibel with issue #43. In fact, you have a pretty great story about the circumstances surrounding the delivery of that particular issue. Can you elaborate?

I started subscribing to Decibel in early 2008, shortly before my daughter was born. About a week before the due date, my (ex-) wife called me at work and said her water broke and she was coming to pick me up to go to the hospital.

She grabbed the mail on the way, and lucky for me, Decibel #43 was in there. It turned out to be a 16-hour labor that afforded me plenty of time to fantasize about getting blasted with Alexi Laiho. I’m not a COB fan, but J. Bennett made it sound like they’d be fun to party with.

I knew right away that my search for a good monthly metal magazine was over. I think it’s pretty cool that my stack of old Decibels will always be as old as my Claire Bear!

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Children of Bodom were on the cover of that issue.

COB frontman Alexi Laiho was also featured as part of the cover of our previous issue (#134). Besides Alexi’s hairline, for better or worse, what’s changed in the magazine over those nearly 100 issue since then and what hasn’t?

The Flexi Series is awesome, hands down my favorite change to Decibel over the years. One simple thing I kind of miss from the old days is the “new releases” section. It was nice to have a little summary of what’s coming out right there at the beginning of the issue. I also greatly appreciate how Decibel no longer seems to feel strangely obligated to cover so many Christian metal acts. For a while there back in 2009-ish, it seemed like there was an Upfront profile about some such band almost every month, and you kind of had me wondering there for a while. Nice recovery!

Your Discogs.com profile is mighty impressive. How long have you been collecting records? And do you consider trades?

Thanks! My first music purchase ever was the 7-inch single for J. Geils Band “Centerfold” in the summer of ’82. When cassettes took over, I wore out my copy of Van Halen 1984 and

then moved on to S.O.D. Speak English or Die. My first trip to the CD store resulted in two purchases: Danzig III: How The Gods Kill and Too $hort Shorty the Pimp.

Yes, I went through an N.W.A./Ice Cube/Ice-T/ Cypress Hill phase in the early ’90s. I’ve only gotten into collecting vinyl again within the last few years. I picked up Horn of the Rhino Weight of Coronation on ultra-clear vinyl around Xmas 2010, and have been hooked on buying LPs ever since. I’ve never traded records before, but I do take pride in being the one guy who’s always making my local alternative college rock head shop/record store specialorder me unholy black and death metal like Nunslaughter and Incantation.

You’re a huge Kyuss fan. We inducted Welcome to Sky Valley (a.k.a. “Kyuss”) back in 2008. Did we make the right call, or should we have gone with Blues for the Red Sun?

Sky Valley is an awesome record with my favorite Kyuss riff of all time (“Supa Scoopa and Mighty Scoop”). I vividly remember buying it the day it came out, driving to the end of a deserted gravel road by the lake, roasting up, and losing myself in the awesomeness of the mighty Kyuss. That being said, Blues for the Red Sun is an absolute classic of a classic that must be enshrined in the Hall someday! It’s a timeless, nostalgia-inducing album that can only be approximately equaled at best: the product of a special time, place and combination of young musicians. C’mon Josh [Homme], everyone wants Kyuss back except you!

Chuck BB is the illustrator of the graphic novels Black Metal, Vol. 1,2 and 3 For more info and art, head over to chuckbb.com

presents:

s s e f o k c u n S s o ie Symph n

In which we recount the most the insane and inspired posts of g blo in es rad month from our com

WATCH: SEVEN MINUTES OF BEAVIS & BUTT-HEAD MAKING FUN OF DANZIG

ANDY GRAMMER & ALLISON HOLKER DID A ROUTINE TO MARILYN MANSON ON DANCING WITH THE STARS At the time of this writing, Metalocalypse is in the middle of a social media crowdfunding campaign to help make the final season a reality. Until that happens, evidently the most metal show on television is Dancing With the Stars, in which, well… you read the headline. Yes, the song was “Beautiful People.” (“Lunchbox” never gets any love…) “I’m sure one of them is kinda-sorta famous for something,” shrugs MS cofounder Axl Rosenberg, “like being on a soap opera or an ’80s shitcom or a reality show or a sex tape or whatever …

Common sense tells me that this will do little to dispel the notion that Marilyn Manson is metal for theater dorks.”

The reboot was disappointing, mainly because what was the point of watching Beavis and Butt-head talk shit on reality TV? But back in the classic years, Glenn Danzig appeared on B&B in some shape (less rotund) or form four times. MS cofounder Vince Neilstein runs through his appearances, pointing out, “Mike Judge could never have predicted motherfuckin’ bricks and onion soup and the North Side Kings and hundreds of memes in Impact font, but he (through his characters) seemingly already knew how completely ridiculous, via Beavis—AND COOL, via Butt-Head— the man would turn out to be.

TRIBULATION Melancholia

TAGS: BEAVIS & BUTT-HEAD, DANZIG

ABBATH

Fenrir Hunts

TAGS: DANCING WITH THE STARS, MARILYN MANSON

THIS CLIP OF DEVIN TOWNSEND’S ZILTOID MUSICAL IS BATSHIT INSANE The Killers put out a DVD six years ago called Live From the Royal Albert Hall, and they pretty much suck these days, so we can absolutely get behind the former Strapping Young Lad mastermind staging a Ziltoid the Omniscient musical there. “Unsurprisingly, the production was INSANE,” Vince reports. “Massive video screens, giant puppets, dancers and backup singers performed behind Devin and the Devin Townsend Project band he’s been playing with for years. He doesn’t need all that hullabaloo of a full-on stage production to make his shows engaging, although all that stuff certainly doesn’t hurt!” Check out the clip of “March of the Poozers” at MS. TAGS: DEVIN TOWNSEND, ZILTOID

GWAR COVERS CYNDI LAUPER’S ODE TO TOUCHING YOURSELF Oderus Urungus was a friend to both Decibel and MetalSucks, and GWAR hasn’t slowed down since his untimely passing, prolonging their streak of bizarro covers for the Onion A.V. Club. They recently took on Cyndi Lauper’s immortal jack-off anthem “She Bop.” “And it’s pretty much what you’d expect,” says MS contributor Emperor Rhombus “A grimy thrash version of a ridiculous song about getting yourself off. Of course, it’s also prefaced with some classic GWAR-style banter and closed out with a Ramones cover, because hey, this is a Scumdog cover here.”

TAGS: GWAR, CYNDI LAUPER

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