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FEBRUARY 2023 // No. 220
“Celestial Rot” is ALL OUT WAR’s massive eighth full length offering and contains ten tracks of pure aural devastation. ALL OUT WAR offers up their most expansive release yet while reaffirming their position as one of the most powerful bands in extreme music.
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Chicago, IL’s READY FOR DEATH (featuring former and current members of Indecision, Racetraitor and Pelican) present their crushing self-titled debut. READY FOR DEATH seamlessly melds the best parts of Hardcore, Thrash, Death and Punk into ten tracks of grinding mayhem!
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D E S I P H O N Green Bay, WI’s CHOKE delivers their blistering new debut EP “Desiphon”! The EP was mixed by Kurt Ballou at God City. “Desiphon” encapsulates Death Metal and Grindcore’s greats (think Rotten Sound, Napalm Death and Pig Destroyer) while covering all new territory!
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February 2023 [R 220] decibelmagazine.com
Stomp Thing COVER STORY COVER AND CONTENTS PHOTOS BY GENE SMIRNOV
upfront 12 ahab Going deeper
22 katatonia Sadness will prevail
10 low culture Future imperfect
14 titan to tachyons The highest highs, the lowest lows
11 no corporate beer Sour patch adults
16 sweet cobra Heavy waits
24 q&a: darkthrone Village-idiot-in-training Fenriz is proud to find himself somewhere off time
8
metal muthas
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Country roads, take her home
18 dødsengel Naturally evil 20 cassius king Money can’t buy you happiness
28 exclusive:
amorphis: the official story of finland’s greatest metal band excerpt Into hiding, indeed
reviews 28 special feature:
the top 20 most anticipated albums of 2023 We excluded your favorite band from this list, too
28 the decibel
hall of fame Done licking the wounds of their hardcore origins, Dinosaur Jr. discover that the only way forward was by looking down with shoegaze precursor You’re Living All Over Me
71 lead review German funeral doom explorers Ahab resurface after eight long years and bring with them career highlight The Coral Tombs 72 album reviews Records from bands that are STILL waiting for us to announce Metal & Beer Fest: Los Angeles 2022, including Envy, Ready for Death and Woods of Desolation 80 damage ink Sound the surrender
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. © 2023 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.
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February 2023 [T220]
Alex Mulcahy
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EDITOR-IN-CHIEF
Albert Mudrian
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Denver, the place where my heart
should be is full, thanks to you. You turned up in such a major way for the first-ever Denver edition of Decibel’s Metal & Beer Fest in early December. Prior to one week ago, I had never set foot in the Mile High City. But because of the friendships forged over the past decade in both Denver’s exceptional metal and beer scenes, it already feels like a second home. So, thank you to everyone who raged with us and sold out the Summit in advance. Massive props to the bands who slayed—we’ll go into these sets in-depth in the following issue—and immense gratitude to the labels and merch companies who consistently support us every six months or so through these crazy event endeavors. Much love to all the breweries who worked their asses off to not only get to Denver, but to brew something special for the event—that, of course, includes our longtime pals at Trve Brewing, who went above and fucking beyond to help us get everyone’s beer to the Summit. And, man, the Summit—wow, what an incredible, thoughtful team of ass-kickers over there. Without revealing too much, our previous West Coast experiences were a mixed bag—OK, the first one was a bag of shit—but the Summit is an absolute class venue. Five stars; would fest there again. And, of course, eternal love and gratitude to Team Decibel—Aaron, Mike, James and Em—for upending their lives yet again for another Metal & Beer Fest adventure on the other side of the country. I can’t wait to do this with all of you in Philly in April, and then again in Denver in December 2023. But first, a nap. albert mudrian, Editor-in-Chief
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READER OF THE
MONTH been hooked on death metal for 30 years, which is longer than I've been a dentist. This month, Obituary are on the cover of Decibel for the first time ever! What other classic death metal bands that haven’t been given a cover story yet do you want to see on Decibel’s cover?
Obituary was the one missing on the cover among my favorite bands, as Cannibal Corpse, Napalm Death and Immolation were featured in previous issues, but I think Vader, Benediction or Asphyx would deserve a cover as well.
Susana Martínez-Millán Murcia, Spain
Tell us about your profession. Our lousy Spanish prevents us from discerning if you’re a professor, a dentist or a professor of dentistry!
I've been a dentist since 1999, but I am also a professor at the University of Murcia, teaching dentistry for the last 18 years. Now I’m teaching both Spanish and international students coming from other European countries, the Middle East, India and Taiwan. What is the metal scene like in Murcia?
It's not massive, but there are some good bands like Iron Curtain or Homizide, and a fistful of loyal metalheads hungry for
6 : FEBRUARY 2023 : DECIBEL
concerts. Today, Murcia is a stop for many international metal tours, and I’m proud that I paved the way two decades ago when I started bringing death metal gigs here. Can you tell us more about how and when you started bringing gigs to Murcia?
I started in October 2001. As I couldn’t travel to Madrid or Barcelona to see my favorite bands, I promised myself that one day those gigs would come here. So, when I started working, I saved some money, and with [Avulsed/Xtreem Music’s] Dave Rotten’s help with the booking agencies, I could go for it. I haven't discarded coming back as a promoter when my kids grow up, as I've
Today, Murcia is a stop for many international metal tours, and I’m proud that I paved the way two decades ago when I started bringing death metal gigs here. This is our first issue of 2023. What are you looking forward to about the coming year?
Discovering good new bands, new releases like Obituary, Memoriam or Dying Fetus, and attending as many gigs as possible!
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 caring what you think of the new Metallica song.
Because not all of us were spawned in the darkest recesses of hell
This Month’s Muthas: Pam Wattie Muthas of Robin Wattie of BIG|BRAVE
Tell us a little about yourself.
My name is Pam and I am Robin’s mom. I was born in Montana, but moved to a super small town in Alberta when I was in junior high. After high school I moved to Jasper, Alberta, and I had Robin in September of 1983, where she took 29 hours to show herself to the world. We stayed in Jasper for four more years, and then moved to Montreal in 1987. When did Robin first start to exhibit an interest in singing? Who were some of her favorite vocalists?
Robin performed in elementary school plays and choirs. (I think one of the pictures she is sending is where she just finished an elementary school play in the middle of the local mall. She cried when she got that haircut, btw.) However, it was when she performed a solo in a high school play that I really heard what she could do with her voice. As far as her favorite vocalists when she was growing up, I remember hearing Robin singing to Sarah McLachlan, Alanis Morissette, Celine Dion, No Doubt, Sheryl Crow and even the Dixie Chicks. I always thought she would make a great country singer, but she went way, way the other way! BIG|BRAVE’s records are fearlessly experimental. Did you have any hand in turning Robin onto obscure art, or did she discover most of her influences on her own?
Robin absolutely discovered her musical influences on her own. She has said many times that 8 : FEBRUARY 2023 : DECIBEL
living and working in Montreal was—and still is—a huge part of her development as a musician and an artist. She really might have ended up as a country singer if she stayed in Alberta. BIG|BRAVE’s live performances fluctuate from intimate to cathartic. What are your impressions of Robin onstage?
I have only been to two or three Big Brave’s live performances, but my impression of Robin onstage has been mostly “How is that huge voice coming out that little girl?” and “Look, the audience is almost in a trance!” and sometimes, “Holy man, as cool as this song is, I’m pretty sure it’s never going to end.” What’s something that fans of her music would be surprised to learn about Robin?
I am not sure if Robin’s musical fans know that she spent a lot of her time sketching and drawing when she was growing up. She also went into art programs in college and university, and she now has her own tattoo studio in Montreal. Her favorite meal growing up was spaghetti. Even really awful diner spaghetti. She loved it. Still does. She’s a master at organizing the refrigerator on grocery day, and she loves to fill out paperwork, so she might not, you know, really be my kid. She also knits, plays chess and loves to do puzzles! —ANDREW BONAZELLI
Albert Mudrian : e d i t o r i n c h i e f Obituary, Dying of Everything Tribunal, The Weight of Remembrance Royal Thunder, Crooked Doors Gorguts, Obscura Godthrymm, Reflections ---------------------------------Patty Moran : c u s t o m e r s e r v i c e Farflung, Like Drones in Honey No Trend, Too Many Humans/Teen Love Reagan Youth, A Collection of Pop Classics Poison Idea, War All the Time Off!, Free LSD ---------------------------------James Lewis : a d s a l e s Obituary, Dying of Everything SpiritWorld, Deathwestern Eight Bells, Legacy of Ruin Dark Meditation, Polluted Temples Skinless, From Sacrifice to Survival ---------------------------------Mike Wohlberg : a r t d i r e c t o r Houkago Grind Time, The Second Raid Extortion, Seething Obituary, Dying of Everything Venomous Concept, The Good Ship Lollipop Lamp of Murmuur, Saturnian Bloodstorm ---------------------------------Aaron Salsbury : m a r k e t i n g a n d s a l e s Cronos Compulsion, Copulating in the Crypt Castrator, Defiled in Oblivion Psychosomatic, The Invisible Prison Malignant Altar, Realms of Exquisite Morbidity Rusk, Om Improvement
GUEST SLAYER
---------------------------------Alex Mulcahy : publisher
Millencolin, Life on a Plate (red vinyl) Millencolin, Life on a Plate (blue vinyl) Millencolin, Life on a Plate (cassette) Millencolin, Life on a Plate (mobile fidelity) Millencolin, Life on a Plate (deluxe CD)
Kent Diimmel in This Moment
Tim Yeung Lone Wolf
´ davier perez
great american ghost
Richard Christy
Death - Charred Walls of the Damned
ddrumusa www.ddrum.com