KHANATE LIVE REVIEW ROUND-UP ROTTING CHRIST KHANATE HALL OF FAME
NORTHWEST TERROR FEST & INFERNO METAL FEST
HISTORICAL SIGNIFICANCE
REFUSE/RESIST
B O R N
F O R A
INCLUDED Don’t see it? Then subscribe!
S
O
J U L I E C HRI STMAS 2 0 0 STAB WOU ND S ALC EST THOU CANDY WO RMW I TC H AKHLYS
AUGUST 2024 // No. 238
$10.00US $10.00CAN
FLEXI DISC
L
B U R N I N G
EXTREMELY EXTREME
August 2024 [R 238] decibelmagazine.com
upfront 8
obituary: steve albini Beyond 1,000 hurts
10 metal muthas Historically loved 12 live review:
inferno metal fest 2024 Quartered pounder
14 live review:
northwest terror fest 2024 Up from the underground
16 low culture Gimme shelter 17 kill screen:
thou
Productivity report
20 alcest Cry now, cry later 22 scarcity Banding together 24 brume All employees must carve “Slayer” into forearm before returning to work 26 wormwitch The stuff of myths 28 candy Sex and... 30 vígljós See what the buzz is abou... no, too easy 32 akhlys Atmospheric pressures
18 in the studio:
teeth
52
Willed into existence
features
reviews
34 200 stab wounds Public executions
65 lead review Do you have what it takes to survive 200 Stab Wounds’ Manual Manic Procedures?
36 rotting christ Rotting in a free world 38 q&a: julie christmas The reluctant royal finds the world in a ridiculous state 42 the decibel
hall of fame Khanate’s supergroup mythos belies their humble beginnings as observed on their debut self-titled LP
66 album reviews Records from bands that won’t be laughing this summer, including Cavalera, Umbra Vitae and Wormed 72 damage ink Keep it like a secret
Pierced From Within COVER STORY COVER AND CONTENTS PHOTOS BY HRISTO SHINDOV
Decibel (ISSN 1557-2137) is published monthly by Red Flag Media, Inc., P.O. Box 36818, Philadelphia, PA 19107. Annual subscription price is $34.95. 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. © 2024 by Red Flag Media, Inc. All rights reserved. ISSN 1557-2137 | USPS 023142 Reproduction in whole or in part without written permission of the publisher is strictly prohibited.
2 : AUGUST 2024 : DECIBEL
www.decibelmagazine.com
REFUSE/RESIST
August 2024 [T238] PUBLISHER
Alex Mulcahy
alex@redflagmedia.com
EDITOR-IN-CHIEF
Albert Mudrian
albert@decibelmagazine.com AD SALES
James Lewis
james@decibelmagazine.com DIRECTOR OF MARKETING AND SALES
Twenty years ago next month, I
boarded a plane from Philly to Chicago en route to the even-then legendary Electrical Audio. The thoughtful folks at Relapse Records flew me out to document the recording of what would become High on Fire’s second LP for the label, Blessed Black Wings. It sounds like a crazy extravagance now, but back when a few people in the music industry still made money, record labels would fly magazine contributors to conduct studio reports. What’s truly insane, however, is the fact that issue No. 1 of Decibel hadn’t even been released before I showed up on Steve Albini’s doorstep. My only real bona fides were the fact that I’d previously interviewed Albini a couple times, most recently in 1999 for a lengthy story on Neurosis’ Times of Grace, the first recording he engineered for the band. As you might expect, he didn’t pretend to remember. Nevertheless, while I was representing a still imaginary magazine, he not only allowed me to spend hours with him and the band as they tracked, but invited me to crash at the studio. It was literally just a mattress on the floor of a weird almost crawlspace, but he could have easily sent me to the nearest Greyhound station to sleep next to Urge Overkill. I don’t have any eyewitness accounts of rock ‘n’ roll studio debauchery, unless you count the fifth of Jack that traveled most everywhere in the building with Matt Pike, or Albini mercilessly ripping farts in the airtight control room of Studio A. The next morning, while most everyone else was still asleep, Albini and I sat in the lounge and watched an episode of Baseball Tonight that he TiVo-ed the previous evening. As he exclaimed “shut up” and fast-forwarded any moment that co-host John Kruk opened his mouth, it was a not-so-subtle reminder that—whether you were a music industry stooge or a sports talking head—Steve Albini did not suffer fools. Ever. Not long after I returned, at the behest of fellow Electrical Audio engineer Greg Norman, I comped the studio a Decibel subscription. Years later, our intrepid customer service manager Patty Moran received a call from a studio employee who was looking for a copy of the May 2011 issue. Apparently one of the bands recording at the studio nicked the magazine before Albini could read the Pentagram cover story. The caller went on to adorably overexplain who Steve Albini was, which was unnecessary for Patty or virtually anyone reading this. There’s irony in that my lasting memory of Albini was his own twilight discovery of who he was (or at least had been). His unsolicited public reckoning with his “role in inspiring ‘edgelord’ shit” of the ’80s, expressing regret and admitting his ignorance—while not asking for grace—embodied the relentless ethics he practiced throughout his musical career. His job was capturing his and countless others’ music, and he afforded that task more care than most people will ever understand. It’s the legacy he would be most comfortable with. albert mudrian, Editor-in-Chief
ART DIRECTOR
Aaron Salsbury
aaron@decibelmagazine.com
Michael Wohlberg
michael@decibelmagazine.com CUSTOMER SERVICE
Patty Moran
COPY EDITOR
Andrew Bonazelli
BOOKCREEPER
Tim Mulcahy
patty@decibelmagazine.com
tim@redflagmedia.com CONTRIBUTING ARTISTS
Chuck BB, Ed Luce Mark Rudolph
Online DECIBEL WEB EDITOR
Albert Mudrian
DECIBEL WEB AD SALES
James Lewis
albert@decibelmagazine.com james@decibelmagazine.com
CONTRIBUTING WRITERS
Anthony Bartkewicz Emily Bellino Adrien Begrand J. Bennett Dean Brown Ian Christe Liz Ciavarella-Brenner Chris Dick Sean Frasier Nick Green Raoul Hernandez Addison Herron-Wheeler John Hill Jonathan Horsley Neill Jameson Kim Kelly Sarah Kitteringham Daniel Lake Cosmo Lee Jamie Ludwig Shane Mehling Tim Mudd Justin M. Norton Dutch Pearce Forrest Pitts Brad Sanders José Carlos Santos Joseph Schafer Kevin Stewart-Panko Eugene S. Robinson Adem Tepedelen Jeff Treppel J Andrew Zalucky CONTRIBUTING PHOTOGRAPHERS
MAIN OFFICE
P.O. Box 36818 Philadelphia, PA 19107 Tel: 215.625.9850 / Fax: 215.625.9967 www.decibelmagazine.com RECORD STORES
Jason Blake Shane Gardner Hillarie Jason Shimon Karmel Scott Kinkade Katja Ogrin Ester Segarra Hristo Shindov Gene Smirnov Hannah Verbeuren Frank White
To carry Decibel, call 1.215.625.9850 x105 DECIBEL SUBSCRIPTIONS
Decibel subscriber service/change of address: 215.625.9850 x105 or contact@decibelmagazine.com To order by mail: Consult the subscription card To order by phone: 215.625.9850 x105 To order by fax: 1.215.625.9967 To order online: www.decibelmagazine.com VISA/MASTERCARD/DISCOVER accepted Subscribers: please alert us of any change of address 6-8 weeks before the date of your move. Decibel is not responsible or obligated to re-ship issues missed because of a move we were not informed of 6-8 weeks before the move took place. DECIBEL BACK ISSUES/MERCHANDISE
To order by phone: 1.215.625.9850 (10 a.m. – 5 p.m. EST) To order by fax: 1.215.625.9967 To order online: www.decibelmagazine.com Decibel (ISSN 1557-2137) is published monthly by Red Flag Media, Inc., P.O. Box 36818, Philadelphia, PA 19107. Annual subscription price is $34.95. 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. Copyright ©2024 by Red Flag Media, Inc. All rights reserved. Reproduction in whole or in part without written permission of the publisher is strictly prohibited. PRINTED IN USA
ISSN 1557-2137
| USPS 023142
READER OF THE
MONTH some slower stuff as well from time to time. One of my favorite bands of all time is Bell Witch. It really depends on my mood. I’m typically a pretty high-energy guy, though.
Sam Greer
Eugene/Springfield, OR
You’re originally from Houston, but you’ve also lived in Cairo, Stavanger (Norway), New Orleans, Monroe, UT, and now you’re in Eugene/Springfield, OR. What’s the most metal city of the bunch and why?
Although Houston has a great metal scene and has produced some great bands like Insect Warfare and Malignant Altar—[combined with] the fact that I got to regularly see bands like Power Trip and Kublai Khan in their early days—I’ve gotta go with Stavanger. I mean, it’s in Norway! I lived there from the ages of 7-10, so I wasn’t really able to appreciate it in that sense because I had yet to discover black metal. I do have a random memory of running into some guys wearing corpsepaint in the woods standing around a bonfire. I was terrified and ran back home as quickly as I could.
6 : AUGUST 2024 : DECIBEL
You became a dad in January. Has that altered your outlook on being an extreme metal fan in any measurable way?
I feel like I appreciate it even more because I’m able to introduce it to my son and bond with him over it. He really seems to love metal when I put it on. He especially likes the new Hulder album, Verses in Oath. If he’s ever inconsolable, I’ll put that album on and it usually gets him to stop crying and soothes him to sleep. Nails are on the cover of this issue and Khanate’s self-titled debut is our Hall of Fame induction. Generally, which side of the tempo spectrum that these two acts occupy do you gravitate toward?
Generally, I would say I’m more of a fan of the fast-paced stuff like Nails, but I definitely enjoy
I do have a random memory of running into some guys wearing corpsepaint in the woods standing around a bonfire. I was terrified and ran back home as quickly as I could. You are a wise man who avoids social media. Do you feel that impacts your ability to discover new music?
Absolutely. That’s one of the main drawbacks, I would say. It also kind of sucks because I’ll find out super last-minute about shows in my area. The pros outweigh the cons, though. My mental health has been so much better since I removed myself from it, so I’ll take it.
ChuckBB.com / Instagram: @chuckbb_art
OBITUARIES
8 :: AAU UG GU USSTT 22002241 :: DDEECCIIBBEELL
STEVE
ALBINI 19 6 2 - 2 0 2 4
THE
universe further snuffed any human feelings of per-
manence on May 7, when Steve Albini fell victim to a heart attack. As a musician, record producer and writer, Albini had been a vociferous fixture in all forms of independent music and media for over 40 years. His sixth album with Shellac, To All Trains, the band’s first in a decade, was due for release on May 17. ¶ Newly transplanted from Montana to the cold, dirty wastes of Chicago in 1981, Albini gave voice to his poison pen with his band Big Black. The band specialized in brutal, violent noir realism painted by ugly sheets of guitar, riding the back of a punishing drum machine. They were the bridge between Killing Joke and Godflesh, were certainly an influence on local new wave act Ministry, and were later covered by Fear Factory and Burn the Priest/Lamb of God. From the selfreleased Lungs EP (1982) through Songs About Fucking (1987), Big Black readjusted the palette of the decade towards awkward tones of blood, rust and desperate mania.
While Big Black blotted out the sun in the 1980s, Albini’s persona attained terrifying underground status through savage writing in mags including Forced Exposure. Whether on-point music criticism, hilariously bleak tour diaries or soul-shattering fiction, the force of his mind reigned. He could be sadistic in his dismissal of personalities, bands or entire genres of music. On the other hand, he championed the diamonds in the ash—praising Die Kreuzen’s debut in Matter in 1985: “Attention all puny photocopy punk bands: go fuck yourselves. This is it. The definitive ’80s American punk record…” Weighing all of 70 lbs. in an angry buzzcut, nerd glasses and white T-shirt, Albini flattened audiences, and Big Black’s masterpiece Atomizer (1986) expanded the parameters of popular music. He dabbled in industrial subculture, but
his bands rocked, explored American themes and maintained a wiseass edge. Big Black’s record covers were disgusting enough to be sold inside black plastic bags. And when the band had run its course, the Headache EP (1987), released weeks before the final show, featured a sticker that read: “Not as good as Atomizer, so don’t get your hopes up, cheese.” By then, Albini’s experience producing his own albums led to offers to record other bands, including Urge Overkill, Naked Raygun and the Pixies, all in 1988. His work on Head of David’s Dustbowl (1988) is a pure Albini trademark with pummeling rhythms, decapitated vocals and trebly walls of gravel guitars. Justin Broadrick played on the record before forming Godflesh. Fear Factory later covered Dustbowl’s “Dog Day Sunrise.”
In 1988, Albini’s new trio Rapeman released the fantastic Two Nuns and a Pack Mule. The group could not survive the offensiveness of its name. Sure, those were different times, but not really. And Albini’s generation of noisy American rock bands, including Sonic Youth, were no longer flying under the radar. In the 1990s, Albini’s recordings for Boss Hog, the Breeders, Helmet, Fugazi and Nirvana minted a reputation as a record producer that led to work with Jimmy Page and Robert Plant. His approach remained analog and hands-off, capturing the sounds of bands as they sounded naturally. He also famously charged on a sliding scale, raking in larger fees for well-funded careerist bands versus his inspired personal favorites. He continued to write, too. His 1993 battle cry in The Baffler, “The Problem With Music,” took a deep dive into major label burnthe-band accounting that concluded with the crushing line: “Some of your friends are probably already this fucked.” And yes, over the course of hundreds of records—the sweet spot was noisy, challenging outings by the likes of Oxbow and KEN Mode— Albini recorded a mountain of game-changing metal albums including High on Fire’s Blessed Black Wings (2005); several albums for Neurosis including Times of Grace (1999); the crushing Towers… (1996) by pre-Goatsnake/Khanate/Sunn 0))) band Burning Witch; plus Dysrhythmia’s Pretest (2003); two records for Weedeater; two for Om; Sunn 0)))’s Life Metal (2019); and the debut EP by Sweden’s harrowing documentary specialists Horndal. Steve Albini leaves behind his wife, Heather Whinna, and a world and a music scene struggling with reality. —IAN CHRISTE DECIBEL : AUGUST 2024 : 9