TIMES PENTAGRAM METAL & BEER FEST: DENVER 2024 PARADISE LOST DRACONIAN HALL OF FAME SHOCK ME
BEER US THE STRENGTH FOR THIS REVIEW
REFUSE/RESIST
MARCH 2025 // No. 245
INCLUDED Don’t see it? Then subscribe!
$10.00US $10.00CAN
FLEXI DISC
A L S O OBSCURA SACRIFICE SAVAGE LANDS LIVING GATE PHRENELITH GAYTHEIST YEAR OF THE COBRA SABER
E XT RE M ELY EXTREME
March 2025 [R 245] decibelmagazine.com
upfront 8
metal muthas Christmas in March
10 exclusive:
metal & beer fest denver 2024 reviewed Survival of the fittest
14 low culture The sound of silence 15 kill screen:
living gate
PlayStation does what Nintendon’t
16 gaytheist Seriously funny 18 century They came, they played, they conquered 20 savage lands Still no word on Sir David Attenborough’s album of the year 22 saber Never a dull moment 24 phrenelith Black and dead all over 26 year of the cobra Family matters
features
reviews
28 obscura The space between
57 lead review SoCal sludge pillars 16 live life to the slowest on career peak Guides for the Misguided
30 sacrifice No pain, no gain 32 q&a: pentagram Main man Bobby Liebling can’t stay bottled up forever 36 the decibel
hall of fame U.K. doom troupe Paradise Lost find massive success in Europe while losing interest in their sound on Draconian Times
44
58 album reviews Records from bands that spam “Come to Brazil” in our social media comments, including Killswitch Engage, Mantar and Scour 64 damage ink Love conquers all
Tour Eternal COVER STORY COVER PHOTO BY BECKY DEGIGLIO, SEBASTIAN LUDVIGSEN, NECROHORNS AND ROB MENZER CONTENTS PHOTO BY NECROHORNS ADDITIONAL PHOTO EDITING BY ESTER SEGARRA
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. © 2025 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 : MARCH 2025 : DECIBEL
This year marks the 12th edition of
the Decibel Magazine Tour, but my personal memories go to 11:
www.decibelmagazine.com
2013: At the behest of Shane Embury,
I provided guest vocals for Napalm Death’s “The Kill” at two shows. I couldn’t rehearse in my house, so I drove to a Dunkin’ Donuts parking lot and did it in my car. 2014: I passed out in one of Carcass’s hotel rooms at the NYC date.
Dicks were not drawn on my face, but pictures were documented. At the Maryland show, I had to remove the car seat from my family vehicle to drive Jeff Walker and Bill Steer to record an episode of the short-lived Decibel Extremely Extreme podcast at Scott Hull’s house. 2015: Vallenfyre’s driver had to leave the tour in Philly, so I drove
the band’s van from Philly to Manhattan. Since we programmed the wrong address in the world’s oldest GPS, the drive was actually Philly to Brooklyn to Manhattan. 2016: Old pal Ian Christe and I agreed to interview Tour headliner
Abbath to help a mutual friend’s documentary project. I couldn’t think of any good questions, but my daughter—who was 4 at the time— came up with this: “Are you a person or a band?” This must have rattled around our man’s head a bit, since this was his introduction to the crowd that evening: “I am Abbath! [Pause for applause.] WE are Abbath!”
PUBLISHER
Alex Mulcahy
alex@redflagmedia.com
EDITOR-IN-CHIEF
Albert Mudrian
albert@decibelmagazine.com SALES DIRECTOR
James Lewis
james@decibelmagazine.com ART DIRECTOR
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
2017: After another sold-out Irving Plaza show, two extremely inebriated (but polite) gentlemen offered me oral sex in exchange for booking Sodom on the following year’s tour. 2018: A lot of disparate memories here: helped Khemmis load in; had a long, enlightening conversation with Amalie Bruun about what it’s like to be a woman in the metal underground; planted the seeds for Enslaved’s full-album performance of their Frost record, which would occur at the following year’s Metal & Beer Fest in Philly. 2019: I’m still not over the fact that I accidentally left a pair of satin Blood Incantation shorts at a Baltimore hotel.
– COVID BREAK – 2022: I took my Municipal Waste-loving, then 7-year-old son to his first show at Baltimore Soundstage. The band added his favorite song, “Wolves of Chernobyl,” to their set, sent the song out to him, gave him guitar picks, drumsticks and the set list. With his live experience bar set impossibly high, I explained to him that not every show he attends will be like this. 2023: I spent half the night telling disappointed people, “No, my son
is not coming this year.” 2024: I abandoned Decibel sales director James Lewis to endure a punisher alone in the hotel lobby the morning after the show. James engaged him, so don’t be too sympathetic. Plus, I had to drive two hours back home to take my son to his drum lesson. Never know when you’ll need a fill-in!
albert mudrian, Editor-in-Chief
Kills and thrills Editor-in-Commandant Mudrian with Mark “Barney” Greenway and Napalm Death at Union Transfer in Philadelphia, PA, June 6, 2013
CONTRIBUTING WRITERS
Anthony Bartkewicz Emily Bellino Adrien Begrand J. Bennett Dean Brown Liz Ciavarella-Brenner Chris Dick Sean Frasier Nick Green Raoul Hernandez John Hill Jonathan Horsley Neill Jameson Kim Kelly Greg Kennelty 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
Jason Blake Shane Gardner Hillarie Jason Shimon Karmel Scott Kinkade Katja Ogrin Ester Segarra Hristo Shindov Gene Smirnov Hannah Verbeuren Frank White
RECORD STORES
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 ©2025 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
PHOTO BY JOSHUA T. COHEN
New York’s Irving Plaza, which was the site of the first-ever NYC show I attended as a teenager (Rollins Band on May 11, 1994). Good start.
REFUSE/RESIST
March 2025 [T245]
2012: The first year of the tour sells out
READER OF THE
MONTH Wayfarer, Kelly Schilling from Dreadnought and Paul Riedl from Blood Incantation. You annually attend the Sundance Film Festival. What were your three favorite films from 2024, and do you see metal crossing over more into mainstream films?
My three favorite films from the 2024 Sundance Film Festival were:
William Reigeluth Venice, FL
You own every issue of Decibel. I’m not certain I even have every issue of Decibel. When did you make it your mission to complete your collection, and were there any issues particularly hard to track down?
It hasn’t been so much of a mission to own every issue of Decibel, but more like supporting something I believe is done the right way. As a passionate fan of metal, once I started learning about all the bands featured and reviewed in Decibel way back in 2004, I had the fear of missing out, and thus, made sure to always renew my subscription. Plus, I love stuff like the late [columns] Cry Now, Cry Later and South Pole Dispatch that are a fun read.
6 : MARCH 2025 : DECIBEL
You’ve attended the past two Metal & Beer Fests in Denver, the most recent of which is reviewed in this issue. What were your highlights of that weekend?
Well, that’s easy: My biggest highlight was you telling me I was in [editorial notes] Just Words in the February 2024 issue, which I embarrassingly missed somehow. Subsequently, I was then able to brag to my superstar fashion designer/stylist cousin Micaela Erlanger, who has been featured in tons of publications, that I was in Decibel, and she was not. Other highlights of that weekend are hanging out with my friend Doro for two days and hiking with her at Red Rocks, plus getting chances to talk with Shane McCarthy from
1. Porcelain War 2. Black Box Diaries 3. Will & Harper I hope more metal songs are featured in future Hollywood films, but it depends on how the studio feels about the application of the song in the film. For songs in Hollywood films, it’s all about what is socially acceptable and will make people want to see the film again. It’s great hearing Kverlertak in a film like Trolljegeren, but I don’t foresee it happening a lot. Since you own every issue, who would you like to see on the cover? Note: This doesn’t mean we’re going to do it; just curious who you think we’ve missed.
I would like to see Between the Buried and Me on the cover of Decibel. Everything they have done, especially Colors, has been pretty amazing.
ChuckBB.com / Instagram: @chuckbb_art