SOULS AT ZERO
THROUGH SILVER IN BLOOD THREE EXCLUSIVE HALL OF FAME INDUCTIONS
TIMES OF GRACE
E XT R E M E LY E XT R E M E S I N C E 2 0 0 4
FLEXI DISC
INSIDE! Don’t see it? Then subscribe!
THE ISSUE OCTOBER 2016 // No. 144
ALSO
STEVE ALBINI KRIS FORCE BARONESS CONVERGE EYEHATEGOD YOB CORRECTIONS HOUSE OATHBREAKER
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October 2016 [R 144] decibelmagazine.com
upfront 10 metal muthas How James Murphy became anything but a living monstrosity 12 low culture And here’s an article about my cats 13 brewtal truth A bitter embrace 14 studio report:
the obsessed
Reborn, not too late
reviews 67 lead review Blood Incantation’s Starspawn casts its spells upon our lives, so that we may receive the gift of immortality 68 album reviews Records that could be recorded by any band that is not Neurosis, including Asphyx, Norma Jean, Controlled Bleeding and In the Woods… 80 south pole dispatch Strength, vision and turntables
Section begins on Page 18
Decibel (ISSN 1557-2137) is published monthly by Red Flag Media, Inc., 1032 Arch Street, 3rd Floor, Philadelphia, PA 19107. Annual subscription price is $34.95. 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. 4 : O C T O B E R 2 0 16 : D E C I B E L
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EDITOR-IN-CHIEF
Albert Mudrian
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Patty Moran
CUSTOMER SERVICE
Over the surface A view from the Editor in Chief's desk
As many longtime Decibel readers are
painfully aware, Neurosis have never been available for our vaunted Hall of Fame series. Oh, they’ve been 100% eligible for it, of course. As one of the most important, boundary-obliterating metallic acts of the past three decades, they clearly deserved multiple inductions based on the impact of indispensable classics like Times of Grace, Through Silver in Blood and Souls at Zero. In fact, I personally spent parts of the last decade trying to convince the band to make an exception to their longstanding agreement that only guitarists/vocalists Scott Kelly and Steve Von Till would represent the band in interviews. If you know anything about Neurosis, however, it won’t surprise you to learn that their pacts aren’t easily broken. And so, since its 2004 inception, the Decibel Hall of Fame of has remained an incomplete portrait at best. So, imagine my surprise back in May when Steve causally mentioned via email that he and Scott were, “joking about ‘lifting the veil’ on our past albums in celebration of 30 years and letting everyone be part of interviews to honor the past.” Always game to have my hopes of a Neurosis Hall of Fame attempt unceremoniously crushed, I pressed on, suggesting that we should induct the three aforementioned Neurosis albums. Steve posited the idea of doing back to back to back HOFs in consecutive issues and I returned volley with the notion of doing all three in one issue, running a Neurosis cover story on the the band’s incredible new LP, Fires Within Fires (out in September), and calling it THE FUCKING NEUROSIS ISSUE. We could include interviews with Neurosis collaborators, engineers, session musicians, former live visual artists and—if that weren’t enough—a flexi disc of a previously unreleased 1995 demo of “Locust Star” that somehow actually sounds heavier than the LP version. My idea won. So… hope you like Neurosis! If you don’t, the good news is that there will definitely be another issue of Decibel next month. albert mudrian, Editor-in-Chief
patty@decibelmagazine.com
BOOKKEEPER
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CONTRIBUTING ARTISTS
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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 $34.95. 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. PRINTED IN USA
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Times of Grave
Faith No More
Through Silver in Blood
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Neurosis
Souls at Zero
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Fires Within Fires
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OF THE
MONTH 1999’s Time of Grace remains my wolfsbane for its tectonic, Melvins-like sundering, the album’s Tribes of Neurot companion Grace slicing a tentacle off The Thing soundtrack.
Raoul Hernandez Austin, TX
This issue of Decibel is dedicated to Neurosis. In addition to a cover story on their new album and flexi disc, there are THREE Neurosis Hall of Fame pieces and tons more of Neurosisrelated content in the magazine. What’s your favorite Neurosis LP or Neurotic story?
Emo’s opening in Austin coincides with my arrival from Neurosis’ native Bay Area in 1992, after which the rest of the decade hazes over in its bowels to a hot mess of Amphetamine-Reptile, Man’s Ruin, and Touch & Go post-punks and soon-to-be metal gods. Neurosis concussions were many and often, one summer heat stroke show bordering on hallucinatory thanks to food poisoning.
8 : O C T O B E R 2 0 16 : D E C I B E L
As the music editor of the Austin Chronicle, you obviously cover pop music more than anything else. Tell us what was the most brutal metal band that you ever managed to “sneak” into the newspaper?
Seattle, San Francisco, Los Angeles, New Orleans, New York—no music scene can compare to the proliferation and proximity of literally hundreds of live music venues in Austin, and thus our populous neither slacks nor sweats genre. As such, during 22 years in my current gig, I’ve gotten to cackle about libidinous church ladies with Al Green and shoot tequila with ZZ Top’s Billy F. Gibbons, possessor of Michelangelo-sculpted hands. Heavy personal gets range from axe grinders (Joe Perry, K.K. Downing, Glenn Tipton) to throats (Tom Araya, Lemmy, Nergal, Rotting Christ’s Sakis Tolis), beaters (Dave Lombardo) and directors (John Carpenter), but my “sneaks” of 4,000-word features on Thin Lizzy, Blue Öyster Cult (long live Albert Bouchard) and Church of Misery resound loudest.
Former dB contributor Joe Gross is employed by the Austin-American Statesmen. Do you see him around town espousing the virtues of Breadwinner to anyone who will listen? Or do the news paper camps keep strictly to themselves?
He’s moved onto the books beat at the local daily, so I’m grateful our DIY beacon BookPeople looked to him for the Chuck Klosterman Q&A and let me have Megadeth’s Dave Ellefson and, earlier this year, Lita Ford—not to mention the Jesus Lizard! Joe still comes out to the one-off rarities (did I see him at Portal?), but his Twitter (@JoeGross) keeps him limber musically, and his dB successor of sorts, current contributor Andy O’Connor, turns out to every amplifier desecration in the ATX. Please give us a heads up on an Austin metal band that we should be covering in Decibel.
The Texas state capital gave the world Averse Sefira, the Sword and Watchtower—Hall of Fame? (Yes, see issue #63—ed.) But the scene vets—atomic improvisers Tia Carrera and now even metallurgic punks Mammoth Grinder— still commingle with newcomers such as the “black progressive death rock” of the Blood Royale and Bridge Farmers’ stoney wall of slam. Headcrusher’s imported Colombian thrash stood steel toe to Birkenstock with all acts on Phil Anselmo’s initial Housecore Horror Fest at Emo’s and Antone’s in 2013, and Survive’s soundtrack scares for Netflix’s Stranger Things and an upcoming Relapse debut makes them monstrously ripe for a dB profile.
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
PHOTO BY GARY MILLER
READER
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NOW SLAYING Wonder what Decibel world HQ has been rocking for the past month? Well, here are the records we spun the most while deeply regretting losing our old Through Silver in Blood hoodie.
Because not all of us were spawned in the darkest recesses of hell
This Month's Mutha: Judy Grimes Mutha of James Murphy of Disincarnate (ex-Obituary, ex-Death, ex-Testament)
Can you tell us a little more about yourself?
any reservations?
I was born and raised in Florida. I went to nursing school and was a nurse for 22 years. I love to crochet—I have hats all over the world I’ve sent to people. I love my animals and just love life in general. I have a daughter named Kristine and another son, Stephen, who lives in Germany at the moment with his wife.
Well, it was not my choice. Different generations have different music. My parents didn’t like the rock and roll I grew up with and called it names. It’s not what I would have chosen for him but that’s what he wanted. I think I have just about every album he’s ever played on: Testament, Death, Obituary and Disincarnate.
What was James like as a kid?
When James had his health scare in 2001 what went through your mind?
He was always energetic and always knew what he wanted. When he wanted something, he wanted it wholeheartedly. I knew from an early age he wanted to be in music. He loved playing guitar even when he was really young. I bought him a little plastic guitar when he was just four years old. From there, he just matured with it. How much did he practice as a kid?
A lot [laughs]. Thank goodness for headphones, although sometimes we didn’t have those. He played up to six or seven hours a day sometimes. When James decided he was going to pursue death metal, did you know what it was or have 1 0 : O C T O B E R 2 0 16 : D E C I B E L
It was a terrible year for me. In the first part of the year I lost my mother, and then he was diagnosed with this horrific [brain] tumor. The prognosis was not what we wanted to hear. Thankfully, the doctors were able to do something, and he’s pulled out of it, and for that I’m thankful. Did the experience bring you two closer together?
It did. We had to wait for the doctors to come out and worried that he might not even know us. But he knew us as soon as he came out of it, and I almost went to my knees on the floor I was so thankful. —JUSTIN M. NORTON
Albert Mudrian : e d i t o r i n c h i e f Neurosis, Fires Within Fires Neurosis, Through Silver in Blood Neurosis, Souls at Zero Neurosis, Times of Grace Neurosis, A Sun that Never Sets ---------------------------------Patty Moran : c u s t o m e r s e r v i c e Neurosis, Sovereign Neurosis, Enemy of the Sun Neurosis, Times of Grace Cult of Luna, Mariner Isis, Celestial ---------------------------------James Lewis : a d s a l e s Gridlink, Longhena Gehennah, Too Loud to Live, Too Drunk to Die Crowbar, Sever the Wicked Hand Turbid North, Eyes Alive Midnight, Satanic Royalty ---------------------------------Mike Wohlberg : a r t d i r e c t o r Neurosis, Through Silver in Blood Carpenter Brut, Trilogy Queen, Greatest Hits Vol. 1 Weekend Nachos, Apology ACxDC, The Oracles of Death EP ---------------------------------Alex Yarde : s a l e s / m a r k e t i n g m a n a g e r The Notorious B.I.G., Ready to Die Tribulation, The Children of the Night The Kills, Ash & Ice Amon Amarth, Jomsviking Nas, Illmatic
GUEST SLAYER
---------------------------------Scott Mire : d a m i e n b l a c k Abbath, Abbath Iron Maiden, The Book of Souls Black Star Riders, All Hell Breaks Loose King Diamond, The Eye Death, Scream Bloody Gore (Reissue)
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