OF VOID DEAFHEAVEN TEMPLE CANDIRIA IN THE STUDIO THE LIGHTEST MATTER OF THE UNIVERSE 300 PERCENT DENSITY
HOODED MENACE SCULPTURED HORRENDOUS GOST CEREBRAL ROT FAWN LIMBS
SEPTEMBER 2021 // No. 203
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E XT RE M ELY EXTREME
September 2021 [R 203] decibelmagazine.com
upfront 8 metal muthas Horrendous little secrets
14 wormwitch One more for the road
10 low culture But what about Fenriz’s cat?!
16 hour of 13 A little bit of everything all of the time
11 no corporate beer The brew-ture is female
18 fucked up Horsing around
12 in the studio:
20 cerebral rot Gross profit
temple of void Moving on from the world
22 gost Love the skin you’re in 24 dirty vicar High minded, lo-fi 26 krigsgrav United to divide 28 lotus thrones Don’t stand so close to him 30 fawn limbs Math is hard 32 sculptured Ending is the new beginning
features
reviews
34 hooded menace The classics never go out of style
65 lead review Deafheaven create their most daring and least heavy record to date with the paradoxically named Infinite Granite
36 q&a: deafheaven Vocalist George Clarke wins our award for “Least Expected Pull Quote in History” 40 the decibel
hall of fame Candiria tow the line of both audio complexity and mainstream acceptance with 300 Percent Density
66 album reviews Releases from bands that will never know what the fuck a TikTok is, including K.K.’s Priest, Sodom and Wolves in the Throne Room 80 damage ink Fun and games
52
Hell Hath No Fury COVER STORY COVER AND CONTENTS PHOTOS BY JASON BLAKE
Decibel (ISSN 1557-2137) is published monthly by Red Flag Media, Inc., P.O. Box 36818, 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, P.O. Box 36818, Philadelphia, PA 19107. © 2021 by Red Flag Media, Inc. All rights reserved. ISSN 1557-2137 | USPS 023142 Reproduction in whole or in part without written permission of the publisher is strictly prohibited. 2 : SEP TEMBER 2021 : DECIBEL
august 13 mmxxi
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REFUSE/RESIST
September 2021 [T203] PUBLISHER
I’ve written over 200 Just Words over
the past 17 years, so it’s unsurprising that some of these editor’s notes flow as naturally as the first Krallice album, while others unfold with the unpredictability of the last Krallice album. This piece is decidedly the latter. So, since nothing is coming easy, you’re getting a one-time-only Just Words lightning round of all the started (and then abandoned) concepts for this month’s editor’s notes. Hope you dislike smooth transitions. •
Today is my birthday. I’m 46, which is a completely insignificant birthday mile-marker. No new privileges or benefits are unlocked at 46—I’m just like extremely middle-aged now. The texts are nice, though, as are the Immortal birthday memes on Facebook, so thanks for those. Definitely a worthy reward for inching that much closer to death.
•
Watching some of you—including a few of you on the masthead to the very right of this column—unleash your Deafheaven scorn is a nearly inexhaustible well of comedy. I’m not even specifically talking about the reaction to the band’s decidedly less-metallic new album (reviewed in this issue quite nicely by Nick Green). So, if the mere concept of major key signatures and pink album art/blankets residing in the same zip code as black metal was too much for some fragile cultists to bear, welp, the “doo-wop” influence (frontman George Clarke’s words from J. Bennett’s interview elsewhere in this issue) will likely inspire entire DSBM albums about Infinite Granite. While I personally miss the variables of their tension-and-release blackgaze formula, I certainly own enough early-’90s Catherine Wheel, Swervedriver and Slowdive records that this is an easy transition. Unlike this next paragraph for you.
•
Decibel Magazine Metal & Beer: Philly completely sold out while I was writing this. I recounted the agonizing journey between the event’s March 2020 pandemic postponement and its late May 2021 lineup reveal just last issue. This time, instead of whining, I’ll just thank everyone who has supported this event over the years and helped us reach this milestone. I’ve certainly had worse birthday presents. albert mudrian, Editor-in-Chief
Alex Mulcahy
alex@redflagmedia.com
EDITOR-IN-CHIEF
Albert Mudrian
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CONTRIBUTING WRITERS
james@decibelmagazine.com DIRECTOR OF MARKETING AND SALES
ART DIRECTOR
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Patty Moran
COPY EDITOR
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BOOKCREEPER
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CONTRIBUTING ARTISTS
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READER OF THE
MONTH I had heard the title track before seeing the movie, and when those dots all connected, I knew I wanted to be an embalmer. I thought it would be interesting and a chance to be involved with something not everyone gets to see. I started at 20 and took to it right away.
Tom Mahoney New York, NY
You’re a funeral director/embalmer in New York City. How did you get into this line of work?
I started going to college and realized quickly it wasn’t for me. I was looking into trade schools and this one jumped out at me. One of the things that helped lead me towards funeral school was metal and horror movies. The combination of [Entombed's] Left Hand Path and Phantasm was probably the biggest;
6 : SEP TEMBER 2021 : DECIBEL
Do you know any other people in the funeral industry who are also metalheads?
There are other metalheads I met in the industry here. It’s fun when we bump into each other and start talking about bands and shows, or when we run into each other at Saint Vitus. One of the fun things about meeting metalheads in the funeral industry is that it’s usually a surprise. We are all dressed in suits, and it’s not until you start talking in more detail that you find out they are a metalhead. I think I knew Adam [Romanowski] from Gwynbleidd for like
a month before we found out that we were both into metal. Pick your favorite of the following three bands: Mortician, Embalmer or, um, Perverted Funeral Home?
In my collection I have a bunch from Mortician and Embalmer, and I’ve seen them both live a bunch of times. That being said, I have a Chainsaw Dismemberment tattoo on my leg, so I’ll go with Mortician. They’re a staple band here in New York. Those guys even came all the way out when Staten Island tried to revive the L’Amour [metal venue] name, which was the first time I saw them. My friends in Torturous Inception got to open for Mortician in Philly somewhere; that was a great show. Seriously, this seems like it could be a tough job mentally. How do you unwind and get yourself centered after the grind of working with people who have recently lost loved ones?
The funeral business is, at times, an emotionally demanding job. You have to separate work and home life. Thankfully, I have a very supportive wife, an extensive music collection and my own guitar to get myself back to zero. The only other thing I do to take my mind of work is I’ll go for a run. I put on headphones with some thrash revival band like Lazarus A.D. or Warbringer. That keeps me going.
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
NOW SLAYING Wonder what Decibel world HQ has been rocking for the past month? Well, here are the records that we spun most while not-so-secretly mocking you for using the term “unclean vocals.”
Because not all of us were spawned in the darkest recesses of hell
This Month's Mutha: Marybeth Knox Mutha of Jamie of Matt Knox of Horrendous
Tell us a little about yourself.
How did you feel about the name of your sons’ previous punk band, the Raunchy Fucking Bensons?
I’m a Philly girl! I have seven siblings and our house in Fox Chase is backed up to a recreation center. My entire youth was spent on year-round sports. My husband Jim’s youth was similar. We’ve been married for 36 years and have three sons: Jamie, Matthew and Patrick. Neither one of us played an instrument, but music was always playing in the background of our lives. What were Jamie and Matt like growing up? Were they at one another’s throats, best friends, somewhere in between?
Jamie and Matthew are only two years apart, so they were close from the beginning. Patrick was much younger. Our neighborhood was loaded with kids, so they had a ball playing outside. They both played organized soccer, baseball, basketball and football. I was thrilled when Matthew asked for guitar lessons in fifth grade. Jamie started playing the bass soon after. When their best friend Garrett brought his drums here, our house started rocking and never stopped. They practiced every day, and I loved it! They were rarely at each other’s throats, but for sure there were plenty of tense moments over the years. Was Jamie always a drummer and Matt a guitarist, or were they interested in other instruments as children?
Matthew was always a guitarist, but Jamie played bass in their punk band up through high school. Jamie started drumming when they hooked up with Damian [Herring] and started playing heavy metal in college in South Carolina. 8 : SEP TEMBER 2021 : DECIBEL
Excuse me?! This is the first time I ever heard that name! As far as I knew, their band was called Tell Me Lies. They just admitted to me that nasty name was their dirty little secret. Needless to say, that wouldn’t have been their name back then if I had heard it. I ran a tight ship! I think it’s hilarious now, though. Horrendous albums have placed in this magazine’s Top 40 list multiple times. What accomplishment of theirs are you most proud of?
I’m blown away by their musical success. Their determination and work ethic are extraordinary, and they come alive when performing. But I’m most proud of the young men they have become; they’re kind, loyal, empathetic, curious and, most of all, they are men of integrity. I’m honored to be their mother. Oh my… have my words ruined their heavy metal reputations? What’s something most people would be surprised to learn about Jamie and Matt?
Now it’s my turn to divulge a dirty little secret! Jamie has a PhD in immunology from the University of Pennsylvania and works as a researcher by day. Matthew has a Master’s degree in secondary education from the University of South Carolina and teaches high school English. But if you ask either one how they are doing, the first answer will always be about their music and the latest project they’re working on. Music is definitely their passion! —ANDREW BONAZELLI
Albert Mudrian : e d i t o r i n c h i e f Carcass, Torn Arteries Dungeon Serpent, World of Sorrows Skepticism, Companion Deafheaven, Infinite Granite Candiria, What Doesn’t Kill You… ---------------------------------Patty Moran : c u s t o m e r s e r v i c e Brandy, Gift of Repetition Optic Sink, Optic Sink The Three Johns, The World by Storm Idles, Ultra Mono Lamps, Lamps ---------------------------------James Lewis : a d s a l e s Candiria, 300 Percent Density Hush, Body Stabbing, Demo 2021 Oak, Fin Esoctrilihum, Dy'th Requiem for the Serpent Telepath ---------------------------------Mike Wohlberg : a r t d i r e c t o r Carcass, Torn Arteries Genghis Tron, Dream Weapon Tomb Mold, Planetary Clairvoyance Sadistic Intent, Resurrection Mastiff, Leave Me the Ashes of the Earth ---------------------------------Aaron Salsbury : m a r k e t i n g a n d s a l e s At the Gates, The Nightmare of Being Persekutor, Permanent Winter Exodus, Bonded by Blood Söft Dov, Massacre Through Seduction Crypt Sermon, Out of the Garden
GUEST SLAYER
---------------------------------Mike “Gunface” McKenzie : the red chord, stomach earth, u m b r a v i ta e , w e a r y o u r w o u n d s Testament, The Legacy Trent Reznor & Atticus Ross, Gustavo Santaolalla, Mogwai, Before the Flood soundtrack Xoth, Interdimensional Invocations Miasmatic Necrosis, Apex Profane MF Doom, Mm..Food