Decibel #224 - June 2023

TID MANDATORY FLEURETY MIN SKAL KOMME THE ACACIA STRAIN VIEWING

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IMMORTAL ENFORCED DRAIN CLOAK SMOULDER VOIDCEREMONY BANDIT

JUNE 2023 // No. 224

charlie koryn

Ascended Dead/ Morbid Angel (Live)

david bland full of hell

´

Jeramie Kling

Venom Inc./ Inhuman Condition

Eric Morotti Suffocation

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June 2023 [R 224] decibelmagazine.com

Hell Freezes Over COVER STORY COVER AND CONTENTS PHOTOS BY DAVE CREANEY

upfront 8

obituary: jim durkin Honoring a fallen angel

10 metal muthas A blossoming love 12 low culture New month, same shit 13 no corporate beer Brew after reading

14 sunrot They’re here, they’re queer, you're prolly used to it 16 bandit Put a little hate in your heart 18 smoulder Drawn to power 20 cloak Burning ever darker 22 dozer Clean riffs for a murky future

features

reviews

24 voidceremony Anything but threadbare

36 immortal Army of one

26 usnea Shining a light on our darkest creations

38 enforced Born to fight

69 lead review Cattle Decapitation deliver a record of homegrown death metal that is anything but buggy with Terrasite

28 drain Proof positive 30 deep cross Thawing out 32 wild beyond Space age evil 34 defiled Letting their hair down

40 q&a: the acacia strain Vocalist Vincent Bennett is full of questions but doesn’t have the answers 44 the decibel

hall of fame Following a departure from black metal orthodoxy, a switch in vocal duties and a number of different labels, it’s time for Fleurety to enter our hallowed Hall with Min tid skal komme

70 album reviews Records from bands that prefer Power Trip over “Power Trip,” including Fugitive, Haunt and the Ocean 80 damage ink It’s not gonna be alright, and that’s gotta be OK

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.

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This month’s Upfront section features a pair of vocalists in Smoulder’s Sarah Ann and Bandit’s Gene Meyer that are also regular Decibel contributors. Over the magazine’s 19-year history, we’ve enlisted numerous extreme metal musicians to write for us. So many, in fact, that while listening to the new Decibel Records-released Venomous Concept album—which features former Decibel columnist Kevin Sharp on lead vocals—longtime writer Daniel Lake opined that we should encourage the formation of new projects based solely around our musician contributors, simply because “It’s time. The world needs this.” So, move the fuck over, ghost of Lou Pearlman—I’m curating the next big thing(s).

Lineup: Kevin Sharp (vocals) • Matt Olivo (guitar) J. Bennett (bass) • Richard Christy (drums) Style: old-school grindcore This one is a total no-brainer, in that no brains should be required for listening to or performing it. Just blast, burn and howl. Tapping Colin Richardson to produce it. He’ll take 11 days just to get the snare sound down, but it will be totally worth it.

Lineup:

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June 2023 [T224] PUBLISHER

Alex Mulcahy

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EDITOR-IN-CHIEF

Albert Mudrian

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Neill Jameson (vocals) • Jon Rosenthal (guitar) • Matt Solis (guitar) Eugene Robinson (bass—are you gonna tell him he can’t play it?)

Mookie Singerman (programmed drums)

Style: trve USBM Lyrics are taken straight from Neill’s long-running Low Culture column, which works out nicely because Rosenthal and Solis are largely incapable of writing songs under 15 minutes long.

Lineup: Jerry A. Deathburger (vocals) • Jeff Walker (bass) John Darnielle (guitar) • Richard Christy (drums)

Style: death fuckin’ metal Darnielle keeps up via guitar pointers from engineer Erik Rutan. Richard Christy is forced to keep drinking rat shit coffee just to keep pace with all these new bands. Jeff Walker shoehorns a Die Flüffers cover into the set. Everyone breaks a foot.

Lineup: Albert Mudrian (all) Style: dungeon synth Totally original take on the subgenre that doesn’t sound exactly like Era 1 Mortiis. What can I say? I’ve got a nose for this sort of thing.

albert mudrian, Editor-in-Chief

CONTRIBUTING WRITERS

Emily Bellino Adrien Begrand J. Bennett Dean Brown Liz Ciavarella-Brenner Chris Dick Sean Frasier Nick Green Raoul Hernandez Addison Herron-Wheeler Jonathan Horsley Courtney Iseman Neill Jameson Kim Kelly Sarah Kitteringham Daniel Lake Cosmo Lee Jamie Ludwig Shane Mehling Tim Mudd Justin M. Norton Dutch Pearce Forrest Pitts Greg Pratt Jon Rosenthal Brad Sanders José Carlos Santos Joseph Schafer Kevin Stewart-Panko Eugene S. Robinson Adem Tepedelen Jeff Treppel J Andrew Zalucky CONTRIBUTING PHOTOGRAPHERS

MAIN OFFICE

Lineup: Chris Dodge (bass/vocals) • Shane Mehling (bass) Blake Harrison (programmed drums/ironing board) Style: powerviolence It might seem ridiculous for a trio to have two bass players, but Shane breaks his arm within the first 90 seconds of every live performance.

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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.

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READER OF THE

MONTH

Brian Krasman Duquesne, PA

The Pittsburgh metal scene has its fair share of legends among its ranks, like Dream Death and Derkéta, but can you tell us some upstart Yinzers we need to keep an eye on?

Pittsburgh’s metal scene is pretty damn prolific, though Pittsburgh is anything but progressive musically, so it’s kind of a wellkept secret. Trad warriors Lady Beast are awesome, and their singer Deb Levine is one of the most charismatic people on the planet.

She also puts together the annual Metal Immortal Festival here in town. (Come see us in September!) Horehound has the sludgy doom thing down to a science, and they play all the time and always deliver. Their singer Shy Kennedy heads up the annual Descendants of Crom fest, which is insanely fun and wellrun. Ritual Mass are death metal killers; Vale

6 : JUNE 2023 : DECIBEL

is an immersive atmospheric solo black metal project; Narakah will take your head off; Uzkost wield a black metal and doom buzzsaw; Pyrithe are indescribable chaos; and Vicious Blade carry the burning torch of thrash with a violent edge.

You’ve been a subscriber since 2010—holy crap, thanks! What’s kept you around so long?

Well, I love the magazine. I’m not blowing smoke here: It’s honestly a highlight of my month.

Wait, is that sad? I’ve actually been a reader since the [beginning], as I got the Dillinger Escape Plan issue #1 in the mail somehow. I’m guessing I got on a mailing list based on also being a metal scribe, but it was an awesome surprise. It was exactly what I was looking for, and in 2010, I think I was tired of trying to track it down each month in stores and didn’t want to miss anything. You can’t make me leave!

Tell us about your It’s the Beer Video podcast. I think this technically counts as a podcast, right?

I have to credit my friend Zakk “Old Man” Weston

(of Low Cunning infamy) for the idea. He’d occasionally drink perversely old beers and comment. During the pandemic, I kindly asked if I could steal the idea to entertain myself.

It started off just me in my kitchen drinking a beer and giving my thoughts on Instagram, and then my friend Helen wanted to come on as a guest. So, we did one together, had a good time, and now we’re a team (fun fact: we have never met in person)! The only rule is whatever we’re drinking we cannot have ever had before. Perverse can/bottle art and weird beer names are a plus. We’re not experts; we’re just having fun, and there is literally no editing done. I cannot stress this enough. We talk about metal, yelling cats often make appearances, we make fun of Ron DeSantis, and we just launched our YouTube channel a couple months ago.

Frozen Soul are on the cover of this issue.

They’ve only been active since 2018, so with that in mind, who’s your favorite new jack death metal band of the past five years?

Well, that’s rad as fuck because I really love Frozen Soul and am psyched for the new record (I own Frozen Soul socks!). It’s hard to pinpoint one, so I’ll toss out a few names: Putrescine, Konvent, the mighty Castrator, Worm and Majesties, whose new record has so many riffs, they should be investigated! Get on their level!

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

BY

the fall of 1986, the Bay Area thrash scene was established and fiercely competitive. Metallica had Kill ’Em All, Ride the Lightning and Master of Puppets. Exodus had Bonded by Blood. Possessed used thrash as a template to help create a new genre: death metal.

That type of talent and ferocity would intimidate lesser bands.

Dark Angel arrived midway through the decade unfazed and supremely confident. They turned heads with their debut We Have Arrived and upended thrash with Darkness Descends, widely considered one of the best thrash metal albums ever.

Guitarist and Dark Angel co-founder Jim Durkin, an architect of that sound, died at 58 on March 8. A cause of death was not released.

Durkin is survived by his wife Annie and remembered by peers and rising bands for his hellacious riffs and idiosyncratic guitar playing.

“The first time I heard We Have Arrived, I thought I’d discovered a new lower plane of hell,” says Craig Locicero, guitarist for Dark Angel’s thrash peers Forbidden. “It was unlike all the other thrash I knew. Then came Darkness Descends. That was a blur of insane riffs and relentless energy that shocked the hell out of me. Jim was one of the sweetest and kindest riff-masters I’ve ever known. The world needs more guys like him.”

Even in 2023, Darkness Descends is a revelation.

If you could compare it to any album from ’80s 8 : JUNE 2023 : DECIBEL

thrash, it would be Slayer’s Reign in Blood. Both albums aren’t just fast, but sound genuinely evil.

Like Slayer’s Jeff Hanneman, Durkin created sounds and tones with a guitar that didn’t seem quite of this earth. In addition to the first two Dark Angel albums, Durkin played on Leave Scars.

He left Dark Angel in 1989, rejoined a decade ago and has been a part of the band since. He also played in other thrash acts including Dreams of Damnation and Hirax.

“He became one of my best friends and helped me through two of the most painful events in my life,” says Dreams of Damnation vocalist and former Nuclear Blast publicist Loana dP Valencia. “He’s a forefather of thrash, an ancestor to all current incarnations of thrash and even black metal bands. The musical bloodline is

direct. He was an elder statesman of the nascent scene, a tape-trading founding member of this immense, globe-spanning community.”

Immolation guitarist Alex Bouks says Durkin’s playing was integral to his development. “Jim was one of the greatest guitar players in thrash history and is criminally overlooked,” Bouks explains. “Dark Angel was a big deal for all of us in the early death metal scene. His insanely brutal, fast and dark riffs and super chaotic virtuoso leads profoundly influenced what I do today.”

Bouks says when he heard Darkness Descends his life changed. “The record was mind-blowing and hugely influential on my journey into what would become the death metal genre,” he explains. “Jim was the guy steering the ship.

Without his contribution, the death metal world would not be what it has become.”

“I only met Jim a couple of times, but he was always super friendly and humble,” offers Death Angel drummer Will Carroll. “His vicious and demented riffs propelled Dark Angel a cut above other thrash metal bands. His influence can still be heard and cannot be overstated. I look forward to hearing the new Dark Angel, which will be a living tribute to his legacy.”

Safe travels, Jim. Thank you for all you left for generations of metal fans. —JUSTIN M. NORTON

PHOTOS COURTESY OF RICK ALSUP

OBITUARIES

NOW SLAYING Wonder what Decibel world HQ has been rocking for the past month?

Well, here are the records that we spun most when we definitely weren’t watching old Britpop documentaries on YouTube.

Because not all of us were spawned in the darkest recesses of hell

This Month’s Mutha: Rebecca Davies Mutha of Katie Davies of Pupil Slicer

Tell us a little about yourself.

In the ’80s, I was a model, traveling all over the world for work. For several years after that, I worked in a special needs school, then I left work to have Katie. It was just the two of us as Katie was growing up. I was a stay-at-home mum, and it was a great time; I’m so grateful to have had it. Now I live alone and play with three different orchestras three nights a week and love to read.

Pupil Slicer are known for wildly chaotic metallic hardcore. Did Katie exhibit an interest in outsider art growing up?

As we were home-schooling, it offered us the luxury and freedom of looking at things from different perspectives. Kate’s inquiring mind naturally came at all concepts from extraordinary angles. The music Kate has made is to mathematical precision in timing to create a disordered, mind-bending effect. It demands a painstakingly systematic process to produce discordant, disturbing, claustrophobic uneasiness.

Only with an understanding of musical devices could one serve up such sounds.

Katie has referred to themself as sheepish and nonconfrontational in interviews, a far cry from their musical persona. Thoughts?

Kate finds conflict draining and debilitating, preferring a predictable, amiable, calm environment, with sweet homely elements. When psyching up for a performance onstage, the daggers are out. Kate bounds about, taking off in flight like a mythological creature, ready to devour.

Fearlessly slaying with venomous stares, 10 : J U N E 2 0 2 3 : D E C I B E L

prowling for prey whilst roaring at your face, like a monstrous specter. Howling in excruciating pain, to the point of horror, then soothing into ambient oblivion.

The Salvador Dali co-written 1929 short film Un Chien Andalou notoriously includes a shot of a sliced eyeball (which we understand did not influence Pupil Slicer’s band name). What are some of your favorite movies?

People have attributed their own interpretation to the name, which, true to form, is complimentary and generous. In honor of the Great Metal Vanguard, Pupil Slicer raucously found the most macabre, barbaric and horrible name as a salute to the tradition and to be worthy of a place in it. I love nothing more than period dramas with horses and carriages and elaborate scenes, sets and costumes. My favorite film is A Good Year with Russell Crowe, and more recently, I really enjoyed Guillermo Del Toro’s Pinocchio.

Katie delivers more melodic vocals for parts of the title track of sophomore album Blossom.

Do you prefer those to their harsher approach?

Katie is going to be surprised when the audience chants the choruses from Blossom back. It’s just so catchy and a burst of color. I love it! On the first album, Mirrors, the screaming is incredibly arresting to the senses, with guttural, abrasive, howling tones. Katie is expressing a connection to inner despair. Baring all spirit and soul, to be burned to the root of all hope and then rise again, it’s not an easy listen as a mum. The respect I have for the bravery and honesty on display is immeasurable. —ANDREW BONAZELLI

Albert Mudrian : e d i t o r i n c h i e f  Godflesh, Purge  Smoulder, Violent Creed of Vengeance  Veriluola, Cascades of Crimson Cruor  Agalloch, Faustian Echoes  Suede, Suede ---------------------------------Patty Moran : c u s t o m e r s e r v i c e  Ceremony, Rohnert Park  Gel, Violent Closure  OFF!, Free LSD  Fu Manchu, Godzilla’s/Eatin’ Dust  Snail, Terminus ---------------------------------James Lewis : a d s a l e s  Frozen Soul, Glacial Domination  Flereuty, Min tid skal komme  The Acacia Strain, Failure Will Follow  Pupil Slicer, Blossom  Agalloch, The Serpent and the Sphere ---------------------------------Mike Wohlberg : a r t d i r e c t o r  Pupil Slicer, Blossom  Frozen Soul, Glacial Domination  Fugitive, Maniac  The Acacia Strain, Failure Will Follow  Cattle Decapitation, Terrasite ---------------------------------Aaron Salsbury : m a r k e t i n g a n d s a l e s  Night Demon, Outsider  Venomous Concept, The Good Ship Lollipop  Drowningman, How They Light Cigarettes in Prison  Since Day One, All American Gospel Hour  Sarcosuchus, Demo

GUEST SLAYER

---------------------------------Brandon Cosair : d r a g h k a r / d r aw n a n d q u a r t e r e d

 Century, The Conquest of Time  Spirit Possession, Of the Sign...  Savage Oath, Savage Oath  Brocas Helm, Black Death  Desaster, Hellfire’s Dominion

AN

NEY ISEM

T

BY COUR

Among the Pines he other morning, I stopped on my way to work to get coffee and some breakfast. Across from the street was a Home Depot parking lot where a car was engulfed in flames. People just walked by it like they were ignoring a homeless person—I guess they needed to buy new showerheads to get their weekend started and the fact that there was some minivan belching smoke and fire just didn’t impact their plans.

The casual pace that people strolled by and even parked near the fucking thing just mesmerized me. I heard no sirens in the distance, workers weren’t coming out to examine the inferno, and I watched someone park two spaces away and wander by it into the gardening entrance unfazed. It was just a depressing slice of Americana, served lukewarm and runny, and everyone ate it, then shit it back out into a bowl to save for breakfast in the morning.

Did I stop to see if anyone needed help? No, I had to be at work. No time for altruism; someone else will get to it, I’m sure.

Later that day, I walked out of my office— which is right next to our public restrooms—to see two people lollygagging, talking to someone inside the single-occupancy bathroom. I knew before I was a few strides away what was taking place. Helen Keller would know what was taking place, and she’s been dead for a few years, if Wikipedia is correct. I’ve worked/lived in enough bad neighborhoods to know not to stop and engage, but I did notice out of my peripheral vision a large woman straining over the toilet, a darkness between her legs so maddening it makes me shudder just recalling it. The smell was overwhelming, sort of what I imagine WWI smelled like. I tried to forget and went up front 12 : JUNE 2023 : DECIBEL

to do whatever managerial bullshit I was called on the floor to do.

When I came back, one of my co-workers stopped me and informed me that the restroom family told her that our bathroom was a mess and that their mother had dementia—sort of like they were blaming us for both things. I sighed and steadied myself. I’ve had a lot of experience with cleaning public restrooms, plus I was the night crew for a prostate cancer center after I was told to leave my old record store job or they’d call the police. But nothing prepared me for what I walked into—there was human shit on the floor, smeared all over the toilet, on the walls and overflowing the toilet itself. It was as if the universe saw my indifference to the car fire and decided to pay me back, with interest.

I once refused to clean a bathroom at the prostate center because there was nearly a foot-high pile of bloody shit in the middle, the fucking bullseye of the room. That was the only thing worse than this. So, maybe there is karma or something watching over us. Does it make you ponderous? Not me. I don’t learn lessons easily.

A few days later I was enjoying some vacation time when I noticed a dripping sound coming from my bathroom. When I walked into it, right above my toilet, there was a massive bubble in the ceiling with brackish water (that I’m sure was sewage) draining out of it like a fucking pustule. While I was calmly trying to reach anyone who works for the property company it came right open, showering my bathroom with a lot of debris and even more pissy water. When I finally got someone on the phone, they asked me not to stand under it. There is your proof of karma and the divine. Have a shitty month, folks!

All the Beer Books to Catch Up With Now

B

est beer book lineups appear pretty frequently. They’re easy to toss together, but not all beer books are created equal, and not all beer books appeal to every beer fan. So, let’s try this once more with feeling, shall we? Coming from a devoted beer book reader here, as well as some bona fide experts, journos and authors, what titles are actually worth your bucks and bookshelf real estate?

(Especially considering what you’re looking for.) Whether they’re brand-new releases or older, but underrated, let’s prioritize what actually makes for a good beer book.

“Readability, first and foremost,” says Beth Demmon, a beer journalist with her debut book, The Beer Lover’s Guide to Cider, out this fall. “Many beer books tend to wax technical, and that’s totally cool if you’re catering to a technical or expert audience. But sometimes, as a consumer and non-brewery worker, I just want to read about beer, or people making beer, and not have to slog through the minutiae of the past 200 years of brewing techniques of the scientific compounds of enzymes or whatever the case may be.”

Of course, some readers are looking for those technical details. The world of beer books is varied, and that’s the beauty— there’s something for everyone, as beer writer and The Beer Bible author Jeff Alworth notes.

“If you’re interested in business, there are some great rise-and-fall titles that are amazing page-turners. That would not satisfy a

Under the influence  Do your best not to get too buzzed when exploring this comprehensive recommending reading list

homebrewer. Personally, I love the romance of beer, so I was drawn in by writers like Michael Jackson and Stan Hieronymus. But each takes you in a slightly different direction.”

While far from underrated, two books are so essential they bear repeating—these provide a key foundation for beer newbies and become dog-eared references for experts. Tasting Beer by Randy Mosher got a second edition in 2017, and a second edition of Alworth’s Beer Bible came out in 2021. Concisely covering history, ingredient and brewing basics, style breakdowns, tasting guidance and more, both transcend niches. For a fun twist, try Hooray for Craft Beer! An Illustrated Guide to Beer. It covers similar integral basics with the whimsical cartoons of Em Sauter, the educator behind Pints and Panels.

Next, zero in on how to identify flavors, aromas and mouthfeels with expert Mark Dredge’s Beer, A Tasting Course: A FlavorFocused Approach to the World of Beer. Joshua M. Bernstein’s Drink Better Beer: Discover the Secrets of the Brewing Experts is obligatory for any beer consumer, with guidance on shopping, tasting and food-pairing. In Beer: Taste the Evolution in 50 Styles, Natalya Watson dives deep into styles and what they say about the history of beer.

To indulge one crowd-pleasing aspect of beer enjoyment (food pairings), Claire Bullen’s The Beer Lover’s Table: Seasonal Recipes and Modern Beer Pairings is helpful, fresh

and pretty to boot. History enthusiasts will

love the rich and previously untold stories of women in beer in Tara Nurin’s A Woman’s Place Is in the Brewhouse.

If it’s culture you seek, the collision of heavy metal and beer is an obvious choice— we’re partial, sure, but Adem Tepedelen’s Brewtal Truth Guide to Extreme Beers: An All-Excess Pass to Brewing’s Outer Limits

fires up any beer lover by cataloging “100 of the most insane beers in the world.” You could also explore today’s British beer scene with Matthew Curtis’ Modern British Beer, or iconic Belgian beer legacy with Eoghan Walsh’s A History of Brussels Beer in 50 Objects.

Speaking of travel, Justin Kennedy and Tomme Arthur’s The Bucket List: Beer is how to plan all your beer-related journeys from now on.

Here for the science? Brewer Scott Janish’s The New IPA: Scientific Guide to Hop Aroma and Flavor is a complex page-turner. Should

you want to brew yourself at home, with an inspired and expertly guided approach, Jaega Wise’s Wild Brews: The Craft of Home Brewing, From Sour and Fruit Beers to Farmhouse Ales is game-changing. Finally, to branch out, Demmon’s aforementioned Beer Lover’s Guide to Cider, out in September, is

“an easy-to-read and approachable guide on how to translate a love of beer to a love of cider.” These books are all written by people as knowledgeable as they are passionate, and that shows in engagingly presented information that boosts your beer-drinking (or beerbrewing, or beer-pairing) experience.

DECIBEL : JUNE 2023 : 13

SUNROT

THE

world is fucked, bozo—do something about it.” ¶ New Jersey is the center of its own universe, and Sunrot are a perfect encapsulation of everything that entails, from an ingrained negative tolerance for bullshit to an affinity for grime and industrial noise, as well as a pitbull’s tenacity in defending the people they love. The five-piece noise/sludge outfit has been knocking around the Tri-State underground for a decade now, and with the imminent release of their second full-length, The Unyielding Rope, Patterson’s finest are about to muscle their way onto the world stage. ¶ The album had a difficult birth; thanks to various setbacks and medical issues, it took the band several years and three tries to finish the recording. There’s something to be said for perfectionism, though (just ask Bolt Thrower). “We poured our guts into it every time, and this last time I think we got it right,” vocalist/noisemaker Lex Santiago explains.

“The Unfailing Rope is our collective grief poured into a Molotov and thrown at the sun.” ¶ It will also mark Sunrot’s first release on Prosthetic, and their first foray outside of pure DIY— 14 : JUNE 202 3 : DECIBEL

uncharted territory for a band who made their bones playing for sweaty punks in basements and abandoned meat lockers. “We’re definitely hoping that Prosthetic’s platform can help us reach more folks and do more fun, weird stuff we come up with,” bassist Ross Bradley says.

“Hopefully more queer kids can hear us. The straights are allowed to listen, too, I guess.”

As Sunrot’s audience has grown, that kind of just-kidding-but-notreally vibe—along with a penchant for letting their sweetly freaky flags fly on Instagram and proud self-ID as “that gay shit”—has been confusing for new listeners who expect the band’s visceral, ineffably brutal music to be reflected in its members.

“We accidentally piss off angry metal chads a lot by being our goofy selves,” Santiago chuckles. “I think if we had the energy to pretend to be a serious, tough band, we might, but we put all our energy into our music and the art we make along

with it. At the end of the day, we take our music very seriously and don’t take ourselves seriously at all.”

They take their message seriously, too, and as a multiracial, multigender band with queer and trans members—and deep roots in mutual aid, harm reduction, antifascism and queer liberation—they have a whole lot to say. “It’s really awesome to see folks from so many different cultures, backgrounds, genders, etc., into our music,” guitarist Chris Eustaquio says. “There isn’t enough representation for marginalized people [in metal], but we hope to be a band that nudges the scales in the right direction.”

After all, Sunrot love you—yes, you—and want you to be safe, happy and free. All those impossibly heavy riffs are just a bonus.

“We’ll fight for you all as we hope you will for us, but it’s not contingent on that,” Santiago says. “No one is free until we are all free, right?” —KIM KELLY

PHOTO BY DANTE TORRIERI

SUNROT

Despite the higher profile, North Jersey sludge crushers offer no compromise

ANNIVERSARY EDITIONS RESTORED AND REMASTERED

BANDIT

Grindcore trio takes positive approach to negative thoughts on full-length debut

S

iege of self, the debut album from Northeast grind trio Bandit, begins with a sample where a psychologist explains the school of thought that, in times of suffering, it’s better for a person to have a negative object to cling to than no object. “The record is really about how, summed up in that quote, self-hatred is sometimes what we use to raise ourselves when no one else will,” says vocalist Gene Meyer, “And how painful it is to let go of that, even though it is so horrendous and self-destructive because it’s familiar.” ¶ Meyer, a therapist by day, explains that he intended to write a record about negative experiences with love when he was diagnosed with schizoaffective disorder. Siege of Self sees him reflect on his own life and the negative elements he clings to. ¶ “I just write what I experience,” he says. “That’s the only area where I feel really comfortable or trust myself. [If] I try to write about other peoples’ lives or other peoples’ experiences, I don’t really trust myself.”

16 : JUNE 202 3 : DECIBEL

The new album also marks a notable change in style for the band.

Where Bandit’s last release, 2018’s Warsaw, was built around 30-second bursts of jagged punk, Siege of Self is more than twice the length and utilizes more structured, metallic and technical songwriting, a result of guitarist Jack McBride’s evolving musical interests.

“I feel like songwriting in grind is kind of underappreciated,” Meyer notes. “Which is fine. There’s a time and place for, ‘I don’t want dynamics—I just want vomit and violence,’ [but] people always compare us to Pig Destroyer, and I think the main reason is they just write songs.”

Some of the new ideas can be ascribed to famed producer Colin Marston, who handled every step of production and engineering on Siege of Self. As Meyer explains, Bandit

wanted to record an album that definitively showcases their sound, and Marston was the man for the job, coaxing them into unfamiliar territory, like Deftones-influenced closer “End of the Rainbow.”

Siege of Self contains the most intricate musicianship of Bandit’s existence to date, and Meyer confirms that they’ve moved on from their powerviolence days in favor of more complex songs, but Bandit’s dedication to playing wild music with important messages won’t change.

“When I first joined, it was more anger-based because I was just so young and pissed off at the world,” Meyer admits. “Now I just want to put on a good time. I want everyone else to have a good time. I want to have fun, but I also want to communicate some pretty serious ideas.”

—EMILY BELLINO

PHOTO BY VAUGHN CUMMINGS AND TOMMY KRAUSE

BANDIT

SMOULDER

SMOULDER

International epic metallers slay dragons and listeners alike on sophomore triumph

[D

uring] that first year of the pandemic, I think that we, like almost everyone else in the world, had to deeply consider everything about our lives,” Smoulder singer Sarah Ann reflects. “Having all that time alone also brought up the fact that I had a lot of unresolved trauma.” ¶ Her circuitous journey started with a global pandemic, involved a move from Canada to Finland with her partner and co-conspirator Vincent—and all the red tape that inevitably comes with it—and finally ended with their long-awaited second album Violent Creed of Vengeance. ¶ “Once I realized what was happening, I rechanneled my energy into illustrating and recreating my favorite album covers, wanting to do something productive,” she continues. “Eventually, I walked into an art store and bought a large drawing pad and some pens, and the next day I sat down and drew for 16 hours straight. That illustration became the visual representation of the first new song I wrote lyrics for on this album.”

18 : JUNE 2023 : DECIBEL

Now a trans-continental collective with members in Finland, Canada and America, Smoulder have taken full advantage of the last four years to further flesh out their already spellbinding brand of melodic epic doom. Devoted fans of both vintage sword-and-sorcery pulp novels and the best underground metal of the 1980s, Smoulder’s empowering, feminist approach sets them apart. Sarah Ann delivers bracing tales of indomitable, badass women heroines who answer to no man; especially of note is the stately, Dio-inspired 10-minute epic “Dragonslayer’s Doom.”

“It’s about a warrior who goes on a quest to kill a dragon, and in turn she is roasted alive,” she explains.

“It really became representative of everything going on in the world, and the reality that no matter how much you prepare for something, everything can be completely

derailed and you can fail or be crushed under it… It felt extremely therapeutic to not just articulate those feelings of helplessness and anger, but articulate them in a way that was rich with metaphor, and sounds both monstrous and beautiful. I also perversely deeply enjoy that the song ends the same way all of our lives do—with death.”

It’s been a weird few years, and Smoulder are thankful to have come out of it stronger than ever.

“We came to realize how fortunate we are,” Sarah Ann says. “And you know what? What came out on the other side is our masterpiece: a merging of speed metal, power metal, epic metal and doom that is narratively and sonically cohesive, and expresses a much-needed rage that should be seen and heard within the context of heavy metal.”

—ADRIEN BEGRAND

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CLOAK

THE

first time i spoke to Cloak torchbearer Scott Taysom, his band had just released an eponymous two-track EP. Those songs were featured a year later on 2017 debut LP To Venomous Depths, an album that achieved deserved hype for its crepuscular blend of melodic black metal and gothic rock. ¶ Georgian sparrows sing in the background when Taysom answers Decibel’s latest call. It’s his first interview about upcoming third full-length Black Flame Eternal since the release of leadoff single “Invictus.” Cloak unshrouded the song on Taysom’s birthday the day prior to feverish fan response. As soon as “Invictus” ignites, you can hear the dangerous first spark of the record’s impending wildfire. ¶ “We made a conscious decision to go towards a more aggressive direction,” Taysom confirms. “I remember telling [drummer Sean Bruneau] early in the process that I wanted to go heavier on this one. I didn’t want to include as many of the gothic elements, because we had already been there and done that.”

20 : JUNE 2023 : DECIBEL

In the past, Taysom described Cloak as having the spirit of black metal and the spine of rock ‘n’ roll.

The gothic elements still sporadically emerge, notably in standout tracks “Seven Thunders” and “The Holy Dark.” But this album has a nastier bite and ferocity that will incinerate past comparisons to Tribulation. The songs are dense and dark, rife with slicing leads from Taysom and guitarist Max Brigham. “[Black Flame Eternal] matches our spirit and who we are as people more,” Taysom offers. “But it’s not like we weren’t writing from the heart before. Sometimes it takes bands a second to hone in on what works for them. We write catchy songs, but that’s not a goal we talk about. I’ve always been drawn to more melodic-driven music. You can write dark songs and still have them be catchy.”

That darkness soaks into Taysom’s lyrics as well, as he illuminates his

Luciferian themes with fire motifs.

Cloak encourage razing societal structures that embolden tribalism and shallow thought over personal strength and knowledge. But keeping that flame of rebellion alive is the duty of the individual.

“There’s a lot of references to the metaphorical themes of fire,” Taysom explains, “and how it spreads wild, and how that relates to the spiritual side of things. [Every album] represents the death and rebirth of the self and of the band.

And the fires are burning even hotter and higher on this one.

“I think with all our albums, they’re puzzle pieces that form a larger image as a whole,” he continues. “In [Black Flame Eternal], there are massive themes of spiritual empowerment and liberation. And that’s the case with all our records, but with this one there’s a more violent, angry nature to that empowerment.” —SEAN FRASIER

PHOTO BY DAVID PARHAM

CLOAK

Atlanta shadow-dwellers keep arcane metal’s flame burning bright

DOZER

DOZER

M

issing 13,” the final track on Drifting in the Endless Void, Dozer’s first full-length since 2008, departs from the grander psychedelic provocations wrought by these Swedish metallurgists. Cleaner, prettier and light years more lyrical, the endnote clocks the longest cut at eight minutes, and also the most pensive moment in a comeback that recasts the group aural eons from its origins. Where Dozer’s initial two pre-millennium LPs courted the SoCal desert rock of Frank Kozik’s Man’s Ruin imprint, platter number six hurtles through denser matter to arrive at far weightier elements. ¶ “I never felt we should be picking up right where we left off, and the others agreed,” writes incantation overseer Fredrik Nordin. “Something new should be done; we didn’t know what, though. I made a demo of ‘Missing 13,’ and that sparked the rest of the songs.

It became the first hurdle we got over, then the rest became easier.” ¶ Nordin’s blistering vocals, co-founder Tommi Holappa’s rolling riffs, Johan Rockner’s tectonic bass and Sebastian Olsson’s fault-line drums begin at “Mutation/Transformation,” 22 : JUNE 2023 : DECIBEL

a long-game tempo marching unhurriedly against a taut, pulsating wall of post-rock, steely and confident. Arc it to “Andromeda,” the living, beating, screaming void coming for all of us. Searing space rock guitars and quasar rhythms expand like the universe itself, so coming down proves a serious bitch after only five minutes.

Even sleeker corkers seal the deal: “Run, Mortals, Run!” rumbles a magnetic fireball of propulsive hooks and cosmic majesty, while third-hole dinger “Dust for Blood” wraps a barbed, piercing riff straight out of Jeff Beck-era Yardbirds around a tom-tom headbanger.

“We cast [‘Dust for Blood’] in the Dozer mold, if there is such a thing,” offers Nordin. “Nice melodies, nice riffs, kind of uplifting and light in a depressing and heavy way. “‘Run, Mortals, Run’ also started with a riff from Tommi.

Saying we’re inspired by ’90s music wouldn’t be an overstatement. We formed Dozer in ’95 as teens and had a lot of fun. So, if you hear something that reminds you of [that era], it’s not that strange.”

Like… global warming sirens?

“The concept behind this album was more or less an apology to my children,” acknowledges the frontman. “We were handed this earth and we took it for granted.

We thought the ground we lived on and the air that we breathed was a constant. It wasn’t.

“We’re all very small cogs in this great big machine, and sometimes you feel very powerless and small.

Like you’re drifting in the endless void. Never-ending, but that’s just part of the illusion. It isn’t. We’re finite beings. We have a limited time on this planet, and I wish I could’ve given my children a better place to live.” —RAOUL HERNANDEZ

PHOTO BY MATS EK

Reactivated fuzz rockers are fuzzy on humanity’s future

VOIDCEREMONY

VOIDCEREMONY International death metal engineers disrupt the very fabric of reality

THE

first record [2020’s Entropic Reflections Continuum] was cool as a rough draft, but [Threads of Unknowing] is a more realized vision,” confesses Wandering Mind, vocalist, lead guitarist and founding member of VoidCeremony. The band is once again a four-piece, now consisting of California/Quebec/South Australia-based musicians. Previously, bassist The Great Righteous Destroyer (Damon Good of StarGazer, Mournful Congregation, etc.) was listed as a session player, but has since joined officially.

Threads of Unknowing is also the first full-length to feature Hyperborean Apparition (Phil Tougas of Chthe’ilist, Worm, etc.) on second lead guitar. ¶ “I asked HA if he’d do a guest solo originally,” recalls Wandering Mind. “It was the first contact I made with him back in 2020. We began talking about games a lot. And after connecting [for] a while, I asked HA if he’d like to join.” ¶ “WM told me that if I was going to join VC, I would need to replay [the first] Dark Souls, as I had abandoned it years prior,” 24 : JUNE 2023 : DECIBEL

adds Hyperborean Apparition. “It was the best decision ever.”

Upon bringing in one of the world’s leading extreme metal guitarists, Wandering Mind says, “What I wanted to do differently [on Threads of Unknowing] was use the style and sound I had found and improve the compositions, add more solos, etc. I feel like [Entropic Reflections Continuum] wasn’t as cohesive as I wanted it.” Regarding the writing process, he adds, “I spent many nights trying to come up with the perfect structure. There were revisions, changes in riffs, etc.

I was inspired by what I was going through, but still spent months perfecting my ideas.”

For his part, Hyperborean Apparition approached the album in a different way: “I wrote and recorded my parts all at once. I didn’t have everything planned in advance when it came to writing

counterpoint arrangements, harmonies or even solos. Some of it was done on the spot in an almost improvised way a few days just before going on tour and in between teaching guitar to numerous students. I was in crunch mode. I even had to record some vocal parts between the first and second show of said tour.

I don’t recommend it. The pressure caused by the deadline kept me focused and somehow inspired me, though, and the end result feels and sounds very spontaneous and natural. It was a battle against time itself and we prevailed.”

For the cover, Wandering Mind told artist Juanjo Castellano, “The view will be a horizon. What will be seen is either that of a forgotten human realm, forsaken by a dead humanity, or an abstract planet…

I want to capture what is ancient, but also what is the future.”

—DUTCH PEARCE

USNEA

Portland doom crew favor scream time over screen time

THE

past several years have not been kind to most of us, but Portland, OR death/doom unit Usnea have had an especially rocky go since the release of 2017’s Portals Into Futility. Motorcycle accidents, ongoing health issues and a global pandemic all contributed to what guitarist/vocalist Justin Cory calls “dormant” periods for the band; but all that downtime also had an unexpectedly positive effect. ¶ “There is a silver lining, because we reworked the songs we had written prior to 2020, and they ended up being much more dynamic and interesting,” Cory says. “I think the time we took with songwriting is evident in the diversity of moods, tempos and stylistic influences they show.” ¶ The result, Bathed in Light, is a six-song anti-capitalist cautionary tale about the wonders—and, far more often, terrors—of technology. “We can’t help but be influenced by the zeitgeist of this era, and the elephant in the room is that we are destroying our planet,” Cory explains. “Technological ‘progress’ has been sold to us as a beneficial thing while it has really destroyed 26 : JUNE 2023 : DECIBEL

our connection within the realm of human community, eviscerated privacy and monetized our attention.”

In Usnea’s collective hands, our omnipresent screens become portals into a cold, Orwellian future where god-machines rule and reality itself is fracturing. As far as they’re concerned, reality is scarier than fiction. “Technology continues to be controlled by the powerful wealthy class and utilized to expand their fortunes,” Cory says. “As long as we deny basic human rights and dignity and prioritize profit and selfcentered individual gain, we will continue on this dystopian trajectory.” Metal has always loved a good dystopia, and Bathed in Light is nothing if not a doomed soundtrack to a dying world. The songs themselves are massive, tense and juddering death/doom epics veined with the post-punk, death rock and industrial goth that the band members hold dear (Cory’s own penchant for synthesizers surfaces on icy tracks like “To the Deathless”).

Despite the darkness of the music itself, Usnea leave room to let the light in—and encourage listeners to keep fighting the good fight against both future perils and current political evils. For example, it’s no coincidence that the luminous color art is bathed in the colors of the trans liberation flag.

“I hope listeners feel the catharsis that I feel from dark, angry, and devastating art and music,” explains Cory, who created the artwork partly as a way to express his own queer identity. “I also hope that they realize that we all have a part in this and that we can build up our communities and resist.

Some people want to keep politics out of their metal, and we are definitely not the band for those people. Ultimately, I hope that listeners enjoy the journey that the album takes them on, and that they feel better knowing that they aren’t alone in their feelings of despair and uncertainty.”

—KIM KELLY

PHOTO BY AMYROSE AHLSTROM

USNEA

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DRAIN

Santa Cruz crossover crew rides big riffs and bigger breakdowns

THE

metal realm often points out the indestructibility of the genre since its inception in the dawn of Sabbath, Priest, et al., but hardcore has had a pretty damn good decades-long run, too.

Like metal, there’s been a constant evolution of the style, which has included, not coincidentally, embracing metal (at least sonically) in a big way. ¶ Santa Cruz quartet Drain—vocalist Sammy Ciaramitaro, guitarist Cody Chavez, bassist A.J. Hoenings and drummer Tim Engel—are exemplars of what quality hardcore looks like in 2023: a powerful aggregate of modern sounds and styles, with a good dose of old-school take-no-shit attitude. “I feel like because hardcore is more than just music and more of a lifestyle, it changes and adapts to the world around it, both on the big-scale national scene and in local scenes,” Ciaramitaro tells Decibel via email. “In my short time [fronting Drain], I feel like it has definitely reached a new height and level of accessibility amongst the masses.” ¶ Drain’s second full-length (and first for Epitaph), Living Proof, both looks back and pushes forward 28 : JUNE 2023 : DECIBEL

over 10 songs in a tidy 26 minutes.

The meat of the album offers an array of thrash-leaning (think Slayer) muscular riffs complemented by knee-buckling breakdowns and Ciaramitaro’s versatile, angry roar.

But a snatch of hip-hop turns up in “Intermission,” and a little later, we get a nod to early-’80s SoCal punk with a fairly true-to-theoriginal cover of Descendents’ “Good Good Things.”

“I love hardcore and I love hardcore records. But sometimes it’s nice to have a break in the ass-whooping that’s going on in your ears for a minute or two,” Ciaramitaro explains. “We have all been huge Descendents fans, and I just felt like ‘Good Good Things’ embodied everything that Drain is all about.”

Living Proof was written during the pandemic, but wasn’t recorded until things “chilled out.” This fallow period, when they weren’t

touring or working at their “minimum wage service industry/warehouse jobs,” allowed Drain to hone the material to a greater degree. “It was kind of nice to get to write during the pandemic,” says Ciaramitaro. “We just took our time and really jammed the tracks a ton and tried a ton of different things with them until we felt like we had them exactly the way we wanted it.”

With the release of Living Proof, Drain intend to get back to where hardcore connects best: up close and personal, in the live setting. And Ciaramitaro couldn’t be happier.

“There’s something about our band that not only makes kids feel excited about seeing music live, but it makes them want to be a part of it and really feel it,” he says. “The crowds are straight-up nuts, and I wouldn’t want it any other way. They feed off of us onstage and we feed off them, so really it’s just like 25 minutes of chaos.” —ADEM TEPEDELEN

PHOTO BY RYAN BAXLEY

DRAIN

DEEP CROSS

IF

some reviewer were to say that Deep Cross’ new album Royal Water sounds like the product of two dreamers stuck in a cold storage room, you’d probably think it was a brilliant turn of phrase, as it describes the music within perfectly. Except it’s not; it’s just how it really was. ¶ “Jason [Joachim] and I met a little before we started working together,” recalls Michael Cockrell, one half of the duo. “I was in a band called Red Ox and he came out to one of our shows. A couple of weeks later, we actually started working together in our day jobs.” ¶ Joachim concludes the origin story: “I started working at the co-op grocery store where Michael works when I moved to Austin. I was cutting meat and he was working in the kitchen.

When we first started this project, we were called Cold Storage, as a nod to that place where we would end up talking about bands—both of us in the freezer, wearing our aprons. When both our projects at the time hit a stopping point, we decided to start collaborating.” ¶ Good decision, as already evidenced by 30 : JUNE 2023 : DECIBEL

their 2017 self-titled debut and now so much more on the new one.

Deep Cross are really onto something special. Good luck describing it in any verbal detail, though.

“We didn’t have any expectations when we started, and I think we still don’t have any—expectations or limitations,” Joachim reflects.

“Nothing would be shocking to us; it will always be amorphous and changing.”

Freedom, it seems, is absolute— and the whole point. Yet, Deep Cross seem to be perfectly defined in this ever-changing fluidity. “We just start making things and the rest happens from there,” Cockrell shrugs with a smile. “We like to look around and ask ourselves, ‘What are we not seeing out there?’ We constantly operate in a negative space. The first album was a mixed bag; we both come from bands where we used a lot

of sludgy guitar tones, but we just utilize the great big guitar tones for the emotional aspects and the temperament behind them. We also take from industrial, post-punk and other genres, but really, a lot of the repetition in what we do comes from listening to a lot of krautrock.

Or even things like early-’90s Jarboe-era Swans.”

Perhaps the best encapsulation of Deep Cross as a whole comes from something Joachim offers towards the end of our chat: “My overarching goal when I approach art, especially with Deep Cross, is bridging the gap between haute couture and low culture. And it’s not in an aspirational way; it’s more of an infiltration to the billionaire class, subverting that. Mike and I both see our art as class warfare, in a sense.

Neither of us are young, but we still feel like there’s a lot to be done.”

— JOSÉ CARLOS SANTOS

PHOTO BY KAYLA HOOTS

DEEP CROSS

Austin duo fills negative space with experimental freedom, post-punk and industrial heaviness

WILD BEYOND

Philly metal faithful just fucking wing it on black metal-rooted debut

I’VE

been joking that this is our attempt at black metal’s late-’90s infatuation with futuristic Matrix shit.” So begins guitarist and vocalist Edward Gonet of black thrash outfit Wild Beyond.

After impulse-purchasing a Randy Rhoads Flying V in February 2020, the vocalist for celebrated black magik outfit Daeva realized that it was “ridiculous to forget the skill” of playing guitar.

He hadn’t played in years, and it was time to change that. Then he lost his job courtesy of a rapidly spreading pandemic and had “all the free time in the world.” ¶ Eventually, Gonet was introduced to drummer Evan Madden (ex-Woe and Woods of Ypres) and bassist/keyboardist/guitarist Jimmy Viola (Necrosexual) by Sonja drummer Grzesiek Czapla, his neighbor. Together, the trio concocted an all-killer, no-filler, 31-minute banger of a record revolving around “Satan in space.” ¶ Gonet laughs and clarifies: “I got really about reading into John Parsons in the pandemic.

32 : JUNE 2023 : DECIBEL

He is known as the American godfather of rocketry,” he explains.

Parsons is renowned for inventing the first castable, composite propellant rocket engine. He flirted with Marxism briefly before joining Aleister Crowley’s esoteric religious movement Thelema in the early ’40s, where Parsons met none other than L. Ron Hubbard (the infamous sci-fi author and creator of Scientology). Parsons’ professional life unraveled rapidly as he moved into a commune with multiple believers, engaged in ritualistic sex and habitually used an array of drugs.

Gonet continues: “He basically got fired from the U.S. government for being a witch and blew himself up in his garage working on bombs.”

Further fueled by their mutual love for Darkthrone, Immortal, Slayer, Abigor, Mayhem, Bathory

and Sodom, the trio wrote their eponymous debut for Gates of Hell Records. While it does explore the late-’90s period when many infamous black metal bands were snapped up by labels and inserted ample keyboards into their sonic palette, it never veers too far astray.

Instead, the record is ferociously propulsive and crammed with unhinged vocals, screaming tremolos, battering drums and strange diversions into the unknown. Visually, sonically and conceptually cohesive, it’s an unusually strong debut, clearly bolstered by the pedigree of its members.

“You said there is a ‘disregard for conventional structures,’” Gonet says, then trails off. “I don’t really know anything about music.”

Then he laughs.

“I’m just winging it down here and having fun.” —SARAH KITTERINGHAM

PHOTO BY MATTHEW DECKER

WILD BEYOND

DEFILED

Barber shops are off-limits for veteran Tokyo death metal quartet

IF

americans demonstrated the exquisite decorum of Defiled founder/frontman Yusuke Sumita, well, then we’d be Japanese. Death metal torn from Earth’s No. 1 metropolis reaches a 30-year apogee notched by the Tokyo quartet’s seventh savage LP, The Highest Level. To mark said summit, Decibel sent seven questions to the O.G. DM shredder and vocal gut wrench, and received back a whopping 1,839 words of gratitude, graciousness and pure metallic grit. Here are but a few: ¶ YUSUKE SUMITA: Hello, as a longtime reader of Decibel magazine, it is a great honor to be interviewed. ¶ DECIBEL: Watching the video for “Off Limits,” I couldn’t believe YOUR HAIR. What is it about metal and long hair? Why are they… synchronous? ¶ YUSUKE SUMITA: Haha. Thanks for the hair band title. When we started expressing ourselves with metal music, we wanted to be honest about the vibes we felt from the material that inspired us. We don’t want to make fun of our Japanese predecessors, 34 : JUNE 2023 : DECIBEL

but we will be honest and tell you what we felt at that time. I would also like to add this was before the advent of black metal, so please don’t take this as hostility towards black metal or make-up bands like KISS. There is nothing negative in it.

Let me continue.

As a young man 30 years ago, I felt many Japanese bands felt inferior to Asians in terms of their appearance. Maybe it was the influence of glam rock or the traditional Japanese art of Kabuki makeup, but as a teenager I didn’t think it was cool to see bands wearing ridiculously thick makeup and dyed blonde hair that didn’t even identify them as Asian, male or female. I remember feeling sad and disappointed Japanese people could only be onstage as clowns.

Then, when I was in high school, I saw Death Angel’s “Voracious

Souls” video on MTV and was shocked. Even though they were Asian-American, I thought they expressed their coolness in a natural way. Long black hair was a great idea for Asians to express themselves naturally in the metal world.

When we started our band, there were no other death metal bands with long hair. Japan is a conservative society where short hair is a must for a career and decent life.

Also in Japan, even death metal bands wore short hair—caps and half-pants like skaters.

We were a bit twisted and stubborn, so we decided to go against the Japanese metal trend and keep our hair long. However, hair has nothing to do with creating music; although it has a lot to do with beliefs and aesthetics. We may have thinning gray hair and shave our heads one day. It may not be so far away. —RAOUL HERNANDEZ

PHOTO BY SHIGENORI ISHIKAWA

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The last man standing,

Immortal’s Demonaz, declares War Against All

36 : J AU PN RE I L 22002231 : : DDEECCI IBBEELL

st ory b y

phot o b y

JEFF TREPPEL

LE A NDER DJØN N E

The

first thing Harald “Demonaz” Nævdal asks me when we get on

the phone is how Immortal’s 10th album, War Against All, makes me feel. I answer immediately: “It makes me feel like I’m riding through the snow-covered mountains with a barbarian horde at my back.” ¶ “Okay, my job is done,” he laughs. “Honestly, like, for me, music is pictures in the head.

It’s darkness, or cold, or the kinds of things that I can’t believe are like 30 years of inspiration and still the same.” ¶ For Demonaz, Immortal is a never-ending work.

As one of the founding members of the legendary Norwegian black metal act, he’s shepherded the project for over 30 years—even when he was sidelined with tendinitis post-Blizzard Beasts, he continued writing songs and lyrics. The band has been through some upheavals along the way. Most notably, the departure of crab-walking frontman Olve “Abbath Doom Occulta” Eikemo in 2015 and drummer Reidar “Horgh” Horghagen in 2020 left Nævdal the sole remaining denizen of Blashyrkh.

Which begs the question: Why isn’t this just a solo Demonaz release like 2011’s March of the Norse? He clarifies that they come from two different places: “When I wrote that, it was just like I had a different vision; I wanted to make a heavy album and not think about blast beats, not think about any particular style, just make the heaviest music in a great way.”

In some ways, he does consider War Against All a solo album—aside from a session drummer and producer Arve “Ice Dale” Isdal of Enslaved, it’s all him. But is it really Immortal without any of his former collaborators? Or are we talking about a “Jack Russell’s Great White” situation where it’s a glorified cover band?

“This was my band from the beginning,” Demonaz asserts. “And I asked Abbath if he wanted to join me in 1990; I think he was going to do some gigs with his first band, Old Funeral, and then he will join me, he said. And I had a lot of a lot of ideas on how this was going to be,

but it obviously changed because me and him cowrote a lot of material. But in the beginning I think what created the signature for Immortal was my guitar-playing from the get-go, and later, when he took over the guitar in 1996—I think it was six years after—then most of the band was established,” he explains.

“And even if there were some changes in sound, and of course some changes in the writing for us too as we cowrite things, I think when we did [2009’s] All Shall Fall it was starting to go downhill musically, because even if there were some good songs on that album, I think it was the wrong way to continue. So, I had to get the train back on the line. And for me, this is Immortal, how it is now, much more than All Shall Fall, and of course a lot of fans would probably not agree with that. But they haven’t done this band for 30 years. The right way to say it is that we were all like members of the band, but it was like I was the only one who could do it.”

There’s certainly no mistaking this for anything but a classic Immortal record. The opening title track plunges the listener straight into the heart of winter, and outside of some slightly more atmospheric moments in songs like “Return From Cold” (originally considered as the title track itself), it’s a love letter to the fans—and Demonaz plans on continuing to tell the story of Blashyrkh for a while to come.

“You know, when people make movies, they have a bigger story behind the movie,” he says.

“I have the same. I have a big, big story which I’m writing, working on all the time. And a lot of things that don’t fit into the mold, I suppose. It’s a part of the backstory. The lyrics are just like a piece of it. It’s the feeling of it. To me, there was never a word for those things like the coldness and the dark, and what is driving this. So, Blashyrkh is the word for it. And it’s real. It can come and destroy us whenever it wants. We live in a world where we’re surrounded by a universe that doesn’t care about us. It will kill you in seconds. So, you’ve got to find something to believe in. And I believe in Blashyrkh. It’s also the darkness and the cold which drives me, the inspiration to write. And the expression of Immortal has always been connected to that. I think it would be very strange having a band write about religion or politics; I don’t know why you should do that. How could you do that and be serious? I don’t know. [Laughs] “Writing those lyrics in a way is like an escape. I want the fans to get into this mode.

And like you told me in the beginning, when I asked you what you felt about the album, you immediately came up with some sentences that I related to and was trying to present you with this album. So, I think it all gives a meaning, at least for me. That’s why I’m doing this.”

You’ve got to find something to believe in.

And I believe in Blashyrkh.

H A R A L D “DE MONA Z” NÆV DA L

DDEECCI IBBEELL : : AJPURNI E L 2023 1 : 37

leads the Mid-Atlantic crossover crop with War Remains story by JUSTIN M. NORTON /// photo by JACKY FLAV

K

nox Colby says his initial foray into crossover metal vocals hasn’t aged

well. While there was plenty of energy and anger, the execution was a bit green. “On the first demo, I sound like this feral wasp boy,” Colby says, laughing. “I don’t sound like I know what the fuck I’m doing.

Now I sound like I know exactly what I’m doing. Back then, I was yelling at the top of my lungs, and now I have more insight.” ¶ The hard work has indeed paid off for all five members of Enforced. Less than a decade after their earliest recordings, they are making some of the best crossover metal out there, effortlessly combining the DIY ethos of hardcore, the energy of punk and the technicality of metal. Their new album, War Remains, is a 21st century crossover gem that draws on a sound established by early Corrosion of Conformity, Crumbsuckers and Stormtroopers of Death more than 30 years ago. A big difference is that War Remains boasts a more insightful and evolved worldview. Rather than celebrating violence, the album is in part a meditation on James Hillman’s book A Terrible Love of War. “It breaks down to a molecular level how much human beings love war,” Colby says.

“There have been more wars than years in recorded history,” Colby says. “So, the album isn’t about the function of war. It’s about psychology. It’s not about bullets and bombs—it’s about the concept of war. It’s written into your DNA that you fight. When you are scared, it’s fight or flight. From caveman times to the Middle Ages when there were stupid fights about who married, we’ve always been fighting.” War Remains also includes a more personal meditation on mortality: “Mercy Killing Fields” is about the slow death of Colby’s cousin in 2021. The end product is a compact 32 minutes; crossover should be all killer and no filler, and War Remains fits the bill.

Enforced is a product of Richmond, VA’s fertile crossover scene, which has produced JU 38 : A PN RE I L 22002231 : : DDEECCI IBBEELL

thrash mainstays Municipal Waste and associated crossover act Iron Reagan. Even Lamb of God technically crossed over from punk-flavored Burn the Priest to the groove-heavy metal that made them a global juggernaut. “There is a great sense of musical community here. There is a huge hardcore scene and a huge metal scene so crossover naturally comes out of that,” says guitarist Will Wagstaff. “There is a subsection of folks that you see at both shows. For a long time, Richmond had the biggest public arts school in the nation, and I think that attracted artistic folks into alternative culture. It’s a hotbed for band formation.”

Wagstaff initially played in punk bands until he found he was writing riffs better suited for metal. He spent more hours than he could count

slowing down Slayer albums, trying to learn every lick and nuance. “I was writing metalsounding riffs,” Wagstaff says. “I was getting into heavier stuff and turning my interests to New York hardcore and crossover. I also liked that crossover bands can play any type of show.

But it was more a musical evolution than we were getting tired of punk.”

In addition to New York hardcore and crossover bands, Wagstaff spent many hours with Sepultura’s back catalog, particularly Beneath the Remains and foundational ’90s Florida death metal. “Knox was more versed in that material than I was,” he says. “Getting into the early Sepultura and Slayer albums was eye-opening, and I had to step up my musical game. While in punk bands, I didn’t do much except riff and play on my practice amp.” That Sepultura influence and groove appears throughout War Remains, particularly on the mid-paced track “Nation of Fear.”

War Remains is the first album Enforced wrote exclusively with new drummer Alex Bishop. While the album is tight and polished, the band members say they never planned to spend a long time in the studio. Like the early crossover legends, less time usually yields the best results. “We don’t go to the studio for two months or two weeks,” Wagstaff says. “A few weekends in Richmond will suffice. Great crossover albums are done in a few days. There is no tempo mapping. We just do the take and if it’s bad, we’ll do it again. It’s kind of chaotic, and that adds to the overall vibe. I don’t even write solos until the rhythm tracks are in the books. My fiancée probably knows these solos as well as I do—bless her heart. When she hears something, she will say, ‘I remember you playing that 200 times differently.’”

The crossover and DIY vibe extend to the band’s management—there is none. “I am the manager and the booking agent,” Wagstaff says. “We’ve already got three ideas for the next record. We are just a band that likes to have fun and riff around and we’ll continue to do that.

The thrash-crossover-punk genre never goes away. Whenever bands do that shit right, it’s going to sound good. It’s a timeless genre.”

Great crossover albums are done in a few days. wi ll W AGSTAFF

DDEECCI IBBEELL : : AJPURNI E L 2023 1 : 39

interview by

QA VINCENT j. bennett

WI T H

BENNETT THE ACACIA STRAIN frontman on record reviews, the future of humanity and not calling him “Vince.”

40 : JUNE 2023 : DECIBEL

W

hen we ring the Acacia Strain frontman Vincent Bennett on the might not be the right word, but there’s

Decibel hotline, we start by trying to find common ground. He’s a Bennett, we’re a Bennett—and we’re both from Massachusetts.

But that kinda backfires. “It’s funny because people always say we’re a ‘Chicopee, MA-based quintet,’ but nobody in the band has lived in Massachusetts for like 15 years,” he says. “I live in upstate New York, near Saratoga Springs. People just hang on to the Chicopee thing.” ¶ To be fair, we latched onto it because we saw one of Bennett’s Instagram posts from the band’s recent European tour—a photo of the singer in Poland with the caption “From Chicopee to Poland” underneath. “That’s because Chicopee has a big Polish community,” he explains. “Or at least it used to. But I feel like New England ruins people. Anyone I know who stayed, they’re miserable. The key is to get out. Moving to New England is fine, but living there for your entire life is enough to break a person. That’s why my mom is depressed all the time.” ¶ Another reason to be depressed? Pondering humanity’s next move. Which is exactly what the Acacia Strain’s new album, Step Into the Light, does. “It’s about the next step of evolution,” our man explains. “What’s going to happen to us? Are we gonna work towards a better tomorrow, or are we just gonna collapse upon ourselves? Step Into the Light is one of the possible ways we could evolve, where we give our consciousnesses over to… whatever we can.

Whether it’s Matrix-style technology, living in a simulation, or transcending our bodies to become pure energy and complete good. Giving ourselves away to the next stage of us.” ¶ [Author’s Note: This interview was conducted before the Acacia Strain announced they would be releasing a second album called Failure Will Follow on the same day as Step Into the Light.]

Your Instagram handle is @dontcallmevince.

I know a few people who prefer their full first names over a shortened version—including the editor of this magazine—but what’s your reason?

I like my name. I really do. I like being called Vincent. I introduce myself as Vincent. But people still call me Vince every day of my life.

Every tour we’ve ever done or will do, there will be at least one person who calls me Vince.

I’ll give it a week and then say, “I know I’ve answered to Vince for the last week, but I prefer Vincent.” Vinnie Stigma called me “Vincenzo” on a tour, but that’s fine. He’s a legend, and he can call me whatever he wants. But at the same time, he wasn’t calling me “Vince,” so I didn’t care. I just don’t understand why people will autopilot to shortening people’s names. I figured the Instagram handle would put it to bed, but people will message me on Instagram and call me Vince.

[Laughs] I feel like I’m getting trolled, you know?

In an interview you did with Decibel in 2019, you mentioned that you don’t read reviews of your albums. Have you always been that way?

No, but they kinda put me off. I mean, even if a review is good, what’s the maximum time PHOTO BY STU McDONALD

someone takes to write a review? They listen to the record once and then take a half hour to write a couple paragraphs? This is something we’ve taken a long time to put together. I close myself in my basement, pacing around, worrying that my lyrics aren’t gonna be good enough.

Then we finally come out with a finished product that we’re really proud of, something that took maybe two years from concept to actual completion, and someone takes a half hour to say if it’s good or bad? It’s not fair. Write a record for yourself and see how fucking hard it is to put something together that’s gonna last forever.

Unless you spent the same amount of time writing your review as we did writing our record, I don’t want to read it. Even if you like the record.

I appreciate it, but I don’t really value it.

Is Step Into the Light the second phase of your last album, Slow Decay? That record talked about how we’ve trashed the planet.

No, this is a completely new thing. Slow Decay talks about us getting sucked into a black hole and living in our own personal hell with each other. This is a little different. It’s more like: What do we do? How can we evolve? “Evolve”

something going on right now. We’ve gotta be chipping away at the next stage of evolution.

Whether that’s good or bad, we’re working on it.

Slow Decay was pretty bleak, lyrically speaking.

Is Step Into the Light more optimistic?

I would like to think that. But at the same time, no matter what we do, we’re flawed. We’re not great. We’re probably the worst thing to ever happen to the planet. We’re self-centered, we think we’re better than we are, we tap into whatever we can. Any book, any movie, any video game where humanity gets a chance, we always blow it. No matter what happens, we’re doomed to fail. But Step Into the Light is saying, “We can do this. We have the idea, and we can get it right. We’re going to evolve, and we’ll never have to worry again.” But no matter what, we’re gonna get it wrong. There are too many factors in motion. Even if we have our most brilliant minds on everything, there’s always the people underneath the brilliant minds pushing the buttons and pulling the strings so something will go wrong.

It’ll be watered down or deliberately sabotaged and ultimately ruined.

Right. Think about any Hollywood movie adapted from another source. That source material—a book, a video game—could be perfect, but as soon as you get 15 producers on it, it gets ruined. The only good way is if the originator of the material is the only one that worked on it.

And that’s never how it is. The people who think they have the ideas always ruin it. If someone actually figured out how we could transcend and become pure energy, there would be someone else going, “Let’s market it!” So, the duality of the record is: We can do it, but we’re gonna fuck it up. It’s going to be an absolute horror show, and we’re gonna be stuck in it forever.

That makes me think of Maximum Overdrive, which was based on a short story by Stephen King. And he actually got to direct the movie.

Which wasn’t bad, but wasn’t great, either.

I love Maximum Overdrive, but Stephen King won’t even talk about it. He was so gacked out of his mind that he doesn’t remember making it. And that’s kinda where we are with everything. I’m not trying to make it sound like there’s some shadow government pulling the strings. No, there’s a real government pulling the strings.

There’s, what, a hundred billionaires in America that decide everything? There’s no shadow anything. They’re blatantly obvious about it.

D E C I B E L : J U N E 2 0 2 3 : 41

The choices that are being made with technology right now…

They figure if they can do it, they should do it.

It’s like no one ever watched Jurassic Park or Terminator 2 or The Matrix.

 Do the evolution Bennett (l) and the Acacia Strain hypothesize that there are infinite possibilities for humanity to fuck things up

Anyone who even sort of pays attention to the news can understand where you’re coming from, but was there a specific tipping point that led to this idea for you?

It was just a lot of shower moments. You always have random things going through your head when you’re driving or trying to fall asleep at night—or showering—because that’s when your brain has time to wander. And it’s the least opportune time for any ideas to come. But I was just thinking about what’s going to happen to us. Does the next stage of human evolution involve everyone uploading their consciousness to the cloud and living with whatever environment we have decided upon for ourselves?

What’s gonna happen to us? It could go any number of ways.

And then I think about, what if I wrote the lyrics to this song on a different day of the week? Would it be the same song? What happens at a singular moment in time can determine everything. Would we even be a band right now if we didn’t write certain songs? Would we be more successful? Would we be less successful?

It’ll drive you crazy if you think about it too long. A day, a minute, a second in time could literally change everything. I wanted to nail that somehow, and the only way I could think to 42 : JUNE 2023 : DECIBEL

do it was to ask questions about the next stage of human evolution.

You and I are roughly the same age. Do you think we’re gonna see the next phase of human evolution—or the beginnings of it— in our lifetime?

I don’t know. Who could’ve predicted COVID? Who could’ve predicted anything that’s happened in the last few years? It’s such a strange and insane world we live in that it almost feels fake. The last record was about that: We’re in hell right now, and it doesn’t seem real. I mean, there could be a new super-virus tomorrow that rains from the sky and I wouldn’t be surprised. Nothing is shocking anymore. There are train crashes happening all over the country and death clouds pouring acid rain on us, and everyone’s like, “Whatever.” This is just normal now. We’ve gotten so used to the craziest shit.

When there’s inevitably another super-disease that spreads across the planet, people will be like, “Fuck you, dude. You’re not telling me to wear a mask.”

I mean, we could witness human extinction in the next 36 hours or we could live like this ’til we die. The world is so unpredictable and insane right now. What do we have to prepare for next?

My mom’s generation had the crack epidemic and AIDS, but that pales in comparison to what’s going on now. I mean—think about that: My mom saw a man land on the moon. Guess what?

We can see 13.5 billion years into the past with a telescope now. That’s crazy.

Nothing would surprise me, either. What I think about is this: If humanity lasts another 10 or 20 years, will we even want to be alive at that point? What stage of AI will we be in? Will it be like the Terminator movies?

Dude, I know. The choices that are being made with technology right now… they’re just manhandling everything. They figure if they can do it, they should do it. It’s like no one ever watched Jurassic Park or Terminator 2 or The Matrix. People are like, “Oh, that’s just science fiction. Let’s try it!” The Bing AI was off the rails there for a few minutes. It wanted to be human and kill everyone. They had to shut it down, and it’s a good thing they actually could. That’s where we’re at right now. But no, people are like, “I wanna chat with the computer!” Fuck you, man. Talk to a person. Me and my girlfriend watched M3GAN last night, and it wasn’t a great movie, but it’s like, “Is anybody listening at all?”

Give me a break.

DECIBEL : JUNE 2023: 43

the

definitive stories

behind extreme music’s

definitive albums

Their Time Has Come the making of Fleurety’s Min tid skal komme JUNE 2023 : 4 4 : DECIBEL

by

jon rosenthal

W

DBHOF222

FLEURETY

Min tid skal komme AES T HET IC DEAT H/MIS ANT HROPY AUGUS T 1995

Gloriously Untrue Norwegian Black Metal

DECIBEL : 45 : JUNE 2023

hen Norwegian black metal’s

“weirdification”—a turn-of-the-millennium dismissal of the second wave’s rule-heavy conservatism by its own practitioners (yes, even Mayhem)—is referenced, we often hear about the “heavy hitters.” Ved Buens Ende, Solefald, Arcturus… all fell victim to modernity’s beck and call, and with a Cardiacs-like whimsy did these artists completely abandon black metal in favor of LED lights and something between spasmodic melodicism and deep atonality. That eventually made the way for the modern idea of “post-black metal” (not to be confused with the older and more traditional idea of “post-black metal,” now known as “avant-garde black metal,” which is more applicable here) championed by bands like Alcest and Deafheaven. The line isn’t direct, mind you, but no great adventure is defined by straight paths.

But how did we get here? Surely there is a missing link between De Mysteriis Dom Sathanas and The Linear Scaffold (and even Sunbather, if we look even further into the future), and it is with Ytre Enebakk, Norway natives Fleurety’s debut album that we find a semblance of connection through a more ethereal and dreamlike take on black metal, whose second wave had already come and gone by 1995—not that this band ever paid attention.

Following a demo (Black Snow) and an EP (A Darker Shade of Evil), Fleurety’s bizarre, eagle-screeching take on black metal took the underground by storm, garnering them a placement in the genre-defining Misanthropy Records and a then-fledgling Aesthetic Death’s rosters.

Concentrating more on songwriting and long-form ideas, Min tid skal komme—released just a year after A Darker Shade of Evil—is a progressive epic, bridging the gap between 1992’s strictness and 1997’s oddball adventurousness, paving the way for modernity and a true creative spirit in black metal. Meandering through lengthy, majestic instrumentals and dark, nerdy avant-garde black metal, drummer and keyboard player Svein Egil “Zweizz” Hatlevik and guitarist Alexander Nordgaren—here joined by bassist Per Amund Solberg and guest vocalist (and, even later, pop star) Marian Aas Hansen—chose to turn black metal on its head and make something truly for musicians and connoisseurs alike. Having permanently damaged his voice using a singular, legend-making shriek on previous Fleurety releases, Nordgaren handed frontman duties to Hatlevik, resulting in a more subdued, emotive album, one which is paired with an equally as nuanced performance by the band as a whole. What makes Min tid skal komme special is that it straddles both black metal universes in a time of change—the riff-centered and aggressive nature of the past with the future’s uncertainty.

In totality, Min tid skal komme is meant to be a patient listen, one paired with nothing else but darkened surroundings, and we are very pleased to induct such a special record into our hallowed Hall of Fame. This is the unknown framework that leads us to the present, a black metal hero known to those who truly listen, and a reward for adventurers who look into the past for inspiration.

Do yourself a favor and wait until there is a nice thunderstorm raging outside, then pair this album with your beverage of choice. We’re not judging.

DBHOF222

FLEURETY min tid skal komme

Min tid skal komme was released in 1995, but I understand it took quite a while to make. You wrote and recorded this in 1994, right?

ALEXANDER NORDGAREN: The lyrics date back to

1992-1993, as do some of the riffs, but we were ready to record in 1994. Then we booked the studio in January or February in 1995. We worked on it for quite a while, and then working with Misanthropy and Aesthetic Death… recording an album was quite a lot of money for us at the time, so we needed to arrange all of it so they would pay the studio and these sorts of things.

“Production” items that needed to fall in place as well. We actually recorded “Absence” before Min tid skal komme, but wrote it later than the album.

Right, I recall the Absence single came out earlier that year.

NORDGAREN: Tiziana Stupia from Misanthropy

Records contacted us in 1994, said she knew we were recording the album in early 1995, but needed “Absence” before then. So, we contacted Panser Studio, where we recorded everything, and recorded that in a day or two.

This album took a longer period of time to make than I think people realize, since you put out Black Snow and A Darker Shade of Evil in the time you were writing Min tid skal komme. What was the context for that development—these grander ideas and longer, more developed and involved songwriting?

NORDGAREN: I was bored by the riff-verse-riff-

verse song structures, and we put a lot of focus on moving from motif to motif or theme to theme.

There isn’t a lot of repetition in the songwriting, and it’s a concept album as well, so it’s a linear story across the whole album. It’s not “a song, a song, a song” in that context. The challenge in writing in that way is that you have smooth transitions. It must feel natural when moving from seemingly very disparate riffs or themes, so a lot of focus was making it feel exciting or not boring, but at the same time very natural in the way the song and the story progresses.

SVEIN EGIL HATLEVIK: It’s also a kind of rebellious anti-pop music statement. You try to avoid this repetition thing. It feels more logical to start two different songs with the same riff than going back to the same riff within the same song.

There’s this narrative idea.

The idea of it being an anti-pop statement is interesting, as I also think of Min tid skal komme as catchy and memorable. The songwriting is strong, and it has timeless melodies. In crafting this anti-pop album, how do you reconcile with also using this more melodic songwriting style?

NORDGAREN: I don’t think we ever thought of Min

tid skal komme as pop music at the time, but we

 The root of all evil Despite their blackened roots, Nordgaren (top l) and Hatlevik quickly left for greener... er, bluer pastures

“I think what was black metal at the time, if you wanted to be a proper black metal band, you had to be unique, but you also had to conform.

I guess we skipped part of that conforming aspect.”

A LEXA ND E R NO RD GA RE N listened to a lot of music that wasn’t metal. How our minds formed musically and compositionally was drawn from a lot of different sources. I think when we wrote [1999’s] Last Minute Lies, we considered it a pop album because it didn’t have screaming vocals. That didn’t turn out to be a pop EP either, but I don’t think just because you don’t have fast guitars that it’s pop. We’re taking inspiration from contemporary classical music, prog, goth bands, musicals like Which Witch?

HATLEVIK: That’s a secret! Don’t write that!

NORDGAREN: So, by mixing these influences together, that’s kind of anti-pop as well.

With all these influences, Fleurety still came from a black metal background. Do you consider this album to be a black metal album now?

What about back then?

HATLEVIK: At this time, when we made and

recorded this album, there was at the same time a lot of homogenization of black metal going on. I usually make a point of saying that I don’t like Transilvanian Hunger because it was JUNE 2023 : 4 6 : DECIBEL

very monotonous. The same riff, the same drum pattern the whole time. I was pissed off when I heard it. I wanted everything to be… maybe it’s when you’re a teenager and you want everyone to be in the same frame of mind as yourself, and I wanted everything to be fluctuating musically. I didn’t really want this stagnant way of making songs. When you go and listen to other records that came out at the same time, they were growing very monotonous. Burzum.

Darkthrone. Monotonous. There’s a component of antithesis to what’s happening around you in this as well.

NORDGAREN: I think what was black metal at the time, if you wanted to be a proper black metal band, you had to be unique, but you also had to conform. I guess we skipped part of that conforming aspect, as did some of our peers, and concentrated on some unique aspects. I thought of us as a black metal band at the time, but we were also not Satanic. Again, that doesn’t always correspond to the folks at the time. Our roots were black metal, though.

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The debut album of Triumphant Black Metal supremacy from the former Mayhem guitarist/ Vltimas founder, Blasphemer

LIMITED EDITION GOLD VINYL LP | CD | LP | DIGITAL

CD DIGIPAK | GATEFOLD 2LP | DIGITAL LP 1 - Nightfall with newly remastered audio of the album

by Patrick Engel at Temple of Disharmony LP 2 - Alternate mixes and studio outtakes

NIGHTFALL

SIGH – ‘LIVE: THE EASTERN FORCES OF EVIL 2022’ 23 JUNE

Following the release of the highly acclaimed ‘Shiki’ album, this new performance captured in Japan features the line-up of founder & mainman Mirai Kawashima on bass/vocals, Dr. Mikannibal on vocals/saxophone, Nozomu Wakai on guitar, and Takeo Shimoda on drums.

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Now available on the Peaceville Store MORTA SKULD ‘DYING REMAINS’

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30th anniversary!Special double CD plus bonus disc featuring 1990 demos, ‘Gory Departure’ and ‘Prolong the Agony’ plus rare rehearsal tracks from the 1991 / limited edition Red Vinyl LP.

LP3 - Demos & rehearsals Each is presented in its own sleeve within the box, ‘Nightfall’ poster, and an eight-page booklet featuring rare band images, and text originally featured in the ‘Behind the Wall of Doom’ book, written by Per Ola Nilsson

FLEURETY MIN TID SKAL KOMME CD – OUT NOW LIMITED EDITION WHITE VINYL LP – 23 JUNE

FLEURETY THE WHITE DEATH CD & LP – OUT NOW

DARKTHRONE ‘CHROMLECH’ AND ‘THULCANDRA’

Vinyl LP

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I think about this album and there’s a lot of change that goes into Fleurety at the time, even if you were ostensibly a black metal band—be it your concentration on songwriting and atmosphere and a more progressive nature, or especially, Alexander, you relinquishing your vocal duties to Svein Egil. How did that feel? Did it change the dynamic at all?

NORDGAREN: I felt relief! I’m an intro-

vert, so I don’t like attention, and not having to sing was totally fine with me. I totally lost my voice after A Darker Shade of Evil, and the vocals I did were pretty extreme. I still can’t push my voice to this day—it was permanently damaging. But it also felt very natural as well. We go back to doing something unique, but if we did those vocals forever, it wouldn’t be very unique. It allowed us to introduce more variety into the expression of voice.

Svein Egil, what was it like taking over vocal duties? What was it like suddenly becoming a frontman, something which would follow you throughout your career in Fleurety (and other bands) from then onward?

HATLEVIK: There’s another aspect to it

that comes from us having this idea that this is the type of music that you sit at home and listen to in your dark fortress or wherever. We did have some attempts at conforming, but that was kind of half-assed. Our rehearsal room at the time was a bomb shelter. The vocal performance is something you primarily do in the studio, so the main songwriting is what you’re doing in the rehearsal setting with drums and guitars; and then vocals, in this situation, come as something on top—at least if you see it from the inside. The vocals only arrive at a very late stage in the process, so it’s an integral part of the album, but not an integral part of the process. I think that’s pretty usual for this type of music at this time.

I think one thing with Alexander’s vocals, they were a logical extreme of this anti-death metal sentiment at the time. You didn’t want growly vocals, like fuck off death metal vocals, and Florida people with Florida outfits.

These high-pitched vocals are part of this anti-death metal sentiment in the Norwegian black metal fish pond at the time. After a while, we

FLEURETY min tid skal komme

of a Past

REFLECTIONS FROM FORMER SESSION AND LIVE MIN TID SKAL KOMME-ERA FLEURETY MEMBERS

Kimberly Goss,

EX-FLEURETY LIVE KEYBOARDIST/VOCALIST

In the early to mid-’90s, albums from Darkthrone, Mayhem, Emperor, Satyricon and Dimmu Borgir were on constant rotation in my CD player. This was the beginning of my fixation with discovering new music from any and every metal band coming out of Norway. During this quest, it was Fleurety’s debut release that completely stopped me in my tracks. Up to that point, it was unlike anything else I had ever heard coming from that region. An unexpected, yet very welcoming surprise. One minute it has you in a zen-like state of meditation, and the next minute it has you banging your head. What was this sorcery?

In hindsight, it makes perfect sense as to why I absolutely fell in love with this record.

Since early childhood, Rush has been one of my all-time favorite bands. Even during my evolution into becoming a connoisseur of metal in all its forms, the Canadian prog trio has always remained in my top five. Although very different in genre, the unorthodox song structure and experimental fusion of styles on Fleurety’s Min tid skal komme album gave me a very similar feeling of wonder and awe that I had when listening to my beloved Rush.

I moved to Norway from Chicago at the end of 1995, about two months shy of my 18th birthday, and I eventually lived in three Nordic countries over the span of 14 years. During that time, I performed live with seven different bands, but it was actually with Fleurety for which I made my first ever live performance since making the move overseas. Alexander was a friend of mine, and he asked if I’d be up to the task of playing keys and singing the female vocal lines for them in concert. I excitedly said yes and Svein Egil patiently taught me all the keyboard parts from his home. In order to master singing in Norwegian, I wrote down the lyrics phonetically as if I heard them in “English.” This was the same technique I used earlier when—for my own amusement—I decided to learn all the songs from the Storm album, Nordavind. It seemed to work well enough, but whether or not my accent and pronunciation were on-point remains a mystery to me. [Laughs] Fun fact: The first time we all played together was actually onstage! We never had a full band rehearsal with Fleurety prior to playing live together. In fact, I believe I met two of the guys JUNE 2023 : 4 8 : DECIBEL

in that live lineup for the very first time just before going onstage with them. That’s crazy to think about! Something like that would absolutely terrify me now. Oh, to be young and fearless again… those were the days!

Per Amund Solberg, EX-FLEURETY SESSION BASSIST

I grew up in Ytre Enebakk and got to know Alexander and Svein Egil in my early teens. It was about the same time I started to play bass.

It soon became clear to me that Alexander and Svein Egil had a special ambition and drive when it came to music. While I was fooling around fishing pike, playing football and rehearsing occasionally with my rock band from high school, they landed their first record deal with a U.K. record company. I remember being impressed.

My first recollection of playing with Fleurety is Alexander showing me some lines and riffs in his bedroom. I guess it was in the early ’90s. At first the soundscape was somewhat stringent, with fast riffing, active drumming and a high-pitched vocal.

For the most part, the bass doubled the guitar lines and followed the riffing. Later, when rehearsing for and recording Min tid skal komme, the expression opened up a bit, introducing more open space in combination with the riffs and lines.

This gave room for me to play more freely, which suited me well. I never got into the fast and sturdy bulldozer basslines that characterize black metal. I was more into classic pop and rock, hardcore, funk, but also folk and eventually jazz. And I’ve always liked to explore melodic lines on the bass, as well as improvising.

I enjoyed recording this album, much because Alexander and Svein Egil let me add some of my own style into their music. The combination of the open parts and the riffs and more progressive parts on Min tid skal komme made it both challenging and exciting to play.

And we tracked drums, bass and guitar simultaneously (at least I think we did?), giving a more dynamic and live feel to it.

Speaking of live—I did not gig that much with Fleurety. Being about the only bass player in the late teens in our village, I guess they just had to choose me. Despite my geeky short-haired footballer look. When we played some songs at a local festival in ’94, Svein Egil gave me a black hooded cloak to wear. It turned the footballer into a dark and mysterious character—a perfect solution!

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FLEURETY min tid skal komme

already did this very clear anti-death metal statement and we just had to come up with something else. That sounded more like the typical black metal vocal style, but it might as well be something entirely different.

Speaking of vocals, Min tid skal komme featured Marian Aas Hansen handling clean vocals, and she has a very different career now as a pop singer. How did you connect with her, and what was it like working with her on a black metal record?

NORDGAREN: Both Marian and [session bassist] Per

Amund Solberg went to school with Svein Egil and I, and Marian was the most talented singer in our area. She was a couple grades above us, but we were friends through our interest in music.

Not only what she’s doing now, but also back then was definitely not metal, but she did enjoy the expression of metal and agreed to join us on this album. I think it came out really well!

 Keep Norway weird Fleurety’s live line-up for their first performance with ex-vocalist/keyboardist Kimberly Goss

I think her performance adds quite a bit to the album’s atmosphere.

HATLEVIK: I think I should have listened to the

album and reminisced a little more before doing this, because now I’m thinking that there’s a lot of flashbacks from way back when.

NORDGAREN: I do remember the recording very well. There were a couple things we did to experiment; one of them was that she has two to three vocal layers over the same theme, and how we did that was we recorded them in multiple sessions, but she couldn’t hear the other tracks.

Sometimes they come together and become a little bit dissonant, but that was on purpose. I wouldn’t call it a randomness, but…

HATLEVIK: I’d call it randomness.

NORDGAREN: But it was randomness on purpose, I guess you could say. She was doing a lot of different vocal takes with elements of improvisation, which turned out in a very unique way.

I had wondered if improvisation played a part of it. It feels very loose, which leads me to another element I wanted to ask about: the album’s bass presence. I feel like apart from someone like Ved Buens Ende and Arcturus’ Hugh “Skoll” Mingay, Per Amund Solberg’s bass is pretty singular. But also, to reuse a word, it’s “loose” in performance. What made you want to have more lyrical bass with a higher presence? And what about the slap bass in track four?!

HATLEVIK: I would approach this from another

angle and say this is the only way that made any

sense. Why should you even have a bass guitar on the record if it doesn’t stick out? Or if it just follows the guitar? If I was still 16 or 17 and with the direct black metal framework, I’d say this is a stupid question, you stupid journalist! It’s so obvious that the bass has to be its own reason for existing, in a way.

NORDGAREN: Per Amund is a very talented bassist and musician. Before Min tid skal komme, he did play on the A Darker Shade of Evil EP, but that’s very different from the album bass-wise. His background is not in metal either, so I would sit with him with the riffs, but he’d add his own flair, especially in the acoustic passages. I didn’t write those! And it was different every time, so there was a level of improvisation as well. As for the slap bass in… “Englers piler har ingen brodd,” I think…

HATLEVIK: I said, “let’s try that” and was like wow, it actually worked!

NORDGAREN: He was an amazing funk player, too. Lots of Primus, Red Hot Chili Peppers…

HATLEVIK: You have to remember this was in the prime of slap bass playing in popular culture, too!

NORDGAREN: He was amazing at tapping as well.

I played with him in another band around the same time called I Left the Planet, which had amazing tapping passages.

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You mentioned the album having a concept or overall narrative. For those of us who don’t speak or read Norwegian, in which all the lyrics are written, could you explain the album’s concept?

NORDGAREN: Obviously, it was written when we

were pretty young, but I can say it is a short story about life and death and good and evil and a little about hope and hopelessness, but through the lens of a teenager. I don’t know what else to say about it, really! It’s open to interpretation and probably has to be translated by most people, but I’m not going to interpret these lyrics from all those moons ago.

Along with this concept, the album’s aesthetic is also something that, along with these small portions of improvisation and “rehearsal room jamming,” defines it. This very dreamy, blue-tinted cover photograph taken by Endre Marken—what led to you using this image?

What was the creative process here?

NORDGAREN: We should start with the original

picture—we did a photo shoot with Endre and we went to the woods, as you would do. We lived in the woods, too. The picture itself was a black and white photo—it’s a picture of the water in a marsh, and then you see our reflection on the other side. That’s the photograph itself.

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DBHOF222

FLEURETY min tid skal komme skal komme has that sort of gloomy, colorful, thunderstorming vibe.

HATLEVIK: I think Min tid skal komme is at least

blue one with Peaceville is certified.

85-90 percent written on the guitar. I don’t really remember. I think almost everything starts with a guitar riff.

In a separate conversation with Svein Egil, I was informed that your later album, The White Death, was written with a mixed bag of either guitars as the primary instrument or drums as the primary songwriting instrument. That being said, what was the songwriting process like for Min tid skal komme? Did you use a similar approach?

As part of the black metal scene at the time, Fleurety initially released Min tid skal komme on the legendary Misanthropy Records and British label Aesthetic Death, but later Candlelight and now Peaceville. There’s this wide range of labels with different perspectives releasing this to different audiences. How did it feel watching this album grow and change over the past 28 years?

NORDGAREN: Min tid skal komme was thoroughly

NORDGAREN: Twenty-eight years. Wow. It’s

composed using melodic instruments, and I wrote a lot of riffs, but Svein Egil also did synthesizers. I’d write guitar riffs or themes over Svein Egil’s synthesizers at times, but we would rehearse with what I wrote on guitar and Svein Egil would add synthesizer in the studio.

been brilliant, I don’t know what else to say.

It’s a great feeling when someone appreciates something you created, and for me the most rewarding thing about Fleurety is the process.

Collaborating with Svein Egil and all the musicians. I guess that’s also why we haven’t

HATLEVIK: The green one created an uproar! The HATLEVIK: Primitive forest dogmatic aesthetic.

NORDGAREN: 100 percent, everything about it.

The blueness was not created by us. I think that was an accident in the printing process. The first edition released by Misanthropy Records had a green shade, not a blue one.

HATLEVIK: I was pissed off with the greenish version, which actually came first, and after that was this darker blue which worked out better.

The green sold the most copies, and then there was a second reprint, which is now the inspiration for the Peaceville reissue, but the greenish [cover] created a ruckus in parts of Ytre Enebakk.

NORDGAREN: It was a shock!

I always felt it was deliberate or that the album has a blue or green feel to it. Min tid

A Shape on the Horizon

UNDERGROUND LUMINARIES SING THE PRAISES OF MIN TID SKAL KOMME’S SINGULAR INFLUENCE

PAUL GROUNDWELL

JASON WALTON

JEFF WAGNER

GREG CHANDLER

PEACEVILLE RECORDS

AGALLOCH/MOONBLADDER

AUTHOR, RADICAL RESEARCH PODCAST

ESOTERIC

I remember getting the A Darker Shade of Evil 7-inch and, fair enough, the vocals were certainly to an acquired taste (though not entirely an uncommon practice, that period of exploring the limits of tortured expression!). Musically, the songs were well-crafted already considering this was a very young band.

Quite an oddity within the scene and dark, but in a mysterious and non-traditional sense, pioneering and forward-thinking with the ideas they were constructing back in that part of the ’90s, before things started going more avantgarde generally. And so, with the extra refinement awarded to the debut, and that unshackled creative process driving them on, it became its own jazzified, proggy, schizophrenic black metal beast. I think it suited Misanthropy Records very well, alongside the Ved Buens Ende, Beyond Dawn and In the Woods… of the world; so, I guess kudos to Tiziana [Stupia of Misanthropy], too, for nourishing these more avant-garde offshoots. The scene was already beginning to shift (or further evolve) by that point, and even if a tad underappreciated for all this unconventional creative nuance, Fleurety was at the forefront of that, somewhat.

Min tid skal komme entered my life at the perfect time. I was deeply entrenched in what people now call “the weirding of Norway,” and Fleurety became somewhat of an obsession of mine. Even amongst all the strange and beautiful music coming out of Norway in the mid’90s, Min tid skal komme stood out as a singular voice, sharing commonalities with other albums, yet retaining an identity that is unique and noteworthy to this day. The record contains a lot of the usual elements that you would expect, but the way they are integrated and performed leaves the listener feeling slightly uncomfortable, as if this ship could break upon on the rocks and sink at any moment. There is a lot of beauty and tranquility in this album, but there is an undercurrent of venom, a certain dread in the angular riffs and sorrowful screams that cannot be denied, which reveals a deeper truth and intent.

Where to go after immortalizing themselves with 1994’s A Darker Shade of Evil? Where to travel after drawing equal amounts of dismissive criticism and wide-eared worship for its ridiculously piercing, beyond-inhuman eagle-screech vocal hysterics? Fleurety would do what Fleurety always does: move boldly forward into stranger territory. Their debut album stands strong amidst Norwegian contemporaries such as Ulver’s Bergtatt, Ved Buens Ende’s Written in Waters and In the Woods…’ Heart of the Ages, reveling in woodland aesthetics and earthen tones. And, like those other 1995 landmarks, it looked to progressive rock of various sorts in its embracement of long-form composition and organic oddity. It also entirely jettisoned Satanic imagery, instead exuding an alternate sort of darkness in passages that were haunting, morbid and wildly phantasmagoric in ways only Fleurety circa 1995 could deliver. And it’s important to mark this as “Fleurety 1995,” because after this—as would be their pattern—they wouldn’t come this way again. Min tid skal komme is of its time and region, yet also a singular and special experience of its very own.

My personal reflection of the Fleurety album Min tid skal komme is one of fond memories. Speaking about the album itself, it was simply outstanding and something very different for its time. Whatever the band has done has been unique.

This album was more melodic and experimental than their earlier rawer and aggressive style, yet still dark, haunting and atmospheric.

I was and still am a fan. We were labelmates back in the ’90s, and we were also friends. Alexander visited Stu [Gregg, Aesthetic Death] on some occasions in Worcester, and also visited us in Birmingham while over, so we got to hang out and have stayed in contact ever since. We also managed to catch each other at gigs from time to time when Alexander studied—and later lived and worked—in England for some years. Both he and Svein Egil I have a lot of time and respect for.

Just genuine and great guys. I was lucky enough to do the remastering for this album when it was reissued in 2019.

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DBHOF222

FLEURETY min tid skal komme NORDGAREN: I had a four-track TASCAM cassette

studio, and we were rehearsing. I’d only play the main rhythm guitars, but for a lot of the album you have multiple guitars atop of each other.

Different acoustic guitars, different lead guitars.

Two guitar voices. Polyphony! I would practice these things on my little cassette studio at home, but Svein Egil wouldn’t hear them again until after. A lot of that was practiced up front, but not something you would hear in the rehearsal space.

“You know the place where we took the photos?

All the trees have been cut down to make room for new houses! Maybe that record is one way to immortalize something that existed, which is now or will be asphalt!”

SV E IN E G IL “ ZW EIZZ ” HAT LEVIK played live a lot. Granted, we also live on different continents. I think we’ve come full circle with the Peaceville rerelease with the original artwork, and everything is very consistent with how it was released in 1995. It was great to see the thought and care from Peaceville releasing the album in its original form and with a very true mastering job from Greg Chandler at Priory Studios.

Do you have any specific stories about recording or writing this album? Fleurety is generally a surreal experience; are there any strange tales involved?

HATLEVIK: They’re secret! All of them! What could

that even be? We actually for the very last song, we played it on empty bottles. I can demonstrate it! [proceeds to blow into glass bottles with his lip over the edge] The last track has some swooshes!

NORDGAREN: Swooshes and heavy breathing!

We recorded it in Panser Studio on analog to 24-track tape. I think we had very steady hands from the technical team there—Ken Ingwersen, Trond Nilsen and Bjørn Bergersen—who just a month before… the band before us in the studio was Arcturus doing their first album with the same people. Ken also did the mixing for A Darker Shade of Evil. We had a great connection with those guys in terms of the recording process. We also rehearsed a lot. For us, it was an incredible amount of money that went into recording this album. When you have 12 [to] 13-minute-long songs, it is very expensive to make a mistake when

you record on tape. We spent a lot, a lot, a lot of time rehearsing, so many songs we performed through unless there is a natural transition.

Min tid skal komme is definitely an album in flux. You could see where you were heading, but there were still nods to the past. An interlacing of ideas and styles.

NORDGAREN: For sure. A lot of emphasis was to

make it feel like a whole, right? Which it does very well. When you asked what I liked about it after all these years, I guess it had all these themes and genres, but still feels like a whole, and the transition feels natural.

HATLEVIK: It never occurred to me that this sounds like different ideas. That thought never occurred to me because in my head everything kind of fits. It’s not like there’s any very jarring or abrupt transitions. It’s kind of just walking through the music. To me, it was a very logical next step given the inspirations we had at the time. It’s just the way you do it!

NORDGAREN: I agree with Svein Egil: From a songwriting perspective, everything that happened was natural. It wasn’t about writing weird riffs; it was a natural representation of our thoughts at the time.

HATLEVIK: But sometimes you would get the, “oh wow, this sounds way more interesting than we imagined” response, which is, of course, a bonus.

We were satisfied when we had these surprises in the studio, that things would work out better than imagined.

JUNE 2023 : 5 4 : DECIBEL

Svein Egil has done a few interviews about Min tid skal komme in the past (though it has been a while), but Alexander has been notably silent for quite some time. I don’t think he’s done an interview since the ’90s, if I’m even remembering correctly. That being said, is there anything you would like to say about the album now that either of you have never had the opportunity to say?

HATLEVIK: Something I haven’t said before?

That’s every journalist’s dream! Something novel. I know this because I’m a journalist myself. What would people want to know about this record?

NORDGAREN: The thought process is this is something you’d listen to in the dark in your den or something like that.

HATLEVIK: Maybe in the dungeon?

NORDGAREN: You know, it was really written with that in mind. I grew up out in the woods, so we spent a lot of time in the woods and wrote a lot of this alone by candlelight.

HATLEVIK: You know the place where we took the photos? All the trees have been cut down to make room for new houses! Maybe that record is one way to immortalize something that existed, which is now or will be asphalt! I don’t know if they started building yet. So, you think this is catchy? It really wasn’t our intention to make anything like that.

NORDGAREN: It kind of shows how we had one foot in the traditional and one foot into where we were going. I think the EPs which surround Min tid skal komme portray this. Like every album, it’s a snapshot in time, so to speak.

Min tid skal komme has had a legacy as one of black metal’s stranger, more unique albums, especially for its time. As the people who created the album, how do you feel about that legacy?

NORDGAREN: It’s brilliant that you have an audi-

ence that enjoys your music after all these years.

I think maybe one thing I’ve thought about at the time was that the lyrics are in Norwegian, so I was surprised that the album has had the broadest international audience as well.

HATLEVIK: I’m not surprised by anything.

Is there anything final you would like to add about Min tid skal komme?

NORDGAREN: I haven’t spoken about this album

in a very long time! It’s nice to revisit.

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STORY BY

D

KEVIN STEWART-PANKO

PHOTOS BY

DAVE CREANEY

ude, no word of a lie: The console we recorded on was the same

console that recorded ‘Born in the U.S.A.,’ Sting and so much more. We were in a real studio with literally millions of dollars of equipment!” ¶ Frozen Soul frontman Chad Green is excitedly recounting the scene at Empire Sound Studio in Carrollton, TX, just a hop, skip and jump north from the band’s Dallas/ Fort Worth homebase. It was here that the New Wave of Old School Death Metal upstarts were able “to get awesome drum sounds, really go for the craziest guitar tones, and play around with different amps and cabs” in the recording of their new album, Glacial Domination. This followed months of pre-production guided by producer/Trivium frontman Matt Heafy, a process that included a week-long stint demoing material at a renovated central Florida airport hangar (which doubles as the Trivium nerve center). ¶ Guitarist Michael Munday (who co-founded the band with Green) adds, “There was tons and tons of professional gear, and I was like kid in a fucking candy store! We had more tools at our disposal and twice as much time to record.” Which further describes the massive upwards step the band made in the two short years since recording debut album Crypt of Ice under very different circumstances.

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Says drummer Matt Dennard about the scene surrounding the first album, “The ‘studio’ was really just a practice space in Dallas that a lot of crust and grind bands would play keggers at. But our friend knows the gear and technology well, and set us up in one of the big rooms there.”

“We used to practice at this place in Dallas called Pro Rehearsal,” explains guitarist Chris Bonner, “and Irving [Lopez] from [Dallas grind band] Cognizant had a room there, and we just kind of brought our own gear in with our producer/engineer, Daniel Schmuck. It was basically a home recording that we made work. It should be noted that it was so fucking cold there because they didn’t have heat or anything. We were laughing about Crypt of Ice as a title, but it was so freezing that Michael couldn’t play guitar.

He had to go buy a little space heater to use to warm up his hands!”

Contrast that further (and drop a few more rungs down the ladder) with the scenario surrounding the recording of their 2019 demo Encased in Ice. “Our old jam space was at a place called Cosmic Rehearsal that we were sharing with another band,” laughs Munday, “and we

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had to work and set up all our gear around this other band’s gear to record.”

“Doing the new record was 1,000 percent night-and-day completely different,” enthuses Green, making one of the many understatements that have defined Frozen Soul’s short career.

SURREALISTIC MADNESS “It’s been surreal,” is the agreed-upon phrase employed by all members of Frozen Soul to describe what has happened to the band over the course of the past four years. The quintet has gone from a band with a cobbled-together lineup (featuring a drummer and guitarist who were tour-shy and a bassist with limited experience that recorded a demo to pass the time as the members’ other bands were in various states of confused limbo) to one of Century Media’s brightest new stars, playing sold-out North American tours both in plum opening slots and as headliners. At the time of this writing, the band had just returned from directly supporting Dying Fetus through the Old World and was on the eve of one of the year’s most anticipated releases in Glacial Domination.

“They joined midway through the tour, and I had no idea who they were,” remembers Lock Up/Venomous Concept frontman Kevin Sharp, who was tour-managing Brujeria on a 2022 fall run opening for Napalm Death, which Frozen

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Soul hopped on as openers. “That was my first introduction to them, but they were eventempered, sound, stable and fucking rad. When I listen to death metal, I listen to the classics and the stuff that originally turned me on to it, the stuff that had a driving punk ethic from people who live, breathe, eat and sleep metal. Frozen Soul come from that same background. Everyone talks about their connection to Bolt Thrower and whatever, but there’s also a punk/hardcore ethic to that band that is very similar to Sacrilege.

And their passion is over the top! They’re out there working, and it reminds me of when I was a kid touring eight to 10 months a year. That’s what they want, and they’re committed to it.”

Another gentleman singing Frozen Soul’s praises is Mike Gitter, Century Media’s VP of A&R, who was responsible for signing the band back in early 2020.

“They were an example of a band of kids who were reared on Terror as much as they were Cannibal Corpse,” he says. “They held the pride of actual true crossover in the age of complete availability of music. They had a complete vision for themselves. What they were doing and what we were looking for completely aligned; we were all on the same page, and all of the factors were falling into place.”

“A lot of stuff that has happened for our band has been [so] completely out of left field that I

need to pinch myself to see if I’m dreaming,” laughs Green. “It’s still hard to believe we’ve gotten to do—and are going to get to do—some of the things we’re going to do. Even though it seems to some people like this has happened overnight, it’s been 20 years of my life to get to this point. To me, it feels like I’ve failed and struggled so much; then, all of a sudden, we put a little death metal demo out for fun because our other bands weren’t working out and it just took off.”

PRIMITIVE ORIGINS The roots of Frozen Soul are deeply attached to the fertile humidity of Dallas’ metal and hardcore scene. Preceding bands of note include: death metal thrashing punks End Times (featuring Munday, Green and Dennard); black metal traditionalists Vermiculated, in which bassist Samantha Mobley cut her chops; and Bonner’s long history in D-beat and hardcore outfits like Obstruction, Unit 21 and Wild/ Tribe. Frozen Soul’s first incarnation was in 2016 with Green and Munday jamming on old-school death metal alongside members of crossover thrashers Judiciary. That was put on hold until 2018 when the pair hooked up with Mobley, original drummer Brady Trip and guitarist (now producer and “sixth member”) Schmuck.

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The gestation of Frozen Soul tags a variety of extreme music sources and also includes ties to one of metal’s most popular and enduring acts. Bonner describes himself as a proud acolyte of “D-beat, crust, Burning Spirits Japanese hardcore, U.K. ’82 and European punk and hardcore,” but he also points out that his parents were “total metalheads who raised me on hair metal, Metallica and Slayer. My dad, who shreds and is a really good guitar player, and his band used to play with Pantera in the ’80s. Actually, Chad’s grandpa owned a venue called Savvy’s, which was one of the venues Pantera played at back in the day. There’s a picture out there of Chad when he was four or five sitting on Vinnie Paul’s drum kit.”

“This band kind of blew up and all our other bands became the past,” says Green. “Once we got going with Frozen Soul, it quickly became apparent that the steam was there. It was natural to keep moving forward with where the action was, so we kept moving forward. I’m the type of person who puts 1,000 percent into any band I’m in, so I just hit the ground running with Frozen Soul.”

Mobley may be the band’s rookie and “freshscrubbed noob,” but it was her dedication to the cause after deliberately blowing her life up a few years prior that attracted the others when they were looking for someone to hold down the low end.

“Something snapped in me in 2018,” she recounts. “I had been working as a pet stylist for 11 years, and it was the most soul-crushing nightmare of a job you could think of. I knew my potential because I’d always done art and dabbled in music, so I was like, ‘I want to play in a band and do tattooing, and that’s what I’m going to do because I’m tired of my life.’ So, I taught myself to play bass while playing in Vermiculated. I’d known Chad and Michael for a few years before Frozen Soul came into the picture. They’d been in bands, and it’s hard to find people who are dedicated and committed, and I was ready to put everything I have into this, so they gave me a shot. It’s definitely been a fast learning curve and crazy for me. I still practice a lot, and am learning every day.”

In 2019, Frozen Soul recorded Encased in Ice. Despite it being a demo, they found distribution through Scott Magrath’s Maggot Stomp Records.

“I think it was Michael who hit me up through Instagram asking if I wanted to check it out. He sent me a copy, I liked it, and that’s how it started,” Magrath says about his early association with the band. “I was relatively new at the time and had only put out a couple things. To me it sounded good and wasn’t a normal ‘demo’ recording. I enjoyed the songs, the heaviness of it, and it definitely had a ‘We like Bolt Thrower, Mortician and hardcore’ vibe.”

With Maggot Stomp-pressed vinyl, cassettes and CD-Rs of Encased in Ice in their fanny packs, the band immediately started playing out. Their

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first show was opening for Necrot and Blood Incantation (along with fellow locals Steel Bearing Hand, in which Bonner was playing) on an off date from the 2019 Decibel Magazine Tour.

Well, technically, their first show happened the night before, when they played an unannounced set at a local hangout where the connections with soon-to-be members Bonner and Dennard were established.

“The night before that show, I booked a show at this dive bar we used to go to called Sunshine Bar,” recalls Bonner. “They actually snuck on and played a ‘secret set.’ So, their first show was actually a show I booked. My first impression was that they were heavy and had this epic thing going on with some very old-school Bolt Thrower vibes. I really dug it from the start.”

“I was still in End Times, and was at that Necrot/Blood Incantation show,” says Dennard.

“I knew their demo had been making noise around town, that people were looking forward to them, and I’d always wanted to see Chad do vocals in a band. From the first note, I fell in love. That was spring 2019, and by the summer they had me step in when Brady couldn’t or didn’t want to tour as much as they wanted.”

“I wanted to get the demo out, play a couple banging local shows and go on tour immediately,” asserts Green. “There wasn’t a ‘we gotta move’ moment; it was just natural movement where one thing led to another.”

From there, the band’s ascent has been astronomical. Magrath reports the rapid disappearance of copies of Encased in Ice. Following their first tours with End Times and then Steel Bearing Hand, they drafted Bonner into the fold.

On their third tour, supporting Plague Years, the headliners conceded that the newcomers were eliciting a more robust and intense reaction.

Then labels started sniffing around and kicking tires. MNRK caught wind of the excitement via reporting from Plague Years, then a recent signing, but ultimately passed before Century Media came into the picture.

“I’d heard the name being bandied around; kept seeing and hearing people mention it,” says Gitter. “I checked out the demo on Spotify and it was this great combination of the grime of prime Bolt Thrower plus an approach to old-school death metal that bordered on the English punk-leaning bands and the intensity of Dallas hardcore like Power Trip and Iron Age that was totally legit and reverential. But their social media also had this complete theme and universe they were putting forward. They had the complete package and were a lot more than just a demo band. When I reached out to Chad, I realized he was a veteran of the Dallas scene and really knew what he wanted to do with this band. I sent the music to my colleagues in Germany and the label’s global head, Philipp [Schulte], hit me back saying, ‘This is awesome!

We have no other option but to sign this band.’

So, I flew out to Dallas, saw them play with

Vader, was blown away, and a deal was done pretty much right before the world closed down.”

FIRE AND ICE The “theme and universe” Gitter alludes to is the world Frozen Soul have built around themselves, one based on all things icy and cold, despite hailing from Texas. Then again, as any local will tell you, the past few winters have had unprecedented (well, at least until the next one) ice and snowstorms pummel the state, leading to a collapse of the power grid you can set your watch to. And as yours truly will tell you, my last handful of visits to Dallas have definitely been “winter jacket needed” kinds of nights. Not being strangers to some manifestation of cold, they ran with the idea.

“Death metal gets kind of stale sometimes,” reasons Mobley. “It can get to be the same thing over and over. And when you think of coldness and darkness, you think of no life existing, and that’s pretty hardcore death metal. What’s more metal than no life existing in freezing cold temperatures?”

“When we came up with the name, we were sort of revitalizing some of the stuff we were fans of, like Mark Riddick’s melty skeleton look. Naturally, it was, ‘Let’s just make it frozen because frozen is in the name,’” adds Green with a laugh. “Before you knew it, we were capitalizing on the imagery and doing everything we could involving ice, even if it was super funny.

I’m always trying to stay ahead of the curve because my attention span definitely calls for change frequently. We don’t typically like to do the same thing over and again, but I think we could carry the frozen stuff on forever because everybody gets cold in some way, whether it’s mentally or physically. There are so many avenues to keep it fresh and going.”

Once the ink dried on a three-album deal with Century Media, the band went into their rehearsal facility/makeshift studio to capture Crypt of Ice, with former guitarist Schmuck acting as producer.

“Besides the demo songs we re-recorded, there was only a song and a half written for Crypt of Ice,” remembers Dennard, “but there were a whole bunch of riffs sitting around waiting to be put together. The rest of the album was put together in about a month. We were practicing every day until the early hours of the morning, just cranking the stuff out, making sure it was all cohesive and good, and practicing and practicing it until we recorded.”

“When I joined in January of 2020, we only had five songs,” says Bonner. “February 27th, we played with Obituary, which was my first show with Frozen Soul, and by March we had to record the first album for Century. I was up at the jam room with them after getting off work until like 2 or 3 in the morning, seven days a week, writing the rest of the record. We started recording on March 15th; then COVID hit and everything

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shut down. We weren’t supposed to be leaving our houses, but it was like, ‘Fuck that, we have to finish this record!’”

Once Crypt of Ice was released in January 2021, Frozen Soul found themselves in a unique, but unenviable position. Their debut album for one of the biggest labels in extreme music was unable to be promoted via the usual methods.

And there was no sign on the horizon as to when they were going to be able to hit the road to do so. Instead, they took to building their brand on social media. With the enforced downtime, they began creating content to engage fans; filming and dropping videos and video clips; and curating their own online fest, dubbed Wrecking Ball Metal Madness (described as a cross between Tales From the Crypt and Headbangers Ball) and featuring themselves, Creeping Death and Devourment.

Once things started opening up, they saw dividends on all that digital work. This initially came in the form of a beyond-sold-out show in May at local brewery Division Brewing, celebrating both the release of Crypt of Ice and their Frost Hammer beer. Then came the debacle of the first in-person rendering of Wrecking Ball in July, which featured them sharing the stage with Municipal Waste, 200 Stab Wounds and Malignant Altar, amongst others.

“We were worried about how the beer release show was going to be received,” explains Dennard. “If anyone was going to come out or if people were going to be pissed off that we were creating a superspreader event. It was supposed to be a CD Warehouse in-store signing and the beer release show was the afterparty. We made a little flier that didn’t exactly say it was a show, ‘wink wink.’ But 400 people came to the signing and 600 people showed up for the show at this little outdoor patio.”

“There were over 1,000 people there for that Wrecking Ball show,” picks up Bonner. “People flew in from all over. It was the middle of the summer and the venue wasn’t prepared, even though we told them over and over; but they didn’t take us seriously. The AC ended up going out and it was like 130 degrees with 1,000 people going crazy; people were having heat strokes and passing out, and the owner was trying to charge for cups of water. We were supposed to play the whole album, but right before we were going to go on, the owner comes running in going on about how the cops are coming to shut the show down and that we had to play three songs right now if we wanted to play at all. So, we got up there, whipped through three or four songs, and we’re about to die, but it turned out it was just the fire department coming by to check on things because the AC on top of the building was sparking. They weren’t there to shut down the show. It just devolved into chaos.”

Shortly thereafter, the success of those local shows translated to the road during a short Texas tour with Goatwhore and Necrofier in August before a behemoth seven-week

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North American run alongside former Maggot Stomp and present Century Media label mates Sanguisugabogg.

“It needs to be noted that was basically those bands, their friends [Vomit Forth and Inoculation], and they were selling out mid-sized clubs on what was both bands’ first full tour,” Gitter excitedly explains.

“I feel we’re one of those bands that you have to see live to get,” offers Mobley. “We’ve got a snow machine, a fog machine, our presence is very crazy, and it’s definitely an experience to witness.”

“We do like creating an atmosphere,” adds Green. “Some of the things that have made me love this from when I was younger—like going to shows and feeling like I’m somewhere else and don’t have to deal with the stuff that is paining me—are built into Frozen Soul. At the same time, we’re not mysterious, cult-like people; we’re nerds who love shit like horror movies and video games. I feel that it's important for people to see us for who we are, to stay interactive and keep one foot on the ground. I don’t think we would have come this far if we hadn’t.”

THE CRUSADE OF ASCENDANCY Tours with Napalm Death, Brujeria, Dying Fetus, Undeath and Bodysnatcher followed, alongside headlining shows, which were peppered throughout 2022 while the band created Glacial Domination. Given their adherence to the driving caveman stomp of bands like Bolt Thrower, Obituary, Autopsy and Asphyx—and the fact that Green has a Mortician tramp stamp—it may be a shock to learn they enlisted the services of Trivium’s Matt Heafy for production duties. This initial unease extended all the way to the top of the Century Media chain.

“Century lets us do whatever we want,” asserts Bonner, “but when we first started working with Matt Heafy, Philipp reached out saying that he was excited for us and the future and how the label supports us, but that he wanted us to keep it death metal. We were like, ‘Fuck yeah, of course! We’re not good enough players to do anything else.’”

For his part, Heafy had been familiar with Frozen Soul since “hearing them on a playlist and seeing some of the Wrecking Ball footage online. I’m always out there finding new stuff and championing the stuff I like.” He says he was a fan before the idea of working together was anywhere near the table, let alone on it. The association between the two parties spawned from a friendship between the bands and their respective managers, and with Heafy always having had a hand in Trivium productions, he was looking to branch out. Frozen Soul was the first outside band to allow him to bring his unique working style to the process.

“The way I ‘produce’ records is very different than what’s expected,” Heafy explains. “People

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think that the producer is the person in the room with the band for the time it takes to make the record and being a conductor of what’s happening in the moment. That makes sense in one way, but I feel that it’s more important for the producer to be there in the months leading up to the record, helping every step of the way as it’s being crafted. I think that by the time you walk in the door, you should have the music down in your muscle memory, be up for change and up for capturing lightning in a bottle.

“One of the first things I did was have a long conversation with Chad,” he continues, “because I really wanted to see what the three-to-five-toseven-to-10-year goals for the band were and to understand the headspace of each of them and go from there. I could see that they ate, slept and breathed the band, and that was most important to me. The next step was to make a Dropbox folder where they had all their demos we were all able to access and could keep going through, keep hammering out revisions, tests, trials and suggestions until we all felt the songs were there. As we went along, it got easier and quicker as I shared—and they learned to use—the tools I’ve known and used in my time. I don’t want this to be ‘a band needs me to make a record’ because I’d like them to learn and have less need for external ideas and minds as they go forward.

All I wanted was to help them make a great record and see them succeed.”

Everyone in Frozen Soul emerged from the months-long, Heafy-guided process singing the producer’s praises for what he was able to draw out of them as he helped shrug off notions of restraint and shake off shackles (self-imposed or otherwise).

“We’re constantly writing riffs; we have enough to put out two more albums right now if we wanted to,” claims Bonner. “We’ll rewrite a song 20 times, constantly keep changing stuff until it’s totally different from how it started, but there’s also a song that we pretty much started with Matt Heafy and finished in the studio. We were writing and talking via Skype and Zoom; then we flew out to the Trivium compound in Florida where they own a giant airport hangar that they use as their homebase.

We spent a week out there jamming, writing and talking about stuff. It was awesome and he’s a really cool guy. He wasn’t there when we tracked—he was on tour, so we tracked with Daniel, who engineered the record and had a shitload of input—but he was on the phone every day, calling and checking in with notes and advice.”

“One of the biggest things was that he gave us a sense of confidence and that we could be who we want to be—not what somebody else wants us to be.” says Green. “There were a lot of preconceived notions that he was going to change us, but that’s not what he was trying to do. He was about letting us do what we wanted and applying his experience and thought process

to what we do. We were able to open up and do exactly what we wanted. He really made us feel confident in ourselves, which was the best thing when it came to adding leads, opening up my voice up so it wasn’t so monotone and adding in easier-to-understand vocals. It was a completely different experience.”

“For me personally, I’m a huge Trivium fan,” says Munday enthusiastically. “They were the first metal I ever listened to, so I was especially excited. We all got introduced to each other and we were like, ‘OK, let’s see where this goes.’ What I learned working with Matt was how to get out of my comfort zone.

I have the tendency to do the same thing over and over, and he helped me recognize that and try out different things.”

And what are the key elements Heafy brought to the Frozen Soul experience?

“Helping the band distill themselves, saying, ‘These are the main ingredients of what you do, how do we put them in the spotlight?’ How do you put a magnifying glass on what they’re doing that’s different from other bands? I feel you can hear that in [new song] ‘Morbid Effigy,’ which is one of the catchiest songs they’ve ever done. The whole record is like that; it’s catchy and memorable with riffs, vocals and choruses you can sing. It’s truly an incredible album that sounds raw and polished, and catchy and brutal at the same time. I’m so happy for them that they were able to make the record they wanted to make.”

DEATH COMES RIPPING A common refrain as it pertains to Frozen Soul’s story is how the band’s ascension through the industry has moved at rocket-powered speed.

That Little Ol’ Death Metal Band From Texas has essentially done in four years what most of their counterparts take a decade-plus to accomplish.

This, assuming that whoever you’re talking about ever gets to the point where they sign contracts with major players, regularly sell out venues, are being invited to work and tour with heavy hitters, are a sought-after entity for the European summer festival season, and have the backing of grizzled veterans like Kevin Sharp, who enthuses, “What they do is write good riffs and are good people. What’s more death metal than that? I don’t see them tapping out, and I would give anything to help them move through their career because I believe 100 percent in what they do and are.”

Gitter agrees: “They’re a great band who has made a great second record, grown as songwriters and performers, and continued to build a worldwide audience. And there’s room to grow.

This ice age is just heating up! It’s going to be a long cold winter, and I’m not just dropping a Cinderella reference here!”

Maggot Stomp’s Magrath feels he understands the band’s mass appeal madness. “There’s nothing crazy about the formula,” he posits.

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“It’s easy for people to grab onto. You don’t have to think a lot about it at the end of the day. If you just want to sit around, headbang, drink beers and smoke weed with some friends, and need a little escape, Frozen Soul is perfect for that.”

But what of the band themselves? They all feel that the events from 2019 to the present are surrealism and the universe working together at lightspeed in their favor, and they’re processing the gigantic steps differently.

“As we’re playing to bigger audiences, we’re always thinking about how to up our stage show and be more interactive, engaging and fun to watch,” says Dennard. “Personally, I have the urge to keep practicing and staying on top of things and being prepared for new challenges and able to overcome them the first and second time around because this looks like something I’m going to be doing for the foreseeable future.”

On one end, you have relative youngblood Munday, still in his 20s, and newbie Mobley, who have comparatively less band experience; that said, they’re aware that the speed with which things have happened for Frozen Soul is an anomaly, and are coping as best as they can with the travel, the business, the packed scheduling and the planning.

“Ever since I was a kid, all I’ve ever wanted to do was be in a band, tour and make music,”

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says Munday. “I always had my eye on the prize, so when it happened, I was kind of mentally prepared for it. But it’s been surprising. This sort of thing doesn’t happen often and there are certain aspects that take you by surprise, especially about the business, which is nothing like I thought it was going to be. Now that we’ve got to where we are as fast as we have, it’s like, ‘What else can I do?’ I want to find more ways to be creative—recording, mixing, mastering, and a whole bunch of other things I’d like to do with and for the band. I just have to learn how to do those things!”

“It’s been crazy as fuck!” exclaims Mobley.

“If you had told me five years ago I’d be touring with Dying Fetus and sharing wine with [Dying Fetus bassist/vocalist] Sean Beasley on a European tour bus, I would have literally laughed in your face. But it’s happening and I love every fucking second of it! I think we’re trying to shift into a different lane with this new record, maybe not be so caveman-ish with a little more depth. It’s different, but it’s a good different that’s going to set us apart. We want to show growth, be more creative, play larger shows and festivals, and make this a full-time thing.”

For the band’s elder statesmen, Bonner and Green, who are both in their late 30s and have been playing in bands for most of their lives, Frozen Soul’s growth pace is cause for them to be

even more protectively hands-on and tap their creative wells even deeper.

“We’ve never taken it one day at a time with this band,” asserts Bonner. “We’re always looking forward and planning for things. Everything since day one has been pretty strategic in what we do and how we do it. We all have experience playing in DIY bands that maybe weren’t so serious, and we’re having tons of fun because we’re achieving the goals we’ve set out for ourselves, but there’s a little bit more of a mature mindset for this band.”

“Things have changed very rapidly,” says Green. “Every time something badass happens, we have to kick it up a notch. Then, two weeks later something else happens that makes us have to kick it up another notch. Things are ramping constantly and making us adjust. It’s gone beyond just wanting to play old-school death metal, record a few songs and do a tour. Now, we’re thinking about how to cement and preserve our legacy. How do we solidify ourselves as Frozen Soul? How do we keep this going? We’re trying to adapt, focus on all the good that’s happening and seize the opportunities in front of us without being blinded by them. We’re trying to focus on how to make this into something that lasts, something timeless, something we can continue to do, give 100 percent of our beings to and love doing forever.”

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INSIDE ≥

70 ALL HELL Mostly hell, but a little heck 70 BACCHUS Not exactly in praise of

ALL THE NOISE THAT FITS

72 BLOOD CEREMONY Flaut it out loud 74 FROZEN SOUL Arctic thunder 75 IMPETUOUS RITUAL When Portal is just too commerical

Tenth Plague Spoiler: It’s Us

JUNE

8

records probably featuring AI-generated cover art

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records probably featuring AI-generated music

5

records probably featuring AI-generated lyrics

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record reviews definitely written

by ChatGPT

Death metal fits like a poorly sewn glove on CATTLE DECAPITATION’s next chapter

WE

throw the word “record” around a lot when we talk about music, mostly synonymous with “album” CATTLE or—for the kids—“playlist of songs all performed DECAPITATION by the same musicians and meant to be heard in a predetermined Terrasite order all in one sitting.” Terrasite is a record in that sense, too, but M E TA L B L A D E it’s also a record, a document that encapsulates a specific moment, an artifact that is etched with disdain and steeped in the loss of friends, specifically onetime bandmate Gabe Serbian, as well as the Black Dahlia Murder’s Trevor Strnad. Both weighed on vocalist/lyricist Travis Ryan while Terrasite took its final form in the studio, and at some level, the band’s 10th full-length statement holds all of that raw negativity and uses it to feed Cattle Decapitation’s familiar misanthropic message. ¶ Do we already think of Cattle Decapitation as occupying the same revered space as Cannibal Corpse, Deicide or Carcass? If not, we should. The grind and gimmick of those turn-of-the-century records

ILLUSTRATION BY MARK RUDOLPH [MARKRUDOLPH.COM]

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have been shrugged off and left like a molted carapace on the scorched earth. The last 10 years of the band’s career have only been increasingly more exciting as each successive album reaches for richer forms of rage. In 2023, even death metal itself seems an uneasy fit. Sometimes it feels like their most natural skin, flowing effortlessly with the band’s every taut flex and murderous stride.

From such comfort with the form comes the raucous riffing on “Scourge of the Offspring,” “A Photic Doom” and “Terrasitic Adaptation.”

Other times, though, death metal feels like nothing more than a loose sheet that they cling to, whipping wildly around them in gale-force winds, and if they let it slip for just a second, it would fly away forever and the band would become something wholly different. For reference, check out those protracted passages of claustrophobic drum blasts, which sound more automated than human (not a compliment) and can seem uncomfortably pasted into songs that deserve the more varied approaches to percussion that appear elsewhere on the album. And the shadowy melodic beast that stalks inside the band’s sound—brandishing the same kind of dejected intonations that made Gojira’s Magma sparkle—rears its head in songs like “…and the World Will Go on Without You” and “The Insignificants.”

And after the swirling, epic close of “Solastalgia,” Cattle Decapitation cross the border into gothic doom for the framing conceit of “Just Another Body.” Sure, there’s a death metal song coiled into the track’s first half, after a pianoand synth-soaked intro, but now they’re willing to let it all go in favor of a haunted crawl to the album’s conclusion. It’s grandiose in a way that makes some old-school death metal dorks cringe—at least, they did when similar ambitions showed up on Death Atlas—but it speaks to the depth of experience and musical appetite that has been growing in the band’s ranks for over a decade. Terrasite is the next important step for a consistently excellent band, one that proves there are more creative leaps available, should they only choose to jump. —DANIEL LAKE

ALL HELL

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All Hail the Night T E R M I N U S H AT E C I T Y

Working on their night moves

The first thing that hits about the introductory seconds of All Hell’s new EP is how leadoff track “Black Leather Wings” sounds like Bad Religion’s “Delirium of Disorder” with the evil dialed to 11. The second thing that hits is how the combination of classic punk and grimy D-beat rock colored by a Septic Deathmeets-Devil Master sensibility still has the ability to make the idea of physical activity—circle70 : JUNE 2023 : DECIBEL

pitting, headbanging, iron-pumping, politicianpunching—appealing, despite the lure of comfortable couches and limitless streaming options.

The Asheville, NC aggressors pull the same move on “Suffer for Me,” which is actually a re-recorded version of a song originally appearing on both their 2013 demo and 2014 debut The Devil’s Work, and with All Hail the Night following four full-lengths, it’s a wonder how many times the trio has dipped into this winning combination and metal’s oversaturated listenership has simply missed out?

These three new tracks and three new takes on older tunes are the band’s reintroduction to polite society after the pandemic slew-footed their plans following the release of last album, The Witch’s Grail. With Skeletonwitch’s Nate Garnette propping up “Black Leather Wings” on some seriously ripping leads and the bubbling cauldron keyboards in the anthemic “Neon Babylon,” it would appear that these dudes still have dirty gasoline and Misfits Brylcreem oozing from their pores (and Jus Oborn’s VHS collection buried in their pockets). And it’s mostly good shit, though the sticking point is that even at an abbreviated length, All Hail the Night doesn’t kick ass the whole way through; the lack coming in two of the three old tracks.

But the new stuff rips, so here’s to looking ahead. —KEVIN STEWART-PANKO

AUSTERE

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Corrosion of Hearts PROPHECY PRODUCTIONS

Hey now, hey now, now

I seem to be talking about “returns” a lot lately, but good bands seem to be reforming or returning left and right. Take, for example, Wollongong, Australia’s Austere, whose Corrosion of Hearts closes a near-15-year period of inactivity. Following 2009’s To Lay Like Old Ashes, widely considered to be one of the finest “depressive black metal” releases recorded, this new album needed to fill some particularly big shoes. How does a band follow their greatest release? By making an even better one, I guess.

Though Corrosion of Hearts lacks the immediate, identifiable twentysomething angst that defined Austere’s first era, the duo of Desolate (Mitch Keepin) and Sorrow (Tim Yatras) find solace in understanding their innate sadness and presenting it with a greater sense of maturity this time around. As such, Austere in 2023 aren’t necessarily as blown out and hyper-emotional as their earlier works, but this new album touches upon their first run’s desperation and depression with more finesse and a more careful approach. Instead, Corrosion of Hearts looks to a deeper and more adult

existentialism (which I find to be more relatable now that I, too, am older and have experienced more of life’s peaks and valleys).

A significant change on this album is Sorrow’s minimal vocal performance, a stark contrast to his heavy, howling, shrieking presence on previous works. Giving the microphone to Desolate more often than not, Keepin’s monotone rasp isn’t nearly as “over the top” as previous Austere releases, which, again, makes this album more approchable. There is always a time and place for OTT records (hell, I listen to Bethlehem’s Dictius te Necare regularly), but there is something much more comfortable about Corrosion of Hearts than the unrelatable and abject sadness found on older Austere records. This is an older and wiser Austere, and I am 100 percent here for it. —JON ROSENTHAL

BACCHUS

5

II

DEBEMUR MORTI PRODUCTIONS

Dyson upright

French black metallers Bacchus get to the point on their debut album, II. Whereas most denizens of the genre occupy polar ends of the spectrum—no-fi to orchestrally indulgent—the trio from Lyon, featuring members of Abyssal Vacuum, Dysylumn and Ominous Shrine, languish comfortably in the center of the middling middle. We’ve come to expect less of black metal as part of its DIY aesthetic since its second-wave inception, but Bacchus’s apathetic din is something else entirely. Not sure what the ordinarily astute ears at Debemur Morti heard to offer these soulless chaps a contract, but II has all the hallmarks of a soap-on-a-rope version of Decoryah piledriving Isengard’s worst offenses.

Multi-instrumentalist Sébastien Besson sounds like he’s opening up for a root canal.

Throughout II, his off-tune “oohs,” “ohhs” and “ahhs” hilariously collide in the stratosphere of ludicrously ineffective evil as if this is, in fact, a parody. The truth is it’s not. Over and over, Besson piddles woebegone into wave after insipid wave of single-minded tremolo riffs, grade-school drumming, and 16-bit keyboards.

If early Attila Csihar was his inspiration, it’s not only noticeable, but wholly insubstantial.

Musically, this is the farthest atmospheric thing from pre-carnival Arcturus or the deepest cosmic dark of Mesarthim.

As II lumbers track to track, it rarely gets out of the doldrums. “II.III” has its moments—particularly midway through—while “II.IV” and “II.V” probably wonder at the modicum of their own downtempo success. The ’90s were full of ham-fisted, almost-talented bands like Bacchus.

Probably best to let it stay that way. —CHRIS DICK

BIRDFLESH

7

Sickness in the North EVERLASTING SPEW

Reaktor 4

I sort bands into four categories across two axes: good or bad bands, and bands I do or don’t like. Here are some examples: Depeche Mode is a good band that I like (Category 1), Erasure is a good band that I don’t like (Category 2), and Yazoo is a bad band that I don’t like (Category 4—sorry, Vince Clarke).

In this rubric, the rarest and most perplexing bands fall into Category 3: bad bands that I like.

Here’s that buried lede: Long-running Swedish power trio Birdflesh are an excellent example of Category 3. Their take on grindcore is thrashy, satisfying and run-of-the-mill; however, listening to their latest, Sickness in the North, is a pleasure.

Category 3 indexes high on humorous bands; GWAR is the textbook “bad band that I still enjoy.” Birdflesh have much in common with GWAR—both bands wear costumes, build songs around jokes and are best experienced live. Anal Cunt would be a Category 3 band if I found the jokes funny. Mercifully, Birdflesh are more tasteful and listenable than Anal Cunt, though the songs are less musical than GWAR’s best.

The trouble is, although I get a chuckle out of songs called “Hammer Smashed Japanese Face” and “Welcome to the Jungle Rot,” I can’t tell them apart unless I’m actively looking at the tracklist. The exception, “Fat Pigs,” is a joke among jokes since it’s the lone acoustic number.

There’s nothing more stereotypically grind than a solitary not-grind song.

But who cares about categories, or Birdflesh’s songwriting, for that matter? Sickness in the North exists so folks can giggle while stage-diving when they play live. As expected, it clears that bar. —JOSEPH SCHAFER

BLAZE OF SORROW 8 Vultus Fati EISENWALD

Burning tears

Accurate criticisms of Blaze of Sorrow’s atmospheric, folk-flecked black metal are that a) the songwriting has often followed formulaic paths, with tracks blurring together in nondescript fashion, and b) that sole founding member, multi-instrumentalist Peter (get this man a nom de guerre!), tends to overlook a ruthless edit in order to condense the material to a vital essence.

On album seven, Vultus Fati, it appears as though the Italian creator has paid attention to his detractors, as the previously mentioned issues have been eradicated, resulting in the band’s strongest record yet. “Furor” and “Flammae” are immediate examples of Peter and his three

cohorts creating with tempestuous vigor; the kind of skill that finally rivals British peers in Winterfylleth. “Nel vento” moves seamlessly from pastoral folk to Norse BM fire and brimstone. “Eretica” offers further tonal shifts, with its pagan-sounding sway akin to Primordial. After “Waldgänger”’s field recordings, acoustic thrum and swaying viola offer respite, and the album’s spiritual fulcrum, “Aion” and “Ombre,” cut a stately figure of bombast tempered by grittiness, tying in with the evocative Adam Burke cover painting.

With lyrics snarled in Italian, this approach has always given the Scandinavian aspects of Blaze’s post-BM a differentiation point. This works even better now that the songwriting is tourniquet-tight, the flow of the compositions balanced, the drama of the music heightened overall. After 15-plus years of hard graft, BOS are now worthy of receiving comparisons to the almighty Agalloch in terms of songwriting execution and album dynamism. —DEAN BROWN

BLAZON RITE

6

Wild Rites and Ancient Songs G AT E S O F H E L L

Running wild

Majestic hailz to Philly’s Blazon Rite for going all in (ironically or not) on the epic metal of yore. This is our first taste of the sword-raising, flagon-hoisting quintet’s throwback tuneage, and we can definitely see the appeal. If you weren’t around for the early days of American metal, when the primary source of lyrical inspiration came from the J.R.R. Tolkien canon, this might seem like a lot of fun. And, sure, as old and grizzled as we are, the charm isn’t lost on us either. It’s heartening to see metal’s roots embraced so, uh, enthusiastically.

That enthusiasm may, however, be one of Blazon Rite’s finest assets. Well, that and a pair of dueling twin guitar shredders. Musically they’ve got it dialed in—the songs are there. The primary weak spot is in the vocal department.

Though Johnny Halladay triumphantly gives it his all, his overly dramatic performance and limited range are less “Rainbow in the Dark” and more “Shakespeare in the Park,” unfortunately.

The argument can be made that it suits the whole vibe, but our contention is that a quality power voice with range would take the vibe to a whole new level.

Wild Rites and Ancient Songs would have also benefited from a more rhythm section-friendly recording and mix. Guitars and vocals dominate, and the drums lack punch sonically. Performances are excellent all around, but the sound is a bit unbalanced, yet another way Blazon Rite mirror the bands of old they clearly embrace.

—ADEM TEPEDELEN DECIBEL : JUNE 2023 : 71

BLOOD CEREMONY 8 The Old Ways Remain RISE ABOVE

Inner relocation

There’s no mistaking Blood Ceremony’s shag carpet hard rock for anything other than what it is. Most contemporary bands sporting bell-bottoms and Rangemaster pedals have the spirit, but often fail on execution after a song or two. Lucky for us, the Canadians, fronted by the inimitable Alia O’Brien, have had the devil’s details since their eponymous debut rattled our collective Anglophile nostalgia back in 2008.

The Old Ways Remain continues the rock-heavy import of lava lamps, Ouija boards and other smoke-filled spookiness unabated. “The Hellfire Club” offers the first volley of Hendrixian paisley might, with guitarist Sean Kennedy strutting excellently to O’Brien’s evocative spells of song. Bassist Lucas Gadke and drummer Michael Carillo also get to cut seriously deep grooves on “Ipsissimus” and “Eugenie,” where the accents of clove cigarette and the play of candlelight allow the twosome to funkify the rhythmic sway of things.

Perhaps more in line with Jade Warrior than Jethro Tull, O’Brien never shies away from prolific use of flute, something that would create a noticeable void in Blood Ceremony’s witchy craft if not present. Their playful-soulful side is never too far away either. “Lolly Willows” and “Mossy Wood” have that rollicking, baroque feel, as if the dark lord’s funny bone isn’t verboten, but perhaps authorized between bouts of millennial plague and death. “Hecate,” on the other hand, cavorts with all the effortlessness of the Foundations or pre-Cucumber Castle Bee Gees.

With all the occult-laden, velvet swashbuckling on The Old Ways Remain, the Canadians could afford a single or two with all their magisterial knowhow. It doesn’t have to be “The Great God Pan,” but just maybe “Golf Girl.” —CHRIS DICK

CHROME WAVES

8

Earth Will Shed Its Skin

M-THEORY AUDIO

Fell on blackgaze

The Great Recession hit the Midwest hard, permeating even its most vital urban centers with a profound sense of uncertainty and despair. So, it should come as no surprise that, in the ensuing years, a throng of heavy bands in cities like Chicago and Minneapolis channeled that energy into some of the bleakest and most darkly beautiful music in the U.S. That’s the climate that birthed Chrome Waves in 2010. Forged out of a friendship between guitarist Jeff Wilson (Nachtmystium, Wolvhammer, 72 : JUNE 2023 : DECIBEL

Abigail Williams), vocalist Stavros Giannoppoulous (the Atlas Moth) and bassist/drummer Bob Fouts (the Gates of Slumber), the group put out a compelling 2012 debut EP that merged metal, shoegaze and psychedelic influences before other obligations relegated the project to the back burner. But in 2018, Wilson turned his attention to Chrome Waves full-time, recruiting vocalist-guitarist James Benson and reconvening with Fouts on drums for the band’s 2019 full-length debut, A Grief Observed. Fouts tragically passed away in 2020, but Wilson and Benson continued to soldier on, eventually teaming up with bassist Zion Meagher, and more recently drummer Garry Naples.

Chrome Waves’ latest album, Earth Will Shed Its Skin, continues to thread the needle between the band’s alt-rock and metal interests, with songs like the forlorn “What Desperate Looks Like” unabashedly embracing their most melodic tendencies. If the years haven’t exactly mellowed them out, perhaps they’ve grown more resigned and reflective. Though there are a couple missteps, the successes by far eclipse them, especially “The Nail,” which Wilson has described as an “oddball track” (which at face value could explain why I like it so much).

Trading between a foreboding, Western-tinged clip and full-bodied, swirling vocal hooks, the ambitious song builds into arena-sized atmospheres punctuated by a trumpet solo from Mac Gollehon, before finally plunging into a blackened, metallic abyss. —JAMIE LUDWIG

DEVILDRIVER

5

Dealing With Demons, Volume II N A PA L M

I could care some

What is the correct context for assessing albums by large, mainstream touring acts? I’m of two minds. Case in point: Dealing With Demons, Volume II, by Californian groove metal institution DevilDriver, is a solid, mostly unmemorable hour-ish of gym-ready riffs, shoutalong choruses and not much else. For most bands, that sounds like a backhanded compliment, but that may be the goal for Coal Chamber frontman Dez Fafara and company.

My first impulse is to assess a record as an art object with a cohesive thematic whole; Dealing With Demons, Volume II sure ain’t that. Its title indicates continuity or counterpoint to the band’s 2020 record, but the two sound broadly similar and deal with the same relatable-butsuperficial angst that Fafara’s been mining since 1997. Except for the black metal-tinged “Through the Depths,” this album could be a “sequel” to any of the band’s previous records except their 2018 country covers LP (ironically, it also has a volume number in the title).

But this one succeeds if DevilDriver records exist less as statements than mercantile objects.

It will keep them on the road and provide at least one song to remain on their set list for years to come—opener “I Have No Pity” is a pristine songwriting exercise even if it’s not as indelible as a song like “Clouds Over California.”

But big mainstream metal records don’t need to be purely commercial exercises: As of this writing, DevilDriver are about to hit the road with labelmates Cradle of Filth, who have kept their workflow alive while significantly improving their recording output. Dealing With Demons, Volume II doesn’t live up to that standard, but it’s satisfying as a means to an end.

—JOSEPH SCHAFER

DIMENTIANON

7

Chapter VI: Burning Rebirth S Y M B O L O F D O M I N AT I O N

Ring of fire

Well, this was unexpected.

Long Island’s Dimentianon have released an album that advertises itself as blackened doom, but in effect,(sometimes crudely, often expertly) welds the tinny, textural nuisance of bedroom black metal to Projekt Records-style, mascararunning darkwave and an overarching, Hammerheart-era Bathory epicism. It’s a largely fulfilling love-triangle, though I’ll argue that the needly grain of the production should’ve been retooled.

Truthfully, if it weren’t my obligation to give this album multiple listens, I never would have made it beyond the opening salvo of the record’s first proper track, “Turn to Ash,” which would’ve been a shame. Following on the heels of an interesting, modally elaborate keyboard intro, the needling, dentist-drill treble of Chapter VI’s sophomore offering feels blatantly irritating, like being made to slog through the album in wet socks.

In classic BM fashion, bass tone is merely notional, so the frequent keyboards (provided by Evoken’s Don Zaros) give the record a desperately needed dynamism. This element is vital given that the drums and guitars sound crummy, and the bass is—at best—like the rinse in a dry martini. This record is designed to irritate, but here’s the thing: Dimentianon compose incredibly good songs. Once you accept it on its terms, you’ll find that Chapter VI is generous to a fault.

“Turn to Ash,” for example, is ultimately a very rewarding composition once the awkward introduction is dispensed with.

I wish that I could score this record higher in good conscience. The tonal qualities that I identify as flaws are more than likely intentional ID badges. This album is a pilgrimage, and each track successfully magnetizes—an utter

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DØDHEIMSGARD

8

Black Medium Current PEACEVILLE

Difficulty incarnate

Okay, so it’s been a long time since we’ve heard from Dødheimsgard, otherwise known and heretofore referred to as DHG. In fact, it’s been eight years since the masterful A Umbra Omega, and big changes have happened in the interim. Having lost vocalist Bjørn “Aldrahn” Dencker in a lineup shift, songwriter and guitarist Vicotnik stepped up to front his longtime band for a variety of shows over the past half decade. With drummer Øyvind Myrvoll also joining the ranks, DHG’s slow but sure Ship of Theseus transformation moves even further into the unrecognizable.

That being said, new album Black Medium Current presents itself as one of DHG’s strongest and most complete works. Whereas A Umbra Omega was composed and recorded in a home studio (I’ve heard it referred to as a “bedroom album” by some), Black Medium Current’s concentration is on flowing songwriting, and—for lack of a less self-celebrating word—“intelligence” in their presentation. This was, at least to my estimation, written in the rehearsal room and carefully, carefully put together to make an album that is bewildering, but never confusing. Songs will shift from 300 bpm black metal blasting to progressive rock epics, but the whiplash isn’t quite what you would expect. Vicotnik and his crew of misfits find back metal’s core and completely break it, making room for any type of sound experiment they want to.

What does this mean, exactly? Well, I hope you like a vast palette of hues, styles and moods, because Black Medium Current’s central focus is that there simply is not one. From Norway’s preoccupation with particularly urban electronic music to progressive rock majesty and, of course, blasting mayhem, DHG’s return is their most powerful statement to date (even more than Kronet til Konge. Fight me.) —JON ROSENTHAL

FROZEN SOUL

8

Glacial Domination CENTURY MEDIA

Where next to conquer

Texas wrecking crew Frozen Soul arrived more fully formed than many of their peers, with a sound firmly rooted in Bolt Thrower grooves and a well-defined aesthetic that fixates on the 74 : J U N E 2 0 2 3 : D E C I B E L

chilliest connotations of their name. But while labeling themselves “Cold School Death Metal” and selling ice scrapers is excellent for social media, only writing great songs will ensure they keep listeners in their frigid grasp for years to come.

Their sophomore album, Glacial Domination, delivers the indelible songs the band hinted at on their debut and demo. Guitarists Michael Munday and Chris Bonner bring more melody into cuts like “Assimilator” and “Abominable.”

At the same time, vocalist Chad Green’s imperious rasp spits more clearly and memorably than before—each chorus is as clear and sharp as an icicle to the skull.

Some credit goes to producer Matt Heafy of Trivium, who has polished Frozen Soul’s sound without removing all its grit, but also, according to press materials, pushed the band toward traditional verse-chorus-verse song structures.

These relatively small changes bring out the best in Frozen Soul, so much so that their debut, Crypt of Ice (which I lauded in these pages), feels tamer in retrospect.

These improvements unite on the band’s best song, “Arsenal of War,” which pays homage to Green’s younger brother, who passed away far too young while the record was written. Emotional without losing its death metal edge, it’s an example of how great the genre can be when it employs as much emotionality as guts—and hopefully a sign that in the future, Frozen Soul’s hearts will be as warm as their collective blood runs cold. —JOSEPH SCHAFER

FUGITIVE

7

Maniac

20 BUCK SPIN

Texas ragers

Judging by the content on this five-song EP—a short instrumental, three originals with vocals and a Bathory cover—Fugitive, the new band from Power Trip guitarist Blake Ibanez, were in a hurry to get some material out there. With a loaded lineup that includes Creeping Death drummer Lincoln Mullins and Skourge vocalist Seth Gilmore, it’s no surprise that Ibanez was keen to make his first post-PT effort available ASAP. Fugitive cook in all the ways you might imagine: abundant and relentless thrash riffing, crusty death growls, well-placed breakdowns and a jackhammer rhythm section. It’s everything fans of his prior band could hope for moving forward. It’s not gonna make us forget the loss of Power Trip vocalist Riley Gale, but it’ll take some of the sting out of it.

The only quibble we have with Maniac is the inclusion of the aforementioned mid-paced instrumental, “The Javelin,” that opens the EP.

It might work well as a show opener, but here, on a short release such as this, it just feels like an anticlimactic intro to a very promising new band. The cover of “Raise the Dead” as the closer bookends Maniac with another mid-tempo track, but this works better—it’s a familiar tune given a crossover makeover. Yeah, it’s easy to see why all involved—band, label, etc.—were eager to release Fugitive’s first effort out in the world.

There’s a lot to love here, and we can’t wait to hear more. —ADEM TEPEDELEN

HAIL THE VOID

8

Memento Mori RIPPLE MUSIC

Familiar contempt

With a generic name like Hail the Void and an overused album title in Memento Mori, the unfamiliar would be forgiven for overlooking this Victoria, BC-based doom trio. But doom fans have more old-school patience than most. So, if you do allow Hail the Void time to kick into the first track proper, “Writing on the Wall,” you’ll see there’s no way back and the Void will consume.

This song is all Electric Wizard circa Witchcult Today in its low-slung, suffocating doom riffs and rhythmic hammers. The sativa-infused instrumental provides a bedrock for HTV’s standout feature, guitarist Kirin Gudmunson’s vocals.

This dude smokes the mic. His timbre is almost identical to Witchcraft’s Magnus Pelander if he actually gave a fuck these days. Gudmunson also sounds as though he suckled on the hairy teat of Danzig for sustenance and somehow became drunk with Danzig I-III black magic. “Goldwater” and “High and Rising” preach tri-tonal subdued verses, and the sweet wails of Gudmunson give way to titanic power choruses.

“Talking to the Dead,” a lumbering doom rocker that Jus Oborn would give his cobwebbed collection of ’80s video nasties for, only just betters the aforementioned songs because of the startling passion by which its memorable vocals are delivered—a sustained primal howl. Unlike contemporaries Windhand, who have a tendency to ride a groove to death, these Sabbathian sermonizers know when to unleash a scorching guitar solo or drop out of a seven-minute sprawl. This keen foresight will take the trio far. —DEAN BROWN

HAUNT

7

Golden Arm IRON GRIP

Gold onto 18

Five years and a zillion releases since the Luminous Eyes EP (basically a demo) was first posted to the Interhole in 2018, Haunt are no longer the

NWOBHM-inspired scrappy solo project of guitarist/vocalist Trevor William Church. Though Church is still the creative driving force, there’s nothing “scrappy” about Haunt’s music in 2023 and, honestly, the whole NWOBHM obsession may be in the past as well. Golden Arm is firmly rooted in trad metal, but the scope of influences seems to have widened to include a timespan beyond ’79–’83, and the production values are way beyond demo quality.

Opener “Hit and Run” delves into power metal territory with its frisky tempo and twin-guitar acrobatics. Haunt have always emphasized guitar harmonies, and this is an excellent showcase for that aspect of the band’s repertoire. This isn’t necessarily indicative of what’s in store for the following seven tracks. “Piece by Piece” and “Fight the Good Fight” feel more anthemic and American (circa the mid-’80s), à la Dokken, Keel and Ratt. It’s not exactly glam/hair metal, but also ain’t too far off—lots of squealy solos, cowbell and big choruses.

This “lighter” material, which is balanced by plenty of speedier, power metal-leaning tuneage, doesn’t define Golden Arm, but it certainly adds a slicker, more commercial sheen to the album.

Maybe this is what Church was aiming for all along with Haunt and just didn’t quite have it all dialed in in 2018. Whatever the case, the things this writer found endearing about Haunt back then no longer seem to be part of their DNA. —ADEM TEPEDELEN

HELLCRASH

7

Demonic Assassinatiön DYING VICTIMS

Dumb as a bag of rocks, but rocking just as hard

If unalterable first impressions are your thing, you best turn around and walk away this instant. If the spelling problem isn’t a turnoff—they love “k” and “v” replacements and umlauts, hence debut album Krvcifix Invertör— Demonic Assassinatiön’s cover, featuring a high school math notebook-worthy doodling of a recently decapitated bondage blonde performing forced oral (because her head has been separated from her body, naturally) on an ecstatic-eyed, sword-wielding demon, should tip the scale. It shouldn’t come as a shock that Venom are a massive influence, as are fellow Italians Bulldozer and Children of Technology, with early Slayer and Destruction not far behind.

However, strip away the goofy cultishness, ridiculously crude depictions of sexuality and submerged wind tunnel production, and Hellcrash are actually very adroit songwriters. The riffs may directly extend to Welcome to Hell, The Day of Wrath, Show No Mercy and Infernal Overkill,

but the chops demonstrated by Skullcrusher, Hellraiser and Nightkiller—because that’s what anyone responsible for this high-wire walk over cancel culture would be named—are top-notch.

The way they make seamless tempo transitions in “Volcanic Outburst”; the impeccable bridges connecting raging riffs to ripping riffs in “Okkvlthammer”; and the variations offered up in those riffs underpinning fiery leads in “Serpent Skullfuck” and “Finit Hic Deo” hearken back to the songwriting maturity on display by classic Metallica. Too bad there’s enough immaturity (and muddy sound quality) to act as detraction and distraction. —KEVIN STEWART-PANKO

IMPETUOUS RITUAL

7

Iniquitous Barbarik Synthesis P R O FO U N D LO R E

Big void energy

There’s really only guitar, bass, drums and the human voice on this, but trying to parse these elements in context to make sense of the chaos unfolding out of the speaker might send you the way of ol’ Bob Schumann. That shouldn’t put anyone off. The auditory hallucination is an underexplored avenue for enjoying extreme metal, and how this offshoot of Portal, Australia’s most-famous death metal abstractionists, present their sound sure demands a peculiar state of mind. Iniquitous Barbarik Synthesis is one heavy trip.

Do check your local authority’s regulations on psilocybin and cannabinoid consumption before ordering, for such temporary recreational madness might yield more interesting results, teasing out much-needed color from the undulating fuzz warp of “Rite of Impalement” and the fullfrequency haunting of “Intramural Axiom.”

Now, that latter track is notable because, by the time it rolls out, the ear is trained to tease out little details in the pummeling squall of low-down, atonal anti-riffs. Lean into the storm and you’ll consume a noise that’ll invigorate some, but repel most. There are dynamics. The epic “Psychic Necrosis” has an on/off relationship with percussion, presenting death metal not so much as caveman music à la Obituary and friends, but a yawning chasm of drone and what sounds like a vaporized vocal being sent backwards through the mix. Or it could be the aforementioned psilocybin mushroom cloud obscuring the critical faculties.

Less arid and jazz-adjacent than your typical white-noise Portal chaos jam, Iniquitous Barbarik Synthesis is for those whose palates have long matured on the gamy rot of that post-Incantation unholy death/doom style and the inhospitable textures of nightmarish soundscapes without end. —JONATHAN HORSLEY

cathartic through the abysmal gates of subconcious

oniricous

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www.raisethedeadrecords.com DECIBEL : JUNE 2023 : 75

LEGION OF THE DAMNED

6

Poison Chalice N A PA L M

Will you choose wisely?

There’s nothing inherently wrong with Poison Chalice. As it furiously speeds along its 10 relentless tracks, churning out quality thrash, flirting with death and black metal as usual, not even the fact that you’ve heard it all before will interfere much with your enjoyment. When the raspy vocals, rampaging riffs and even the meatier, more elaborate axework (it’s the first time they’ve recorded an album as a five-piece, with two guitarists) all tap into our collective metal DNA, it’s impossible not to headbang to this stuff. But while “heard it all before” isn’t much of a terrible thing nowadays—hell, if it was a dealbreaker, 90 percent of the records in this section would get a 0—there are still varying degrees of it.

With Legion of the Damned, it’s set to 11.

You’ll enjoy the songs, but they feel so interchangeable with any past Legion songs (even factoring in the two guitarists detail) that you’ll probably forget them as efficiently as you liked listening to them. Look, it all depends on what you want from a band like this. Blackened death/thrash isn’t exactly the branch of the metal tree with the most evolutionary twists, so maybe this unshakable consistency is even a good thing.

These people have been at it for a long time (even more if you count Erik Fleuren and Maurice Swinkels’ years as Occult), and they clearly know what they’re doing. If they tried to be all different and weird, they could have screwed it up and we could very well be bitching about that in this very same review. Plus, their fanbase probably doesn’t expect—or want—an iota of change to ever happen. So, take this at that value and you’ll be okay. Every farm needs a reliable, dependable, competent workhorse.

—JOSÉ CARLOS SANTOS

THE OCEAN

8

Holocene PELAGIC

Human behavior

Our species has shaped and changed the earth in unprecedented ways through rapid proliferation and technological progress, and, as a reflection of this, so has Berlin-based post-metal juggernaut the Ocean. Moving into the human age, the band has become more intimate and captivating musically while creeping deeper into their DNA with numerous references to their earlier discography. Listening to Holocene brings back familiar feelings: that expansive spaciousness found in 76 : JUNE 202 3 : DECIBEL

the second half of Pelagial, those dark, subdued delay-soaked melodies lingering underneath the aquatic surface that all unmistakably carry the trademark of guitarist Robin Staps.

But there is also a new emphasis here. The distortion on the guitars is dialed back in favor of radiant synths and horns in every song, and Loïc Rossetti’s charismatic vocals remain primarily clean. It is not until the end of the engrossing “Atlantic” that the collective finally rips away this comfortable, brass-saturated blanket they weave around you and wake you up with the most immense riff of their career. Taking their time and holding back the inevitable explosion for so long makes its impact twice as devastating. The degree of polyphony on display here is immense, with main melodies and sub-melodies lurking underneath the surface, and the same is true for the rhythmical side. Occasionally, each member strays away from the main path and follows their respective trails, blissfully getting lost at times, but always returning at the right moment and converging into the force majeure the group has become. The result is a listening experience that brings new discoveries even after the 10th spin.

Holocene unites the might of the Ocean’s past and present while creating a deeper understanding of their world and ours. It’s an excellent record with such minor flaws that, with each subsequent listen, I question my nitpicking and am sure it’s me and not them. My only concern now is that I don’t regret scoring this higher when curating my list of 2023’s best albums. —TIM MUDD

OLD FOREST

8

Sutwyke

SOULSELLER

Even in winter, the forest never stops growing

Back in 1998, Old Forest crawled from the overgrowth and afterbirth of mid-’90s British black metal. Their Into the Old Forest debut captured the gothic flair and melodic leanings of 20th century Cradle of Filth, if you traded the vampire lit in their library for Tolkien. But Old Forest has been on a trail of rebirth since returning from their hiatus in 2007. Their latest LP, Sutwyke, continues the band’s shapeshifting tendencies, while invoking the organic intensity of earlier recordings.

The last time we heard from Old Forest was 2021’s Mournfall. That album revealed a band flaunting more polish, with keyboards claiming a higher percentage of the mix. A couple records before that, Dagian unfolded with four long-form chapters of pensive, atmospheric black gloom.

But Sutwyke returns to the Black Forests of Eternal Doom, retrieving their icy bite from familiar woodlands. Vocalist and founding member Kobold largely employs a grave rasp, while

adding narration to the more elegant song structures. “Winter Years Begin” summons a tranquil flurry with arctic lyricism before guitarist/bassist Beleth blasts the song into a riff blizzard.

The spellbinding two-part epic “Witch of Prague” ascends from the fresh snowfall as Sutwyke’s finest achievement. Harmonized croons achieve epic grandeur; you can almost hear them reverberating through the Mountains of Angmar. But those 10 combined minutes represent Old Forest’s unique foliage—a different leaf color for every album. This record’s disciplined songwriting still indulges their genre wanderlust while keeping each song absorbing and sharp.

That culminates in the stunning melodies of closing track “Effigies to the Flames.” Old Forest are the newest entry in the short but worthy list of croon-along black metal. —SEAN FRASIER

PUTRID YELL

7

Consuming Aberration P U LV E R I Z E D

Like an everflowing left hand path

Anyone with their tinnitus-riddled lughole pressed tightly to the global metal underground will tell you that there’s a buzz slowly beginning to form around the current Chilean scene.

2021 and 2022 brought us some killer extremity from Demoniac, Suppression, Rotten Tomb, Hellish, Inanna and Mental Devastation, just to mention a few modern heavy hitters now at the forefront of this developing South American country. The timing might just be right, then, for a full-length debut from Putrid Yell, a Swedish death metal-obsessed band that formed in 2012 and is composed of lifers from the deepest recesses of Chilean metal. With only a couple of demos and splits comprising their discography, the songwriting and production (complete with a master job by Horrendous’ Damian Herring) on Consuming Aberration display the poise of a band stepping up a level on their debut.

This is energetically performed and consistently arranged Entombed and Dismember reverence from start to finish. Therefore there are no major curveballs, with each of the 10 tracks on offer dripping with signature HM-2 arterial spray.

While this raw style of DM has had a number of resurgences since Left Hand Path and Like an Everflowing Stream turned Stockholm to rubble during 1990-1991, it still never fails to engage once practiced by those who understand that it has to be played with loose, frenzied abandon. This five-piece band careens wildly through numerous tempo changes as razored riffs, rampaging D-beats and pained screams drive everything forward. As far as classic Swedeath worship goes, Putrid Yell have it nailed here. —DEAN BROWN

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UNEARTH

6

The Wretched; the Ruinous CENTURY MEDIA

Jasta-tested, Mistress Juliya-approved

The bands who fused ’90s Gothenburg melodeath to smash-mouth East Coast hardcore were once referred to as the New Wave of American Heavy Metal. That was two decades ago and counting; there’s nothing new about metalcore vets like Killswitch Engage and Darkest Hour anymore.

The upstarts always end up becoming the elders, provided they don’t implode first.

Boston’s Unearth have never imploded. They debuted in 1998, broke through during the mid2000s Headbangers Ball revival era, and have toured and recorded relentlessly for the past 25 years. “The mentality has always been to look at Unearth as long-term as possible,” vocalist Trevor Phipps said in a press release for The Wretched; the Ruinous, the band’s eighth album.

Assuming good health, there’s no reason they can’t do this for another 20 or 30 years.

You can hear the years of practice in The Wretched; the Ruinous. Phipps and guitarist Buz McGrath have been the architects of the Unearth sound since the beginning, and they’ve honed it to a fine edge. There’s a studied precision to the way Phipps’ paint-stripping bark interlocks with McGrath’s chugging mosh riffs and undulating melodic parts on songs like “Mother Betrayal” and the vicious “Theaters of War.” (The eternally nimble Mike Justian, who also drummed on the Red Chord’s Fused Together in Revolving Doors, is the album’s quiet MVP.) The same ruthless consistency that’s become Unearth’s calling card also gives The Wretched; the Ruinous a hard ceiling. They’ve nailed down this sound, but that was already true by 2006’s genredefining III: In the Eyes of Fire. Death metal and hardcore are smashing into one another in some truly exciting ways these days—take recent cover stars Jesus Piece for just one example. Too often, Unearth sound like they’re opening a Bush-era time capsule. —BRAD SANDERS

VADIAT

8

Spear of Creation REDEFINING DARKNESS

Death/doom becomes my voice

Balance and personality— that’s almost always where the trick is these days, especially in the more traditional genres.

Let’s face it; The world objectively doesn’t need another doom/death metal band, no matter how old-school or how tasteful their tunes are. These people surely have more things to do with their time, even if you just count the music-dedicated 78 : JUNE 2023 : DECIBEL

part of it, as all of them have a healthy history in the Cleveland scene—40 percent of the Ringworm lineup is here, for example. You know this, but then you play this debut album, and by the end of the opening title track, with the mournful initial solos; the cavernous vocals; the instantly throatgrabbing, yet subtly ghostly melodic riffs; the bestial surge of macabre brutality halfway; and the My Dying Bride-y break of the last minute and a half, suddenly it seems a little space has just opened up for them in the world, doesn’t it?

All those parts repeat themselves in different ways and orders throughout the remaining songs, and you’ve heard them all before individually, but after all is said and done—closing Trouble cover included—Vadiat emerge as sounding mostly like themselves, really. That’s personality. The balance is in the way you will instantly define these songs as old-school, in sound, structure and feel, but never sense any kind of stagnated, lame nostalgia just for the hell of it.

Vadiat do carry the past of their careers and of their chosen genres, but they’re never burdened by it. That they have the gall to top it all off with that death metal-ized “Pray for the Dead” (and actually make it work) is definitive proof that, yeah, the world does need Vadiat after all. Well, we’re convinced. —JOSÉ CARLOS SANTOS

VERILUOLA

8

Cascades of Crimson Cruor N A M E L E SS G R AV E

Religion of the blood-red velvet

Veriluola (a.k.a. “Blood Cave” in English) occupy hugely at the nexus of pre-Internet era underground death metal. Largely of Euro stock—like Eucharist, Nightfall and Darkified—the FinnishAmerican duo have crafted a curious curio on their debut album, Cascades of Crimson Cruor. Out of the gate, Finn Santeri and American Malus spearhead a sound (music and production) from the oldschool, but intently fashion it to not exclusively wallow in wanton nostalgia. Meaning, the six tracks of rancor and anguish point their bony fingers at Deathevokation or (more recently) fellow label gods Dungeon Serpent, where it’s all vibe and ambition first and the pursuit of perfection last.

Frontman Malus, also of bubbling under poppets Apokatastasis, croaks dryly. If his vociferations were any more arid, his throat would take up residence in the fucking Atacama Desert.

Musically, the ichor-loving duplets aren’t the best “songwriters,” but that’s not the point here.

There are no high-flying choruses (think Dissection’s “Black Horizons”) or rewind-worthy refrains (Septic Flesh’s “Chasing the Chimera”), but in their absence lay magic and mystery. Opening track “Anguished Soul Collective” could’ve fit

nicely twixt Maimed and Chorus of Ruin on the pivotal (and still largely unheralded) Deaf Metal Sampler, while the creepy intro to “Enthralled by the Blaze” leads to an almost-mid tempo jam that has the elegance of a Victorian cemetery.

Veriluola don’t state who the drummer is (his name might be “George”) on Cascades of Crimson Cruor, but that doesn’t matter either. The duo’s storm of riffs, necromantic solos and primeval vocals always pair well with the tasteful—if economical—rhythmic furor on offer. Sleep not on Veriluola, fellow fiends. —CHRIS DICK

YAKUZA

7

Sutra S VA R T

Metal up your brass

Elementary, Watson: Any music group titling the critical midpoint composition of its seventh longplaying album “Capricorn Rising” is necessarily a progressive rock band composed of middle-aged practitioners whose failed orthodontia, back hair and ear afros toggle equally between man and music. Dropping Voivod and King Crimson in the bio also results in said deductions. So hurtling toward quarter-century status aided by syndicates as powerful as Century Media, Prosthetic, Profound Lore and here Svart, Chicago brawlers Yakuza now approach vintage prestige themselves.

The “Xanadu”-like guitar build into opener “2is1” touches off a rumbling, tumbling reaffirmation that post-rock feasts on the Rush-tastic tail of true ouroboros metal. Equally circulatory, “Alice” riffs thrashy mosh fodder while dropping naturally into hardcore production and tensile pauses fused to an O.G. indie rock restlessness.

Gentrification by genre dissolves universal classicism into one giant cauldron—all extremities, all multitudes, all at once.

Deep into “Echoes From the Sky,” frontman Bruce Lamont—with headsman Matt McClelland, percussive chasm James Staffel and bass profondo Jerome Marshall—finally puckers on his horn and blows radioactive bleats into a John Zorn-gone-polka vortex that melts Middle Eastern tones into stamp and pound, heat and weight. Lamont’s not up for the Enrico Caruso award this year, but here comes “Capricorn Rising,” so strap in. Smoky, opium-laced Turkish accents cast a milky, half-time spell employing Lamont’s sax harmonies to decant every late20th century sci-fi film from Dark Star to Saturn 3.

That detonates an even heavier, proggier, more dynamic second half: brutal roundabouts and atmospheric brass (“Burn Before Reading”), epic moans ‘n’ groans (“Walking God”) and just a hint of skronk (“Psychic Malaise”). Consider closer “Never the Less” its “Cygnus X-1.”

—RAOUL HERNANDEZ

by

EUGENE S. ROBINSON

WILL METAL EVER BE THE

MUSIC OF OK? L

ove song. After love song.

AFTER love song. And more than that, a creeping sense that the anomie coming to rest around some of my deeds and almost all my thoughts wasn’t being addressed by what was coming out of any stereos around me. This is when and where you start looking for answers.

After all, what’s the musical answer to the Holocaust? Or Vietnam? Or 19-year-olds being shot in the head by National Guardsmen while going to class?

I wasn’t sure, but I was sure it had nothing to do—lyrically, at least—with going “up, up and away in my beautiful balloon,” no matter what the 5th Dimension sang.

“Hey,” I said to my friend David, “Lemme get that record with the Satanists on it.”

I was 12 years old, and this is how I initially understood fellow Brooklynites, KISS. David lent it to me, and beyond Hendrix, Zeppelin, the Stones and the Who (rock radio staples in 1974), KISS were fundamentally different. Mostly in that 80 : JUNE 2023 : DECIBEL

theirs was a world where everything was very clearly not OK. Like, you ever go to a place that’s completely fucked up and your body blushes with the sense that you’re in the right place? This was like that, and down the rabbit hole we go, confirmation bias be damned.

The world was screwed up, both in my head and in reality, and much better to have a musical reality that reflected that. At the very least.

So, from KISS to Black Sabbath to Rainbow, prepping me perfectly for punk rock, and then hardcore, and then decades and decades of Not OK. But looking and listening to the music and lyrics of fellow travelers, I start to wonder when things will get to OK. Things seem pretty OK in the land of the art collectors in Metallica. And yet their songs…

Look, let me put it this way: Anybody pulls up a barstool next to you and starts whining about their job, their wife, their life, for more than 10 minutes? Well, you’re out.

Most records are at least 40 minutes long. Is it safe to assume then that people still digging on that vibe over

the decades that most of us have listened to metal are steadfastly refusing to get better? They’re either hopelessly nostalgic or trying to survive on old glories—poor people who need something that reflects that back to them.

This is some version of what I thought. Right around until it came time to write lyrics to record for songs on Love’s Holiday, Oxbow’s next record on Ipecac. The lyrics have usually predated the songs. Not on this record. The music dictated the flow, and since the psychodrama that had fueled every record from Fuckfest to Thin Black Duke was dead, the lyrical challenge was welcome.

The resulting product, while it doesn’t seem like it resulted in much of a genre-specific record that could comfortably be called “metal,” is at least as much so as Darkthrone. Moreover, finally hearing the mastered version like I just did last night, I have come to a very specific conclusion. With songs like “Icy White & Crystalline” or “The Night the Room Started Burning,” and lyrics like, “It turns me into

whatever dances on the head of a pin,” it is nothing BUT. Moreover, when every other form of music had decided that Oxbow was both too much and then not enough for them—most famously the late Tony Sly from Fat Records’ dismissal on the grounds that it wasn’t “punk”—metal stuck.

Shows were booked with A Perfect Circle, King Diamond, Sleep, High on Fire, Neurosis, Celtic Frost, Isis—shows at Roadburn and more.

Aaron Turner put us on his label, Hydra Head, and has designed the artwork for the last four or five records, including Love’s Holiday. So then, a late-in-game realization: In the heads of those that are not OK, not much will ever seem OK even if it is OK. Lyrics about love inevitably become lyrics about betrayal underscoring, maybe, that what we really love is betrayal. Lyrics about love become songs about death.

And you know what? I think that’s probably… OK. Now if you’ll excuse me, I’ll be heading up, up and away. In my beautiful fucking balloon.

ILLUSTRATION BY ED LUCE