ALBUMS OF 1991 E XC U S E T H E B LO O D
SEPULTURA
ARISE
HALL OF FAME
D E C I B E L M AG AZ I N E . C O M
FREE
PUBLICIST UK INSIDE!
FLEXI DISC
Don’t see it? Then subscribe!
A LS O
AT THE
INSIDE A TURNING POINT IN M
MAR 2016 // No. 137
LEMMY ♠ 1945-2015
ETAL HISTORY
MEGADETH
SKID ROW
GATES BARONESS CONAN FLESHGOD APOCALYPSE MAGRUDERGRIND GHOUL TAPHOS NOMOS CARCASS
EXTREMELY EXTREME
March 2016 [T137] decibelmagazine.com
upfront 10 news Repulsion remembers Lemmy 12 metal muthas: eight
bells
Don’t avoid the subarachnoid
22 exmortus Swords with friends 24 ketzer Spiritual healers 25 magrudergrind Time-lapse prolapse
14 set fire: baroness Purple pros
26 ritual chamber One-man blood feast
16 low culture Fitting the bill
28 graf orlock Hard R hardcore
17 brewtal truth Burial righteous
30 true cross Catholic it up
18 studio report: ghoul Creeps and weirdos
32 taphos nomos Earth crisis intervention
20 conan Dying hard with revengeance
34 fleshgod apocalypse Kings of hell
COVER
62
STORY
We dedicate our lives to remembering all of theirs features
reviews
38 skid row Happiness in slavery
75 lead review Orange is the new, well, every color of the rainbow on Oranssi Pazuzu’s latest psych-black attack
40 call & response:
at the gates
Grief counselors 42 q&a: dave wyndorf The hippy hippy quakes 46 the top 30 albums
of 1991
Unlawful, carnal, knowledgeable 50 the decibel
hall of fame: Thrash kingpins Sepultura Arise to a record third induction
76 album reviews We can’t get enough of these records’ righteous stuff: Rotting Christ, Black Twilight Circle, Magrudergrind, Black Cobra and more 92 sub:culture Bone Tomahawk is no hack work 96 south pole dispatch Worldwide suicide
COVER PHOTO PROVIDED BY WENN CONTENTS ILLUSTRATION BY MARK RUDOLPH (full illustration on pages 62 & 63)
Decibel (ISSN 1557-2137) is published monthly by Red Flag Media, Inc., 1032 Arch Street, 3rd Floor, Philadelphia, PA 19107. Annual subscription price is $34.95. 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© 2016 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 : M A R C H 2 0 16 : D E C I B E L
www.decibelmagazine.com
EXTREMELY EXTREME
March 2016 [T137]
PUBLISHER
EDITOR-IN-CHIEF
(16 year old)
Alex Mulcahy
CONTRIBUTING WRITERS
alex@redflagmedia.com
Albert Mudrian
albert@decibelmagazine.com MANAGING EDITOR
Andrew Bonazelli
andrew@decibelmagazine.com ART DIRECTO R
Bruno Guerreiro
bruno@decibelmagazine.com MARKETING/ PROMOTION BOOKKEEPER
CUSTO MER SERVICE
James Lewis
james@decibelmagazine.com
Megan Matuzak
finance@redflagmedia.com
Patty Moran
patty@decibelmagazine.com
CONTRIBUTING ARTISTS
Chuck BB, Mark Rudolph
ADVERTISING
Albert Mudrian
albert@decibelmagazine.com
540.878.5756 UNDERTONES SECTION
Drew Juergens
drew@decibelmagazine.com
Online DECIBLOG EDITOR
Andrew Bonazelli
ONLINE ADVERTISING
Ben Umanov
andrew@decibelmagazine.com
ben@blastbeatnetwork.com
MAIN OFFICE
1032 Arch Street, 3rd Floor, Philadelphia, PA 19107 Tel: 215.625.9850 / Fax: 215.625.9967 www.decibelmagazine.com
Anthony Bartkewicz Adrien Begrand J. Bennett Shawn Bosler Brent Burton Scott Carlson 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 Dutch Pearce Forrest Pitts Etan Rosenbloom Rod Smith Zach Smith Matt Solis Kevin Stewart-Panko Adem Tepedelen Jeff Treppel CONTRIBUTING PHOTOGRAPHERS
Scott Kinkade Jonathan Pushnik Ester Segarra Travis Shinn Gene Smirnov Frank White
RECORD STORES
To carry Decibel, call 1.215.625.9850 x105 DECIBEL SUBS CRIPTIONS
Decibel subscriber service/change of address: 215.625.9850 x105 or contact@decibelmagazine.com To order by mail: Consult the subscription page 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., 1032 Arch Street, 3rd Floor, Philadelphia, PA 19107. Annual subscription price is $34.95. 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.
f Albert Mudrian, Editor-in-Chie
Postmaster send changes of address for Decibel to Red Flag Media, 1032 Arch Street, 3rd Floor, Philadelphia PA 19107. Copyright ©2016 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 when our album came out, we got a 6. Who knew metal cats would become a thing? I remember the issue and enjoying the article. You guys covered cute cats way before that “cats in metal” book came out! Many metal people I know have cats as companions. Metal people love cats, but I can’t say that cats love metal.
Brian Morrison Austin, TX
You’ve been a reader since issue #1. You love cats. Now’s your chance to give us proper credit for our “Cutest Kitties in Metal” feature years before “metal cats” was a thing. Go! I received Decibel #1 unsolicited in the mail. I assumed it was because I was a longtime Metal Maniacs subscriber and you guys bought their mailing list. Please tell me why! I have always wondered. I enjoyed the issue enough to subscribe and have been reading Decibel ever since. I have discovered so many bands through Decibel, I have to thank you! I was so excited to hear that my band, Birth A.D., was going to be reviewed in the magazine. But
6 : M A R C H 2 0 16 : D E C I B E L
As a resident of Austin, tells us what happens there the 51 weeks of the year when the city isn’t infiltrated by drunken music industry assholes. The good: hot sauce, vegan-friendly, 40 weeks of great weather. The bad: our traffic has to be some of the worst in the U.S. Austin is known as the “live music capital of the world,” but that definitely does not apply to metal. Many metal tour packages skip Austin and go to Houston, San Antonio or Dallas. I did see Baroness here a few weeks ago, and they were excellent! SXSW is not metal-friendly either. Birth A.D. stopped applying to play SXSW because we got tired of the rejections. Even if metal bands can’t get on official SXSW showcases, I have seen many great unsanctioned shows over the years, including Salome, Alcest, YOB and Pallbearer.
You operate a photo lab. How would Euronymous’ photos of Dead’s suicide scene compare to the strangest roll of film you’ve ever had to process? At Holland Photo Imaging, I offer a “metal discount” of 20 percent off to anyone who comes in wearing a legit metal shirt. Nasum, yes; Slipknot, no. I have seen the Euronymous photos. Those pale in comparison to some of the images we have seen. We have printed photos for many murder cases that I cannot legally mention. We have made prints of Lee Harvey Oswald being shot by Jack Ruby. One of our customers is the photographer who shot the Nirvana Nevermind swimming pool photos (not metal, but still cool), and we print a lot of those. Even with digital cameras, we still see a lot of sexy photos. People can’t help but share those. I’m still waiting for a really strange roll of film that someone found in a drawer to show up. This issue looks back on metal in 1991. Now, 25 years later, tell me what were you rocking in ’91? And by that I mean, describe your haircut. To the dismay of my father, I had very long, one-length hair in 1991. Pretty hair. I was in a band and very serious about death metal. Back then, my musical tastes were rigid; I was not interested in other types of music. Favorites were many of the classic death metal bands: Brutality, Obituary, Deicide, Immolation, Baphomet and Cannibal Corpse. I cut my hair off in the late ’90s. And I started to appreciate more types of music, like funeral doom, traditional country and instrumental ambient. I think I started a trend.
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
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
METAL MUSICIANS AND CELEBRITIES REACT TO LEMMY’S DEATH
LISTEN: WHAM!’S “LAST CHRISTMAS” COVERED IN THE STYLE OF TYPE O NEGATIVE We know, Christmas is in well the rearview by now, and you’d rather not think about that bullshit for another 10 months or so. But we’d be remiss to not post this oddity, as the very well-meaning Stereotype O Negative premiered their third Type O-style cover to date: Wham!’s oft-interpreted chestnut “Last Christmas.” As MS notes, “Somewhat remarkably, StereoType O Negative’s vocalist’s real-life name is Peter, which might explain why his vocal impersonation of Mr. Steele is so dead-on. As far as we know, he hasn’t posed nude for Playgirl, though.”
Did you check your Facebook page on December 28? It’s hard to describe the surreal emotional impact of scrolling down to see practically every one of your friends (if you have the right friends) memorializing the passing of Motörhead/Hawkwind legend Lemmy Kilmister. This compendium of celeb tributes (the first of two on the site) includes kind words from Ozzy, Gene Simmons, King Diamond, Brian Slagel, Alex Skolnick, Phil Anselmo, Dave Mustaine and many more extreme music icons.
AT THE GATES
The Night Eternal
TAGS: LEMMY KILMISTER, MOTORHEAD
MEGADETH
The Threat Is Real
TAGS: STEREOTYPE O NEGATIVE
FRANKIE PALMERI VOWS TO CONTINUE EMMURE WITH ALL NEW BAND MEMBERS Emmure wrote a song about Transformers once, kind of, we think (“Children of Cybertron,” which has generic tuff-guy lyrics like “We are unbreakable” that could apply to Decepticons, we guess.) That’s the nicest thing we can say about them. Anyway, as you can glean from the headline, all the members quit in late December except for frontman Palmeri. MS co-founder Vince chimes in: “My gut tells me ‘Emmure’ will emerge just fine from this fracas. Bring the dumb riffs and the stupid hardcore lyrics and the kids with sweatpants and flat-brimmed caps will eat it up just the same as ever.” TAGS: EMMURE
SÓLSTAFIR THE TOP 10 POSTS ON METALSUCKS THIS YEAR Although we offer our opinion on MetalSucks' best posts in this spot every month, you’re better off just going to the site and trusting the opinion of the staff. Our faves: “A scandal involving H&M selling merch for fake metal bands turned out to be a troll by a member of, appropriately enough, Finntroll!” and “The most valuable endorsement of the year came from porn star Mia Khalifa (and was for the grindcore band Maruta).” Check out the rest on MS pronto! TAGS: SLAYER, DAVID HASSELHOFF, MARUTA
Visit www.metalsucks.net 8 : M A R C H 2 0 16 : D E C I B E L
Miðaftann
SEPULTURA Arise
Visit the official Decibel channel at Metal Injection http://www.metalinjection.tv/decibel