L-G PETROV
1972 2021
OF THE WAKE HALL OF FAME LAMB OF GOD ASHES
REFUSE/RESIST
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FLEXI DISC
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JUNE 2021 // No. 200
A CE LEBRATION OF BEING
HE L L HA MM E R RECO RD S P RE S E N T S
BEYOND ACHERON
From the ashes of cult underground metal stalwarts ACHERON comes the debut release from VINCENT CROWLEY. US Edition on Hellhammer Records features 2 exclusive Bonus Tracks!
COMING JUNE 18, 2021
AVAILABLE IN LIMITED EDITION CD & COLORED VINYL
FACEBOOK.COM/VINCENTCROWLEYBAND • FACEBOOK.COM/HELLHAMMERRECORDS
Serena Cherry (Svalbard) presents her new black metal project NOCTULE with their debut album “Wretched Abyss”!
Out May 28th V I N Y L / D I G I T A L
•L A MENTING A DEAD WOR LD• Denver, CO's doom / sludge trio ORYX present their mesmerizing new album and Translation Loss debut “Lamenting a Dead World”! Mixed and mastered by Greg Wilkinson (High On Fire, Graves at Sea, Necrot) with artwork by Ettore Aldo Del Vigo!
• O U T N OW • V I N Y L / D I G I TA L
HELLISH FORM R
E
M
A I
N S
The Vermont-California two piece known as HELLISH FORM present their Translation Loss debut full length. The combination of crushing funeral doom intertwined with beautiful drone soundscapes. “Remains” features the stunning artwork of Cauê Piloto with mastering by James Plotkin (Khanate, Scorn, Zombi).
OUT JUNE 25TH V I N Y L / D I G I T A L
PURCHASE OUR TITLES AND MERCHANDISE FROM OUR BANDS ONLINE, 24 HOURS A DAY! | TRANSLATIONLOSS.COM | FACEBOOK.COM/TRANSLATIONLOSSRECORDS | TRANSLATIONLOSS.BANDCAMP.COM
ASEITAS FALSE PEACE
C TRIP A OZZY NIGHTS
COASTLANDS DEATH
DROUTH EXCERPTS FROM A DREAD LITURGY
DYSRHYTHMIA TERMINAL THRESHOLD
GIANT SQUID THE ICHTHYOLOGIST
GLORIOUS DEPRAVITY AGELESS VIOLENCE
GRAYCEON MOTHERS WEAVERS VULTURES
IREPRESS SAMUS OCTOLOGY
MANY BLESSINGS EMANATION BODY
MOUTH OF THE ARCHITECT THE VIOLENCE BENEATH
SVALBARD WHEN I DIE, WILL I GET BETTER
SWAMPBEAST SEVEN EVILS SPAWNED OF SEVEN HEADS
TEETH THE CURSE OF ENTROPY
UN THE TOMB OF ALL THINGS
WAKE CONFLUENCE
PURCHASE OUR TITLES AND MERCHANDISE FROM OUR BANDS ONLINE, 24 HOURS A DAY! | TRANSLATIONLOSS.COM | FACEBOOK.COM/TRANSLATIONLOSSRECORDS | TRANSLATIONLOSS.BANDCAMP.COM
EXTREMELY EXTREME
June 2021 [R 200] decibelmagazine.com
upfront 11 foreword SPD 4EVR 14 obituaries Ride on, L-G 16 metal muthas Keeping it in the family 18 news Slit your juice box 20 low culture High praise 21 no corporate beer Classic brew 22 in the studio:
amorphis
Time will tell
features 24 paysage d’hiver Black metal’s coldest soul is on a hot streak 26 grave miasma Call of D, T and Y
36 exclusive:
decibel columnists The regular irregularity of a metal magazine
38 exclusive:
28 noctule Taking an arrow in the knee 30 yautja You rang...? 32 carnal savagery Turning their HM-2s to 11
58 34 horndal Uh, don’t Google them
reviews
decibel art & design Well, SOMEONE has to put this shit together
40 q&a: carcass We’re lucky that Jeff Walker hasn’t discovered Netflix yet 44 the decibel
hall of fame Leaders of the New Wave of American Heavy metal Lamb of God find unlikely success the same year as our plucky little magazine with Ashes of the Wake
72 reviews introduction Does anybody remember laughter? 73 lead review Austin Lunn’s prolific Panopticon returns with their unique blend of USBM and outlaw country with …And Again Into the Light 74 album reviews Releases from bands that won’t return our calls come issue No. 300, including Bongzilla, Cannibal Corpse and Gojira 90 horrorscope Better late than never 96 damage ink Taking the piss
AT THE
GATES Positively Negative COVER STORY COVER AND CONTENTS PHOTOS BY ESTER SEGARRA 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, paid at 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. © 2021 by Red Flag Media, Inc. ISSN 1557-2137 | USPS 023142 All rights reserved. Reproduction in whole or in part without written permission of the publisher is strictly prohibited.
6 : JUNE 2021 : DECIBEL
200 Thanks (In No Order Whatsoever):
albert mudrian, Editor-in-Chief
www.decibelmagazine.com
REFUSE/RESIST
June 2021 [T200] PUBLISHER
Alex Mulcahy
alex@redflagmedia.com
EDITOR-IN-CHIEF
Albert Mudrian
albert@decibelmagazine.com
AD SALES
James Lewis
james@decibelmagazine.com DIRECTOR OF MARKETING AND SALES
ART DIRECTOR
Aaron Salsbury
aaron@decibelmagazine.com
Michael Wohlberg
michael@redflagmedia.com
Patty Moran
CUSTOMER SERVICE
patty@decibelmagazine.com
COPY EDITOR
Andrew Bonazelli
BOOKCREEPER
Tim Mulcahy
tim@redflagmedia.com
CONTRIBUTING ARTISTS
Chuck BB, Ed Luce Mark Rudolph
Online DECIBEL WEB EDITOR
Albert Mudrian
DECIBEL WEB AD SALES
James Lewis
albert@decibelmagazine.com james@decibelmagazine.com
CONTRIBUTING WRITERS
Vince Bellino Adrien Begrand J. Bennett Dean Brown Louise Brown Chris Chantler Richard Christy Liz Ciavarella-Brenner Chris Dick Chris Dodge Sean Frasier Nick Green Raoul Hernandez Jonathan Horsley Courtney Iseman Neill Jameson Sarah Kitteringham Scott Koerber Daniel Lake Andrew Lee Shawn Macomber Shane Mehling Justin M. Norton Andy O'Connor Dutch Pearce Forrest Pitts Greg Pratt Jon Rosenthal Joseph Schafer Rod Smith Matt Solis Kevin Stewart-Panko Eugene S. Robinson Adem Tepedelen Jeff Treppel J Andrew Zalucky Bradley Zorgdrager CONTRIBUTING PHOTOGRAPHERS
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Jason Blake Dave Creaney Ester Segarra Hristo Shindov Josh Sisk Gene Smirnov Levan TK Hannah Verbeuren Frank White
DECIBEL SUBSCRIPTIONS
Decibel subscriber service/change of address: 215.625.9850 x105 or contact@decibelmagazine.com To order by mail: Consult the subscription card To order by phone: 215.625.9850 x105 To order by fax: 1.215.625.9967 To order online: www.decibelmagazine.com 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. 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, paid at 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 ©2021 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
ISSN 1557-2137
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USPS 023142
PHOTO BY ISTOCK/ DEJAN_DUNDJERSKI
Alex Mulcahy • James Lewis • Mike Wohlberg • Patty Moran • Aaron Salsbury • Nick Green • Andrew Bonazelli • Amy Gallick • Tim Mulcahy • Alex Yarde • Vince Bellino • J. Bennett • Gerardo Martinez • Gordon Conrad • Scott Koerber • Bruno Guerrerio • Jeff Walker • Shane Embury • Barney Greenway • Nick Storch • Mark Evans • Mark Rudolph • Brian McDonald • Dave Witte • Kevin Sharp • Zach Smith • Matt Olivo • Chris Dick • Nick Terry • Scott Hull • Ester Segarra • Drew Juergens • Jamie Leary • Ian Christe • John Darnielle • Shawn Macomber • Jeanne Fury • Scott Carlson • Oscar Martinez • Tomas Lindberg • Jamie Roberts • Jon Pushnik • Steve Von Till • Rod Smith • Liz Ciavarella-Brenner • Dave Brenner • EJ Johantgen • Scott Mire • Chris Bruni • Amy Sciarretto • Dave Adelson • Guy Kozowyk • Paul Romano • Shane Mehling • Chuck BB • Blake Harrison • Michael Thomas Jacob Morgan • Daniel Lake • Brian Lew • Matt Calvert • Brian Slagel • Mike Faley • Jake Bannon • Kate Richardson • Mike Hill • John Dyer Baizley • Erik Rutan • Scott Kelly • Monte Conner • Dieter J. Szczypinski • Ryan Patterson • Scott Hungarter • Jeremy deVine • Laurent Merle • Scotty Heath • Sean Ingram • Justin M. Norton • Sean Frasier • Nikki Law • Ed Luce • Joseph Ferree • Todd Haug • Chris Boggess • Jason Parris • Neill Jameson • Dutch Pearce • Forrest Pitts • Chad Gailey • Jon Rosenthal • Enrico Leccese • Oscar Martinez • Christian McKenna • Adem Tepedelen • Jon Freeman • Danny Trudell • Jarvis Leatherby • Vince Edwards • Rennie Jaffe • Chris Dodge • Shannon Void • Enrique Sagarnaga • Chip Ruggieri • Carl Schultz • Mike LaCouture • Tyler Lenane • Richard Christy • Gene Smirnov • J. Drew Zalucky • Frank White • Randy Duran • Kurt Ballou • Dan Rozenblum • Thomas Gabriel Fischer • Trevor William Church • Tyler Davis • Philipp Schulte • Monica Seide • Suzy Cole • Brian Turner • Dylan Walker • Leif Jensen • Eric Mueller • Eugene S. Robinson • Nick Nunns • Mark Osborne • Keith Huckins • Götz Vogelsang • Hristo Shindov • David E. Gehlke • Jesse Matthewson • Chase Mason • Arthur Rizk • Ben Barnett • Ben Hutcherson • Jeff Treppel • Matt Snyder • Hannah Verbeuren • Joseph Schafer • Matt Solis • Levan TK • Raoul Hernandez • Sarah Kitteringham • Adrien Begrand • Dean Brown • Greg Pratt • Justin Smith • Todd Nakamine • Matt Knox • Steve Davis • Dom Romeo • Jamie Knox • Nate Garrett • Mike Thompson • Richard “The Grindfather” Johnson • Austin Lunn • Marty Rytkonen • Paul Riedl • Alex Kulick • Simon Füllemann • Ivar Bjørnson • Damian Herring • Eric Greif • Rob Halford • Brann Dailor • Jonas Björler • Steven Williams • Stephanie Shoulders • Dayal Patterson • Lee Dorrian • Todd Jones • Kurt Bachman • Cosmo Lee • Jarrett Pritchard • Martin van Drunen • Louise Brown • Jonathan Horsley • Dirk Verbeuren • Bradley Zorgdrager • Kevin Stewart-Panko • Matt Harvey • Ian Marcus • Rebecca Vernon • Matt McGachy • Ross Dolan • Bob Vigna • Jonathan Tuite • Donald Anderson • Erik Larson • Maria Ferrero • Ula Gehret • Jeff Wagner • Scott Seward • Andrew Parks • Laurie Shanaman • Matt Martinez • Robert “JR” Walker • Jon Talkington • Paula Hogan • Adam Bartlett • Pip Soret
FOREWORD BY
JOHN DARNIELLE
moods and mind-states whose representation in popular art had always been spare, but which were real ways of feeling, living and breathing; a music in which so many located a sense of belonging, and a hunger which never died, though also a hunger which did begin to ask, as it aged, maybe a little singing with the guttural vox, or maybe even some songs without guttural vox, you know, just for novelty’s sake, it works for Anathema, give a try maybe? No? You’re right, I’m old, never mind. And 200 issues was an accomplishment so immense in the world of magazine publishing that we who had written for this magazine were humbled, and stood in awe.
At the dawn of time, when light was spare upon the land and the people went hungry, because riffs were in short supply, there was a Dude at a Guitar Center, because his town didn’t have anything cooler, and behold, that Dude bought himself a pedal, and the pedal was made by a company called BOSS, which was a little weird, because our Dude hated his boss, who had made him work late on the night that Slayer was playing at the Santa Monica Civic with Overkill and Impaler. Verily, fuck that boss, whose name was Keith, and who invented posing, even if there were poseurs before him, lo, the ages attest that Keith invented posing. Yet also, hail Keith! For was it not Keith who said to the Dude, my cousin got born again and he’s giving away his shit, I don’t need this shit either, but then I thought that One Dude at work with the shitty Corolla, he looks like he hangs out with guys who play a Flying V, and here Keith laughed, because bosses always laugh at their own jokes, it is the Way of the Boss, are you not a Dude who could use these pedals? And the light shone upon our Dude, because one of these pedals was an HM-2, which had only been around for a year or so at that point, and the other was a CE-2, which was hardly the most revolutionary chorus pedal in the world, but which would absolutely fucking do the job. And the shadow of boring garbage began to wane, and on the East Coast, where hoagies were plentiful, a Young Man did hear, and attend, to the sounds then emanating from the Bay Area, and from Stockholm; from West Yorkshire, and Brazil, they were fucking maniacs down in Brazil it sounded like. PHOTO BY L ALITREE DARNIELLE
Then did that Young Man say, the zines in which I read about the wonders worked with these badass pedals, they are killer; there should be shit like this on the newsstands; we’ll always have newsstands, right? And he did begin to dream. And the years did pass, and the mosh pit was righteous, yet also lame sometimes; somebody is always fucking up the pit; we need somebody from the Lower East Side to complain about it, and, behold, an interview with Agnostic Front. And there arose, from the City of Philadelphia, a great cry: The Broad Street Bullies have grown old, and can bully no more! Keith Primeau tanked! What the fuck! And a magazine was published, and 100 issues passed, and the back page columnist got too drunk to make it through the entire Converge set, but went absolutely mental for the first three songs, and the years did progress. And then there were 200 issues of a magazine, covering the entire range of the world of heavy metal, a music which spoke to so many—of
PLEASE DO NOTE, ALBERT, THAT IF THIS ISSUE DOES NOT FEATURE A 10-PAGE TRIBUTE TO TOXIK’S WORLD CIRCUS,
I KNOW WHERE YOU LIVE.
You hold in your hands the proof that this music’s enduring power is the other thing that is real, besides death, shout-out to Tom G. Warrior, I heard your last name is not Warrior, I will never rat you out, I put that on my original Apocalyptic Raids vinyl. Please do note, Albert, that if this issue does not feature a 10-page tribute to Toxik’s World Circus, I know where you live. Hail Toxik! Hail Albert! Hail every headbanger hunched over keyboards who has made this mag a beacon in the dark for 200 issues! May we still publish when there are only roaches left to read! Hail roaches!
Hail Decibel! DECIBEL : JUNE 2021 D E C I B E L : J U N E 2 0 2 1 : 11 : 11
READER OF THE
MONTH seeing some kind of post/article about it and thought “this seems relevant to my specific interests—I will support this new endeavor.” Now every time I move, I have to move this gigantic multi-shelf space worth of magazines, along with all of my records and CDs.
Jesse Matthewson Winnipeg, Canada
You’ve been a Decibel subscriber since issue No. 1. How did you discover the magazine?
That’s actually a good question. It was so long ago that I honestly cannot remember. Fackbook/Instagram wasn’t a thing yet… how did we even get “scene” news back then? Maybe someone posted about it on MySpace? It had to be social media, but I do know that you’ve been buds with people we’ve worked with since way back, so maybe Gordon Conrad (ex-Escape Artist/Relapse Records, current Season of Mist) first told me about the impending magazine? I do remember
12 : J U N E 2 0 2 1 : D E C I B E L
You’re the frontman of KEN mode, who are famous for their staunch DIY ethic. Similarly, Decibel has remained 100% independent since its start. Do you think as the years go on, it gets easier or more difficult to remain so?
Are we famous? Infamous? Noteworthy? It’s definitely harder to get people’s attention as the years go on due to the option paralysis that technology provides, but at the same time—you can target the exact kinds of people who would appreciate you the most way easier given the same technology. I’ll probably land on the fact that it’s easier to carve out a super niche living doing something different because of the technological advances we’ve been afforded. Not that KEN mode makes enough for us to live off of [laughs]… but it keeps providing us branches to desperately clasp on to, which keeps us from falling into that dark pit
of complete obscurity for another year. The fact that Decibel magazine has been able to thrive for 17 years now, despite the printed media market being a fraction of what it once was, drives that point home a lot better than our case does! We’re celebrating our 200th issue in a pretty subdued manner, even as the pandemic is showing signs of breaking. When people can gather again, how do you think we should acknowledge this milestone in person?
You guys did some sick-ass show back for the 100th issue, if I recall correctly. I mean… sure, it seems like re-treading, and you do the beer fest a few times a year now too (obviously with 2020/2021 being the exceptions), but I think it would be irresponsible of you not to throw some kind of show with live bands, in whatever format makes the most sense. Is that a boring answer? Maybe you could make it a live stream too and the whole audience is those Boston Dynamics robots going ape-shit the whole time. I’d pay for that livestream! How many copies do you think we’d sell of a KEN mode cover? Do you and Shane have a large family we can count on?
I’m a fan of the magazine; for your sake, I know this must never happen. Unless you know something about our impending new record that nobody else does yet?
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