THE FINNISH METAL ISSUE! 30 THE TOP
E XT R E M E LY E XT R E M E
FINNISH METAL LPS of ALL TIME
D E C I B E L M AG AZ I N E . C O M
PRODEPRESSANT:
CHILDREN OF BODOM
a funeral doom history
AMORPHIS
FREE
SWALLOW THE SUN
FLEXI DISC
INSIDE!
HOODED MENACE GRAVE PLEASURES
KORPIKLAANI TYRANNY NECROPSY UNKIND
REVEREND BIZARRE MOONSORROW PURTENANCE
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DEC 2015 // No. 134
ALSO
why finland is the most metal country on earth
EXTREMELY EXTREME
December 2015 [T134] decibelmagazine.com
THE FINNISH METAL ISSUE
15
upfront
reviews
10 metal muthas:
73 lead review OSDM revivalists Horrendous remain anything but three albums in
adam bartlett of gilead media Family values
11 spawn of dB Police and brutality 12 low culture Good intentions gone bad 13 brewtal truth They’ll just hoof it
74 album reviews Artists who you could pay more attention to instead of wasting your time hate-watching the next GOP debate, including Intronaut, Kylesa, Wolfheart and Aevangelist 96 south pole dispatch Eleven levels of hell
Special Section Starts on Page:
COVER AND CONTENTS PHOTOS BY JARMO KATILA
Decibel (ISSN 1557-2137) is published monthly by Red Flag Media, Inc., 1032 Arch Street, 3rd Floor, Philadelphia, PA 19107. Annual subscription price is $29.95. Periodical postage, 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, 1032 Arch Street, 3rd Floor, Philadelphia PA 19107. Copyright© 2015 by Red Flag Media, Inc. All ISSN 1557-2137 | USPS 023142 rights reserved. Reproduction in whole or in part without written permission of the publisher is strictly prohibited. 2 : D E C E M B E R 2 0 15 : D E C I B E L
www.decibelmagazine.com
EXTREMELY EXTREME
December 2015 [T134]
PUBLISHER
EDITOR-IN-CHIEF
Alex Mulcahy
CONTRIBUTING WRITERS
alex@redflagmedia.com
Albert Mudrian
albert@decibelmagazine.com MANAGING EDITOR
Andrew Bonazelli
andrew@decibelmagazine.com ART DIRECTOR
Bruno Guerreiro
bruno@decibelmagazine.com MARKETING/ PROMOTION BOOKKEEPER
CUSTO MER SERVICE
James Lewis
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Megan Matuzak
finance@redflagmedia.com
Patty Moran
patty@decibelmagazine.com
CONTRIBUTING ARTISTS
Chuck BB, Mark Rudolph
ADVERTISING
Albert Mudrian
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540.878.5756 UNDERTONES SECTION
Drew Juergens
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Online Considering that there are multiple
tomes devoted to Swedish death metal on my bookshelf, and a big-budget film about the Norwegian black metal scene (or at least the murder, suicide and arson bits of it) is currently in production, it’s easy to see why the Finnish scene is often overlooked when deliberating over the Scandinavian “Big Three” metal countries. But as Chris Dick proudly—and correctly—proclaims in this issue’s exhaustive 7,000-word cover story, Finland is indeed the most metal country on Earth. I won’t belabor the assertion here. Just take a moment and flip back to this issue’s cover; pretty much every artist listed is—or has at some point been—a part of your record collection Yes, even Children of Bodom. Perhaps that’s why—somewhat ironically—assembling this month’s 56-page section devoted to our frozen friends of bone-crunching winters, seemingly endless darkness and alarming national suicide rates was the most, well, fun I’ve experienced working on an issue of Decibel this year. That’s not only a testament to the quality and breadth of heavy metal covered here, but also to the many fine Finns who went above and beyond (the distant valleys—Sentenced reference, natch) to help Decibel construct this issue. Extreme thanks to Tuomas Saukkonen and all of Wolfheart, the former members of Reverend Bizarre, Tomi Pulkki of Svart Records, all the folks (past and present) at Spinefarm Recordings, cover photographer Jarmo Katila and pretty much anyone else whose surname looks awesome on the back of a Flyers jersey. All of these good people are about to embark on approximately 200 days of winter as we send this issue to print. Decibel’s Finnish Metal Special Issue may not thaw any of their frostbitten extremities, but here’s hoping it warms their cold, dark hearts. albert mudrian, Editor-in-Chief
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Andrew Bonazelli
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Anthony Bartkewicz Adrien Begrand J. Bennett Shawn Bosler Brent Burton Richard Christy Liz Ciavarella-Brenner John Darnielle Chris Dick Jonathan K. Dick Sean Frasier Jeanne Fury Nick Green Jonathan Horsley Neill Jameson Scott Koerber Daniel Lake Shawn Macomber Shane Mehling Kirk Miller Justin M. Norton Andy O'Connor Matt Olivo Dutch Pearce Forrest Pitts Etan Rosenbloom Rod Smith Zach Smith Matt Solis Kevin Stewart-Panko Adem Tepedelen Jeff Treppel CONTRIBUTING PHOTOGRAPHERS
Jarmo Katila Scott Kinkade Jonathan Pushnik Ester Segarra Josh Sisk Gene Smirnov Frank White
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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., 1032 Arch Street, 3rd Floor, Philadelphia, PA 19107. Annual subscription price is $29.95. Periodical postage, 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, 1032 Arch Street, 3rd Floor, Philadelphia PA 19107. Copyright ©2015 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
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READER OF THE
MONTH
Doug Saretsky Minneapolis, MN
You own both versions of Choosing Death. Annoy the shit out of our editor-in-chief and bitch about what he didn’t devote enough time to in the revised and expanded edition.
You know, Al, you and I have been bullshitting back and forth about this all week, and I just can’t bring myself to poke holes in another man’s labor of love. I am reminded of the scene in Fight Club where Brad Pitt is begging Ed Norton to punch him in the face. Which he eventually does, but you can tell he’s not putting his shoulders into it and therefore it’s not a solid hit. As someone
6 : D E C E M B E R 2 0 15 : D E C I B E L
else on the creative side of metal, I know all too well what it’s like to put your heart and soul into a project and then have some shithead take it apart on the Internet. You did ask what I thought might end up in a 2025 version of Choosing Death, and I would personally love to see some mention of the mighty death metal that has arisen from such unlikely places as Brazil and Australia. I think it would be highly entertaining to read how Sarcófago, Grave Upheaval or Deströyer 666 came to be. But would “blackened bestial war metal” qualify as straight “death” metal as well? That decision would be up to you, my friend. You keep your back issues stacked on your toilet, which is something we have in common. What becomes of the oldest ones when the stack starts to wobble?
The oldest ones usually stay mixed in with the others, while the newer ones tend to end up in a sub-stack on my kitchen table. I do have my Charles Bukowski and Eric Greenwalt books weighing the back issues down, with a piece of leopard print fabric underneath to keep the sacred tomes from wobbling or plummeting into the cavernous depths of the latrine itself. Anton LaVey commented once
on how a person’s best thinking is usually done on the can, and a true scout is prepared for anything. Perhaps Decibel could offer some swag to help its hardcore readers maintain a worthy toilet stash, like a paperweight. Or some Carcass bookends, perhaps. You subscribed specifically for the flexis, which is fine, we’ll take that. What are your top five so far?
The first would be the Watain “Fuck Off, We Murder” one—a nasty jam any way you cut it! A close second would be Midnight’s “Too Loud (for the Crowd),” then Coffins’ “Reborn,” even though it wasn’t a Slayer cover, as I had hoped. I would round out the set with Orange Goblin and Pallbearer. You are referred to the “death metal barista” and “death metal guy” at both of your jobs (Hard Times Cafe and YMCA Greater Twin Cities, respectively). Is this done with admiration or condescension?
I am a pretty reserved guy by nature and don’t really strive to be admired by anybody. I do think, though, that some people dig it when the dude making their soy mocha or showing them how to do a proper reverse lunge has calf-length dreads and is wearing a Bathory shirt. I am lucky to work with people at both jobs who have my admiration and respect. Besides, I’ve been at Hard Times for five years and at the YMCA for seven. If anyone had a problem with me being Metal ’Til Death, I would hope to have found out by now!
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
Finnish is for some reason considered to be one of the most diffiKVLT languages to learn but still:
PERKELE! that little jagged word means:
THAT’S A SHITLOAD OF METAL. ALL TITLES AVAILABLE NOW” so, discover finland! they might have used some major chords by now... but not that many.
MIC HAE L MONROE Blackout States
CHILDREN OF BODOM Are You Dead Yet?
ENSIFER UM From Afar
WOLFH EART Shadow World
SANTA CRU Z Santa Cruz
CHILDREN OF BODOM Follow The Reaper
ENSIFER UM Unsung Heroes
NIG HTWISH CLASSICS ON BLAC K
WOLFH EART Winterborn
CHILDREN OF BODOM Blooddrunk
SWALLOW THE SUN Emerald Forest And The Blackbird
RANG ER Where Evil Dwells
SWALLOW THE SUN New Dawn
HEAVYWEIG HT DOUB LE VINYL
www.spinefarmrecords.com
presents:
s s e f o k c u n S s o ie n Symph
In which we recount the most the insane and inspired posts of g blo in es month from our comrad
THE SCIENTIST WHO DISCOVERED FLOWING SALT WATER ON MARS IS A METALHEAD
IRON REAGAN COULDN’T GIVE A “RAT SHIT” ABOUT YOU We love crossover supergroup Iron Reagan—so much so that we moved them to front-of-queue for the Flexi Series in 2014, despite (at the time) just one album under their belts. “Rat Shit” does not appear on that flexi (the Spoiled Identity EP), but their second full-length, The Tyranny of Will, and its video, Emperor Rhombus notes, “isn’t the goof-off footage you may expect. Instead, it takes viewers to a cabin in the woods where someone in a carefully-assembled suit … has decided to take the media world into their own hands. There’s no big joke ending or hilarious band behavior or smoking barrels of toxic waste—it’s just a straightforward horror story. Which is kind of impressive, given how easily the band could’ve just rested on all those clichés.” TAGS: IRON REAGAN
Who says we’re all a bunch of longhair dummies? As a University of Arizona undergrad in 2011, Lujendra Ojha noticed “mysterious, dark streaks cascading down the sides of Martian hills,” spawning the eventual confirmation of flowing salt water on the Red Planet. Which is slightly less important than the fact that Ojha was once in a death metal band called Gorkha. Ojha laughingly refers to the period as his “old life” (death metal tends to not pay the bills, shockingly). Emperor Rhombus notes, “Aw! It’s a shame Ojha feels the need to play down his former metal glory. Then again, when you’ve made one of the most important scientific discoveries of all time, you’re probably not as concerned with people knowing how true you are.” TAGS: LUJENDRA OJHA, SCIENTISTS
BARONESS
Chlorine and Wine
MEGADETH RELEASE ANOTHER MEGATEASE FOR NEW ALBUM: RHYTHM GUITARS
Legendary death metal outfit Cryptopsy’s output has been—to put it kindly—erratic since Lord Worm’s final album, 2005’s Once Was Not. The quintet crowd-funded 2012’s bounce-back selftitled effort, and have a trio of EPs forthcoming, with a video for “Detritus (The One They Kept)” leading the way. Rhombus says, “The song is classic Cryptopsy, and is good on its own merits, and the video is a great barrage of rehearsal footage. But even then, this track and video are elevated to mythic standards in my opinion because they are good ol’ straightforward Cryptopsy. They’re a departure from The Unspoken King, and therefore rule on a huge scale.”
“I can already tell I’m gonna get sick of writing about this every day,” Axl begins, but we’re not sick of writing about it every other month (in this space) until Megadeth’s magnum opus is ready for public consumption. In late September, the band teased Chris Adler’s drums and a little rhythm guitar for their forthcoming album. We can tell you’re salivating for more details, which... you’ve probably already gotten! According to Axl, “Still can’t tell much about the music based on these teeny-tiny samples, but it sounds promising enough. Presumably we’ll find out Friday, when it’s rumored that the band will announce the title and release date of their new album, as well as unveil the debut single ‘Fatal Illusion,’ an ode to the old PC-Rom Clue game.”
TAGS: CRYPTOPSY
TAGS: MEGADETH
WE’RE GLAD CRYPTOPSY HELD ON TO “DETRITUS (THE ONE THEY KEPT”
Visit www.metalsucks.net 8 : D E C E M B E R 2 0 15 : D E C I B E L
NAPALM DEATH
How the Years Condemn
BELPHEGOR
Black Winged Torment
AMORPHIS
Black Winter Day
Visit the official Decibel channel at Metal Injection http://www.metalinjection.tv/decibel