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April 2025 [R 246] decibelmagazine.com
upfront
features
reviews
10 metal muthas Good Doyle
18 gorging shade Considered death
32 mantar Punk’s not dead
12 exclusive:
20 16 Holy terror
34 havukruunu Far from Finnished
22 celestial scourge Seeing is believing
36 destruction Malice in wunderland
24 christian mistress Staying together for the children
38 q&a: cradle of filth Dani Filth may not be able to stand the heat, but he’s certainly not seeking out Dusk
fire in the mountains 2025 preview Burning bright
14 low culture Like, comment, subscribe 15 kill screen:
imperial triumphant Back to the future
16 in the studio:
castrator Fresh cuts
26 nyredolk Sins of the fathers
42 the decibel
hall of fame After two decades of miscategorization, complicated publicity and gatekeeping, Darkest Hour’s melodeath masterpiece Undoing Ruin gets its due
54 exclusive:
decibel magazine metal & beer fest: philly 2025 preview Tapping into the stream
71 lead review Imperial Triumphant have style and substance to burn on latest full-length offering Goldstar 72 album reviews Records from bands that don’t know what “family style on your tailpipe” means, including Drugs of Faith, SpiritWorld and Young Widows
58
28 sanhedrin In their nature 30 dawn of ouroboros A light in the dark
80 damage ink Closer to the edge
Hell is What We’ll Get COVER STORY COVER AND CONTENTS PHOTOS BY SHIMON KARMEL
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.
4 : APRIL 2025 : DECIBEL
www.decibelmagazine.com
REFUSE/RESIST
April 2025 [T246] 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
hardcore or metal show in NYC in the late ’90s or early ’00s, there’s a good chance Rich Hall was responsible for it. He was a generous, kind and deeply funny person who helped so many bands in this magazine and brought countless people together through promoting this music. Rich unexpectedly passed away in late January and was eulogized online better than I ever could by so many in the community. But I know he would want me to share this story about his least favorite band he ever booked. About 15 years ago, Rich was the promoter for a Decibel-related show in Brooklyn. This is long before the existence of the Decibel Tour, Metal & Beer Fest or even one-offs like our 100th Issue Show. That’s an implicit way of noting that I had little idea what the fuck I was doing. Rich kindly helped me through the process, even though his patience would be tested to an alarming degree that evening. Not by me, of course, but by our headliners. (Out of respect to the band—who I remain friends with—I won’t reveal their identity.) The band was driving from Chicago, which is a 13-hour journey to Brooklyn. They would need to travel through the night to make soundcheck on time, something that Rich implored to them; yet, for reasons still unclear, something they failed to execute. This was especially worrisome, as our show had a hard curfew of 10:30 p.m., because at 11 p.m. the venue was kicking out all of us grimy metalheads for a far more lucrative dance party. Oh, and the headliners were traveling with all the backline gear, so the openers—who had arrived on time after dutifully leaving Chicago in the middle of the previous evening—couldn’t even set up, let alone actually perform while everyone waited. As the hours ticked away, it was clear that at least one support act would be removed from the bill while the headliners and the main support band would play truncated sets. After fighting their way through Friday rush-hour traffic, the headliners eventually arrived around 8:45 p.m. Instead of scrambling to set up their gear and start the show, they demanded that Rich pay them before taking the stage. Considering what they had just put us through, this was beyond arrogant, but Rich paid them—mostly because he needed to get them out of sight or risk strangling them, but also to ensure something resembling a show happened. After a 25-minute support set, the headliners got about four songs into their performance before the house lights flickered on and their power was cut at 10:30 p.m., to no one’s surprise but their own. As we were exiting the venue, Rich found me and apologized. I reminded him that none of this was his fault, and that I’d been to worse shows. He laughed and asked, “Really?!” Rest in power to not just one of the good ones, but the best one. albert mudrian, Editor-in-Chief
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
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 Aris Hunter Wales 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 ©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
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PHOTO BY JOSHUA T. COHEN
If you attended a cool underground
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CONTRIBUTING WRITERS
READER OF THE
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Jim Waddell
The only one I’ve played was Goatwhore doing a Motörhead cover, “Don't Need Religion.” At the time, this was the only way to hear [it].
Milliken, CO
You are a staunch supporter of physical media, and we don’t mean just Decibel—you still regularly purchase CDs and LPs. For people who are strictly streaming music, can you explain to them what they are missing?
Yes, I do buy lots of music, patches, pins and, of course, books. I have over 6,500 CDs, 200 vinyl records, and lots of posters and memorabilia. I like having the physical copy for reading the liner notes and having the printed artwork of the cover. I also like trying to get a band’s entire catalog. Related: You’ve managed to collect all 170 (and counting) entries in the Decibel
8 : APRIL 2025 : DECIBEL
Flexi Series. What’s your favorite (or most memorable) flexi? And do you actually play them floppy goods or do they immediately get filed away?
I do have every flexi in the Decibel Flexi Series! The only one I’ve played was Goatwhore doing a Motörhead cover, “Don't Need Religion.” At the time, this was the only way to hear [it]. So, it was a must to play it when I received it. Dismember are on the cover of this issue. So, settle this once and for all: Left Hand Path or Like an Ever Flowing Stream? And why?
I came to the party late on Dismember. Being a big thrash fan, I’m still finding death metal
bands. I heard Entombed and had CDs of theirs for a long time. Dismember, I just started listening to recently. So, I’m the wrong person to ask about these bands. However, I did see Dismember in Maryland last year, and they were awesome. You’re a Denver resident. Have you ever attended our annual Metal & Beer Fest there? If no, what the fuck, man?!
Of course, I went to the first two in 2022 and 2023. Missed last year’s because of scheduling conflicts—sometimes life gets in the way. Those shows are a lot of fun, because a lot of the bands on the bill are Denver bands. It’s always good to see them play and hang out afterwards.
ChuckBB.com / Instagram: @chuckbb_art