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May 2022 [R 211] decibelmagazine.com
upfront 8
metal muthas The Grindmutha
12 live preview:
maryland deathfest xviii An overdose of death
12 low culture Looking forward to skipping your show 13 no corporate beer You can’t beat the heat
features 14 nite New Wave of Blackened Heavy Metal 16 gggolddd Tttheee nnnewww nnnoiseee 18 the spirit The camel’s back 20 drug church Good clean fun 22 devil master Night shift
24 undeath Big riffers 26 eucharist Back in black 28 vio-lence Goodbye, Cleveland
reviews 34 q&a: dark funeral Sole original member Lord Ahriman keeps an open mind and a blackened heart 38 the decibel
30 falls of rauros Hope against hope 32 cult of luna The great northern buzzkill
hall of fame USBM pillars Wolves in the Throne Room prop up America’s black metal identity while trying to tear down modern society with Two Hunters
63 lead review Will underappreciated USBM warriors Vanum live up to the title of their latest melodic opus, Legend? 64 album reviews Records from bands that are hoping to be released before the world ends, including the Hellacopters, Satan and Watain 80 damage ink Spectrum voice
Lifting Weights COVER STORY COVER AND CONTENTS PHOTOS BY HRISTO SHINDOV
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. © 2022 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 : M AY 2 0 2 2 : D E C I B E L
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REFUSE/RESIST
May 2022 [T211]
For as long as there has been art,
albert mudrian, Editor-in-Chief
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artists without money and people with money looking to make even more money on art from those artists, there have been accusations of “selling out.” And for as long as people have been passionate about heavy metal, there have been fans not really understanding what selling out actually means. So, let’s take a moment and define it as compromising one’s values and/or artistic vision for profit. Seems simple enough to identify, right? Well, that aforementioned passion—which often breeds quasiownership over fans’ favorite artists—frequently elicits roaring condemnations towards bands who make bold creative leaps like, um, altering their logos. So, yeah, extreme metalheads have a storied history of accidentally clouding this narrative. When, say, a young death metal band on the ascent drops an ambient, instrumental release—a departure that they warned for months was coming—as their debut for a larger label, the “sellout” chirps ring incredibly hollow. Pretty much anyone who has worked at a metal label can tell you that instrumental records don’t really, you know, sell. There’s no compromise for money. If anything, it’s no compromise for virtually no money. You are welcome to think the actual music is totally fucking boring, an artistic blunder or a complete waste of time better spent on recording a new death metal album, but that’s much a different argument. Selling out is rarely attempted in the genre, and when an artist does indulge such suspect desires—see Cold Lake—it inevitably backfires and fails spectacularly. I’m not sure it’s even possible to sell out in extreme metal. There is simply not enough real estate between the floor and ceiling. Actual selling out is much different. Like when you sell your indie company to a multi-billion-dollar company that is 40 percent owned by another multi-billion-dollar company that is registered in the Cayman Islands. Perhaps the early skepticism about one previously artist- and user-friendly digital music platform’s ability to maintain that level of integrity after being gobbled up is alarmist. Maybe their values, which rightly made them heroes in a streaming world, won’t be compromised by a parent company that is largely indifferent to the music industry, let alone the merits of Timewave Zero. Yeah, sure, and maybe “Dance Sleazy” is a grower, too.
READER OF THE
MONTH Cave In are on the cover of this issue. Wolves in the Throne Room are in the Hall of Fame and the Hellacopters are on the flexi disc. Which of those diverse acts best exemplifies your personal taste?
No disrespect to any of the bands mentioned, but I am a death metal fan with an appetite for grind and a Ph.D. in the golden era of hip-hop (1989-1994). So, I’ll take the frontman of the Hellacopters’ former band for $500, Alex? Also, if these three bands were on a bill, I would go if 200 Stab Wounds was opening.
Brandon Holthaus Pana, IL
You are located in Pana, IL. What besides Brandon Holthaus is actually located in Pana, IL?
You described yourself as a “completist” in a recent email to us. What’s the one record missing from your collection that drives you the craziest?
My beautiful wife and four dogs and, as an asbestos remover by trade, my work is based here. Born here and someday scatter my ashes here. Pana is a town you drive an hour from. Half of the town mysteriously burned down so a gas station/truck stop could be built. Pana was known as the City of Roses. Before my time, there were giant green houses where they were grown. Unfortunately, Pana has the feel of a town named for something that hasn’t been around for 60 years. I am 90 minutes from St. Louis, where I have been traveling to see shows for the last 20-plus years.
In reference to being a completist, I get itchy when the newest Decibel and flexi disc are delayed. My apologies to Customer Service guru Patty Moran for the frantic calls. I do remember in the early 2000s trying to order Sleep Dopesmoker through the Relapse Resound catalog and being let down via mail that it was out of stock. One recent release that got away was the limited variant of Gatecreeper’s An Unexpected Reality EP because my credit card company flagged it as fraudulent. I was still able to get it; just had to get back in line after a quick call. I grew up in the ’90s; this Luddite buys the CD version first.
6 : M AY 2 0 2 2 : D E C I B E L
I am a death metal fan with an appetite for grind and a Ph.D. in the golden era of hip-hop (1989-1994). We’re not even two months into 2022 as I’m typing this, but what is the best album you have heard this year?
It’s Time… to Rise From the Grave. Undeath. Period. Remember when Lamb of God was on Prosthetic? Impeccable taste—must be Decibel subscribers! I will not miss Undeath again when they come back to St. Louis with Dying Fetus in May. Put these guys on cover!
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 we patiently waited for Big Tech to come knocking with an offer.
Because not all of us were spawned in the darkest recesses of hell
This Month's Mutha: Angéle Johnson Mutha of Richard Johnson of Drugs of Faith
Tell us a little about yourself.
I was born in Qamishli, Syria. I came in 1957 on a tourist visa and then changed it to a student visa. And then I studied; I got my high school diploma, two years’ associate’s degree. I graduated from a junior college, and then I transferred to a fouryear college to get my bachelor of arts, and I met my husband in that college. And we moved to Boston for him to study to get his master’s degree. And I enrolled in Boston University and got my degree from that university. If I go through everything, it will be a lot. I got married and had two children: a daughter and a son. Your son has pictures of you meeting Metallica and System of a Down. Explain!
I went with my son to all the concerts [when he was growing up], and I met Metallica twice. I saw many other hard metal groups. System of a Down we met at the Congressional office in Washington, D.C., because the main singer [Serj Tankian] was involved in working to make Turkey recognize the Armenian genocide. I bought his CD. The best time I had was going with [Richard] to those concerts. 8 : M AY 2 0 2 2 : D E C I B E L
In addition to being a respected musician in the extreme music realm, Richard is also a talented photographer. Did he exhibit an interest in that growing up?
Well, he was always interested in taking pictures, but I think he was more interested in drawing. What do you think about Richard’s nickname, “The Grindfather”?
I think it’s great. I love it. He deserves it. Between Drugs of Faith, Agoraphobic Nosebleed, Enemy Soil and Triac, do you have a favorite project that he’s worked on?
My favorite is Enemy Soil. That’s when I was able to come and see what he was doing and meet all of his friends. What’s something most people don’t know about your son?
He is very smart, very talented, and he is always willing and ready to help other people. —ANDREW BONAZELLI
Albert Mudrian : e d i t o r i n c h i e f Vanum, Legend Cave In, Heavy Pendulum Satan, Earth Infernal Dinosaur Jr., Farm Watain, The Agony & Ecstasy of Watain ---------------------------------Patty Moran : c u s t o m e r s e r v i c e Fu Manchu, In Search of… Acrimony, Bong On - Live Long! L7, Bricks Are Heavy Adolescents, Adolescents Screaming Trees, Sweet Oblivion ---------------------------------James Lewis : a d s a l e s The Crown, Royal Destroyer Wolves in the Throne Room, Two Hunters Midnight, Let There Be Witchery Undeath, It’s Time... to Rise From the Grave Falls of Rauros, Key to a Vanishing Future ---------------------------------Mike Wohlberg : a r t d i r e c t o r Hulder, Godslastering: Hymns of a Forlorn Peasantry Dance With the Dead, Driven to Madness Cavernlight, As I Cast Ruin Upon the Lens That Reveals My Every Flaw Jesus Wept, Psychedelic Degeneracy Khemmis, Deceiver ---------------------------------Aaron Salsbury : m a r k e t i n g a n d s a l e s Deathevokation, The Chalice of Ages Fulci, Exhumed Information Blood Spore, Fungal Warfare Upon All Life Cerebral Rot, Excretion of Mortality The Locust, Safety Second, Body Last
GUEST SLAYER
---------------------------------Kirk Windstein : c r o w b a r / d o w n Judas Priest, Firepower Sick of It All, Just Look Around Plasmatics, Coup D'etat Motörhead, Orgasmatron UFO, Strangers In the Night
PHOTO BY JUSTIN REICH