Decibel #027 - January 2007

DEFTONES WITH SEEMLESS

UNDER THE INFLUENCE

TOP 40

ALBUMS OF 2006

CONVERGE MASTODON CELTIC FROST WHO’S #1?

FIND OUT INSIDE

---------------------------- - - - - - - - - - - - -

GLENN DANZIG

HOW EDDIE & THE BOYS

SAVED EXTREME METAL

I believe in instant justice

A 10-PAGE SPECIAL FEATURE

ALSO STARRING:

IN FLAMES UNEARTH DRAGONFORCE CANNIBAL CORPSE THE HAUNTED TRIVIUM

AND MORE!

JAN 2007 // No. 027 $4.95 US

also AMON AMARTH GOD FORBID ONLY LIVING WITNESS ANAAL NATHRAKH HE IS LEGEND FULL BLOWN CHAOS DYING FETUS UNLEASHED ARSIS

$5.95 CAN

JANUARY 2007

027 ISSUE

pa g e

iron maiden

www.decibelmagazine.com

features .40 amon amarth vs. unleashed Viking scrimmage

.42 call & response

God Forbid’s Doc Coyle separates the sick from the straight busted

.44 glenn danzig Karma to burn

.48 under the influence

Seemless’ Jesse Leach has seven words o and then some for Deftones’ Chino Moren

.52 Decibel Hall of Fame

Only Living Witness turned hardcore convention on its ear with the no longer slept-on Prone Mortal Form

.61 The Top 40 Albums of 2006 Harvesting the Cunt Nectar: denied!

.76 cover story

reviews

76

.87 lead review

My Dying Bride maintain stability in the hierarchy with A Line of Deathless Kings

.88 album reviews

Record reviews even more th corrupt than the 109 United States Congress, including These Arms Are Snakes, Sunn0))) and Boris, HORSE the Band, 36 Crazyfists and Beherit

.104 music dvds

Every Time I Die extol “the whole load,” plus five more extreme discs

.106 culture

The year in dork media

Death clock

.10 news Expanded like Jabba’s belly! The latest on Shadows Fall, Stephen O’Malley, Dawn of Azazel and a buttload more

.16 studio report

Dying Fetus contemplate a breech birth

.20 cry now cry later Black: Number one!

.22 live reviews Carnivore are just kidding.

DragonForce, not so much.

.24 full blown chaos

From hxc to maternity

.26 belphegor

Black holes and revelations

.28 allhelluja Flip thy bird and rejoice!

.30 landmine marathon Bloodbath and beyond

.32 he is legend

Pumped on puppets

Extreme music’s brave new world owes everything to Iron Maiden

.112 south pole dispatch

upfront

.34 burning skies COVER ILLUSTRATION: DEREK RIGGS CONTENTS PHOTOS: ROSS HALFIN

Give them liberty and death

.36 anaal nathrakh Ugly hate machine

Decibel (ISSN 1550-6614) is published monthly by Red Flag Media, Inc., 1032 Arch Street, 3rd Floor, Philadelphia, PA 19107. Annual subscription price is $24.95. 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© 2007 by Red Flag Media, Inc. All rights ISSN 1557-2137 | USPS 023142 reserved. Reproduction in whole or in part without written permission of the publisher is strictly prohibited. Printed in USA on 100% recycled paper.

THE NEW NOISE

just words from the editor

Chances are good that if you’ve picked up this magazine you are: a) an

attractive, erudite bon vivant—obviously, a fucking genius—and b) a pretty big fan of heavy metal. Chances are even greater that if you’re a metal fan, you have your own Iron Maiden story; you know, that defining moment when you discovered Maiden weren’t like all the other stupid bands you now used to like. Maybe it was the first time you laid eyes on the band’s iconic mascot (and this month’s Decibel cover star) Eddie, knowing full well that his zombified figure was about to adorn every t-shirt, back patch, and poster you owned. Or perhaps it was the first time you heard the legendary Vincent Price’s spoken word introduction to “Number of the Beast” and then immediately memorized it line for line. Or it could just have been that time you locked yourself in your room for an entire weekend with nothing but a bag of double-stuffed Oreos and a copy of Live After Death (OK, that’s mine).

Mastodon drummer and unrepentant Maiden obsessive Brann Dailor has his too, which he recounts elsewhere in our massive 10-page Iron Maiden special feature. Truth is, the dude’s got plenty of defining Maiden moments, so please allow him to relate another that certainly bears mentioning. I’ll let MastoBrann take it from here: “This incident occurred the first time we ever got to play with Iron Maiden years ago.

We played a festival in Belgium—I guess it was Grasspop. We didn’t play on the same day, but we played on a different stage a day before them. Their name was on the top of the poster and our name was on the bottom of the poster, so I was like, ‘We played with Iron Maiden!’ We stayed the extra day to see them.

At that point, I hadn’t seen them since I was a kid. I was anxiously awaiting them playing. They went on and I was right up front on the barricade. As they were just about to go into ‘The Trooper,’ I felt this warm liquid gracing the back of my calf, which I quickly determined to be someone’s pee. I could barely turn my head because I was completely squished up on the barricade. I could see someone’s withered little penis peeing on the back of my leg. I just had to be like, ‘Fuck this, I’ll deal with it later. Maiden’s on now.’ I raised my fist and we went on with ‘The Trooper.’ ”

Maiden weren’t like all the other stupid bands you now used to like.

JANUARY 2007 // ISSUE N0. 027 WWW.DECIBELMAGAZINE.COM

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EDITOR-IN-CHIEF

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news

feedback

It took long enough, but Explosions in the Sky have finally finished recording their new album. The effort, which was recorded at Pachyderm Studio in Minnesota (aka in the middle of nowhere), should hit stores in late February or early March. As for touring, the post-rock gods have assured their disciples that 2007 will be a very, very good year.

Not only have Chimaira regrouped after their split with Roadrunner to sign with Ferret Music, but the band has spent some QT at Audiohammer Studios with Jason Suecof (Trivium, God Forbid) recording their fourth album. Andy Sneap (Nevermore, Arch Enemy)—who recorded the album’s drum tracks—will mix the effort. The appropriately titled Resurrection should hit stores in the Spring and will feature cover art from Paul Booth.

Raise the Siege Weymouth grinders Siege issue brief but influential catalog

“I

s your recorder going?” asks former Siege drummer Robert Williams. “I wrote up some notes for some things I wanted to say.” It is, and when I tell him so he proceeds to answer virtually every question I’d written about his band’s landmark recording Drop Dead and its part in the birthing of grindcore before I get to ask any. With Siege’s brief discography newly re-mastered and available from Deranged Records, here’s what Williams has to say about it 22 years later: “We were three guys from Weymouth, MA— the same town that gave the world George Jung, the infamous drug dealer and the only white guy in the Medellín cocaine cartel. We were all obsessed with Devo, and at that time you were taking your life into your hands to be a Devo fan; our bassist used to walk around these college tough-guys with mullets and arena-rock concert shirts wearing the full bright yellow radiation suit and energy dome. We were gay-bashed even though we weren’t gay. Then we discovered Minor Threat and Discharge. We deliberately set out to be the fastest, to create the fastest, most pummeling thing ever. We also loved the noise stuff like Flipper, and [Kurt] Habelt’s Marshall added kind of a metal attack. We took the speed very seriously.

“If I had to describe it in one word, anger is what set Siege apart, and I think you can still

10 : JANUARY 07 : DECIBEL

hear it in the recording. My anger on the drums had a lot to do with my father’s murder. He was murdered by mobsters when I was six. I was very lucky to discover extreme music as an outlet. We were very isolated and alone in the scene, and profoundly disliked in Boston. I didn’t fit in with anyone—I was young, I smoked a lot of reefer, and the Boston Crew guys were scowling, jock bully assholes.

“Originally, we thought the reels for the Siege sessions were lost; turns out that they were in a suitcase under Kurt’s mother’s staircase. Deep Six Records’ [who released the vinyl version of the discography] engineers made a digital copy of the original reels that yielded some outtakes, which we remixed to make bonus tracks. We’ve worked hard with this reissue to give it an authentic, horse’s-mouth sound quality—not the best, but the most authentic as compared to the original cassettes.

“I’m really surprised and grateful for the longterm attention that’s been given to our recordings, and I can only attribute that to the sincere anger and emotion in the songwriting and our attack. It’s incredibly flattering, because there’s still a fan inside me, and I still throw on Napalm Death or [Godflesh’s] Streetcleaner to pack a bong to; so to have Justin Broadrick compliment Siege is just awe-inspiring. It was a life-altering experience to make this recording, and life is good

Americans aren’t the only ones spending time in the studio these days. On that “other” continent, Dimmu Borgir have frequented Studio Fredman in Gotenburg with producer Frederik Nordström as they work on their new album. The disc, which “will be a storybased album with lyrics written accordingly and music wise,” features Shagrath on vocals, Silenoz and Galder on guitar, Vortex on bass, Mustis on keyboards, and Hellhammer (Mayhem) on drums. Look for an early 2007 release. —ZACH SMITH

when there is extreme music.”

(Williams is now playing in a new hardcore band called the Spoils with Siege vocalist Kevin Mahoney and members of Boston band the Epidemic.) —ANTHONY BARTKEWICZ

news

new releases December DETENTE Recognize No Authority Re-release (THE END)

INFERNAL MAJESTY Demo’n God EP (SELF-RELEASED) 12/1

METALLICA The Videos: 1989-2004 (WARNER) 12/5

SLIPKNOT Voliminal: Inside The Nine DVD (ROADRUNNER) 12/5

VARIOUS ARTISTS Harder They Fall: A Tribute

To Integrity

(ESCAPIST) 12/25

VARIOUS ARTISTS Tribute To Katatonia (NORTHERN SILENCE) 12/12

RigelCop

January 7000 DYING RATS Season In Hell (HEWHOCORRUPTS) 1/9

Dawn of Azazel frontman’s prime directives: serve the public trust, protect the innocent, uphold the death metal law Poison Idea (not Phil Anselmo, thank you very much astute readers of the February 2006 issue) once asked “What would make a person wanna be a cop?” As avid scholars of the last three decades of action movies, we would amend that to “What would make a person wanna be the kind of cop who gets the living shit kicked out of them in everything from First Blood to The Green Mile?” Luckily, Dawn of Azazel vokiller Rigel Walshe, who supervises the cellblock area of the Manukau District Court in his native New Zealand, is more to happy to tell us. Seeing as how the guy was being maligned as a militarist skinhead by NZ tabloids this time last year, his gregariousness is understandable.

“The appeal [of police work] for me is that I’m not the sort of person who enjoys the sterile and unchallenging environment you find in an office,” he explains via email. “I would rather spend 8-12 hours a day doing something exciting and challenging than the sort of existence that most people are forced to lead.”

“Exciting” and “challenging” are perhaps massive understatements. Walshe lists his responsibilities as “transporting prisoners to and from court appearances, maintaining order,

ARCHITECT All Is Not Lost

(METAL BLADE) 1/17

COLDWORKER The Contaminated Void (RELAPSE) 1/23

and making sure they don’t escape” (translation: fistfights ‘n’ nightsticks!). He’s previously worked with the “more racy and unpredictable” Criminal Investigative Branch (translation: balls-to-thewall car chases!) and in even more exciting news, Dawn’s just-released LP Sedition is likely to spur even more 300 person riots, à la their 2000 gig at Riverhead (translation: lawsuits!).

Luckily, Walshe has thus far survived not only putting his body on the line, but his band’s reputation. Auckland’s Sunday Star News, amongst other media outlets, misconstrued his onstage affection for gas masks and lyrics about “eradication of the weak” as potentially racist red flags, which the frontman has vehemently denied.

“I haven’t had anything but support from fans, as well as our ‘valued clients’ at work,” Walshe notes. “A lot of people tell me they appreciate someone being in the force who isn’t so straitlaced, who can appreciate where they are coming from to a degree.

“I did receive some interesting mail and attention from some Christian groups here in regards to the Satanic and amoral angle of our lyrics, but to me that’s as good a sign as any that I am doing something right.” —ANDREW BONAZELLI

THE COUNTY MEDICAL EXAMINERS Olidous

Operattas

(RELAPSE)

DISINCARNATE Dreams Of The Carrion Kind

Re-release

(SEASON OF MIST) 1/21

DISNIHIL TBA

(CHAINSAW SAFETY) 1/15

GRAVE Enraptured DVD MELECHESH Emissaries

(METAL MIND) 1/16 (OSMOSE/THE END) 1/23

THE NETWORK This Is Your Pig’s Portrait (METAL BLADE) 1/23

THE PROPHECY Revelations

(NOFACE)

SINCE THE FLOOD No Compromise (METAL BLADE) 1/23

THERION TBA

(NUCLEAR BLAST) 1/16

YEAR OF DESOLATION Year Of Desolation (PROSTHETIC) 1/23

February BENEATH THE MASSACRE TBA BYZANTINE Salvation DVD HOT CROSS Risk Revival

(PROSTHETIC) 2/6

(PROSTHETIC) 2/20

(EQUAL VISION) 2/20

MISERATION Your Demons-Their Angels MNEMIC Passenger

(RIVEL)

(NUCLEAR BLAST) 2/6

NINE It’s Your Funeral

(SPINEFARM) 2/20

PSYOPUS Our Puzzling Encounters Considered (BLACKMARKET ACTIVITIES/METAL BLADE) 2/20

E YOUTUCBLIP

D E C I B E L’ S

CLIPS OF THE MONTH

METALMONTH OF THE

at

DEATH WALKING TERROR

A DYING GOD COMING INTO HUMAN FLESH

[ VIDEO-ON-DEMAND: GET YOUR FIX ]

ED GEIN

IRON MAIDEN

CANNIBAL CORPSE

BASTARD

CELTIC FROST

WASTED YEARS

Visit the official Decibel channel at Metal Injection http://www.metalinjection.tv/decibel 12 : JANUARY 07 : DECIBEL

Let’s face it, intentionally or unintentionally, recently reunited Norwegian black metal kings Immortal made one of the greatest metal videos ever in “Blashyrkh (Mighty Raven Dark).” Leave it to Generation YouTube to attempt to improve upon the original by mashing it up with a tune from ‘50s Polish actress Kalina Jedrusik (“Bo We Mnie Jest Sex”). The thoroughly entertaining, yet deeply disturbing results can be found here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6LJP4uqa0p8

sCRaP meTAL

news

Kemado Records has reached an agreement with RED Distribution to distribute the former’s catalog and future releases in North America.

Next year will see releases from two of the label’s major acts, The Sword ( ) and Dungen.

Kemado’s Tom Clapp, Director of Business Affairs, commented, “our new agreement with RED, will allow us to take greater control of all aspects of our artists development, while continuing to have the close relationship that we have with our artists.” In other words, expect to see even more of The Sword real soon! OMG!

Rogue’s Gallery

Southern Lord Stephen O’Malley and fellow underground cover designers get art-house props with the Shrouded exhibit Amendment co-owner and Shrouded curator Wes Winship exclaims between bites of a sandwich.

“O’Malley and Hunt’s prints are the biggest part of the show, but, at this point, they’re a work in progress. There’s a third part to each, a typographical thing Stephen designed. We’d have had ’em up long ago, but our exposure machine went down. We only just got it up and running.”

Given their density, you’d never guess the prints weren’t finished. While each of the brick-red, black, and white silkscreens seems completely abstract at first, a closer look reveals humanoid figures bearing a remarkable resemblance to the dronesters Grimm. “I think some of these started as photos that are also in the gatefold vinyl version of Black One,” says Winship.

As unruffled by today’s delay as he is by the one that finds him still waiting for O’Malley to finish the packaging for the suite—which the gallery is selling as a signed, limited-edition portfolio— Winship says: “I think we’ll just add a little every day, then have a big closing party. On the show’s last night, it’ll finally be complete.” —ROD SMITH

Jared Anderson Dead at 30

F

ormer Hate Eternal/Morbid Angel bassist/vocalist Jared Anderson died in his sleep on Saturday, October 14 at the age of 30.

The cause of his death has not yet been released. Anderson was one of the earliest members of respected death metal crew Hate Eternal, performing on both the band’s Conquering the Throne debut and King of Kings albums. From 2001 to 2002 Anderson filled Morbid Angel’s bassist and vocalist positions after former frontman Steve Tucker originally quit the group. In 2001, he released The Book of Lambs, the one and only record from his technical death metal project Internecine. Anderson left Hate Eternal in 2003 to concentrate on overcoming his substance abuse problems.

At the time of his death, Anderson was collaborating with Morbid Angel’s Tucker on new material in the death metal vein. Anderson was also recently working on a project called As One, which he described as “a revision of my Internecine writings, or shall I say ‘written in the vein of.’”

14 : JA NUA RY 07 : DECIBEL

----------------------------------------------Audio-visual products are also in the works, particularly from New Orleans favorites Crowbar ( ). The DVD will feature a show filmed last summer at the With Full Force Festival in Germany and should hit stores early next year via Candlelight Records. The label has also kept busy on the artist front, signing Texas’s Averse Sefira. The American black metallers—together since ’96—have previously issued material through Arrogare, Lost Disciple, and Evil Horde Records as well as supported Cradle of Filth and Candlemass.

----------------------------------------------The departure of vocalist Gabriel McCaughry has not prevented Ion Dissonance from picking up the pieces and finding a new singer in the form of Kevin McCaughey (Shaolin, The Last Felony, Despised Icon). Not only do their last names appear similar from afar, but as the band commented, “Kevin played a few shows with us already and his vocals fit perfectly with our music and what we were looking for.” In the meantime, ID has kept busy writing its third album.

----------------------------------------------The County Medical Examiners were honored guests at Tillinghast Workshop as they finished their debut for Relapse Records, Olidous Operattas. Set for a January release, the album features such tracks as “Expeditious Evisceratory Mishap” and “Maturating Decompositional Gas”. The titles should not come as much of a surprise given that the band is “a collection of real-life pathologists with an unhealthy adoration of and fixation on Carcass.”

-----------------------------------------------

WES WINSHIP PHOTO: LISA JURGENS

L

ike a brand-new STD pandemic or sporebased alien invasion, Halloween comes slowly to Minneapolis. At 8 p.m. the streets are still relatively deserted. At least three hours remain before SpongeBob SquarePantses and naked chicks in body paint start streaming into downtown clubs. Still, First Amendment Gallery is already filling up for Shrouded. Luckily, the month-old art space is ready—almost. The kegs are iced and tapped. A huge bowl sits on the gallery’s counter, filled to the brim with candy. Local metalgaze quartet Thunderbolt Pagoda are nearly finished with soundcheck.

More importantly than any of the above, the walls are full. One expanse is covered with biomimetic images by southern Minnesota Lowbrow luminary Aaron Horkey, whose work graces the cover of Sunn0)))/Boris collaboration Altar. Another harbors Stephen O’Malley’s first substantial gallery presence ever: a massive suite of 15 prints—each one a silkscreened abstraction with an overlaid transparency—designed in collaboration with Seldon Hunt.

“This is so fucking Spinal Tap,” First

in the studio

* dying fetus

A R T IST :

DYING FETUS

P RO D U C E R:

DYING FETUS, JOHN JOHN GALLAGHER AND STEVE CARR

S T UD IO :

HIT & RUN STUDIOS, ROCKVILLE, MD

DAT ES:

SEPT-OCT 2006

IN S TO R ES:

J

MARCH 6, 2007

ohn Gallagher might spend his free time sitting on his ass, but it’s not like he’s unproductive. Instead, the Dying Fetus guitarist/vocalist/founding member has been diligently working to perfect his craft, spending at least an hour a night with his instrument in hand. Not even the television—mother of all distractions—interferes with his death metal mission, providing a visual backdrop as he came up with new riffs for his band’s first album in over three years.

While you can’t blame television for the delay in a new DF album, Gallagher did have some rather important business to take care of in the interim. After all, the man has to work for a living. “Death metal isn’t fucking where the money’s at,” explains the guitarist. “You can make some money out there, but when you come back from touring and you’re not playing shows, you’re pretty much going to have to work. So with that you have to juggle your life and try to get your personal life, work

life, creative life, jam life all together and you don’t have enough time to sleep, really, when it’s all said and done. It’s just what you have to do.”

On top of work and trying to write a new album, Gallagher had the unenviable task of finding a new drummer who could pound out a billion beats per second. Yet even when the band—which also includes guitarist Mike Kimball, bassist/vocalist Sean Beasley and drummer Duane Timlin—was drummer-less, they kept busy writing new material. Instead of recruiting a temporary drummer, Gallagher utilized the services of a drum machine, letting Timlin add his own flourishes to the songs once he came into the studio to record. (The drummer joined the fold in late August).

The resulting effort will feature eight songs, in addition to a cover of Dutch progdeath metal heroes Pestilence on the Japanese version. As Gallagher describes, the album is faster than any of its predecessors and the extra time spent working on the demos resulted in a greater focus on vocal (syncopation) and guitar (solos and harmonization). The band will treat stateside fans watching them open for Cannibal Corpse to at least two new songs during the tour.

“I’ve been doing this for so many years now,” explains Gallagher, “but it’s still basically the same thing to me—it’s creating music that I enjoy and want to hear and I just hope that other people enjoy. That’s pretty much all it boils down to. I’m still into it. I haven’t changed over the last 13 years in terms of my musical tastes—death metal is still a big part of me and I want to keep on carrying on with it. A lot of people say, ‘You’re still doing this shit?’ But to me it’s just still new, still fun.” —ZACH SMITH

From the Hurry-the-Fuck-Up! Department: the Massachusettsbased metalcore crew recently bowed out of their Decibel-sponsored US tour with Killswitch Engage and Bury Your Dead in order to complete the recording of their first studio album since 2004’s Top 20-charting The War Within. The band hoped to finish the recording of their Atlantic Records debut by the tour’s launch on November 9th, but according to SF frontman Brain Fair, “New ideas

16 : JA NUA RY 07 : DECIBEL

have continued to surface and push the songs into new directions that we have to pursue. Making the best album possible is our number one priority and something we must focus on one hundred percent at this time. We sincerely apologize to all the people that planned on coming to see us at these shows, but our absence is no reason not to go and support this tour.”

The band is aiming for a spring 2007 release for the still-to-be-titled and still-to-be-completed record.

SHADOWS FALL PHOTO: JOHN SHEARER/WIREIMAGE

Shadows Fall STILL In-Studio

ramblings now slaying Wonder what Decibel world HQ has been rocking for the past month? Well, here are the records we spun the most when we weren’t debating on going as either Abbath or Glen Benton this past Halloween

Smile, You’re Traveling Life is a highway. And each month, Genghis Tron frontman Mookie Singerman files this report from behind the wheel Nothing says “America!!!” like a big ol’ steaming puddle of blood. Whether on TV or foreign soil, we love seeing that stuff flow. I am no exception. You’d think that being on the road for a good chunk of the year I’d miss the violent comfort of CSI or the nightly news, but my patriotic bloodthirst is quenched by real people doing spectacularly violent things in front of our van. Some are awesome.

Some are disturbing. And some are just plain fucking weird. Here’s a sampling: The Awesome – 7/11/06 @ Hattiesburg, MS: As I was sitting in the venue parking lot catching up on some e-mails, I heard tires screeching on the adjacent highway. Hamilton frantically motioned for me to come take a look: Two dudes were tearing each other apart in the middle of a sixlane highway. Their wife-beaters came off, their NASCAR hats hit the ground—they were full out tusslin’ in traffic. After a minute or two of face punches, headlocks and flying ’bows the speeding cars proved to be too scary for the two macho fucktards. They momentarily stopped exchanging blows and walked to the Super 8 motel across the street, where they resumed their brawl on the front lawn.

18 : JANUARY 07 : DECIBEL

The Bad – 8/16/06 @ Colorado Springs, CO: We were sitting quietly in rush hour traffic leaving Colorado Springs when Michael uttered an alarming “Holy shit!” from the backseat. He pointed to the adjacent car, wherein an otherwise unassuming woman had a large, bleeding wound on her forehead, two black eyes, a busted lip, and colorful bruises coating her face. “Ma’am,” Michael asked out the window, “Are you OK?” She somehow forced a smile through miles and miles of pain and hollered back, “I’ll be fine once I get home! Thanks!” For the next several minutes, we debated the possible causes of her disturbing physical state. It wasn’t a car accident (her car was in fine shape), it probably wasn’t a costume (Halloween was three months away), and she certainly didn’t look like an amateur UFC enthusiast. We left it as a mystery and hoped that she was just clumsy—perhaps having fallen down a staircase—and wasn’t abused.

The Somewhere in Between – 9/3/06 @ Arcata, CA: As we were loading our gear out the back of a bar, a deranged looking crusty hippie with a slight trickle of blood coming down his forehead waddled up to me and asked if I had seen his hat. When I told him “no” he launched into an insane story about how some drunk asshole had attacked him on this very spot, torn out a chunk of his hair, and nearly bit his finger off. He unraveled a blood-soaked paper towel from his right index finger and revealed two swollen gashes that went down to the bone. “Holy shit!” I cried. “Have you washed it?” “Yeah…” he mumbled, “I’ve been soaking it in 151.” I shuddered (and shuddered. and shuddered again. and then shuddered for the rest of tour) and warily continued to load into the trailer—every so often peering over my shoulder in case any maniacal hippies charged out of the woods to eat me. A

Iron Maiden, A Matter of Life and Death Bruce Dickinson, The Chemical Wedding Iron Maiden, Beast Over Hammersmith Iron Maiden, Piece of Mind Bruce Dickinson, Scream for Me Brazil Iron Maiden, Somewhere in Time Iron Maiden, Live After Death Iron Maiden, Beast of the Beast Iron Maiden, Dance of Death Bruce Dickinson, Tattooed Millionaire Iron Maiden, Killers Iron Maiden, Seventh Son of a Seventh Sun Samson, Live at Reading ‘81 Iron Maiden, The Number of the Beast Iron Maiden, Powerslave Iron Maiden, BBC Archives Bruce Dickinson, The Best of Bruce Dickinson Iron Maiden, Best of the B Sides Iron Maiden, Rock in Rio Iron Maiden, Death on the Road Bruce Dickinson, Alive Iron Maiden, Brave New World Samson, Head On Iron Maiden, Iron Maiden Iron Maiden, The X Factor Iron Maiden, Virtual XI Bruce Dickinson, Tyranny of Souls Iron Maiden, No Prayer of the Dying Iron Maiden, Fear of the Dark Iron Maiden, The Essential Iron Maiden Bruce Dickinson, Balls to Picasso Iron Maiden, A Real Live One Iron Maiden, A Real Dead One Iron Maiden, Live at Donington Bruce Dickinson, Accident of Birth

ramblings

* cry now cry later | byilluj.strbeation by bruno guerreiro nnett

NIGHT MOVES Dem free-niggers f’um de N’of am sho’ crazy.

—Mammy, The Birth of a Nation

It was around midnight when my business manager, Juan Perez, and I started pulling out onto Sunset Boulevard after the 1349 show at Safari Sam’s in Hollywood. We were being glared at suspiciously by a hundred or so black-clad nigels who were not impressed with the fact that we were blasting the opening track from Justin Timberlake’s new album through the open windows of my green shitbox. “Watch this,” my business manager said as he reached over and turned up the volume. The look in our audience’s eyes was an unblinking combination of fear and hate, and I knew it was only a matter of time before they tore us to pieces.

So we peeled out of that bitch at top speed, tires screeching on the asphalt. I could see a few of them cursing us and shaking their fists in the rearview, but we were almost out of rockthrowing distance, so I felt safe enough to tell my business manager to stick his hand out the window and flip them off. The show had been beyond sold out, 4-or-500 strong, with no air conditioning and a hundred or so unlucky nonticket holders queuing up outside for a glimpse of their corpsepainted heroes. Like most metal shows in L.A., the 1349 extravaganza was attended by a rabid cross-section of Mexicans and gringos all sweating profusely and vying for the same four molecules of oxygen. As usual, the room was ripe with the stench of stale beer, fresh piss, and a seemingly endless supply of BO. Scott from Crom’s new Hitler-viaDave Grave haircut & mustache ensemble was the subject of much discussion (at least for my business manager and I), but any band that features an ex-member of 16 (especially when that member is “Full Metal” Phil Vera) and has an album called The Cocaine Wars: 1974-1989—featuring a inside-cover painting of a Viking doing huge daggers of booger sugar off of a huge dagger—is OK in my book.

But I think it really occurred to me right around the time 1349 guitarist Archaon started headbanging so furiously that he tore out a few strands of hair after snagging them on the bassist’s headstock, where they remained for the duration of the evening: Just how “underground” is black metal these days when a bunch of dudes 20 : JANUARY 07 : DECIBEL

from Norway (and a drummer from Florida) wearing clown makeup can tour the States with Celtic Frost for a few weeks and then play their own headlining gigs, selling out 4-to-500 capacity venues in the heart of Hollywood? And 1349 could have played to a considerably bigger crowd, had Safari Sam’s been able to accommodate all those streetside nigels. Granted, even 700 people in a city like L.A. is a drop in the bucket, but shit, the Ku Klux Klan (who also enjoyed church-burning as both a political statement and a means to smite their enemies) can’t get 700 people to show up anywhere these days—and everybody knows who they are.

So maybe the issue is purely a historical one: The longer black metal sticks around, the more well-known the genre becomes. This theory seems to hold up—for now—in the sense that bands like Dimmu Borgir and Cradle of Filth can play Ozzfest. (Then again, how many Ozzfest acolytes know who—or even what—1349 is? In Los Angeles, at least, there seems to be considerable overlap between the Ozzfest and “underground” factions, judging by the t-shirts on the backs of the faithful at Safari Sam’s.) But just like the Klan, black metal’s ranks will eventually dwindle down to a relative handful of diehards who long for the “good ol’ days” when church-burning wasn’t almost universally frowned upon. They’ll be a far-flung collection of sad old men and cranky nostalgists, and my business manager and I may well be among them.

And we’ll all still have our 1349 albums, but only Juan and I will have JT. A

live reviews

Carnivore

September 6, B.B. King Blues Club, New York, NY SUPPORT: Annunaki Are we still in the middle of the anti-PC back-

DragonForce

SUPPORT: HORSE the Band, All That Remains Confidential to Ozzfest 2007 organizers: Next

year, ride with the steel and the power of the sword and let DragonForce take the stage for 13 hours straight. Guitarist Herman Li and company certainly have enough weapons in their arsenal to captivate a crowd: innumerable dorkfriendly references to video game soundtracks, elaborate power metal fantasies ripped straight from the pages of the Dungeon Master’s Guide, and enough blast beats to rewrite the entire Morbid Angel catalogue.

As to be expected, the two-hour set was all about technique: Li brought out his signature “finishing” move of playing with his left hand on top of the fretboard, while keyboardist Vadim Pruzhanov entertained the audience with snippets of the theme from Super Mario Bros. before the group’s first encore.

A mid-set rendition of “Revolution Death Squad” offered a nod to the group’s black metal roots (Li and guitarist Sam Totman met in Demoniac; drummer Dave Mackintosh defected from Bal-Sagoth) and a minor revelation: blast beats and death vocals actually make power metal more palatable.

The UK quintet even found room for a little wish fulfillment at this serendipitous show (9/30 at the 9:30 Club!) when a fan in a latex dragon mask was brought on stage during the 22 : JANUARY 07 : DECIBEL

second encore. Halfway through “Through the Fire and the Flames,” the kid ripped off the mask, upstaged the band with an impromptu backflip, and was immediately ushered off by security. Oh no he didn’t! As “Fury of the Storm” suggests, DragonForce command the power of the entire universe.

Mere mortals can’t possibly hope to compete. —NICK GREEN

tour news

—ANTHONY BARTKEWICZ

If you actually remained conscious through Tool’s recent arena tour with Decibel faves Isis, don’t put your smelling salts away just yet! The band will return for another North American tour in March and April. According to drummer Danny Carey, the tour, “will definitely be different than the shows that went around this fall in America. Projection ideas will be added and changed,

and props and whatnot will all evolve, too. It’s just the way our band always works. We work on that kind of thing all the time.”

forces with Unleashed, Belphegor and Hatesphere for an as-of-yet unannounced North American tour. Br00tal.

The Candlelight II: Phoenix Rising tour will bring some Europeans to our shores, as Dark Funeral and Enslaved will team up starting in January, bringing along Americans Abigail Williams. Also, early next year Krisiun will combine

New Jersey metalcore titans God Forbid will embark on a North American headlining tour in January, with Bayou black metallers Goatwhore providing the main support to openers Mnemic and Scar Symmetry.

DRAGONFORCE: AARON PEPELIS

September 30, 9:30 Club, Washington, DC

lash, or are we in an anti-anti-PC-backlash backlash? I think I missed a newsletter. Either way, Carnivore—those lovable Brooklyn knuckleheads who gave us “Male Supremacy,” “Race War,” “Jesus Hitler” (way before Pope what’s-hisname), and Peter Steele of Type O Negative— totally played a show in 2006, and I was there.

Around Retaliation, almost 20 years ago, this would have been a scary fucking show—a volatile mix of the toughest NYHC types and serious thrash warriors hyped up on Carnivore’s Road Warrior shtick and “just kidding!” race-baiting.

At B.B. King’s, lots of older dudes in the crowd repped local tough guys Cro-Mags and Biohazard via t-shirts, but there was no apparent tension between them and the younger death metal kids who showed. The DM kids were pretty into openers Annunaki, who do death/thrash with a little black metal and a lot of enthusiasm. You know how Avail has Beau Beau, the dancer/cheerleader guy who doesn’t play an instrument?

Annunaki had the first metal equivalent I’ve seen: a bespectacled metal dude whose job was to stand behind the drummer and throw horns, headbang, and generally rock out. Note to bands: This is way better than whining to the crowd to come up front or be more enthusiastic. DIY! Speaking of 20 years ago, that was also about the last time I’d actually listened to a Carnivore record. When they took the stage, all warpainted up, I was surprised to hear that “Carnivore” and “Race War” were pretty memorable tunes.

They’re also really long, and the band didn’t sound like they’d done a whole lot of practicing.

Carnivore always seemed to be more in on their jokes than their audience, but this show (their first since 1996) was more like some guys bashing out their old band’s songs in a garage than a real show. Not four songs in, a half-assed “Smoke on the Water” introduced a friggin’ drum solo.

Of course they got around to “Inner Conflict,” “World Wars III and IV” and the rest of the “classics.” Too bad it was for a paying crowd and not some old high school buddies over a 12-pack.

profile

* full blown chaos

FULL BLOWN CHAOS

T

NYC hardcore crew practices family values

hey’re not kids anymore, but the members of New York metalic hardcore crew Full Blown Chaos still look to their parents for a loving kick in the pants. For sibling founders Mike and Jeff Facci (guitar and drums respectively), it’s their father Angelo who keeps the wheels turning. FBC’s original manager and music teacher, the elder Facci played with KISS before they were actually KISS. “He is Full Blown Chaos,” explains singer Ray Mazzola. “Without him, we’d still be in the dumps.” For Mazzola, it’s his mother who remains his biggest influence and source of strength.

And from the sound of Within the Grasp of Titans, Ma Mazzola is one hell of a force. ¶ “The past two years have been so chockfull of events in my life, positive and negative, that the lyrics had to go in a certain direction. And we fed them all into this record,” says Mazzola. Fusing their love for metal bands such as Testament and Exodus with their admiration for 24 : JANUARY 07 : DECIBEL

hardcore acts like Biohazard and Sick of It All, FBC poured a rumbling, cement-solid mixture into the mold previously used for 2004’s Wake the Demons.

“There’s a steady progression in what we do, how we organize the songs, how we wrote the songs, and lyrically,” says Mazzola, who implores listeners to tune into the words and make a connection. He sees his creative contribution as more than some guy in front of a mic getting ready to take down walls. “It’s not just, like, singing.

It might as well be an instrument, it might as well be part of musical composition.” The finished product is dense and steadfast, but not unfeeling. At its core, Titans is utterly mortal, yanked from Mazzola’s everyday life. “ ‘Chopping Block’ is about failed relationships because of music, because of my exes not being supportive of my music,” he says.

“Then you have songs like ‘Trials of Triumph’ about overcoming anything that gets in your way— destroy it and just keep going.”

But the album hinges on “Solemn Promise,” a song Mazzola wrote for his mother, who is currently hospitalized due to a decade-long battle with cancer.

“I have a really good, close relationship with my mom. All the rehabilitation, the therapy, the surgeries—it’s definitely difficult.

But seeing how she’s persevered through it all, she’s the strongest person in the world to me,” he says. “Whenever I’m having a bad day, I look at what she’s gone through, and she’s still fighting.

She’s still got the gloves on. And you know what, if she’s not throwing in the towel, there’s no reason why I should ever. Any one of my bad days is nothing compared to what she’s been through.”

—JEANNE FURY

profile

* belphegor

BELPHEGOR

I

Austrian black/death metallers go for the goat on Pestapokalypse VI

t’s a concept album based on three topics: pestilence, the devil, and the apocalypse,” says Belphegor guitarist Sigurd, describing Pestapokalypse VI, the band’s first album for Nuclear Blast (and sixth overall.) “It’s all about superstition. In old Europe, there were wars going on, people were starving, and according to the Book of Revelation, pestilence is one of the four signs of the upcoming apocalypse. Some people eventually turned away from Christianity and starting celebrating black masses. We thought it was an interesting subject to write about.” ¶ With titles like “Belphegor—Hell’s Ambassador” and “Chants for the Devil,” Pestapokalypse VI, a concatenation of “pestilence” and “apocalypse,” is conspicuous in its lyrical approach—in fact, the six-string flagellator himself gleefully admits lyrics to “Sanctus Perversum” are about “a gangbang in a church.” Subtle, no? Not exactly a novel approach for a death metal band, but it’s given a sense of realism when delivered with such calculating skill. One look at Pestapokalypse VI, and it’s clear Belphegor are perverting Christian nomenclature and iconography to shock. Or are they?

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“We never did our music or artwork to shock or provoke people.

What we do reflects our own taste,” Sigurd confidently admits.

“Actually, it’s all about self-indulgence. It’s got nothing really to do with Satanism. Satan is a metaphor for individuality, strength and rebellion. I’m as anti-Christian as you can imagine, but I don’t go out and burn churches. I don’t beat up Christians. For me, the most important things in life are individuality and freedom. I want to do what I want.”

Indeed, Sigurd and co. have fought long and hard (a few censorship lawsuits in Germany never hurt anyone) to make sure their unrelenting musical or lyrical exploits were issued to the masses sacrilegiously intact.

Previous albums Goatreich—Fleshcult and Lucifer Incestus paved a fiery path for the Austrians to stand proud next to fellow blasphem-

ers Behemoth, Immolation and Krisiun, but Belphegor’s unholy grail is found on Pestapokalypse VI. “Seyn Todt in Schwartz,” “The Ancient Enemy,” and “Angel of Retribution” cough up sulfur and brimstone faster than Evangelists burn their millions on mansions and yachts.

“It’s basically a continuation from where we left off from Goatreich,” confirms Sigurd. “The new album has more brutal sounds, but on the other side it’s got more melodies. ‘Sanctus Peversum,’ for example, had to sound like being in a church. It had to sound sacred. It’s more of a black metal approach; the influence is clearer. I’ve also been listening to a lot of classical music: Bach, Mozart and choral works.

Basically, it’s the most varied album so far—nine songs of blasphemy and extreme sexuality.”

—CHRIS DICK

profile

* allhelluja

L

et us now praise the whims of restless label dudes with too many ideas to fit into one container. If Scarlet Records co-founder Stefano Longhi hadn’t gotten a bug up his ass and decided to find a creative outlet, Pain Is the Game never would have happened. “Massimo Gajer [guitars] and I started writing songs together in 2003, just for fun,” Allhelluja’s drummer e-mails from his home in Italy, “but everything went so well, we decided to build up a real band.

Finding a bass player took, like, five minutes. Roberto Gelli, an old friend of ours, joined immediately. For the singer, I decided to ask Jacob Bredahl. He’s an old friend, too.” ¶ Longhi sent Bredahl a brace of demos (“shitty tapes,” as he puts it) trying to lure the Danish vocalist—already plenty busy with Hatesphere, as well as his hardcore side project, Barcode—to begin the collaboration that first produced 2005’s Inferno Museum. While Pain, released a few months ago, finds the band still preaching the gospel of Motörhead, Kyuss and Entombed circa To Ride, Shoot Straight and Speak the Truth, it’s likely to draw a much bigger congregation. Perfect background music for group sex, pharmaceutical transactions, and 28 : JANUARY 07 : DECIBEL

ALLHELLUJA Italian metal supergroup preach the gospel of death ‘n’ roll

pretty much anything involving any vehicle faster than a wheelbarrow, the band’s second album oozes enough stoner sleaze and unrepentant aggression to fuel every party everywhere from now until 2012.

You’d sure as fuck never guess it’s the fruit of a long-distance relationship.

“Massimo, Roberto and I felt a lot more focused for this album,” writes Longhi, “a lot more certain of what we wanted to do. We rehearsed in our studio for four or five months, recorded all the instruments, and sent the tapes to Jacob. He recorded the vocals, mixed the record, then did the mastering with Tue Madsen.

Jacob did a fantastic job with his vocals. I think he is the real winner, because no one will expect Jacob singing in this amazing way.”

Hades knows, the Dane’s vocal attack is at least a few abysses down from what he does in Hatesphere, offering way less gargle and a lot more raunch. Bredahl sounds like malevolent intent personified on “Are You Ready? (Ready for Your Massacre),” war-whooped “yeah”s and all—especially when the straight-ahead rocker breaks down to half-speed tautness and he croons “for your massacre” smoothly enough to fill Josh Homme with murderous envy. It’s not hard to understand why Longhi admires his powers, given the dark humor that permeates the latter’s lyrics.

“Life—the most precious gift—is our game,” he writes, “and we are all condemned to lose it in the end, no matter what we do. Isn’t that psycho?” —ROD SMITH

profile

* landmine marathon

LANDMINE MARATHON

B

The desert-grind quintet’s retro detonation is no mirage

elieve it or not, the desert’s a big place for hockey,” quips Landmine Marathon bassist Matt Martinez. His bandmate, vocalist Grace Perry, has just recounted the one time she attended a Phoenix Coyotes home game.

“It was so surreal,” according to Perry. “I kept asking myself, ‘Why is [Coyotes coach] Wayne Gretzky in Phoenix?’” ¶ And like a particularly violent game of sticks ‘n’ pucks, this metallic grindcore quintet—who have recently added North Side Kings guitarist Ryan Butler (no, not the guy who decked Danzig with one punch)—revels in the sanguinary. Wherever you look Landmine Marathon up, you’ll find pics of the band covered in blood. ¶ Laughing, Perry picks up the thread. “That was done in my 1,500 square-foot apartment with, like, 68 Glad trash bags [covering the floor]. It was so last minute, we just said, ‘Let’s do a bunch of blood!’ We didn’t want pictures where we’re looking all lackadaisical on the train tracks, or whatever…” ¶ “…or posed against a brick wall,” interjects Martinez. “We were trying to find something else and obviously there’s some Samhain influence in there.

30 : JANUARY 07 : DECIBEL

It was just going with the record being called Wounded and being kind of corny at the same time; knowing that some people were going to take it the wrong way and after meeting us, see that we’re not serious, covered-in-blood people.”

Wounded is, however, serious covered-in-blood metallic grind that marries Earache’s ’89 Grindcrusher compilation to the likes of crusty powerviolence such as Phobia and Capitalist Casualties.

“For me,” explains Martinez, “the early Earache stuff was the closest metal got to punk rock as it evolved out of punk and the tape trading scene, which is the era I came from and what I grew up on. The first time I heard Napalm Death, it was one of those ‘This is what I’ve been hearing in my head!’ experiences.

Essentially, most of those guys were basically punk rockers who wanted to make more extreme music. That’s something that definitely attracted us, because we all come from metal

and punk rock backgrounds.”

It’s also a safe bet that Perry finds connection with Bolt Thrower’s two decades of war-centric narratives as she cryptically explores battle-related themes in tracks like “Thunder Blasted Bodies” and “Dying Days.” Then, there’s the stitched together body parts, B-52 bomber, and—of course—blood comprising Wounded’s cover art.

“There are songs based on books and personal experiences, but at least half of the songs are inspired by different wars throughout history. And not just the wars themselves, but the issues surrounding the wars; like ‘White Widows’ is about what war widows went through. But we thought Wounded fit best because all my lyrics are about someone being hurt, whether physically or emotionally, and they can be taken very literally or as metaphors for something else.”

—KEVIN STEWART-PANKO

profile

* he is legend

S

chuylar Croom won’t stop talking. He’s incapable actually. Like someone released from solitary confinement after years of appeals, everything and anything seems to excite him: Alton Brown from the Food Network (“that dude’s a-mazing; did you see his new show yet?”), a recent rare Tom Waits performance (“the most incredible thing I’ve seen in my life”), pop culture critic/noted KISS fan Chuck Klosterman (“just the coolest dude, you know?”), and, most importantly, the endless untapped potential of art and self-expression. ¶ “There was a slump for a while there, but an artist movement is coming,” insists Croom. “Everyone I talk to has been so creative in the last six months. I’m the most inspired I’ve been in a long time. It’s as if change came overnight.” ¶ As the wooly and wired frontman of He Is Legend, Croom recently funneled this creativity into a concept album of sorts, the fairy tale/Books of Blood-inspired Suck Out the Poison [Solid State]. Ecstatic over the band’s natural decision to nix the metalcore moments of their last LP (2005’s I Am Hollywood), he’s already looking to expand the album into a film and a book of song-inspired art pieces by fans. The former is especially ambitious—with the help of close friend/One Tree Hill star Hilarie Burton, Croom hopes to capture a “Blair Witch

32 : JANUARY 07 : DECIBEL

HE IS LEGEND

Schuylar Croom is so excited and he just can’t hide it Project meets House of 1000 Corpses meets The Wall” feel. Someone’s parents clearly read to him when he was a child… and let him watch a lot of John Carpenter movies.

“I really enjoy the storytelling side of songs,” says Croom. “That’s why I like Nick Cave and Tom Waits more than most lyricists. It’s incredible how someone can move you through music, how they can tell you a lifetime in five minutes.

Ultimately, I’m a fiction writer and don’t care how my singing sounds.”

In many ways, Croom is like former English major Keith Buckley, the highly literate (no, really) vocalist of Every Time I Die. Aside from a slightly similar scream/shout style (at least when Croom isn’t singing in his radio rock-ready melodic voice), the pair cloak their lyrics in metaphors and character studies while coast-

ing along to the occasional refried Skynyrd or CCR riff. The difference, of course, being that He Is Legend actually come from North Carolina.

The closest Every Time I Die come to sub-Mason Dixon authenticity is, well, nothing really but a shared love of beer and hot wings. And they certainly wouldn’t devote a closing cut to eight minutes of emulating Down and Weedeater like He Is Legend does with “(((Louds.”

“We’re an aggressive band, but the only aggressive band we can agree on is Pantera or Smashing Pumpkins,” says Croom. “It was easy before this album, all being like, [he adopts a stereotypical hick voice] ‘We’re a Southern band, blar, blar, blah, blar.’ Yeah, we’re fun and party onstage, but it’s still art, not just mindless screaming.”

—ANDREW PARKS

profile

* burning skies

I

f metal’s collection of historical biographies has taught us anything, it’s that a bleak British socio-environmental landscape had a significant role in sculpting the sounds and attitudes of the likes of Sabbath, Priest and Maiden and, by the extrapolation of influence, the entire genre. Burning Skies vocalist Merv and guitarist Liam agree that their Bristol, England home stokes the Euro-thrash/ Swede-death/American-metallic-hardcore extremity of their new album, Desolation. ¶ Bristol is going downhill,” deadpans the gravel-throated frontman. “It’s just like any other town in that it’s got its good and bad, but there seems to be an increase in violence and killings and, as a whole, it’s getting worse.” ¶ “I remember growing up and hearing about ‘America and guns’ and thinking, ‘I’m glad that’s not happening here,’ Now, it is,” adds Liam. “I live just up the road from the worst area of Bristol and it’s obviously not a massive problem if you’re not involved, but you see what happens and it’s not pretty.” ¶ “The counselors and government here are all pants,” cracks Merv. “They’re trying to ‘improve’ Bristol by using millions of pounds for… crap…” ¶ “I think the worst was when they took our [taxpayers’] money,” interjects 34 : JANUARY 07 : DECIBEL

BURNING SKIES …are teaching Metalcore Ecology 101.

Truancy is punishable by death.

Liam, “and paved over the panies, the people who cut down center of Bristol, which used to be completely green with trees everywhere, and put in a space-age water fountain.”

As Desolation’s cover is a layered collage of skulls, mechanical blueprints, political documents, and what looks like a corrupted Statue of Liberty, the environment appears to be an important theme. Then, there’s their moniker, which goes to show that concern doesn’t always trump aesthetics.

“I originally had the name A Thousand Burning Skies,” laughs Liam, “but everyone thought it was shit, so we settled on Burning Skies as my take on the global environment. It just seems that people want to rape the world of its natural resources and not come up with any sustainable, long-term plan. I don’t understand the oil and coal com-

rainforests and so on, and how their conscience can be OK with letting the next lot of people sort it out.

Obviously, their children are going to suffer.”

“Music’s the only thing I’ve ever 100% enjoyed,” Liam concludes, when asked what else is being channeled through Burning Skies’ vicious din. “The idea of working in an office and working my way up to team leader doesn’t appeal to me at all. I’d rather beg in the streets, to be honest. I need to do this; it’s what I want to do and I don’t see any point in not doing it.”

“Same goes for me,” says Merv.

“I love being able to express myself through the vocals. Loads of people can relate to what I’m saying and as long as that gets across, I’m happy.

Actually, even if it doesn’t get across, I’m still happy.”

profile

* anaal nathrakh

ANAAL NATHRAKH

W

Black metal/grindcore duo provide the icing on the hate

hen tasked with writing about a band as philosophically single-minded as Anaal Nathrakh, typical questions about the recording of their new album or tour stories just don’t seem to cut it. They don’t even really tour anyway—they hate. The word “misanthropy” has followed them around from their demos through their new LP Eschaton, and for good reason; nominally black metal, influences from the filthiest crust and grind seep into their music to form the polar opposite of self-hating isolationist BM. Half-expecting a “YOUR PUNY QUESTIONS ARE BENEATH US” response, I ask vocalist V.I.T.R.I.O.L. (Dave Hunt) what misanthropy means to Anaal Nathrakh and to him personally, and his answers are surprisingly non-violent. ¶ “The themes of misanthropy in Anaal Nathrakh are things that are present in our minds, but aren’t necessarily the things that motivate us on a daily basis,” he writes. “Anaal Nathrakh is disgusted by the world; it is in agony over humanity’s failings and so on. If you let yourself become obsessed by those things all the time, you couldn’t live. Does that mean we’re basically a pose, a front? No. Sometimes when you look in the mirror, all you can see are the bad parts reflected back at you, and 36 : JANUARY 07 : DECIBEL

AN works as a reflection on a very extreme and magnified level. It must not be allowed to become a way of life.” Presented with a hypothetical situation of unlimited power and asked what form AN’s misanthropy would take, he simply says, “There is a very real sense in which the most misanthropic thing of all would be to do nothing.”

Initially announced as a studioonly project, Anaal Nathrakh have played just two shows to date, their core duo lineup fortified by Napalm Death’s Shane Embury and Danny Herrera. “I don’t want to come across as arrogant,” says V.I.T.R.I.O.L. “We were just honestly blown away. Not only did we have half of Napalm Death playing with us, we headlined a sold-out show at a well-respected London venue with numerous members of the press and various underground figures in attendance—a fantastic opportunity and a memorable time.” He says that the experience of playing

live had no effect on the writing of Eschaton, but “we are perhaps a little more aware of how the songs will work live, and we’re looking forward to if/when we play again.”

Man, he’s still being all friendly and enthusiastic.

Considering their influences from outside black metal and their short-haired and decidedly noncorpsepainted look, I ask what keeps them aligned with BM. “I won’t condescend by detailing what constitutes BM, but it seems obvious that we are at least in part operating in the same territory,” he says. “But you’re right— we do step outside it continually.

To me, black metal is supposed to sound like Under a Funeral Moon, and Anaal Nathrakh doesn’t. But I think people who are into BM will be the people who find themselves most easily at home with our music. Given how hateful and violent most of it is, of course, some people won’t be able to enjoy it.” —ANTHONY BARTKEWICZ

HAMMER OF THE GODS

LEASHED AMON AMARTH andhUmN etal main event

get it on in our Viking deat

by Kory Grow

38 : JANUARY 07 : DECIBEL

E

ver since Bathory released Blood Fire Death, Vikings and death metal have gone hammer-in-hand, as a progeny of Odin-worshiping heathens have crawled from behind guitar stores across Scandinavia. We’ve pitted Amon Amarth’s Johan Hegg against Unleashed’s Johnny Hedlund to find out who, in the end, is really more of a Viking.

B A ND

Amon amarth

unleashed

Tumba, Sweden

Tumba, Sweden

YE A R FO R ME D

1992

1989

G O O G L E HITS FO R T H E BAND N A M E A ND THE WO R D “OD I N ”

105,000

213,000

R E S P O ND E R

Johan Hegg,

Johnny Hedlund,

vocals, Amon Amarth

vocalist/bassist, Unleashed

That they were slaughtering barbarians with no regard for human life or anything. That they were uneducated savages and nothing more than that.

Vikings were very skilled warriors, as well as skilled seafaring people, and they were mainly businessmen, actually.

There were really no horns on the [Viking] helmet… I’ve got to admit, when I was a young kid, I thought the same, too, because you’d see soccer games of the Swedish national team, then like thousands of people will wear funny helmets with horns.

On dispelling common Viking myths…

winner On their Viking heritage…

winner On the Viking religion Ásatrú…

On the taste of mead…

winner On Viking literature…

Try this recipe and make Odin proud!

Mead (honey wine)

12-13 lbs.

4-5 gal.

3 tsp.

1 tsp.

5-7 oz.

Hedlund. We don’t care about how the Vikings smell.

My last name… I found in an Icelandic saga, but then again, that last name, Hegg, is pretty common in Norway. And that’s where I have my roots. That’s where my grandfather’s from.

[None], not at all. And I don’t personally think it’s relevant either. Some might do, but I don’t.

Hegg. Don’t tell Varg Vikernes heritage isn’t important.

Um, yeah, some people say “AH-sa-tru,” but I’m not sure… I don’t do that myself.

I don’t practice anything; that to some people would be called Ásatrú… The problem is in specifying something as Ásatrú. It’s not really an old concept. The Vikings didn’t say Ásatrú. It’s something that we say nowadays. And so if I said, yeah, I do practice Ásatrú, someone would say, yeah, of course.

Hegg. The Gods really are inside every one of us.

Well, I’m not a religious man, myself…

For me the whole mythology thing and everything is more of a philosophical aspect to it… The Gods are not out there in Valhalla somewhere, they are in here. They represent parts of all of us, and when you speak to the Gods… what you actually do is you turn to yourself to see what to do.

winner

Wanna Drink

Like A Viking?

I would say it’s beer, but very sweet… I’ve drank mead from many places and they seem to taste very different. I mean, I’ve tasted it in Sweden and Holland and in the United States as well, and it really depends on the brewery. But normally a sweet, kind of yeast-ish beer, sort of.

Hegg. How do we get in touch with your sister, Johan?

It depends, actually. But basically, it’s based on honey, so it’s a very sweet drink. I know in some places, some people put flavors to it with elderberries and stuff like that… My sister makes really good mead.

There is one book that actually is not mine, but I have it here, it’s actually Ted’s, our bass player’s, book… The Viking Gods: Pagan Myths of Nordic Peoples, and it’s written by an author named Clive Barrett. It’s a really good and to-the-point book, like a very good introduction to Viking mythology, but also really getting to the core of the essence of it… I have quite a few books about Viking mythology and Viking history, yes.

I honestly don’t own a million books about it. I have like five or six perhaps… As soon as the Internet [became] something that everybody started to use, I did it as well at the same time. So I don’t really need a lot of books these days. That’s where all the information is at anyway… If nine sources out of 10 say, “Yes, this is a fact,” then it’s very likely that it is something you can rely on. And you couldn’t really do that 15 or 20 years ago.

winner Hedlund. Books are dumb.

And the conqueror is.... ODIN!!! Odin beats all, mortals!!!

1/4 tsp.

5-6 1-2

1 tsp.

1/2 tsp.

1 1 packet

pure raw honey purified spring water (not distilled) yeast nutrient (or 5 tablets) acid blend (combination malic/citric acid) sliced fresh ginger root (1 finger’s length) fresh rosemary (optional) whole cloves (optional) vanilla beans (optional) cinnamon/nutmeg (optional) lime/orange peels (optional) crushed fruit (peaches, strawberries, grapes, etc.)

Irish Moss (to clarify mead) clear gelatin (to clarify) spotted newt’s tail (optional) yeast (champagne or ale yeast)

Heat spring water 10-15 minutes till boiling.

Stir in honey, yeast nutrients, acid blend, and spices (rosemary, ginger, vanilla, cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves, lemon peel). Boil for another 10-15 minutes, (overcooking removes too much honey flavor), skimming off foam as needed (2 to 3 times during last 15 minutes).

After 15 minutes, add Irish Moss or clear gelatin to clarify. After last skimming, turn off heat, add crushed fruit, and let steep 15-30 minutes. After mead begins to clear, strain off fruit with hand skimmer and pour mead through strainer funnel into 5 gallon glass carboy jug.

Let cool to room temperature about 24 hours. After 24 hours, warm up 1 cup of mead in microwave, stir in 1 packet “Red Star” champagne, Montrechet, or Epernet yeast (or ale yeast in order to make mead ale), and let sit for 5-15 minutes to allow yeast to begin to work. Add this mead/yeast mixture to carboy jug and swirl.

Place run-off tube in stopper of bottle, with other end of tube in large bowl or bottle to capture “blow-off” froth. Let mead sit undisturbed 7 days in cool, dark area. After initial violent fermenting slows down and mead begins to settle, rack off (siphon off) good mead into clean sterilized jug, leaving all sediment in bottom of first jug. Attach airlock to this secondary carboy. After 4-6 months, mead will clear. During this time, if more sediment forms on bottom, good mead can be racked off again to another clean sterilized jug.

When bottling, in order to add carbonation, add either 1/4 tsp. white table sugar per 12 oz. bottle, or stir in 1/2 to 1 lb. raw honey per 5 gallons mead (by first dissolving honey with a small amount of mead or pure water in microwave). Makes 5 gallons.

Enjoy! Skål Much gratitude to Dan Meyer for allowing us to reprint the recipe from his website, www.blue-n-gold.com/halfdan/dan.htm. In an email, he adds that true Viking mead also contains the leaf of the bog myrtle plant, which populates Sweden, Norway, and parts of Canada, although it “can leave you with a really strong headache the day after.”

DECIBEL : JANUARY 07 : 39

With their sophomore album United in Regret, Virginia death metal duo ARSIS offer more remorse story by Andrew Parks // photos by Chris Slack

40 : JANUARY 07 : DECIBEL

A

rsis frontman James Malone and drummer Michael Van Dyne can’t seem to keep a full band together for more than a tour leg or studio session. Is an asshole quotient afoot? Not bloody likely—Van Dyne sounds sweeter than a goddamn sugar packet as he runs errands on the not-so-mean streets of upstate NY and blasts some early Sabbath. Ah, but what about the duo’s truly ruthless approach to death metal? It must be hard to keep up with a singer that shreds like Rick Rubin’s in the room and a drummer that fires full-throttle blast beats like a top-of-the-line paintball gun. Either hard, or really inspiring.

“I guess we’re both really picky,” says Van Dyne plainly. “Sometimes it has to do with personality, sometimes with playing. Jim also has a unique way of writing and playing, and I don’t really see anybody necessarily making that better. We have had some killer lineups in the past year, though.”

One of those lineups (some dudes named Johnny and Alex, according to Van Dyne) worked so well that Arsis’ supporting cast was asked to stick around. They politely declined, however, because they apparently “didn’t want to give up their lives and their jobs” to pure, unadulterated death metal. Listening to the

what with the metal community overrun by kids who’d just crawled out of the womb the year Reign in Blood came out, post-Hot Topic rug rats who certainly didn’t dig Carcass and At the Gates back in the day like Van Dyne proudly did.

“It’s funny—all these bands that we tour with are 18 or 19,” marvels Van Dyne. “It’s like, ‘Holy shit, man! I’m ancient!’ Our last tour, I couldn’t tell if the kids had listened to Maiden or other classic metal in their lives, period. We weren’t their style; let’s just put it that way.”

And yet, Van Dyne is only 27, while Malone is 26—not exactly in Lemmy’s graduating class. No matter. Van Dyne’s complacency runs right in

Unfortunately, Malone dropped out after just one semester at Berklee, but the two stayed in touch long enough to reconvene and cut some demos “for fun” in Virginia during Van Dyne’s Christmas break. Initial feedback from random listeners was so good the tapes eventually turned into Arsis’ universally acclaimed debut, A Celebration of Guilt.

And by “universal,” I mean everyone from journos to… a ballet company? Founded by the New Paltz, NY, couple Laura Kowalewski and Andrew Carpenter, Ballet Deviare commissioned Malone to write a 15-minute piece for their next round of performances. The multi-movement death metal masterwork “A Diamond for Disease” ended up the title track of an EP and one of the highlights of the show, complete with Malone performing from the orchestra pit several times.

Van Dyne says the duo stills plays segments of the song live, usually early on in their set, but don’t expect them to record another epic like that anytime soon. “I don’t think it’s something we’d do again, but who knows?” he says. “It was definitely something to put on the résumé, though.”

“It’s funny—all these bands

that we tour with are 18 or 19.

It’s like, ‘Holy shit, man! I’m ancient!’”

—Michael Van Dyne new LP, United in Regret [Willowtip], you have to wonder why Malone and Van Dyne bother recruiting anyone at all. They play off one another so perfectly as a power duo, it’s hard to imagine anyone really adding anything to the songs. And if they did, they’d more than likely get overpowered by a stray guitar solo or tech drum beat.

There’s also the fact that death metal is the Latin among extreme music languages––a proven, integral subgenre, sure, but one that’s mostly celebrated through old Cannibal Corpse records, not the second stage of Ozzfest or reruns of Headbangers Ball. This minority issue puts Arsis in a rough position almost every time they tour,

line with metal’s age-old adage of once an outsider, always an outsider, whether it’s socially, creatively, or—in the case of your typical metalcore show—both. In fact, that inescapable feeling is what brought Arsis together in the first place. While studying at Boston’s Berklee College of Music (also the alma mater of Killswitch Engage goofball Adam D), Van Dyne says, they quickly realized “not a whole lot of people there were listening to Racer X or Mercyful Fate, so we clicked off the bat.” Van Dyne was also thrilled to find an outlet for the double-bass fills he “practiced out of my teacher’s sight” and couldn’t use in short-lived samba, funk, jazz or even synth-pop acts.

Which is something Van Dyne’s father could appreciate. A textbook “cool dad,” he introduced the drummer to Blizzard of Ozz and Appetite for Destruction at the tender age of 10. I ask him if it was the infamous banned robo-rapist cover of the record and he replies, “Yeah, I guess it was. Looking back now, I guess it was really cool he bought that shit for me.”

Did he buy you your first bong on top of it, so you could get lost in those drum solos of yours?

“Nah, I’m straight-edge man,” says Van Dyne, laughing. “If you can party and pull it off like these kids can, that’s awesome. But I don’t think I could pull that off if I wanted to.” A D E C I B E L : J A N U A R Y 0 7 : 41

G

WE SENT GOD FORBID GUITARIST DOC COYLE SEVEN TRACKS, EACH IDENTIFIED ONLY

BY TITLE. HERE’S WHAT HE HAD TO SAY ABOUT OUR SELECTIONS.

e s n o p s e R & Call WITH

god forbid

42 : JANUARY 07 : DECIBEL

God Forbid TRIVIUM Anthem (We Are the Fire) from: The Crusade

PLANES MISTAKEN FOR STARS Crooked Mile from: Mercy

WALLS OF JERICHO I Know Hollywood and You Ain’t It from: With Devils Amongst Us All

TWISTED SISTER Oh Come All Ye Faithful from: A Twisted Christmas

DANAVA Quiet Babies Astray in a Manger from: Danava

REGURGITATE Reborn in Latrinic Ecstasy from: Sickening Bliss

KYLESA What Becomes an End from: Time Will Fuse Its Worth

[THE SKINNY]: Hairmetalcore?

This of course is Trivium. I’m a fan of these guys. We took them on their first tour, and they returned the favor and took us to the UK on a big tour. So we’re good friends. It’s an obvious homage to Mötley Crüe/Skid Row-era arena rock, although Matt [Heafy]’s Hetfield-esque rough singing, the blistering lead guitars, and the Judas Priest-style chant in the middle of the song give it more of a classic metal feel. I didn’t really like this song the first time I heard it because it seemed a little cheesy, but it really did grow on me. It takes a lot of balls to do a song like this these days, and I think it will benefit them because it’s pretty unique compared to the rest of the current heavy music environment.

To me it’s a fun song, and too many metal bands today are trying too hard to be angry. You can play metal and have fun.

[THE SKINNY]: Dirt rock isn’t just for Vo-Tech students anymore

The percussion intro is awesome as well as the beginning riff. I’m not sure what to make of the vocals on the first half of the song. It reminds me a bit of a Clutch-meets-Mastodon vocal, but just sounds weird to me. Overall, they have an original sound, which is always a good thing. I love the whole second half of the track when it mellows down. It’s melodic, yet subtle and dynamic. His vocal tone sounds great in that register. I am just glad that there seems to be a whole dirty rock revival right now. Dudes with beards and guitars who smell bad can never go wrong in my book.

[THE SKINNY]: Not to be confused with Keeper of the Seven Keys

I am 99% sure that this is Walls of Jericho. We’ve toured with them back in 2004. Good band. Good people. Their Slayerized hardcore is hard to mistake. I think this is from their new album, which I haven’t heard yet. If it is all as good as this, I have to pick it up. The production is very good, and I always enjoy the guitarists’ thrash metal sensibility. There are some tight picking hands going at it there. My favorite part of the song is the middle part when it goes from the tom beat build-up into the rock beat. I’m feeling that shit. The vocals are fierce as hell too!

[THE SKINNY]: They’re gonna burn in hell

GODDAMN! This shit is wrong in too many ways to mention! First off, Christmas albums are straight busted, son. Secondly, metal bands should never do Christmas songs! The only good one was when Korn did that song about Santa Claus being an alcoholic crackhead and killing people. At first I thought this was a punk band playing like the Misfits or something like that, but then I started paying attention to the overtly Christian lyrics of the song. I also noticed the cowbell, and the whammy bar harmonized solo, and then the cheesy singer.

I’m gonna bet that this is Stryper or some whacked-out Christian hair metal band paying tribute to the Lord. These assholes must be stopped!

[THE SKINNY]: False metal album of the year!

I’m not sure exactly who this is. It’s very hard to tell these days if something is classic rock, or if it is a new band who purposefully records in a lo-fi manner to make it sound vintage. Either way, the first thing I thought of when I listened to it was Black Sabbath, but that was mostly in the frontman’s singing style and the bass playing, which are both well done. This band is much more progressive and technical than Sabbath, though. I also enjoyed the orchestrated melodic intro and the tech jam at the end of the song. I get a feeling that these guys like to jam, and are a self-serving unit that puts their own interests first before their listeners. If I have any criticism, the jams could seem a bit pretentious depending on what your tastes are.

[THE SKINNY]: Symp-phonies of Sickness

I have no idea what this is. It’s obviously some grind/death metal band that probably has lyrics about people eating people, and then taking a shit, and eating the shit, and then throwing up, and pissing on the vomit, and then licking that up. The black metal harmony riff at the beginning is very cool and evil sounding, but once the blasting comes in it gets going and doesn’t really go anywhere. There is a very anti-climactic ending to this song. I like the Tomas Lindberg-esque vocal in between gurgles. I’d like to hear other songs by this band because there are some cool riffs. I’m not really a big grind fan, so maybe a die-hard extremist would love this.

[THE SKINNY]: Our kind of “Peach Pit”

I think this is Kylesa. We just played with them in Belgium. I think this is great.

It’s like heavy doom rock with a taste of noise and post-hardcore in there. It sounds to me what Neurosis would sound like if they picked up the pace, smoked less weed, and drank more whiskey. My favorite part of this song is when the key changes and the bass solo kicks in on a middle-eastern sounding scale. It’s a nice change for the song. I wish they would have stuck with that part a little longer. Other than that, it’s a bangin’ track. A

DECIBEL : JANUARY 07 : 43

& Q A

with

GLENN DANZIG Decibel has a power lunch with Evil Elvis

by J. Bennett

44 : JANUARY 07 : DECIBEL

They

used to put mint in the iced tea here,” Glenn Danzig is saying. “Now they don’t… fuckin’ assholes.” We’re at the Gumbo Pot, a New Orleans-style eatery at the outdoor Farmer’s Market in West Hollywood. Danzig sips his iced tea and smiles.

“Wait, no—there is mint in it.” Then he carves into a slab of Cajun meatloaf and starts telling us about the time Bill Clinton sent the FBI after him.* He’s wearing a faded black t-shirt with the sleeves cut off and the logo of his comic book company, Verotik, on the back. His black leather jacket is draped over the back of his chair, but he doesn’t remove his mirrored sunglasses during the entire 90-minute lunch. When he’s finished eating, he picks at his corn muffin with shockingly long, pointy fingernails and starts feeding the birds. (He’s really, really into the birds, by the way.) His publicist arrives, and Danzig shows her a finished copy of Black Aria II, his new album of neo-classical compositions. “What kind of stores do they have here?” she asks, “I haven’t been here since I was a kid.”

Danzig immediately points to his right and says, “There’s a great candle shop over there.” Then he goes back to feeding the birds.

Somewhere, Satan is weeping.

Last year, you said you weren’t going to tour anymore, but you’re about to head out on the next Blackest of the Black tour as we speak. Are you pulling an Ozzy?

No. I’m trying to experiment with flying home every two or three days. This tour is just West Coast—we’re not going to the East Coast—so I agreed to try this to see if I can deal with it. I won’t be bouncing around on a bus for a month or two, and any flight that I’ll have to do is two hours, tops. So we’ll see if it works. I’m not pulling an Ozzy, but I’ll tell you, if I could snap my fingers and just be onstage every night, I’d play forever—until I die. But that’s not reality.

[Laughs] At some point, I’m sure I’ll just end up doing a show in New York and a show in L.A. every year.

Your bass player on this tour is Steve Zing.

Are you thinking about playing some Samhain songs?

Yeah, we’ll probably do a Samhain song. But that was something I even did back on the Lucifuge tour. The Soundgarden guys would wanna hear a Samhain song, so we’d pull out “To Walk the Night” or “Mother of Mercy”—so I’m sure we’ll probably learn one or two just to have in case we do an encore.

Are you in touch with the original Danzig guys at all? I heard John Christ got into a really bad motorcycle accident recently.

Someone told me it was a car accident, but it might’ve been a motorcycle accident. I heard his arm almost got ripped off. I only heard about it a couple weeks ago, but I guess it happened a couple months ago. The other guys I don’t really hear from. Chuck [Biscuits] called the office maybe two or three years ago, but that was the first time I’d heard from him in ages. You know, my attitude with that is that they made their choice; they said some fucked up things about me that weren’t true just so they could get some money, and it all blew up in their faces. Here I am, all these years later, still doing music, and they’re… wherever they are. Kinda lost, I guess. My attitude is that you make your own bed and then you lie in it. Since the Misfits, there’ve been so many musicians I’ve played with, and I don’t keep in touch with any of them, really. Doyle and Steve, yeah, but that’s it. I have no reason to talk to anyone else. We have nothing in common—we played in a band together for a while and that’s it. People ask me about Chuck, but you know, Joey [Castillo], who’s in Queens [of the Stone Age] now, was my drummer for seven years—much longer than Chuck. And actually, you know, I do talk to Joey once in a while.

We’ve been hearing about your movie, Ge Rouge, for a while now. What’s the status of it?

I’m waiting to hear if it’s green-lit or not. But I’ve written other movies, so I’m probably gonna just finance an indie movie myself and kick it around at festivals. That’s the way I do my label,

you know? Fuck everybody—I don’t fuckin’ care.

People don’t understand that the only thing you really need a major label for—or in this case, a production company—is distribution. If VOD [Video on Demand] becomes as big as everybody thinks it is, the movie studios might be out of business. If anybody can make a movie, have their own little VOD website, and sell it, the studios will be up shit’s creek. I mean, you don’t even have to manufacture anything.

You don’t have to rewrite anything, either.

Oh, man—you don’t even know what I’ve been going through with this Ge Rouge script. I’ve already told one production company to fuck off because there’s been so many rewrites, and it’s never enough. They’re always asking you to add stupid scenes. They’ll be like, “Can we have a girl in a bikini here?” It’s like, “The movie is set in 1905. I don’t think they had bikinis back then.”

So you’re working on another script?

Yeah, I’m finishing up a script for a road rage movie about these stoner kids—all they listen to is stoner rock and heavy metal—and they just go around fucking people up. [Laughs] That’s what the whole thing consists of—getting fucked up, driving around, listening to black metal, death metal, anything heavy, finding yuppies and fucking them up. Right now, I’m just calling it The Ragers, but it’s funny because when you pitch it to studios, it’s always some guy with an earpiece who drives like an asshole and goes, “I don’t know if I like that one.” It’s like, “Yeah, because it’s about you, motherfucker.”

I read somewhere that one of your favorite movies is Cooley High. Is that true?

Yeah. That’s more my experience growing up than, like, American Graffiti. Some of the stuff from American Graffiti are my experience—like when those guys jack the pinball machine—but the rest of it isn’t. [Laughs] I can relate to Cooley High more because where I grew up was more of an urban area, and we were always getting in trouble. You know—you’re from Boston. My grandmother lived in Revere Beach—I used to spend my summers up there. It’s not “Beantown”—it’s violent.

You can always tell people have no idea what they’re talking about when they say “Beantown.”

Yeah, I still hate people like John Kerry, these rich Cambridge [homosexual men]. I can’t stand them. When I saw him running, I thought, this is the kind of guy I grew up hating—a rich, spoiled, Boston dork. Everything he got in his life, he paid for.

Except for getting shot at in Vietnam…

Big deal. My best friend’s brothers were all in Vietnam, and they didn’t get anything for it.

Look—Bush is a dummy, and everybody [4] DECIBEL : JANUARY 07 : 45

I should be able to kill somebody if they fuck with me. knows he tried to avoid the draft. But you know what? Every fuckin’ person I knew when I was a kid tried to avoid the draft! I think that’s fuckin’ smart. My older brothers and all their friends were like, “Fuck that—I ain’t going to war.” And they’d do whatever they’d have to do—pretend they were [homosexual men], say they were drug addicts, whatever. So it’s funny that the far left yells at Bush for not going to Vietnam when half of them didn’t go, either.

Eventually, you know, my life being what it is, and my attitude toward karma as an instructive force—and harnessing that, and turning and unleashing it on people is a force of reckoning that’s bound to do some damage. When I bring it back and pull the reins in on it, it’s not out of weakness, it’s out of, “OK, here’s your chance to take a breath and do what’s right. If not, I’m letting ago of the reins again.” And so Rick is in a great situation right now. He needs to atone.

Danzig 7. The Germs song was done during the Satan’s Child sessions, and the T. Rex cover was done during How the Gods Kill.

Word is, you’re planning to do a record with Jerry Cantrell and Hank Williams III.

No, I’m in the middle. There’s no party for people like me. I think women should have the right to have an abortion, but I also believe people should be killed for murdering indiscriminately. I believe in the gas chamber and the electric chair. I also believe in instant justice.

What happened with Tommy Victor?

What do you mean by that?

I should be able to kill somebody if they fuck with me. [Laughs]

Is it true that you were actively trying to recruit Justin Broadrick as your guitar player at one point?

Yeah, that’s a blues record I wanna do—it probably won’t be a Danzig record. I don’t know if it’s going to happen, though, because Cantrell is busy doing Alice in Chains. I did a thing with Hank on 6.06.06 [at the Henry Fonda Theatre in Hollywood]—I came out for like five songs.

We did a song that Hank wrote; I rearranged one of Hank’s granddad’s songs—“Angel of Death”—in a bluesy, Danzig-kinda style; we did “Killer Wolf”; we did “Twist of Cain.” Then two of the Alkaline Trio guys came out with us and we did a rockabilly version of the Misfits’ “American Nightmare.” It was pretty cool.

I’m already working on a song with Hank—it sounds like serial killer music, really dark and creepy. [Laughs]

How much pleasure do you derive from the fact that you wrote one of the most popular stripper songs ever in “She Rides”?

Yeah, but I’m glad it didn’t work out, because he won’t get on the plane for tour. I like a lot of Godflesh’s earlier releases, but then it started getting really… strange. I couldn’t listen to it.

It’s been two years since the North Side Kings video hit the Internet. How do you think it’s affected your fans’ perception of you?

Are you a Republican?

Actually, I don’t really go to strip clubs. Usually, one day per tour I’ll take the crew—the techs and the light guys—out and treat them to a strip club, and that’s really the only time I go. Plus, you know, I hate rap music. Or at least, I hate new rap music. But yeah, I’ve seen girls use a bunch of the songs—“Mother” I’ve seen a lot. It’s cool. When Danzig first started, that’s where rock bands would hang out, but now it’s all rap music.

So you’re not the kind of dude who has a stripper pole in his house?

No. [Laughs] That’s a good idea, though.

When I interviewed you during the height of your legal wrangling with Rick Rubin, you said, “I don’t even wanna tell you what I wanna do to Rick Rubin.” Do you still feel that way?

46 : JANUARY 07 : DECIBEL

Tommy’s a great guy, but he had a lot of little demons that we tried to… You know, I still like Tommy, and he’s a great guitar player, and we tried to make it work, but it’s just not gonna work until he gets his thing together…

Do you have a release date for The Lost Tracks of Danzig?

It was supposed to be November 28th, but I’m threatening to leave the label, so we’ll see.

There’s a Germs cover on Lost Tracks, but I was kinda surprised to see that it has David Bowie and T. Rex covers, too. I would have never figured you were into those dudes.

T. Rex is one of my favorites. When I was a kid, the stuff that I listened to was the New York Dolls, Slade, T. Rex—all that stuff. I liked Lou Reed more than I liked Bowie, but Bowie wrote a great song with Giorgio Moroder called “Cat People” that people kinda don’t really know. It’s one of my favorite songs. I think we recorded “Cat People” at a session between Danzig 6 and

I don’t know—you’d have to talk to [North Side Kings vocalist Danny Marianinho] about that.

You know, you’re trying to sign autographs for your fans, and someone comes up and suckerpunches you. But that guy’s in the hospital now, dying.

Is that true? What happened?

I don’t know. [Laughs] OK, let’s say you get hit by a bus tomorrow.

Are you happy with everything as it stands?

Yeah. I wouldn’t be happy about getting hit by a bus, though. A

* To read the entire transcript of this interview, go to www.decibelmagazine.com

UND3R 1NFLU3NCE T H E

DEFTONES/SEEMLESS

Seemless frontman Jesse Leach bros down with Deftones vocalist Chino Moreno

48 : JANUARY 07 : DECIBEL

All

you bad little cops out there owe extreme vocal coach Melissa Cross best X-Mas wishes for soothing your inner cookie monster’s epiglottis. Sadly, all you good little cops must be trudging through the winter wasteland as despondently as George Bailey. There are no patron saints—much less hip instructional entrepreneurs—for metal crooners. If you could cherry-pick your muse, though, Mike Patton ain’t a bad option—the Faith No More puzzlebox could tunefully mimic Lionel Richie or a Gibb brother at will, but was far more interested in stretching his yowl for the sake of diversity and unpredictability.

Deftones frontman Chino Moreno—already a fan of artists as diametrically opposed as Ice Cube and Dave Gahan—riffed on Patton’s myriad tics on 1995 debut Adrenaline, then developed his own signature sigh/shriek as the Sacramento quartet wisely distanced themselves from nü metal posturing over the next decade. That evolution wasn’t lost on Jesse Leach, who nearly flayed his vocal cords to death as Killswitch Engage’s old frontman before adopting a more soulful Sabbath/Soundgarden approach as leader of hard-rockers Seemless. We asked Leach to bro down with Moreno about singin’ for the laughter, singin’ for the tears, and stupid, stupid record labels.

When did you first get into music? Was there a band or a moment that made you think, “This is what I want to do”?

I can’t really say there was an event. It just kinda happened over time. I grew up listening to music from the time I can remember. I grew up listening to Michael Jackson, to whatever.

I was just way into records. I’d gain money for chores for an allowance and I’d take that money to the record store and I’d buy records. My dad had a record player and he’d play records all the time. I’d buy wack records you know, mostly pop records.

I think that’s where everybody starts.

Yeah, definitely. At the end of elementary school, early rap started coming out. I’m not a huge rap fan to this day, but I do like gangsta rap—like the hardcore rap stuff. I was turned onto the breakdancing stuff as well. From there, my sister gave me a Depeche Mode record. I was like 10 years old. To me, it was the dopest thing, the electronics within it. It was like rap with the beats and drum machines—it had a lot of the same fills, but it had melodies all in it as well.

This is like the ultimate music to me. To me, it still inspires me today. I met Stephen [Carpenter, guitar] and Abe [Cunningham, drums] around the same time. I knew Abe from the seventh grade. I hung out with them separately, though.

We would always talk music. I would turn them onto the new wave stuff and they would turn me on to whatever metal they were listening, too—mostly Metallica or Slayer or old metal stuff. One day after school, I took Abe over to Stephen’s house. We took the bus over there.

I was like, “Dude, you gotta go check out this dude’s house. He’s got a ton of equipment that he got from a settlement from when he got hit on

his skateboard by a car. He filled up his garage with a drum set and stacks of amps and guitars and basses.” He pretty much had a whole band setup in there. So we went over after school and started playing together. I was the mutual friend between them and one day Stephen called and asked me to be the singer in him and Abe’s band.

I thought, “Yeah, whatever.” Then I saw Abe at school and he said the same thing. I told him that I couldn’t sing, but he said that Stephen had heard me sing when they were doing Danzig covers—that I had picked up the mic and started singing. I grew up singing along to stuff, but nothing original, you know. I didn’t have a conventional way of singing. I started off, on our earlier stuff, with rap-oriented stuff. I was better at that. Throughout it all, I started to sing more, little by little.

there was a song. Like the song “7 Words” off of the Adrenaline album; I was 15 years old.

Every night we still play that song. To think, one hour of my life when I was 15 we made this song and 15 years later we’re still playing it. It’s a trip. Creating the music was always the biggest accomplishment. Doesn’t matter if anyone hears it—I made something that wasn’t there previously.

Was there ever a time when you were struggling, like you came home from tour and you had to work in-between tours?

I didn’t need much. I was 15 when I started the band. We got signed when we were 20. So, in that five years I didn’t have much and I didn’t need much.

So did you just crash with your parents?

Would you say over time your taste in music has changed at all? At first, all I did was scream— there was no melody. I got into being a vocalist, so I got more interested in singing, and I would incorporate more melody. Do you think you grew into something different as a singer?

I don’t think that my tastes changed. I think that I got a little more comfortable trying things that I always wanted to try.

I think it’s a matter in being confident in yourself, too.

Yeah, as the years went by, my confidence started to get better. But as far as getting to a point where this is what I wanted to do with my life, it kinda just kept going. We didn’t have this plan where we were going to go out and get signed and get a deal. I didn’t know any of this. I was just happy making music.

One minute there was nothing and the next

I shared an apartment with some skate friends and some chicks. Flophouse style; it was really easy. At the time I was 20, I had my first kid [4]

MTV still doesn’t give us much love at all.

It’s bullshit.

To me, sometimes I don’t know why we make videos.

—Chino Moreno DECIBEL : JA NUA R Y 07 : 49

That’s pretty much the problem, I think, with radio.

No one wants to take a chance.

That’s the downfall to the music industry right now.

That’s why it seems so stagnant for so long.

There’s good music out there. and that same year we got signed. It worked out right, because I was able to get money for my rent. I lived pretty meagerly. I never really had to get a job after that. The first few years after that, we were on tour. That’s how we built our fanbase. We’re not really a band who’s gotten a lot of love from MTV or radio.

I respect that about you guys. Most of my favorite bands don’t make it to MTV because they play really good music that isn’t formulated by some pop producer. You actually worked for it.

MTV still doesn’t give us much love at all. It’s bullshit. To me, sometimes I don’t know why we make videos. Especially a performance video, because it’s pretty much lip-synching. It’s pretty wack. It’s like I’m making a commercial for myself. I’m trying not to be bitter, but that’s not the reason we make music.

The Deftones and your other project Team Sleep implement a lot of electronic elements. Just for my own curiosity, are you into any trip-hop, like Massive Attack or Tricky?

I was into Massive Attack a while ago. They haven’t done much lately. A lot of that stuff came and went, you know, like Portishead. Now, most recently, I’m into some cool instrumental stuff. Instrumental has been it for me lately.

I think vocals can ruin it for me sometimes.

That’s one of the hardest things for me to do lately, write lyrics. Coming up with certain parts over songs. This record we just made took us three years. A majority of the time I went to so many ideas for certain songs. I had to record six different ideas over the song. That’s not necessarily a good thing, because you start to second-guess yourself. A lot of times your first 50 : JANUARY 07 : DECIBEL

idea is your best idea. Sometimes it’s not. To be able to make the music freely it’s harder to do these days, because of so many expectations of what it’s supposed to be from other people and fans. We’ve made four records before and I don’t want to repeat stuff. I become “antieverything” that I’m doing and it throws me back. It’s like I take 20 steps back and two small steps forward. It makes it more timeconsuming. It’s been hard. With this record, finally, I reached a point where I’m extremely happy with every part of every song.

In terms of styles or genre, you guys straddle different genres, very much like the way Seemless does. We don’t have a specific “scene” or people that we cater to. People are often like “We don’t know what to do with you guys because you don’t really fit into a particular genre.” How was that for you guys?

We’ve done so many types of tours and brought out many different types of bands. It’s opened doors for us, but it’s also got industry people baffled because they don’t know how to market us, which is ridiculous. Instead of them marketing us for us, they’ll constantly try to put us into nü metal. Bands were selling six million records and 13 million records, bands like Linkin Park and Papa Roach. For instance, we turned in White Pony, they got the record and put out [the track] “Change” [as a single] and it did well; they went to put out another single and they were like, “There is no second single on this record. Why don’t you go and re-record this song with a hip-hop feel?” They couldn’t find a way to market us and we still deal with that today. Now that our demographic has gotten older, they want us to release certain songs to appeal to younger

—Chino Moreno

crowds, they will hit me up to reach the Team Sleep demographics because they are younger.

They’re trying to reach for things instead of backing us up for what we do. I think people would respect that more.

When I hear labels second-guessing you and your work, it makes me angry. When I used to be in Killswitch Engage, the label would secondguess us too. I hate that.

Some people at the record companies think, “This is what this band should be. This is who should buy this record.” Right then, you’re like just trying to shut it out. When they put out my Team Sleep record, they were busy trying to market it to the Deftones fans instead of trying to market it to whoever might like it. It seems small-minded to me. Once they decide which genre it should be in, they’re closing it off. It’s just music—who knows who’s gonna like it?

It’s art versus industry. That’s no good, but that’s how it works, unfortunately. It’s like, god forbid people take a chance on something risky, and who knows—it could be bigger than anyone expected.

That’s pretty much the problem, I think, with radio. No one wants to take a chance. That’s the downfall to the music industry right now.

Everyone’s scared to take a chance. That’s why it seems so stagnant for so long. There’s good music out there. Look on the Internet. Go to MySpace. You can type in any influences, find out who’s been influenced by certain bands.

[There are] kids in their bedrooms, making the most experimental non-conformed music by themselves in their rooms and you can find stuff like this. There is good music out there. You can’t be lazy. A

IES CALLED THE RD THIS IS THE 23 INSTALLMENT IN A SER ING Decibel Hall of Fame, EXPLOR OF extreme METAL. LANDMARK ALBUMs IN THE PANTHEON

Only Living Witness Prone Mortal Form June 1993

RELEASE DATE LABEL

Century Media SUMMARY Lost metal/ hardcore gem unearthed 52 : JANUARY 07 : DECIBEL

The Dillinger Meshuggah Escape Plan Destroy Erase Improve Calculating Infinity inducted December 2006

inducted November 2006

Monster Magnet

Rollins Band

Dopes to Infinity

inducted September 2006

inducted October 2006

The End of Silence

They

were the best band you never heard of. Unless you lived in the greater Boston area between 1989 and 1995, worked at Century Media, or happened to catch them on your local college radio station (or on their 1993 European tour with the Cro-Mags), Only Living Witness were virtual unknowns. If you did happen to fall into any of the foregoing categories, the chances are excellent that Witness were your favorite metal band, favorite rock band, and favorite hardcore band rolled into one— even though the “hardcore” label didn’t necessarily make much sense from a sonic perspective. Formed in 1989 by ex-Formicide members Eric Stevenson (drums), Kevin Stevenson (guitar) and Roy Costa (bass)—who teamed up with a powerful young singer from New Hampshire named Jonah Jenkins—Witness’ lineup solidified two years later when Costa and Kevin Stevenson were replaced by bassist Chris Crowley and guitarist Craig Silverman. After a few years of slugging it out—sometimes literally—on Boston hardcore bills, Witness recorded their full-length debut, Prone

Brutal Truth

Deadguy

Eyehategod

Need to Control

Fixation on a Coworker

Take as Needed for Pain

inducted July 2006

inducted June 2006

inducted August 2006

My Dying Bride

Mortal Form, in February of 1993 at Fort Apache in Cambridge, MA with producer Tim O’Heir (who went on to work with the likes of Sebadoh, Folk Implosion and Dinosaur, Jr). With infectious slash-and-burn riffs and towering, anthemic vocals—not to mention brilliantly cryptic lyrics inspired by a mediocre but thematically profound 1988 film about a Soviet tank crew trapped in the Afghan desert (The Beast, starring Jason Patric, George Dzundza and, um, Stephen Baldwin)—Prone Mortal Form became legendary in the Boston underground that produced the likes of Converge (whose latest album features guest vocals from Jenkins), Shadows Fall (who covered Prone’s “December” on Fallout From the War), and Isis (Aaron Turner put out two releases by Jenkins’ first postWitness band, Miltown, on Hydra Head). Recently remastered and reissued by Century Media in a doubledisc package with Witness’ only other album (1995’s Innocents), it’s about time the rest of the world got in on Prone Mortal Form’s action. Which brings us to this month’s Hall of Fame…

Morbid Angel

Turn Loose the Swans Altars of Madness inducted May 2006

inducted April 2006

Sleep Jerusalem inducted March 2006

Cathedral

Emperor

Forest of Equilibrium

In the Nightside Eclipse

inducted February 2006

inducted December 2005

DECIBEL : JANUARY 07 : 53

DECIBEL HALL

OF

FA M E Unfashionably loud Witness grab the hardcore kids by the short hairs

How did the transition from Formicide to Only Living Witness happen?

Stevenson: Formicide was really just Only Living Witness without Jonah. We were a metal band, but I didn’t write much back then—we’re talking like 1987. I’d write a couple of riffs or a “mosh part” here and there, but that’s about it.

Then Formicide split up and we got back together as Only Living Witness with Jonah three months later, in the fall of ’89. My brother Kevin and Roy Costa were still writing a lot of the music back then. It was when they left that I really started to write more, around ’90 and ’91. I never liked any of my own stuff before—I didn’t think it was as good as the other guys’ stuff.

Jenkins: Formicide split up, but they knew they wanted to continue playing that type of music with a more straightforward vocalist—someone who wasn’t like Dio. Their singer was very growly and kinda operatic, but they were one of my favorite bands at the time, so I was stoked. Before that, I was in a band that did one demo without me that they released, and another demo with me that they didn’t release because I left the band.

And I left because the name of the band—which they didn’t wanna change because they had it tattooed on themselves—was Blind Surgeon. [Laughs] Needless to say, that didn’t work for me. Keith Bennett [the bass player from Wrecking Crew] was great—he said, “Yeah, guys… the thing is, a blind surgeon can’t do his job.”

Silverman: When Witness first got together, they were more of a technical thrash band. I played that stuff, too, because I was in Formicide with Eric and Kevin. But seeing how the band progressed from there to Prone Mortal Form was a big jump. By the time I joined, I wasn’t interested in playing that kind of technical stuff—and neither was Eric. So Kevin and Roy left because of musical differences. It sounds cliché, but it’s true. We still had our moments, though—“Twitching Tongues” is kind of a thrashy song and “Nineveh” is very mid ’80s 54 : JANUARY 07 : DECIBEL

kinda metal. But we had songs like “December” and “Prone Mortal Form” that were completely different. Nothing was off the table.

Crowley: We recorded the Prone Mortal Form demo in ’91, I believe, right after the first two guys left, and then started playing shows immediately. For the first album, Eric would come up with a lot of the grassroots ideas and song structures at his house and then bring them to rehearsals in between shows. “Slug” was the earliest song, because it was written before Craig and I were in the band.

Witness was pretty much relegated to playing Boston hardcore bills in the early ’90s, but that really wasn’t what the band sounded like at all.

The music was much more sophisticated, and you had a singer who could actually sing. Did you feel out of place on those bills?

Stevenson: If you saw us when we first came out, in ’89, we were a lot speedier. If you listen to the bonus tracks on the European release of Prone Mortal Form, those are from when Kevin played guitar and Roy played bass. And they wrote those songs, which were riffier and more technical—but even then we weren’t really a hardcore band. But you know, Jonah had a crewcut, and he was from a different scene than us—he was the “hardcore” guy in the band. The rest of us were more from a speed metal scene. I mean, Formicide opened for Testament and Vio-lence and bands like that. With Witness, we’d play all these matinee hardcore shows with friends of Jonah’s, and we went over really well, so it just kinda stuck from the beginning. It was new for us, because I’d show up and be one of the only guys there with long hair. I wasn’t familiar with going to shows like that, much less playing them. It was never an issue, though. I remember we played a matinee with Killing Time, and it was great. But I know what you mean. From a listener’s point of view, you don’t get the hardcore-type feeling.

Silverman: I really don’t know how that hap-

pened. I mean, I grew up listening to metal and hardcore and always went to those shows—as did Jonah—but I think the only thing that made us a hardcore band was the fact that three out of four of us had short hair. [Laughs] I really can’t think of another reason. We definitely were not a hardcore band—we had elements of hardcore, but then again, we had elements of metal and rock ‘n’ roll, too. I don’t think we fit into any of those genres, but we were probably more of a metal band than anything else. But the hardcore scene in Boston took to us; no one else really did. We’d be on a hardcore bill in New York, and there were lots of arms crossed, guys staring at us, whatever. It just didn’t go over well.

Crowley: Most of the bands we played with were a lot faster than we were. They weren’t quite as melodic as we became, so it got harder and harder for us to play hardcore shows. Toward the end, our day shows got worse and our night shows got better. We just gravitated toward a different scene.

Silverman: I loved the fact that Jonah could sing, and I think that was another thing that made us different from everyone else at the time. I never did understand the hardcore tag, but in this city, that’s what we were considered. I love the guys in Merauder and all the bands in New York that we played with, but we just didn’t fit. I remember going on after SubZero somewhere in Connecticut, and it was just a room full of people staring at us. We’d stop playing, and there’d be complete silence. And still, in the early days we were rarely thrown a bill where there wasn’t a hardcore band headlining. I remember once we opened for Green Day when they were getting big, and that was pretty strange, too. Then we opened for Quiet Riot. [Laughs] Jonah and Eric wanted to do it because they liked Quiet Riot when they were in junior high school. I agreed because I thought it would be funny. And, you know, we weren’t really liked there, either. [Laughs] Jenkins: The closest thing we got to acceptance—or at least when I think things started to turn for the better—was when we opened up for COC on the Blind tour. It was us, COC and Prong, which was obviously a lot different than what we had been doing. I mean, I remember being on tour and playing with Snapcase and Sick of It All—Snapcase went on after us, right before Sick of It All, and they had to state very clearly to the audience that they were a hardcore band.

I didn’t understand that, because they didn’t really sound like a hardcore band to me. We certainly weren’t, and we weren’t attempting to be. We played really aggressive music, but it was intended to be something other than what hardcore had been because we were obviously not the same type of band. I think the hardcore tag mostly came from being on a comp called

DECIBEL HALL

BHC on Taang! Records with Wrecking Crew and bands like that. That led to the song “Nineveh,” which was a play on my name, and the story in the Bible about my name. The message there was basically, “We’re saying something different here than what most people think we’re saying, so if you’re going to follow us, be prepared to make some enemies.” And we did—or I did, I should say. That song was written as things started getting a little more heated with certain folks.

What did that stem from?

Jenkins: I was too vocal about my opposition to violence at shows. I should’ve been more productive in my communications. I was reacting more viscerally than I should have.

Crowley: There were fights and stuff going on, and Jonah was pretty verbal about how he didn’t wanna see it happen. None of us did, you know? I don’t wanna speak for Jonah, but it was awkward.

Were you calling specific people out?

Jenkins: Yup. And even when I would speak to them in person, I’d say, “This is not cool, and I’m not going to accept it. Stop coming to our shows.”

But they didn’t.

What do you remember most about the recording sessions for Prone Mortal Form?

Stevenson: Well, the first thing that comes to mind is that I had a fever of 103 when I was recording my drum tracks. I had rented a drum set from a guy I had been put in touch with. I had to meet him at a restaurant to pick up the drums, and as I was going there, it was pouring rain. This was in February, and I started to feel horrible. I went to the studio the next day and took my tem-

perature—it was 102.7. So I blasted through my drum tracks as best I could and then Tim O’Heir sent me home. I went to the doctor, stayed out of the studio for a day, and finally got back to finish.

But I was sick for a good portion of that record, so it’s not the fondest of memories.

Silverman: We had to do everything very quickly—it was recorded and mixed in a week and a half, and Eric had a 103 fever. It was ridiculous. We recorded the basic tracks in a day in a half, and he was violently ill. We’d record a track, he’d go throw a cold towel on his head for 20 minutes, and we’d go back and record another one. We were on a tight budget, so we just kinda went in there and blew it out.

Crowley: We didn’t have enough money to do it, really, because if we had, the whole thing would sound like “Slug.” If you listen closely, it’s the bestmixed song. Tim O’Heir kept re-mixing it because we knew we were gonna release it as a single.

Jenkins: I remember being extremely uncomfortable with how clean the production was, and I still don’t like it for that reason. The production is far too polished. We had never recorded like that before—we just had a demo. I remember asking why it sounded like that and the answer was, “Well, you’re making a real record now.” That definitely set a tone for me, so with every record I’ve recorded since then, I’ve made it a point not to sound like that album. [Laughs] I mean, there’s all that reverb on the drums, the bass is very GallienKrueger—it sounds like a Megadeth album. And it’s funny, because we have footage from the recording of Innocents [Witness’ second and final album] where Eric is screaming at Tim O’Heir, “This is not a Megadeth album!”

OF

FA M E

How did you hook up with Tim?

Stevenson: Some friends of ours had recorded demos with him, and I liked they way they sounded a lot. So the four of us drove over to the studio to meet him, and we hit it off right away, so we booked the time with him. I’m glad we did, because he became a good friend of mine. Even after Witness split up, he and his wife would come over to my house for Christmas and hang out.

What I like about him the most is that he knows a lot about different kinds of music. He loves the Stones, like I do, and stuff like Nick Cave, Chris Isaak, and even Ennio Morricone. I probably hung out with him the most in studio because I’d always stay there later than everybody.

Jenkins: I got along really well with Tim. My vocal prowess at the time was quite sub-par—I hadn’t really been under the microscope yet, so of course I was a baby, but I loved working with him both times. He was really fun, and he made us think of things in a different way. It was a lot less comfortable the second time around because there was a lot of argument about what it should be like, because we didn’t really like the sound on Prone, except for certain components. By the time we went in to record Innocents, we had been listening to a lot of Monster Magnet and Kyuss, so we wanted something more natural sounding.

There’s a song on the Prone Mortal Form demo called “Window 4:45” that didn’t make the album. Why not?

Silverman: We actually did record that; Eric just didn’t like how it came out. He wanted it to be really noisy and ugly sounding, which is how it came across on the demo, but the version he recorded in the studio sounded really polished and forced. None of us really liked it, and Eric hated it—and it was his song—so it didn’t make it onto the record.

Stevenson: It just didn’t come across in the studio—it sounded kinda weak and empty. On the very last night of mixing, I remember me and Tim O’Heir sitting at the board at four in the morning trying to mix that song. I think we both fell asleep. By six in the morning, it still wasn’t sounding right, so it never made it.

Did Jonah ever discuss his lyrics with the rest of you guys?

Passé Mortal Form OLW’s five-track demo, complete with “forced, weak” rarity

Stevenson: No. [Laughs] I have no idea what he’s singing about on that album. I know what some of the songs are about on Innocents, but he’s such a good lyricist that —and this sounds silly—it never really mattered to me what they were about, because they were always good.

Silverman: Jonah’s a great lyricist and very smart, but I had no idea where he was coming from, and I read those lyrics a thousand times.

I’ve known Jonah since 1989, and he’s definitely tough to figure out sometimes. The lyrics on Prone Mortal Form were especially mysterious to me, but I could tell it was—not to be cheesy, [4] DECIBEL : JANUARY 07 : 55

DECIBEL HALL

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“Prone Mortal Form” and “Slug” were one set of lyrics, but they got pulled apart to make two different songs because obviously there are too many lyrics there. So in “Slug,” there’s the line, “The rhythm of this beast keeps me on,” and before that it goes, “With a little help from the fearless man in charge, we’ll push ourselves back over the fading horizon.” That’s exactly what embodied the movie for me. And then there are two lines in two separate songs that came from that same set of lyrics, which are “Not exactly taciturn, he shared his bottle openly” from “Voice of Disrepair”—which is about the guy drinking the [tank’s] brake fluid—and then “Escape is unfulfilling, but it warms the willing,” from “Slug,” because the brake fluid certainly wasn’t nutritious, but it warmed him up.

Where do the rest of the lyrics to “Voice of Disrepair” come from?

The Nature of The Beast The original scribbles behind Prone’s cinematic score

but—deep. He talked to us about that movie a little bit, but I had no idea that the lyrics had anything to do with it.

How are the lyrics on Prone Mortal Form tied into the film The Beast?

Jenkins: The Beast wasn’t that great of a movie from a Hollywood perspective—I mean, it had “Russians” with American accents—but it went pretty deep into the consciousness of its characters and the conflicts within them.

I don’t know if the director was doing it on purpose, but I think his goal was to make the viewer feel… not sympathetic, but uncomfortably connected to the bad guys. And of course when the movie came out, Russia was still part of the Soviet Union, and we were funding the Mujadeen, who eventually became the Taliban and Al-Qaeda. But at the time, we were sending them as much money as we could to fight the Communists. [Laughs] What that movie did for me, as I was thinking about what was changing in hardcore and metal and what I loved about it, was like, OK, I know it’s not all about peace and love. There are people who just wanna come and cause problems. And that wasn’t what I was used to; it’s not about conflict for me. It might not be about togetherness, but it is a common experience of trying to escape from the outside world. And even within that tank, in the movie, there are all these competing priorities—they have to finish their mission; they have to remain together, but what happens wwwhen at 56 : JANUARY 07 : DECIBEL

least one amongst you is not being cool? How do you then deal with that? What does the group dynamic have to do with resolving that conflict? And from my perspective back then, in the hardcore and metal world, it was us against everyone else. No one else understood.

There’s that brutal scene in which they make the Mujadeen fighter lay down under the tank and they run him over.

Jenkins: I know, it’s excruciating… the name of the album actually comes from that guy being left in the tank treads. These guys think they’re fighting a war, but really, they should just get in their tank and go home. The only component of that movie that I wanted to work into the lyrics that I couldn’t was the code that the Mujadeen lived by, which was that even if you’re mortal enemies with someone, if that person asks you for solace, you have to give it to them. And again, I related that back to my interpretation of the world, thinking, you know, if people behaved with some sort of moral code that might be a good thing. But obviously, as we all find out, moral codes are sometimes exploited.

When did you realize you were being influenced by the movie?

Jenkins: I was literally laying on the floor with a notebook, watching the movie on cable and writing lines as they came into my head. I had seen it before in the theater, though, so it’s tough to say when that initially happened. Originally

Jenkins: I had a job working third shift at UPS, which was down the street from our practice space in Billerica. So I would go to practice, go to work, and then drive home. Sometimes I’d work till 4:30 in the morning and then drive home. I was probably 20 at the time. So one night I picked up this hitchhiker who was just out of his mind in many ways—he was obliterated, and he was just rambling about this strange plot that he was associated with that had something to do with the governor. All he remembered was the badge number of the policeman who was out to get him.

He wouldn’t tell me the number, but that line in the song—“Standing on his head and always landing on his feet” was something he said to me about how he coped with the fact that he was being chased by the governor’s minions. He was probably schizophrenic. [Laughs] Oh, and he offered me a drink, which I didn’t take, because I was driving, but that ties back into the line, “shared his bottle openly.” The idea wasn’t just that he shared his bottle—he shared everything that came out of his bottle, because he couldn’t stop talking. [Laughs] And then the song goes, “terrified by something seen,” because this guy was scared about something he had witnessed—which also worked in terms of the name of the band.

Then we started talking about all kinds of general misanthropic topics, so the next line is about “mutual misanthropy.” And then it goes, “Certain pleasures taken from him, never meant to want to be.” He couldn’t have a house or a wife, so he was just a drifter who got wasted. He didn’t ever intend to exist. And then “Emptier, known as a number” came from him talking about becoming a statistic. He said, “You’re gonna read about me, but I’ll be a statistic, so you won’t know it’s me”—which also tied into the thing about the badge number. The next time I saw that guy was a couple weeks later; he was standing at the busiest intersection in Nashua, New Hampshire with his pants down, pissing into traffic.

DECIBEL HALL

Where did the opening line from “VTA”— “Bullets in the bathroom wall are more a sign of putting up than giving into anything you’d think of giving into”—come from?

Jenkins: That actually came from a news story about a guy who took hostages and then shot himself in the bathroom of a McDonald’s in Texas. I think it happened in 1990. It was one of those I-just-can’t-take-it-anymore situations. The guy had been working hard his whole life, and who knows what made him snap? “VTA” stands for Veracity, Tenacity and Aspirin—which is the stuff that helps us not do that kind of thing.

[Laughs] It was a purposeful homonym there, because it could be “veracity” or “voracity”— either truth or hunger.

What about “December”?

Jenkins: The first few lines came from waking up one morning and just being awestruck by the beauty of my girlfriend at the time and having this totally different reality of, you know, I live in Boston now, I’m writing this album that’s actually going to come out on a label—and all of a sudden things weren’t so terrible. And “the roar in my ears” was a line that came from the set of lyrics that was originally “Slug,” with “the rhythm of this grinding beast” because it’s so loud in the tank that they just kind of get lost in it—that’s their escape.

And then “December” talks about “citadel defend-

ing.” “Crafted understandings” is something I got because I started working at Harvard and I was looking at all these books and realizing that there’s a very strict way of interpreting the universe if you go to one of these higher learning institutions.

I felt those kinds of ideas kept people away from what I perceived as this sort of cocoon of creativity and underground productivity—doing things for the sake of doing them. That was the citadel I was referring to, which included the metal and hardcore scene and everything in it—including the escapism. It was a social barrier, and we fought to keep it. We wanted to be separate; we wanted to be unique—that was our armor in the world. You see these people with their boots and braces, or their leather jackets, and really, you know, that’s their uniform. The implication is, “You should be afraid of me because I’m so badass.” [Laughs] Jonah did guest vocals on recent albums by Converge and 36 Crazyfists. What do you make of the resurgence in interest the band seems to be getting?

Silverman: It’s funny, because my wife’s father is Sterling Morrison, who was a guitarist for the Velvet Underground, and there are so many similarities between the two bands. We didn’t sell records, and outside of Boston, I didn’t know anyone who liked us. We’d play a show out of state, and no one would be there. And no one

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saw the Velvet Underground outside of New York back in their day, either. It’s funny to find out, years later—as they did—that they had influenced so many people.

Not that you would’ve necessarily wanted it, but it seems like Only Living Witness could’ve easily been the East Coast counterpart to a Soundgarden, Alice in Chains or Nirvana kind of band.

Silverman: That’s very flattering, but we never thought about anything like that. At least I didn’t. I was happy to put out a record on a record label. To me, that was making it. All the bands I listened to as a kid—with the exception of Black Sabbath and KISS—were on independent record labels. No band I really liked was really on a major. But you know, I heard people talking like that, and after we put out Prone Mortal Form, it sparked a lot of interest from major labels. Obviously, no deal went through.

I think Century Media was looking for a lot of money to release us from our contract—plus, we were young and naïve and we didn’t have a manager. That’s what killed the band, honestly—we had to do all of our business with the record label directly, and it hurt the band. Jonah did most of the talking with the label, and he’s a very passionate person, so it became a personal thing. So I don’t think we ever really had the chance to grow, and I don’t think Century Media,

Can I Get A Witness?

CONVERGE vocalist Jake Bannon and SHADOWS FALL vocalist Brian Fair have already gone on record—both in the studio and the pages of Decibel—about their love for Only Living Witness.

Here are some testimonials from a few other notable Witness heads —J. Bennett AARON TURNER (vocalist/guitarist, Isis/Old Man Gloom) When I discovered Witness, I was definitely in my full-on hardcore mode.

I had sort of denied the fact that I still liked things like Soundgarden, Alice in Chains, Nirvana and shit like that. Not to discount what Witness were doing, but I felt they were bringing elements of harder rock into the hardcore format, so it was almost an acceptable form of this other stuff that I had liked in the past melded with the stuff that I was currently into. It helped me realize that musical boundaries weren’t all that important as long as the music was good.

NATE NEWTON (bassist, Converge; vocalist/guitarist, Doomriders; bassist, Old Man Gloom) I was late to the Only Living Witness train, because I’m from the South, but I remember the first time I heard them. I had just joined Converge and someone put them on, and I was like, ‘What is this?

Gimme some of that!’ From the first time I heard them, I thought they were great.

When Jake brought up the idea of getting Jonah to sing on our new record, I was like, ‘That’s a fucking great idea. Let’s do it.’

MARK THOMPSON (Team Leader, Hydra Head Records) When Prone Mortal Form came out in ‘93 I was still at that point where I thought great bands were untouchable people. And yet this band, which was beyond undeniable to me, were the type of guys— Jonah especially—that you’d see at shows or on the street. His voice and his lyrics were unlike anything else I listened to at the time, and to this day he’s still got one of the single best voices in rock.

This record was like a stiff arm to Boston metal and hardcore; it totally upped the ante. It’s one of my favorite records to this day.

DAVE PYBUS (bassist, Cradle of Filth) When I first heard Only Living Witness, it was the week of release of their second album, Innocents.

I was on a press trip in Germany and their label Century Media gave me this huge pile of CDs. That was the only one that stood out for me and I went on to dig out their first album and have loved them ever since. I still turn people on to them now. I never got a chance to see or meet them, but I still claim they were one of the best bands of that style.

PAULA HOGAN (General Manager, Candlelight Records USA) Prone Mortal Form was an album ahead of its time, with high-caliber musicianship in a hardcore forum, intelligent lyrics and a singer that has more charisma than many even still today. Undervalued, and at the time, under-appreciated and yet one of the best heavy albums I am proud to have in all formats—including European pressings—in my collection (not to mention the endless swag, demos and other merchandise). Jonah, Eric, Chris & Craig—thanks for the memories!

DECIBEL HALL

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Prone positions (left to right): The original, European, and re-released PMF vs. OLW’s first 7-inch comp

at the time, was capable of promoting us. They didn’t know how to. We weren’t hardcore, we weren’t metal, we weren’t Soundgarden. I could never figure out why they wanted to sign us in the first place. And that doesn’t make them bad—I have no animosity toward them whatsoever. They were a young label back then, too, and I think they had just blown a ton of money on that crappy Cro-Mags record, Alpha Omega.

Do you think your appeal was artificially limited by the fact that you were pegged as a hardcore band?

Silverman: I think people just didn’t know where we were coming from. But because we were tagged as a hardcore band, we’d play hardcore shows and the kids would know immediately that we weren’t a hardcore band, and they’d be instantly turned off. And that’s kinda how it was. We were very well-received overseas, though. Prone Mortal Form came out in May of ’93, and we went to Europe in August of ’93 with the Cro-Mags—or I should say Cro-Mag, because it was just John Joseph, who is a great guy, by the way. It was cool because it was one of our first real tours, and I got to tour with one of my favorite bands ever. And you know, it was funny because there were a lot of skinheads at those shows—especially in Germany—but we went over really well. In the States, it was difficult for us to do any kind of touring because we couldn’t even really afford to put gas in the van.

We didn’t get any kind of tour support from the label, and we didn’t have management, so… we wanted to, but we just couldn’t.

How did you decide to use microphotography for the album cover?

Stevenson: Someone referred me to a guy named Mike Sannicandro, and he does microphotography. He literally has a camera hooked up to a microscope and takes pictures of slides and stuff.

I really don’t know what he’s photographing— bacteria, or what—but it’s cool. The album cover didn’t come out quite like we expected, though, and I’m not necessarily the biggest fan of the way it looks. When Jonah and I were talking about doing the cover for the reissue, I suggested that we try to go more simple, like the black-andwhite cover that ended up on the front. With the 58 : JANUARY 07 : DECIBEL

original, I felt we tried to be a little too artsy for the type of band we were. We were trying not to do a cover like your basic metal band would do, but it doesn’t work so much, for me, on the Prone Mortal Form album. But I’m glad it’s not, like, some guy moshing in a pit, either.

Jenkins: Yeah, Micro Angelo… [Laughs] Mike Sannicandro grew all these crystals in his house and took pictures of them under a microscope using different lighting and different minerals. He came up with some incredible stuff. We didn’t really intend for it to be as simple as Century Media made it, because obviously it looks like they took about two seconds to put it together, but the imagery was striking enough… I actually wanted the image that ended up on the inside to be on the cover, but I’m happy with our choice. I like that the cover looked like there was some sort of living thing there, but you couldn’t really identify it. So Prone Mortal Form could be anything prone, and hopefully people would interpret it as something living. I actually just found the original photos—we’re gonna use them for the full-length vinyl that’s coming out.

What’s your favorite song on the album?

Silverman: “Slug.” The first time I heard it, I wasn’t even in the band. I roadied for them back when Eric’s brother, Kevin, was the guitar player.

I remember they were playing with Sam Black Church and Wrecking Crew at Bunratty’s in 1990, and they opened with that song to a largely skinhead audience. At the time, the guys in the band all had crazy-long hair. They were the first band that night, they opened with “Slug,” and I remember the whole place went berserk. So every time I hear that song, that’s what I think of—just seeing those guys beat the fuck out of each other.

Crowley: Probably “December”—it’s a pretty powerful song, and it had a lot of qualities we strived for. It had some of the heaviest parts we ever had in a song and some of the most melodic, and that’s what we were trying to achieve.

Jenkins: “Voice of Disrepair” is my favorite. I think it’s the best representation of our different musical influences. I like the dynamics, the vocal melody—which is probably ripped off from “Children of the Grave,” which, ironically is pretty close to the music for “December.”

Stevenson: If I had to pick a favorite, I’d have to say “December”—I think it really captures what we were about in one song.

It’s got that modern kind of heaviness mixed with Black Sabbath. But I like “Prone Mortal Form” and “Slug,” too, whereas “Twitching Tongues” and “Nineveh” aren’t up to par. And I love “VTA,” now, too, but at the time I wanted to take it out of the set because I couldn’t stand it. It seemed like a “rah-rah-rah” Boston hardcore song, and I just wasn’t into it. [Laughs] But now that it’s all over, I think it’s one of the best songs we ever did.

In retrospect, is there anything you’d change about Prone Mortal Form?

Silverman: Well, I thought it sounded great at the time—and I still think it’s good—but I wish it was a little less polished. Maybe then people would’ve understood a little more what we were about. I think Tim O’Heir did a great job, but I don’t think that’s what we sounded like. It didn’t represent the kind of band we were live. We were a pretty active live band—I remember going overseas and people telling us they had no idea that we’d be like that. They thought we were gonna be shoegazers, making sure we didn’t mess up or something like that.

[Laughs] We weren’t like that at all, and it surprised people.

Stevenson: When I hear “Nineveh” now, I don’t know why we ever did that song. At the time, I liked it—it reminded me of Cro-Mags’ Best Wishes or something—but 13 years later, I’m not crazy about it. I wish that song and “Twitching Tongues” weren’t on the album and that we put better songs in their place. Actually, I wouldn’t have “Root” on there, either. [Laughs] After we did the recording, we dropped the tuning of “Voice of Disrepair” from D to C and started doing it live that way. We made the ending faster, too, and people would go crazy—so I wish we had figured that out before we went into the studio, too, because it was better. But what can you do? Music is entirely subjective, so something that I might think is amazing, you could play it for 10 people who would think it stinks.

You never know.

Jenkins: I’d get rid of the guitar solos. I didn’t want them on there to begin with, but it was one of the linkages between the old Witness with Kevin and Roy, and the Witness that did Prone Mortal Form. I also wish we could have waited a little longer and included a couple more songs, because the next two songs we wrote were “Freaklaw” and “Some Will Never Know,” which I think belonged on this album. But it was quite a long time before those songs came along. That said, I guess I wouldn’t really appreciate the album more if it were longer. Not that I’m disappointed with what we came up with. It’s what we were. A

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number one

album

year of the

mastodon 62 : JANUARY 07 : DECIBEL

warner bros./relapse

MASTODON: JON PUSHNIK

0⁄

Blood Mountain

T

H E R E S U LTS FROM Decibel’s inaugural Album of

the Year round-up remain contested. Back in 2004, the Dillinger Escape Plan’s Miss Machine and Converge’s You Fail Me forced a split-decision and Mastodon’s previous opus, Leviathan fell into the #3 slot. Half of this magazine’s readership thought we’d been caught with our pants down, but ’04 was a pretty incredible year for extreme music, right? We’re as certain now as we were then that we made the right decision. Which is to say: We’re not completely convinced.

Dewey could not defeat Truman this year, though: Mastodon kept it wolf on Blood Mountain with a magical Cysquatch and a colony of Birchmen and cruised into the #1 slot by a fucking landslide. In a year where everybody stretched the thematic conceits of Leviathan (nautical enthusiasts Giant Squid and Ahab) or borrowed its raging riffs (young bucks the Sword and Gojira), nobody sounded as playful or expansive or defiant as Mastodon in 2006. “It’s a big deal and it feels great,” laughs Mastodon guitarist Bill Kelliher when we break the news that Blood Mountain grabbed top honors in this year’s Decibel poll. “I try not to take any of that stuff too seriously, though, because the glow tends to wear off quickly when your wife responds to the news by asking you to scrub the toilet.”

On purely artistic terms, there was no contest. Drummer Brann Dailor made good on years of hyping The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway as his favorite record with his jazzy fills. Troy Sanders and Brent Hinds upended expectations by adopting a “cleaner” vocal style. Mastodon figured out how to make videos that don’t suck, as evidenced by the Victorian ghost story clip for “The Wolf Is Loose” and a simple, but highly effective nature vs. nurture set-up for “Colony of Birchmen.” Hell, “The Wolf Is Loose” doesn’t even have a hook—not what we expected from a lead single in a summer that also bred Lamb of God’s “Redneck”—but Hinds and Kelliher sell it on riffs alone.

If Leviathan was a spiritual successor to Remission, then Blood Mountain is a rejection of doctrine and an upheaval at the Church of Mastodon. Tracks like “Capillarian Crest” stick with the tried-and-true Mastodon formula, but the quartet seems committed to playing against type across the rest of the record. The spastic fits at the beginning of “Bladecatcher” and the ponderous instrumental that closes the record (“Pendulous Skin”) are practically diametric opposites. Theme is less important than tone

on Blood Mountain—the group’s more interested in juxtaposing interesting sounds and textures than repeating Leviathan’s comparatively rigid exercise in writing to fit a narrative.

“There was a brief moment where we discussed having Blood Mountain tell one complete story with one continuous piece of music, but we obviously ended up going in a different direction,” notes Kelliher. “Still, we used a lot of different keys and tuning and put a lot of effort into segues and trying to match songs with similar elements. We did five or six sequences and kept fighting over the placement of ‘The Wolf Is Loose’ and ‘Crystal Skull’ and wondering which song offered the best introduction. All of our records have a certain flow, but this is the record where we agonized over details.”

With Warner Bros., the Mastodudes find themselves in a comfortable situation with one of the last major labels left that pays any atten-

date—though QOTSA’s Josh Homme, who jokes about piracy on the record’s hidden track, wasn’t to blame.

“It’s amazing how fast that version spread.

The label sent out a copy-protected CD, which means that someone had to play it through a stereo and tape it. Our original gripe wasn’t even that it leaked—just that the version sounded terrible,” Kelliher muses. “I guess you can always go the Metallica route and freak out: Don’t download this or we’ll put you in jail! But true fans will either wait or download it and then buy it. In the long run, I’m hopeful that it might actually help.”

Besides, the group’s literary role model Herman Melville only sold 3,000 copies of MobyDick in his lifetime—guess that novel was a bit of a “grower,” too. For now, moving units is a puzzle best left up the suits; Kelliher has more immediate concerns, like the glaring hole in his

This is the record where we agonized over details.

—guitartist bill kelliher

tion to artist development, but every ounce of promotion chips away at the mystique. So Mastodon’s still working overtime to spread the gospel with a modest success (50,000 copies through its first six weeks) that hasn’t yet approached the sales of some of its up-fromthe-underground peers. Of course, Billboard charts and SoundScan figures don’t take P2P downloads into account. In a semi-ironic twist, an unmastered version of Blood Mountain leaked a few weeks in advance of its September release

display case between Greedo and Spawn that’s begging for plastic replicas of a Cysquatch and a Birchman. Or, if he has his way, action figures of the band itself. “Seriously, we’re already exploring it. The only accessory that will come with mine is a case of beer. And when you pull a string on the figure’s back, it will speak in Spanish. I’d want our figures to be silly, because that’s how we really are,” he explains. “Humor will always be our best coping mechanism.”

—NICK GREEN

TOP 40 A LBUMS OF 2006 : J A N U A R Y 0 7 : 6 3

number two

battle of mice 0¤

A Day of Nights neurot

i

’m not at all interested in doing the same thing, the same way, over and over,” Julie Christmas declares between sips of coffee from somewhere on 34th Street as we talk on the phone. “I don’t even always write lyrics as myself, or even from a human point of view. First I create a character, then I inhabit it. I might pretend to be a hinge on a door, and write from its perspective.” Maybe it’s the hinge talk, or maybe the cell connection: The protean frontwoman for Made Out of Babies and Battle of Mice does sound a little squeaky—but warmly so. She’s genuinely friendly, a hell of a lot less intimidating than anyone who’s heard her perineumchilling performance on the stunning A Day of Nights might expect—a smart, eccentric post-kid just becoming aware of the unearthly power she wields, strolling through Midtown Manhattan while she tells Decibel she thinks she’s nuts, loving every minute of it. What does she have to lose? “It doesn’t bother me,” she says nonchalantly. “Most of the people I really respect have, mmm, interesting personalities?”

64 : JANUARY 07 : DECIBEL

Those people include Diamanda Galás, who Christmas saw for the first time a few months ago. “I can’t tell you how flattered I am to be compared to her,” she says. “She did a standard—not a terribly wellknown one by, I think it was Nina Simone. Afterward, she goes, ‘That was one tough bitch,’ which I loved.

Also, she didn’t try to maintain any sort of ‘pretty’ look on stage.

When a situation calls for ugliness, she just dives right into it. I’m like that, too. I think its absolutely necessary—especially in heavy music, even more for a woman in heavy music—to push yourself as hard as you can.”

Growling, screaming, whispering, and giggling over Josh Graham’s monumental metalgaze arrangements, Christmas attacks her roles on A Day of Nights with a depth and intensity that scares the shit out of most listeners—a trait she shares with Galás. While not as seasoned as the older

performer, Christmas has been singing since, as she puts it, “I started breathing.” After graduating from Fiorello H. LaGuardia High School of Music & Art and Performing Arts, she attended Juilliard briefly. “It just wasn’t giving me what I wanted,” she says. “I wanted to be in a band so badly. I found myself in all these improvising situations, where you’d rent a rehearsal studio for an hour or two and do whatever you could as quickly and intensely as possible. Having had to come up with ideas that quickly helps a lot now. But I still love jazz and classical music. Just recently, I’ve started thinking about doing an album of standards. There are so many great old songs, many of them all but forgotten. I’d like to think that I could contribute something as an interpreter in that realm—when the time comes. I’m way too busy at the moment.” —ROD SMITH

number three

converge No Heroes

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e’re total control freaks as a band,” Nate Newton says from the passenger seat of a borrowed van somewhere between Portland, OR, and San Francisco. He’s on tour with his other band, Doomriders, but he’s talking about his main gig as bassist for Salem, MA-based hardcore banshees Converge. “I think a lot of it comes from being rooted in DIY. Back in the early ’90s, when Converge started, if you wanted to do a record, you had to put it out yourself. If you wanted to make t-shirts or book a tour, you screened your t-shirts in your garage and then you got on the phone and booked your tour. I feel like Converge has stuck with that mindset all through our existence, albeit on a somewhat different level now. But it’s still the same thing.”

The consistency has paid off. Converge’s latest achievement is No Heroes, a screeching, wailing death sentence that calls for the heads of the complacent while “praising those who keep the moral and ethical beasts at bay,” as vocalist Jake Bannon explained in last month’s track-by-track breakdown of the album. It’s also quite possibly the band’s finest hour, running neck and neck with 2001’s universally worshipped Jane Doe. Not that Newton, Bannon, drummer Ben Koller, and guitarist/producer Kurt Ballou can be expected to play favorites. “Every record has its own personality, its own history, its own part of you,” Newton offers. “Whenever we finish a

new record, I’m like, ‘This is my favorite,’ but honestly, after some time goes by, I can’t pick a favorite. They all represent different times in my life and different creative obstacles that we’ve climbed over.”

Still, Newton says that No Heroes came together more quickly than all of the band’s previous efforts. “I’d say this one went by in the shortest period of time. When we actually got down to the business of writing a record, it seemed like we flew through it. Songs just kept coming out—partly because Kurt was in a really creative spell for a bit, but partly because all of us were just excited to write some new shit. We

were sick of playing the same stuff.”

While most of No Heroes’ discordant frenzy was whipped up strictly in-house, an early version of “Plagues” came out of the secretive Verge-In sessions, a collaborative effort between members of Converge and Cave In that will eventually yield an official release. “We jammed ‘Plagues’ with the guys from Cave In, but we never really did much with it,” Newton explains. “When Kurt and I were jamming it for No Heroes, a whole song came out of it really naturally, so we were just like, ‘Well, I guess it’s a Converge song.’ ” For the album’s doom-ridden nine-and-a-half minute centerpiece, “Grim Heart/Black Rose,” Converge enlisted the golden throat of former Only Living Witness vocalist Jonah Jenkins (see this month’s Hall of Fame feature for more OLW info). “We maybe took a few more creative chances on that song,” the bassist chuckles.

“Now we just have to get Jonah to join the band.”

Asked to cite his proudest No Heroes moment, Newton reverts to artistic diplomacy. “I don’t really like looking at a record song-by-song,” he says. “I like looking at a record as a whole, and I’m really proud of this record from beginning to end. As far as songwriting, this is without a doubt our strongest album.” —J. BENNETT TOP 40 A LBUMS OF 2006 : J A N U A R Y 0 7 : 6 5

number four

Nachtmystium

0$

C

ould Nachtmystium’s Instinct: Decay be the best anti-black metal album ever recorded? Sure, it has aggressive, lightning bolt riffery and ambient, almost folkish interludes, but this Wheaton, IL troika seem to have transcended all the usual black metal clichés with their melodically infectious guitar work (more Dead Can Dance than, er, Dead) and moaning choruses. They’ll let all the Emperor knockoffs tackle the creepy keyboards and totally sore throats. Even more surprising is that it was fellow USBM musician and friend Wrest (Leviathan, Lurker of Chalice) who turned Nachtmystium mainman Blake Judd onto proto-goth punkers Joy Division and early Interpol recordings, influencing the change. They even toured with post-metal instrumentalists Pelican and Birthday Party crashers Daughters this year. Is this a conspiracy to kill black metal? ¶ “We haven’t done corpsepaint in years,” says Judd, who’s just completed a run of US dates with said unlikely tourmates. “I’m not into people showing up to my shows and cutting themselves up and shit… We’re 66 : JANUARY 07 : DECIBEL

Instinct: Decay battle kommand

not out there to scare the club owners into thinking that the fans that come out to see music like what we perform are gonna leave blood and broken glass all over the place, which is what happens at a lot of these extreme metal shows. There’s a time and a place for that, but we’re totally over that and don’t want to be affiliated with that anymore.”

Furthermore, after antifascist activists effectively killed their European tour with Virginia neo-Nazis Grand Belial’s Key, the apolitical Nachtmystium realized the last thing they want is an association like that. Judd feels there’s too much tightrope walking in the genre, and although he’s not changing his music, he’s also steering clear of anything that would prevent him from reaching as many people as possible. Also, to his surprise, Daughters’ and Pelican’s fans seemed mostly

open to his group, although he says Nachtmystium’s fans would “stick around for 10 minutes of [Daughters’] set and then they’d be gone.” But for Judd, any progress is good progress, and he’s dedicated to distributing black metal on his own Battle Kommand records. After all, he’d discovered black metal through corresponding with people like Emperor’s Bård “Faust” Eithun during his imprisonment via snail mail, the real old school.

“It was nice to not just be a part of Internet black metal shit,” he says. “That’s why we don’t care anymore. It’s easy to go on MySpace and put on your corpsepaint and cut yourself up and take pictures of it. Fucking stupid, man. That’s not what it’s about… The whole idea of this underground, ultra-extreme, old school way of doing things—it can’t exist when you’re doing that.”

—KORY GROW

number five

cult of luna

0fi

t

Somewhere Along the Highway earache

here’s a seven-second time lag between me and Cult of Luna mastermind Johannes Persson, which allows our trans-Atlantic phone interview to play out like one of his band’s songs: initial outburst (read: question), delay, silence, repetition for clarification, build-up, aaaaaaand… catharsis (read: answer)! Annoying as it is for both of us in real life—Persson blowing off steam with some friends at an Oslo bar and yours truly straining to hear him at dB World HQ in Philly—that formula has served the Swedish collective well on wax. Over the last eight years, CoL have reflected, refracted, and now finally exceeded the American post-metal standard, courtesy of the devastatingly morose Somewhere Along the Highway.

While early efforts Cult of Luna and The Beyond mirrored the aggro facet of the Neur-Isis template, and 2004’s Salvation practically suffocated on its own infatuation with sustained tension, Highway makes its points straight away, evoking a rich gamut of bad moods, then marching purposefully toward the gray at the end of the tunnel. The increase in intimacy is owed to an uncharacteristically expedited writing process (“six to eight weeks tops,” the guitarist/vocalist claims), and a commitment to recording as much of Highway live as possible.

“My favorite records of all time are very sloppily played,” Persson notes. “If you listen to old Joy Division songs or if you listen to one of my favorite bands of all time, Unbroken, it’s pretty much, like, trash. You can almost see the guy sitting there playing, and that’s kind of the vibe we wanted to catch too.”

Like the GM of a championship ballclub, Persson made a shrewd series of personnel upgrades to diversify Cult of Luna’s game. He assumed all of the lyrical responsibilities from co-founding vocalist Klas Rydberg, shifting

focus from anarchic rage to meditations on what he terms “male loneliness.” From there, guitarist/art guru Erik Olòfsson and keyboardist Anders Teglund erected foundations based on both Persson’s spare chord patterns and bleak overarching theme. The results? “Finland” and “Back to Chapel Town” inject energy and unpredictability into Salvation’s Frankenstein plod, “Thirtyfour” and “Dim” burst from their cocoons with shocking grandeur, and third vocalist Fredrik Kihlberg reaches Defcon Von Till despondency on eerie interludes “Marching to the Heartbeats” and “And With Her Came the Birds.” The latter, it turns out, is literally more grim and frostbitten than your favorite hipster black metal.

“Even though we did most of the songs live, we decided that on [‘Birds’] we would record everything live at one moment,” Persson reveals.

“It was maybe 3 o’clock in the morning, pitch black outside; we had a couple of candlesticks in the studio. We had a microphone outside of the cottage, so if you listen to the first couple of seconds you can hear a watery sound. That’s actually snow melting outside of the studio.”

—ANDREW BONAZELLI

TOP 40 A LBUMS OF 2006 : J A N U A R Y 0 7 : 6 7

FALSE METAL

ALBUMS OF 2006,

(according to Joe Gross) 1 2 3 4 5

0^ 0‡

Celtic Frost

0*

Enslaved

0·

Tragedy

GOREGRIND

ALBUMS OF 2006,

According to Dr. Morton Fairbanks, The County Medical Examiners

3

4

5

EXTREME

top 40

2

SUBGENRES Pitchfork will make palatable for hipsters, now that black metal is “in” 1 2 3 4 5

nü metal national socialist metalgaze life grind rape-doom ambient thrash

68 : JANUARY 07 : DECIBEL

top $‚ albums of 2006

Jesu

Priestess Hello Master Wolfmother Dimensions EP Saviours Crucifire The Bronx The Bronx Hatebreed Supremacy

1 Regurgitate Sickening Bliss Crackled pitch shifter like crepitating rigor, analogue-warm riffs like teeming bogs of putrefaction, this slippery fast album is the definition of return-toform. It’s this year’s goregrind overture.

General Surgery Left Hand Pathology The surgeons revisit and update their mordant dig on Carcass and prove that, yes, goregrind can be catchy and over-the-top.

Swinging grooves and frenzied blasts paint a crimson picture of malpractice.

Last Days of Humanity Putrefaction in Progress No samples, no irony, nary a dynamic—it’s a solid brick of uncompromising sludge and gurgle. Goregrind at its purest. In time, this swansong will be revered as this decade’s Reek or Chapter.

The Day Everything Became Nothing Invention: Destruction This Aussie all-star band is heavy on the down-tuned chug and sewer drain vocals—goregrind marching music made right!

Gored Dysfunctions (split with CxMxP) The Gored side of this split has more enthusiasm and experimentation than a drunk morgue assistant. Officially a 2005 release, this unsigned German two-piece deserve recognition.

the

Silver t h y d r a h e a d Last year critics stood on their hind legs and barked repeatedly for Jesu’s self-titled brood-fest, but this 29-minute EP is the real treat. Silver’s four lengthy tracks flaunt Justin Broadrick’s signature metalgaze tones while offering a strangely uplifting vibe absent from that aforementioned LP. Maybe it’s the introduction of that Cure-styled melody or the simple fact that “Star” is the best song Broadrick’s ever written in his 20-year career. But for once, his future is, well, bright. —Albert Mudrian

Monotheist t c e n t u r y m e d i a

Martin and Tom, those Swiss titans of yore, stomped the life out of the haters and ground their bones into dust, because Monotheist turned out to be a supremely heavy—like, really fucking heavy—monolith of doom and darkness. Leavened occasionally with goth prettiness and delicacy, most of the album is devoted to riffs that dig their way under your skin until your whole body is simply a receptacle for blackness and evil spewed from ancient metal gods. —Scott Seward

Ruun t c a n d l e l i g h t

Some folks harsh on their turns toward polished prog, but to these ears Ruun is a continuation of the vaulted atmospheric killing they mastered back on Below the Lights—just with a bigger studio budget, more confident songwriting, and a seasoned maturity. Many moments are evocative of Opeth, minus that (also great) band’s occasional descents into borderline goth— such as one of the best tracks, “Path to Vanir,” which revisits Monumension’s Pink Floyd flirtations. —D. Shawn Bosler

Nerve Damage t tragedy Ever notice how the most “elite” and “kvlt” bands are the ones everybody’s seen a million pictures of and read about how elite and underground they are? Meanwhile, Tragedy’s take on D-beat hardcore is catchy as fuck, highly melodic, and dark and dense enough to keep metalheads happy, yet you pretty much have to have seen them live to even know what they look like. On their third LP, Nerve Damage, the sound isn’t so much expanded as it is further honed and sharpened.

—Anthony Bartkewicz

1‚

Gojira

From Mars to Sirius t l i s t e n a b l e / p r o s t h e t i c Gojira would thrive—nay, mack—on a planet twice the size of Earth, double gravity and all. Who knows? The denizens of such a massive sphere might embrace From Mars to Sirius with a vigor we humans simply can’t muster—or at least with more tentacles.

Building on foundations laid by the likes of Morbid Angel and Meshuggah, the Bayonne-based quartet’s third album marries devastation and delicacy with a boldness worthy of Ma Nature herself. —Rod Smith

1!

Agalloch

Upon first listen, it’s hard to believe that Ashes Against the Grain was hand-stitched in the good ol’ US of A. Listen some more and you’ll be amazed that any band could forge elements of the black metal arts with pale folklore to form a seamless and fluid whole, or what some have dubbed “heaven on a stick.” It’s like Opeth, minus the awkwardness… and the record sales.

—Zach Smith

1¤

Burst

1‹

Isis

⁄4

Origo t r elap s e

With their third record, this Gothenburg quintet mixed together every element of heavy music—metal or not—they could find: heavy doses of proggy Neur-Isis psych-metal, avant-garde jazz experimentation, abrasive hardcore vocals, and cutting, sputtery guitargasms. It’s one of the most dramatic 180s in recent heavy history. But since they stumbled on their evolution organically, theirs is also one of the least-contrived progressions in recent history, unlike the legions of newly formed Tools and Cults of Lunatics. If only we could get this band to America… —Kory Grow

ING EXCUSES

FOR NOT HAVING SEX WITH ME,

According to Eugene Robinson, Oxbow Are you kidding?! Are you fucking kidding?!

No one wants to get OUT of having sex with me, jack… I mean, to hear ME tell it. But on those super-infrequent occasions when I’ve heard some shit like that from lesbians (obviously) and lunatics, this is what they’ve said (100% guaranteed true): 1 “I have scabies. Look… see?

They’re making my hair move.”

2 “I love you more than life itself.”

3 “I’ve called the cops.”

4 “My husband [boyfriend/parents/ kids] is [are] in the next room. With a gun.”

5 “It’s BIG… WAY too big.” [Not so much the cock in this instance. Very much so

ALBUMS

In the Absence of Truth t i p ec ac Four albums in, Isis continue to perplex and amaze, confound and impress—while straddling the fine white (black? grey?) line between avant metal and post-rock—or avant rock and post-metal—or whatever it is that the self-appointed geniuses over at Pitchfork are calling it these days. Either way, In the Absence of Truth is the unmistakable sound of a band coming into its own all over again. —J. Bennett

OF 2006,

According to Aaron Turner, Isis 1 This Heat Out of Cold Storage 2 Windmills by the Ocean Windmills by the Ocean 3 Goldfrapp Supernature 4 Spektr Near Death Experience 5 Coil The Ape of Naples

Akercocke

CLIFF MEYER

Words That Go Unspoken, Deeds That Go Undone t e a r a c h e On their first three albums, Akercocke could well be described as the thinking man’s Cradle of Filth, blending death and black metal into a uniquely twisted variant all of their own.

For outing number four, the London quartet went beyond terminal velocity to create an ever-shifting and manifold textured soundscape out of blast beats, Killing Joke arpeggios, Sonic Youth-meets-black metal walls of sound, and Opeth-like arrangements. In short, Words didn’t fail us. —Nick Terry

2006

1 Isis In the Absence of Truth 2 Red Sparowes Every Red Heart Shines Toward the Red Sun 3 The Gersch The Gersch 4 Windmills by the Ocean Windmills by the Ocean 5 Isis + Aereogramme

Taint

ALBUMS NOT QUITE

The Ruin of Nová Roma t r i s e a b o v e / c a n d l e l i g h t This Welsh trio purportedly tinkered with these 10 tracks for a full decade before entering a studio with role model Alex Newport. Fist-pumpers like “Poison Pen Attack” and “The Sound-Out Competition” are both worldly and otherworldly.

Taint’s molten blend of Fudge Tunnel worship and classicist leanings finds its most solid state on “Amarinthine,” where a beguiling supporting turn by a female vocalist named Sian renders similar experiments in ‘06 by In Flames and Kataklysm totally redundant. —Nick Green

RECORDS OF

top ›0

1fi

MOST DISAPPOINT-

Ashes Against the Grain t t he end

“EXTREME”

ENOUGH FOR THE LIST,

According to Andrew Bonazelli 1 2 3 4 5

Oceansize Everyone Into Position Khoma The Second Wave Aereogramme Seclusion Zombi Surface to Air Tool 10,000 Days

TOP 40 A LBUMS OF 2006 : J A N U A R Y 0 7 : 6 9

the

PLACES TO NOT PUKE ON TOUR,

According to Mike Schleibaum, Darkest Hour

top 40

5 Chris Barnes’ bus One time on tour with Six Feet Under, drummer Ryan Parrish puked all over their bus. We were blasting the SFU song that Ice-T sang on. The dudes in SFU were nice, cleaned it up, and actually he got a free t-shirt out of it. But man, let me tell you: that has to be one of the top five places NOT to puke.

4 The hot tub at any Marriott hotel Nothing says “class” like puking in a hot tub. Also nothing says “THE PARTY IS OVER!” I am not saying who, but someone in DH has puked in a few, and really, that’s the way to close out a party.

3 Any strip club Let’s just be honest: DON’T THROW UP IN THE STRIP CLUB. It’s a lot harder to get lap dances and it will surely get you uninvited to the VIP room. At the same time, nothing says “rock star” more than puking your brains out all over yourself and then paying some unsuspecting stripper to give you a lap dance. I am sure this has happened to David Lee Roth at least a few times in his life.

2 The van Most tour puking incidents happen after the party is over and the van starts rolling. Do yourself and your bandmates a favor and BE HONEST. If you’re gonna puke, man, do it outside. I mean, you all live in the van; it’s not cool. There have been plenty of chairs, pillows, blankets and dudes’ sleeping bags thrown out because dudes just can’t do it. P.S. IT IS WORSE TO GET DRUNK AND PEE ON SOMEONE THAN PUKE IN THE VAN. (see Kris Norris on the Party Scars DVD for more info).

1 The girl who just let you stay at her house’s laundry basket Not gonna say who (Sound Mike, Liam), but dudes who we have been on tour with have accidentally mistaken a basket full of clean laundry as a place where a dude should puke. This is a bad idea. It will bum out the people you stay with and probably means you will be kicked out with no place to go that night. Let me just say it’s brutal when someone yells, “Shit, you just puked all over my clean clothes and I have to get on a plane in a few hours!!!”

70 : JANUARY 07 : DECIBEL

top $‚ albums of 2006

1fl

Craft

1&

The Hope Conspiracy

18

Napalm Death

Fuck the Universe t s o uth e r n l o r d Stormblasting across the tundra, Craft generate the most, well, uh, crafty axework of any of the Norwegian corpsepainters: Locust-swarming passages that widen and ominously expand into that trippy sci-fi ancient/future Scandinavian-folksy melancholy feeling that only Nords who shriek in ice-caves seem able to muster. Take the sickest bits from latter Immortal and Satyricon, lacquer it with some green Darkthrone four-to-thefloor punk bile, and you only start to approach the genius of Fuck the Universe. —D. Shawn Bosler

Death Knows Your Name t d e a th w is h , in c .

On the Hope Conspiracy’s first full-length since 2002’s Endnote, the Boston band proved beyond a shadow of a doubt that you can still make vital and furious hardcore that rocks like a motherfucker. THC have set some sort of new benchmark for modern punk, and it wouldn’t be the first time. Fellow benchmark-setter Kurt Ballou makes Death Knows Your Name swing and stomp and flail like an SSD pit crew circa 1982. This album is a call to arms and filled with an urgency that is anything but by-thenumbers aggro posturing. —Scott Seward

Smear Campaign t c e n tur y me d ia

Only 18 months removed from the titanic The Code Is Red… Long Live the Code, Barney Greenway and our intrepid grindcore heroes return with a new target. Aiming 16 gut punches at the religious right, Smear Campaign seethes with a righteous anger and feral intensity that bands half Napalm’s vintage can only hope to attain. Twelve studio albums and 25 years into their career and still essential—now that’s punk and metal as fuck. — Albert Mudrian

1(

Planes Mistaken for Stars Mercy t abacus

Gravel ‘n’ whiskey-throated frontman Gared O’Donnell and his crew of Denver-dwelling booze fighters deliver some serious spare chunge on their third full-length, simultaneously confirming and denying all Paw allusions in one fell swoop and ruling our faces with one of the dirtiest, most satisfying rock records of the last five years. Bonus points for the shrewd marketing of that “Snakes on Planes” tour with These Arms Are Snakes.

—J. Bennett

2)

Iron Maiden

A Matter of Life and Death t sanctuary After 2005’s Ozzfest debacle, the ageless wonders returned with all guns blazing, their 14th album bursting with youthful ferocity, yet displaying the focus of master craftsmen. Not a drastic departure by any stretch, but brilliantly honed, the robust, unpolished production, the finest groove riff since “2 Minutes to Midnight” in “The Reincarnation of Benjamin Breeg” (their best single in years), and a mature perspective on this war-ridden world contributes to Maiden’s most impassioned work in nearly two decades. —Adrien Begrand

2¤

Fucked Up

2#

DragonForce

Suffocation t r elaps e

Once again it takes the masters to show the neophytes how it’s done. The Long Island blast beat kings completely trounce their mostly-monotonous 2004 Souls to Deny comeback with the best traditional death metal album this year, simply because the band sounds like, well, Suffocation. Still cramming as many styles of metal possible into a single song (grind, shred, thrash, hardcore, gore, etc.), Suffocation still overshadow all the Xerox rattlers they influenced. —Kory Grow

Hidden World t j ad e t r ee

MOST

RIDICULOUS

REQUESTS TO RELAPSE MAILORDER staff, Relapse Mailorder gets a lot of oddball requests. Never mind the requests for long out-of-print LPs or for their one-man bedroom goregrind project to get signed; I’m talking about things that make even the mailorder staff scratch our heads. So here are five of the best requests that we have received:

top ›0

2⁄

Suffocation

What Fucked Up do is secret. They damage, flip wigs, and fuse the lamb and goat as one. No joke, Hidden World turns hardcore inside out as much as any acknowledged punk classic.

After releasing nothing but singles for their first five years, the Toronto band has released its first LP, a singular statement in hardcore, where six-minute songs, psychedelic instrumental passages, violin and whistling meet raw-throated three-chord punk. And it works damn near seamlessly, like the Scriptureheavy “Crusades” and “Triumph of Life,” a dense history of evolution. That’s Fucked Up. —Anthony Bartkewicz

Inhuman Rampage t r o ad r u nner

History has shown us that the best bands polarize opinion.

And if DragonForce do one thing well, it’s getting people to waste their breath, claiming this British “extreme power metal” outfit are derivative and include too much speed and guitar wank. Of course, they answered by revving it up even faster on Inhuman Rampage, making choruses out of melodic gold and shredding like a ColecoVision on acid with one of the year’s most musically exciting and entertaining albums.

2

—Kevin Stewart-Panko

@4

Jucifer

2%

Killswitch Engage

If Thine Enemy Hunger t r elap s e

3

The words “alt-metal” may conjure disturbing visions of Nudeswirl and Mindfunk (and New Jersey, in general), but it may be the only proper description of the nomadic boyfriendgirlfriend duo Ed Livengood and Amber Valentine. The band’s Relapse debut applies this grungy/pretty amalgam to great effect as “Pontius of Palia” echoes Veruca Salt, “Ludlow” sounds like any Melvins track, while “Medicated” could have easily been written by Tanya Donnelly. Thanks, Jucifer— Decibel loves the ’90s, too! —Albert Mudrian

As Daylight Dies t r o ad r u nner

Armed with a production so monumental that major labels will be beating down Adam Dutkiewicz’s door begging for the secret formula, Killswitch’s fourth album did what it had to do: out-perform and out-play every pretender to the NWOAHM throne of the past few years. With Howard Jones let loose to turn songs into anthems—above all on “This Is Absolution”— Killswitch Engage took metalcore from 8mm to widescreen.

How the pretenders will respond is anyone’s guess.

—Nick Terry

4 5

1 THE LETTER. A regular customer of ours is in a mental hospital in New York for taking a school hostage and demanding Ronald Reagan’s resignation (or at least this is the best story he has told us). He sent us a three-page letter asking that we forward it to the Church of Satan. In it, he claims he is “the great beast of revelation, or god on Earth” and that through his sixth sense he had been led to us, and that he is—and that we need to come forward and recognize him as—God. Only then will he be freed and not be forced to take “the highest dose of psychotropic medication there is.” It’s really quite a read.

We received letters about a month apart from the same guy that both started out with, “Relapse, I am the musical group…”

He claimed to be Mortician and Suffocation in each one of the respective letters, and asked that we send him all sorts of merchandise for free. It made it so much better since both Mortician and Suffocation are based in New York, and he was asking for his requests to be sent to South Carolina. We receive a lot of requests for free stuff, but this was simultaneously the most creative and dumbest request we have ever seen.

A kid who could not have been any older than 8 or 9 would call Relapse’s 800 line daily and start singing to us. He even sent us some tapes of his songs and raps and him singing along with bands like Slipknot.

He finally requested that we send a limousine up to Massachusetts to pick him and his parents up to be brought down to Relapse so he could discuss a record contract.

A customer who is in prison asked for pictures of the staff’s girlfriends in a letter.

A customer requested that his zip code not be put on his packages because he was exempt from using them since he was an American National (whatever that means).

Not wanting the packages returned, we would put the zip code on them. He would call when he received he packages and angrily tell us again to not put a zip code on his packages.

the

FLAGS, According to Gunface, The Red Chord

You might have heard of the American flag, but did you know that other countries have flags too? Yeah, I was surprised to hear this also, but I checked it out and you’ll be excited by what I found. Rather than take too much time away from your busy schedule, I decided to just tell you about the five best ones.

5 Barbados Our other guitar player, Jonny Fay, recently attended a wedding in Barbados. He keeps telling us about the Barbados money in his wallet. Like we’re fucking impressed. I’d rather just sit in my room at home than go anywhere. I don’t know if you’ve noticed, but there’s a fucking trident on this flag. That’s right, a trident. That just happens to be the scepter of choice for my buddy Poseidon, god of the sea. He and I were talking the other day (Poseidon, not Jonny Fay), and we came up with a really cool idea. It’s a fish tank/air conditioner.

The unit would sit in your window and the condensation from the air would circulate the tank’s water so you don’t have to change it! And it would give the room a refreshing fish scent! We’re geniuses. Don’t steal that idea or I’ll delete you from my Top 8.

4 Ireland I might be a little biased on this one because I am about 90% Irish. You can imagine my delight when I discovered Ireland had a flag too! All my dreams are coming true!

Unfortunately, lots of other people have discovered this as well. People who have the tiniest drop of Irish blood are getting tattoos of the flag. Or worse, they have one that says “Irish Pride” or “Hey guys, I love potatoes and Guinness.” If you’re going to print that you’re Irish on your body, make sure that said body is Irish.

3 Nepal Every other flag: rectangular. Nepal’s flag: not rectangular. Try that on for size, George W. 2 Dominican Republic My high school friend Justin’s father was from the Dominican Republic. He used to call me Big Head. I have a head about the size of a giant alien spaceship with tons of brains in it that thinks about lots of things. We played Marathon, the Mac version of Doom, all the time back then. He had four or five computers in his basement and we’d all play against each other. Justin was the kind of kid who would take a 1,000-page book on quantum theory out of the library at age 15 and read it over the weekend for fun. We spent a lot of time yelling things like “Sergeant Forehead!” and “Lips!”

1 Japan Some of you who know me might think that I picked Japan’s flag for the sole reason that I am obsessed with the country.

And yeah, I am a fan of the land of the rising sun, but we’re talking about flags, OK? This flag goes straight to the point. It’s not saying, “Hey guys, maybe if you’re interested, I don’t know, you could think about coming over and playing some video games?” This flag says, “You’re coming over, we’re going to headbang the TV into the floor and dress up as giant spiders at 2 a.m.” That’s what I’m talking about!

72 : JANUARY 07 : DECIBEL

top $‚ albums of 2006

2^

Katatonia

2‡

Unearthly Trance

2°

Goatwhore

@·

Scott Walker

3)

Genghis Tron

The Great Cold Distance t p e a c e v il l e On The Great Cold Distance, the newest chapter in Katatonia’s steady, subtle evolution, the Swedish greats achieve a nearperfect blend of understated vocals and brooding doom, besting 2003’s heralded Viva Emptiness. The days of his death growl a distant memory, Jonas Renkse has become a devastating singer, his hushed croon seeming detached at first, only to pack a massive emotional wallop, ranging from seething sentiment (“Leaders”) to matters of his own darkened heart (“In the White”). —Adrien Begrand

The Trident t r e l a p s e

It’s hard to tell whether Ryan Lipynsky is a black metal wolf in sheep’s clothing or a hardcore apologist with a thoroughly black heart. As with past releases, Unearthly Trance’s latest full-length is a painstakingly arranged catalogue of Lipynsky’s creepy obsessions: numerology, the occult, Aleister Crowley.

On “Wake Up and Smell the Corpses,” Lipynsky erects a papier mâché facsimile of the New York City skyline and stomps all over it like Godzilla. When these dudes throw goat, they mean it. —Nick Green

A Haunting Curse t metal blade

As much as metal bands propagate death, destruction and hell, it’s rare that any true tragedy inspires them. But when a band carries on against the odds—for Goatwhore, Hurricane Katrina’s devastation in hometown New Orleans—it makes for some of their best work (e.g. Mayhem, AC/DC and Immortal). From sheer tenacity, and a few of Ben Falgoust’s leftover nine lives from his other band, Soilent Green, A Haunting Curse’s charred, downtuned “dark metal” and cryptic lyrics about Katrina makes it their best yet. —Kory Grow

The Drift t 4 a d

Obvious subtitle: “Apocalypse Now.” For his first album in 11 years, the ex-crooner-turned-iconic-weirdo crafted an onyxblack masterpiece of sound and vision. Slabs of meat are used as percussion, “Jesse” invokes Presley’s dead twin, and opener “Cossacks Are” sounds like the bits of the Birthday Party that the Bad Seeds left behind. No 63-year-old recording artist has ever made an album this grim, this relentless, this oppressively heavy. —Joe Gross

Dead Mountain Mouth t c r uc ia l b l a s t Hardcore is not an exact science: 10% of Dead Mountain Mouth is straight-up hero worship, but everything else is a testament to Genghis Tron’s seemingly limitless imagination. The trio counts off to infinity with Kraftwerk-era pocket calculators on “Warm Woods” and tools around with time signatures and monster riffs on nine other tracks of hostile noise. Kind of like Q*Bert taking target practice against the collected works of Converge—with beats! Let the bodies hit the (dance) floor. —Nick Green

‹1

Made Out of Babies Coward t neu r o t

The Battle of Mice record is scoring well-deserved accolades, but let’s not forget that it wouldn’t have happened if not for its principals touring together in Red Sparowes and Made Out of Babies. Unlike Red Sparowes’ wordless cinematics, Coward stitches scummy NYC noise rock to lurching Melvins ball-kicking.

Guitarist Brendan Tobin describes the Brooklyn scene around them as “all this dancey electro-what-have-you,” while Made Out of Babies are anything but detached or background music and vocalist Julie Christmas sounds almost too committed. —Anthony Bartkewicz

#2

Engineer Reproach t hex

It was a good year for tiny Syracuse label Hex, who got our attention with two white noise nailbombs in the form of Achilles and Engineer. The latter just got called up to AAA (Guy Kozowyk’s Black Market Activities), and their stuff is filthy. Conjuring Botch in the best way, Engineer execute new math pyrotechnics without removing their grimy fingernails from the jugular. The quartet excels at balance, rampaging full-speed-ahead but still wrenching memorable riffs and breaks out of the chaos. —Andrew Bonazelli

3‹

Lamb of God

UNINTENTIONAL

NÜ METAL

MOMENTS OF 2006, by Decibot

1 Tom Araya channels his inner Method Man on Christ Illusion. Slayer is for the children!

2 Tom G. Warrior ushers in the Celtic Frost revival with a spiffy new wardrobe… straight from Wes Scantlin of Puddle of Mudd’s closet.

3 Isis record album-length cover of Tool’s “Undertow” and peddle it to less annoying fans as In the Absence of Truth.

4 Norselaw perverts Enslaved with a record of “Viking metal rap”; Enslaved responds with song “Path to Vanir,” which sounds like every Linkin Park song EVER. 5 Decibel editors arrange Akercocke and Taint side-by-side on the year-end top 40 list.

Huh huh, where’s Alabama Thunderpussy?

ALBUMS OF 2006, Ac-

cording to Blake Judd, Nachtmystium 1 2 3 4 5

Sacrament t ep i c

Enough of the metalcore comparisons already. Like an HDTV presentation of a tar pit or a particularly dead potted plant, Lamb of God’s fourth full-length is a granular and grimy tour de brutal force rightfully proclaimed “Pure American Metal.” Which means no bullshit breakdowns, some rather sick guitar work, and vocals as scorched as the earth will be if North Korea has its way. The “motherfucking invitation” of “Redneck” is also easily the best mainstream metal moment of the year. —Andrew Parks

3$

Boris

3fi

Kylesa

Pink t s o u t her n lo r d Japanese power trio Boris divide their poly-metallic output into two categories: “heavy” and “experimental.” Neither, as any Borishead will tell you, is mutually exclusive. But, of the gazillion or so records the band has released since its mid ’90s inception, new “heavy” disc Pink is arguably the most complete. Boasting nearequal doses of longhaired blooz, Lower East Side drone, and shoegazerrific sludge, Pink is Boris in a nutshell, an essential release from a genre elite. —Brent Burton

WAYS TO GET

INTO DECIBEL, According to Greg Weeks, The Red Chord 1 Be a crappy band, a band that takes themselves too seriously, or a band that has dudes wearing makeup. You’re sure to get made fun of by a jerk like me in the pages of Decibel.

2 Be Mastodon.

3 Bond with the staff of Decibel over really bad music, i.e.

Fieldy’s Dreams or Cowboy Troy, and then blackmail them with this info. This is also a good way to get a 10 out of 10.

4 Get a 10 out of 10.

5 Send in naked pictures of yourself on a leopard skin blanket holding a heart-shaped lollipop. I’m serious, this one actually works.

Time Will Fuse Its Worth t pr o s t hetic With their latest country-fried doom/crust hybrid, this Georgia quintet has moved beyond making music as purposefully ugly as the Pushead covers that graced their earliest releases. The group’s collective heart beats twice as fast with the addition of two new drummers, but it’s the quieter moments—thank you, Ronnie Van Zant—that ultimately give the record its crushing weight. Given the band’s hooch hound tendencies, every bartender south of the Mason/Dixon line is counting on you to make this a success. —

Dawnbringer In Sickness and in Dreams Om Conference of the Birds Coffins The Other Side of Blasphemy Sunn O)))/Boris Altar Terrorizer Darker Days Ahead

ALBUMS OF 2006,

According to Pelican 1 2 3 4 5

Craft Fuck the Universe Thom Yorke The Eraser Gorgoroth Ad Majorem Sathanas Gloriam Jesu Silver Oren Ambarchi Grapes From the Estate (vinyl)

Nick Green TOP 40 A LBUMS OF 2006 : J A N U A R Y 0 7 : 7 3

the SANDWICHES AT THUNDERCLOUD

SUBS (AUSTIN, TX),

According to Bryan Richie, The Sword 1 California Club (turkey sub w/avocado spread and bacon) Most popular sandwich by far—avocado spread made fresh with only the best in secret spices and fruit juices. Variations include the Sorority Sandwich (California Club, no bacon.)

2 Meatball Sub Simple yet effective. Hunger destroyer.

3 Veggie Delight The first delicious sub on the Top 5, loaded with tasty greens, hummus, and avocado spread. Get it on wheat bread and make sure to not skip the thundersauce.

4 Egg Salad w/Bacon (aka the Office Favorite) Egg salad mix, also heavy in mayo. When the regular egg salad sandwich was on special, people figured out you could just ask for a special, add bacon, and it would be cheaper than ordering the Office Favorite (which was not part of the special.) They thought they were being slick, but we were hip to their Office Favorite agenda.

5 Tuna I don’t see why people order this sandwich—the tuna mix we made was heavy in mayo, too heavy for my taste, yet ordered religiously by the devout.

LYRICS FROM

WARGAZM’S YOUTUBE

INTERPRETATION OF

3fl

top 40

I AM HERE TO RIDE BIKE! WOILL! TWIGADEE! BROKEN DWARF! LICK DOWN THE WANG NOW!

ACTUAL

TRIVIUM

3&

Kezia t v a g r a n t

My original review of Kezia appeared back in May, accompanied by an 8/10 score. I’d just like to say that now that I’ve spent a good eight months with this record, and got my hands on a finished copy with artwork and lyrics, I would have given it full marks. Their masterful injection of melodic punk into technical metal blows me away with each spin and these hardened ears continue to anticipate the life-affirming riffing and vocal phrasing of the brilliant “Turn Soonest to the Sea.”

Cretin

Freakery t r e l a p s e They’re sandwiched between Creed and Criss Angel on my iTunes, but even those noted degenerates wouldn’t be interesting enough for display in Cretin’s unsightly carny show.

Old school grind revivalists for good reason—the Bay Area trio took a 13-year sabbatical for guitarist Dan Martinez to test video games and bassist Matt Widener to jarhead out in the Marines—Cretin doesn’t settle for mere Repulsion-worship, honoring and expanding the template via vintage recording techniques and WTF narrative dementia. —Andrew Bonazelli

‹8

The Sword

3·

Mogwai

LYRICS THAT

MAKE US WISH WE COULDN’T UNDERSTAND WHAT THEY’RE SAYING, According to Adrien Begrand

1 “For your honor you will slaughter every one of your daughters!”

2 “Stress! Breaking my back!”

3 “DRAGON!” 4 “I’ll mess with your blood! Bury you in a coffin made of your deceptions!”

5 “We are the fire!”

Protest the Hero

—Kevin Stewart-Panko

TRIVIUM’S “PULL HARDER ON THE STRINGS OF YOUR MARTYR” 1 2 3 4 5

top $‚ albums of 2006

Age of Winters t ke ma d o

In mid-2006, some self-appointed genre purity watchdog, Decibel hater, and Elmer Fudd wannabe called the Sword “a creature of the industry created to introduce the 2006 Metal Fashion Collection.” What he really meant to say was that, in a few short months, the Sabbathy ruminations on the Austinbased quartet’s Kemado debut, Age of Winters, won the hearts of incalculable hordes, some of whom still might not know Bruce Dickinson from Bruce Willis. —Rod Smith

Mr. Beast t Matador

It’s official: Mogwai are metal’s favorite indie-rock band.

Virtually every heavy band that gets quiet and epic before they get really loud owes something to them, and there sure are a lot of those nowadays. The Scots returned the favor on Mr. Beast by making their heaviest record to date, cranking up the noise on “Glasgow Mega-Snake” and “We’re No Here,” and drafting Envy vocalist Tetsuya Fukagawa for “I Chose Horses.” — Anthony Bartkewicz

›0

First Blood Killafornia t tr us tkil l

It’s easy to get bored with hardcore’s chugga-chugga-breakdown-repeat blueprint. Enter First Blood. The San Francisco band debuted this year with Killafornia—hardcore that cuts like a gleaming machete amid a sea of butter knives stabbing at sausage meat. Ex-Terror bassist-turned-vocalist Carl Schwartz screams from the top of Mount Sinai, while the instrumental blitzkrieg sounds more like a DJ cutting up the decks than a bunch of dudes with instruments. This is some Green Beret– style shit right here. —Jeanne Fury

The

Death Tribute Shirt

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76 : JA NUA RY 07 : DECIBEL

How IRON MAIDEN sidestepped American music martyrdom and salvaged heavy metal through its darkest times for future headbangers by kory grow DECIBEL : JANUARY 07 : 77

IRON MAIDEN

S

word-of-mouth—their legend was borne from the bleachers. Now, for the first time on any tour, they’re playing every note, from start to finish, of their latest album, A Matter of Life and Death [Sanctuary]. It has taken them years, but by the turn of the century their brazen leadership earned them kudos from Rolling Stone as the “most influential English hard rockers of their generation.” And now they’re risking fans both new and old.

After a critically stale slot on 2005’s Ozzfest bill (the most vocal detractor being the self-proclaimed “real iron maiden,” Sharon Osbourne) playing their ‘80s classics, the band members began complaining in the press that American “package” tours made it difficult for them to win new fans. With each member of Iron Maiden now middle-aged, and a lineup consisting of Dickinson, founding bassist Steve Harris, guitarists Dave Murray, Adrian Smith, and Janick Gers, along with drummer Nicko McBrain, they knew what they were talking about.

After Dickinson left the band to concentrate of attention from those outlets, Iron Maiden made their name through relentless touring and on his solo career in the mid ‘90s, Maiden released two albums with ex-Wolfsbane frontman Blaze Bailey. Despite standout tracks and hummable hooks, these albums failed to reach younger American fans interested in grunge and alt-rock. Now seven years after Dickinson rejoined the band, A Matter of Life and Death is Maiden’s highest Billboard-charting album yet, debuting at No. 9. Resistance should be futile…

“The US is kind of a work in progress, really,” says Dickinson. “We’re still, let’s face it, obviously a very big, obviously a very influential band. And it seems that people are rediscovering us with the new record. And fortunately, it’s a complete reinvention, because the album is very different to anything we’ve done before. There’s absolutely no attempt to pander toward the media expectations or commercial expectations. There’s no attempt to have five-minute catchy songs, to have singles or anything else like that. It’s Iron Maiden music, sort of taken to the nth degree.”

Bassist Steve Harris, the group’s de facto leader, agrees, unwavering in his pride. “If people come to the show and they don’t know the album,” he says, “they’re gonna be in trouble. But I think it’s fresh, and I think it’s a challenge, and I think it’s a challenge for the audience also. I think it’s impor3 Sea of Madness tant to do things like that every now Smith, Gers and Murray span time in their blue period and again. Just mix things up and do something different.”

omewhere in the middle of the audience, nearly an hour into Iron Maiden's gig at Long Island's Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum, a fan begins facing a large sign toward the band that reads: “PLAY CLASSICS.” It’s clear, the youth—or, in this case, the middle-aged rocker attempting to relive his glory years—are getting restless. In a break between songs, frontman Bruce Dickinson, as charismatic as he is short, spots the sign and beckons it to him. Their Pavlovian responses triggered, the thousands of fans separating the placard from their idols hand it to one another until it finally reaches the stage. Dickinson takes it and shreds it ritualistically. The audience cheers and Maiden charge into the next brand-new song. Play classics? Surely not a band as consistently progressive as Iron Maiden. ¶ Nevertheless, Iron Maiden’s current tour has proven challenging to some of their stalwart fans. There are so many anthems to choose from, it’s easy to forget that, in order for those songs to have become classics, they had to make the tour circuit at some point. Rock radio never really supported Maiden in the States. Neither did MTV, other than on Headbangers Ball. And the mainstream music press mostly sought to demonize the faux devil worship of their early career.

Unlike Black Sabbath, Judas Priest, and especially Metallica, who all received a modicum

78 : JANUARY 07 : DECIBEL

3 Balls to Complacency

Harris and Dickinson make all the right adjustments

It's nice to have a fantastic past, and we're proud of it 100 percent, but… that is why it's so great to go out and do so much new material.

— STEVE HARRIS THE EVIL THAT MEN DO

E

verything about this new-is-now crusade applies to the band’s previous treks and albums. From the earliest tours preceding their 1980 debut, when they rode in on the New Wave of British Heavy Metal, Maiden have sought to evangelize as many new fans as possible. And their early music was as insistent as their creed.

Combining the galloping riffs of countrymen Judas Priest’s “Stained Class” with punk speed and the dual-guitar harmonies of Thin Lizzy and Wishbone Ash, they laid the groundwork for what would become their trademark sound. And with former vocalist Paul Di’Anno’s short hair, tough-guy lyrics, and punkish threads (they once turned down a record deal demanding they look even more punk), they established their attitude and public image. But it wasn’t until Di’Anno left and Maiden asked Bruce Bruce, singer for

fellow NWOBHM band Samson, to ditch his silly moniker and join that Maiden became, well, Maiden. Although their songs never gained much airplay in the States, they were born hits in the figurative sense, resonating with fanatical US metal enthusiasts.

That’s when the band started getting more attention for their image and their message, both of which amplified everything grandiose about ‘70s heavy metal and a passion transcending cliché. With a decaying cartoon mascot in Eddie, they shifted the attention off the actions of the (relatively normal) individual members and let their music stand on its own.

“I think it’s good to have a little bit of mystery about our band to a certain degree, but not that much,” says Harris. “I suppose we’re lucky because we’ve always had the Eddie thing.”

In all honesty, five football-loving, beer guz-

zling, road-dog hooligans from Leytonstone, East London was not how they wanted to be portrayed, although their true nature nonetheless came through in interviews.

Designed by illustrator Derek Riggs, who got the idea from a propaganda photo of an American soldier’s head fastened to the front of a Vietnamese tank, Eddie had gained immediate notoriety when the cover of Maiden’s English Top 30-charting “Sanctuary” single depicted him prone, having just stabbed then British Prime Minster Margaret Thatcher. For the cover of their first album with Dickinson, 1982’s The Number of the Beast, Riggs drew Eddie manipulating the devil like a marionette.

Between the cover illustration and the title cut, the group earned a reputation as devil worshippers, something that would later influence satanic death and black metal bands, somewhat to the band’s chagrin.

“I mean, you get some bunch of nutcases going out and making some great satanic album or, by mistake, reading a bunch of early press releases or early press reviews about Maiden and going on and thinking that in some way we were some sort of Manowar substitute,” says Dickinson.

“Like all the early stories that KISS stood for Knights in Satan’s Service and all this kind of stuff.” He starts to laugh. “It’s sort of agreeable bullshit.”

Guitarist Murray, the only member other than Harris who’s been in Maiden since ‘76, says, “Obviously there’s been some controversy over the years with the Number of the Beast thing, but I think basically, at the end of the day, we’re just musicians and we’re playing music. We’re not out there to harm anybody. We’re just out there to have a good time and enjoy ourselves.”

As can be expected from such polarizing subject matter, their image and songs attracted fans and detractors the world over during the mid ’80s. After an early US tour with KISS, they learned the importance and effectiveness of a live spectacle over a simple concert. A monolithic Eddie would always storm the stage to DECIBEL : JANUARY 07 : 79

IRON MAIDEN

chase the band around an extravagant set depicting their current album’s theme. It was gaudy and it recalled the previous decade, but at the height of the ‘80s, Maiden’s flaunt-it-if-you-got-it philosophy won over countless metal fans.

They would tour endlessly, building a devoted fanbase, unwittingly laying the groundwork for what would become underground metal.

Metallica would nick their work ethic, dual guitars, and classical themes, a tradition now exercised by Mastodon. Entombed and other European death metallers like At the Gates and Carcass assumed the band’s steadfast tour regiments and dedication to their fans. Floridian death metal acts adopted the group’s defiant attitude toward pop culture, while Mayhem and their legion of black metal acolytes would take on Maiden’s (and Venom’s) faux devil worship.

(Someone forgot to tell them that “The Number of the Beast” was inspired by The Omen). Doom

their acoustics on stands. And, of course, drummer McBrain has his own enclave within the set where he can pound out as much animalistic post-John Bonham bombast as possible. When finale time comes, a giant army tank rises from the set and Eddie sticks his head out before “firing” at the audience. Considering their joie de vivre, it’s hard to guess their median age is 50 years old.

“When I started playing, I wanted to be in a band that said, ‘This is what we do, and if you don’t like it, sod it. We’re not going to change,’ ” says Gers. “And every band I’ve been in has been like that. [Iron Maiden are] stronger than everything when we stand together on that stage, and I’m very proud of that. There’s many things that have been highlights throughout my career, but to stand there with those guys and play music that I love, I’m very proud of [that].”

I've been trying to write hits for years.

I don't think there's anything wrong with that.

— ADRIAN SMITH meddlers St. Vitus, who listened to Maiden on headphones while writing songs, would embody the group’s sense of melody. Metal/hardcore crossovers like S.O.D. and the Accüsed created rotting mascots of their own. Videogame soundtrack addicts Fates Warning, Iced Earth and DragonForce would challenge Maiden’s proggy, epic and triumphant anthems, respectably. And their single-note, hummable melodies would even resonate with nü metal bands like Papa Roach, who would lift a riff from “Hallowed Be Thy Name” note for note for their hit, “Last Resort.”

What their followers lack, though, is Maiden’s personality. During tonight’s show, Dickinson, who’s dressed in a very un-metal sports jacket, climbs the set—designed to look like battlements, to go with their current album’s war theme, complete with a hanging, dead parachutist—and shines Batman-like searchlights over the audience. Harris charges the audience on either side with his bass, somehow keeping himself from falling into the throngs, while guitarist Gers—the most ‘80s-looking member, sporting too-tight black jeans and big, blonde hair—throws his leg on any available speaker as he hurls his guitar skyward before catching it for a solo. Murray and Smith, ever the shy ones, stick mostly to the back of the stage except when showboating for a solo or trucking out 80 : JANUARY 07 : DECIBEL

WASTED YEARS

M

ore than anything else, it’s their “sod it” attitude that has kept Iron Maiden in business for three decades. It’s the secret behind their unwavering popularity: If the world changes around you, stay the same.

In 1990, Smith, who had joined Maiden for 1981’s Killers album, decided to leave the band.

Smith admits that his reasons for leaving were “shrouded in mystery” to Maiden’s fans, because it’s difficult to discuss personal matters openly.

“I think at the time, I just felt like moving on and maybe at the time, I felt a little bit stifled in the band,” he says. “It was a bit of a low ebb all around, really, just musically and personally. So it was probably a good thing. I think the band realized it wasn’t working 100 percent as it should be and so did I. So I needed to go out and try a few other things as well and get some stuff out of my system and I’m glad I did. I maybe took [Maiden] for granted a little bit.”

Although Smith’s departure disappointed some, it ultimately didn’t damage the group’s credibility. The world was still a year away from Nirvana’s “alternative” rock shot heard round the world, so Maiden quickly licked their wounds and drafted Gers, who had played on Dickinson’s solo album, 1990’s Tattooed Millionaire. He and Dickinson had written a song called “Bring Your Daughter… to the Slaughter”

jonas björler of the haunted/

ex-at the gates

Iron Maiden have always been a huge influence for me as a songwriter.

They were easily among the top five heavy metal bands for me growing up, and I still can remember picking up The Number of the Beast when it came out. What I particularly like with Maiden is their variety and depth in their music. I like everything from the “punkier” first album and Killers, to the new epic, dark and progressive records Dance of Death and A Matter of Life and Death. The first time I heard “Hallowed Be Thy Name,” I was totally overwhelmed. I had never before heard this kind of epic and dynamic song structures. This experience later led me into bands like Rush and Wishbone Ash—all thanks to Maiden. I have a lot to thank Maiden for—they opened the door to a greater music experience.

nergal of behemoth When I think of Iron Maiden it brings back childhood memories. Being eight or nine years old, I got to hear the song “Wasted Years” on national TV in Poland. Black and white, stripped pretty much just to band performance with some cartoon animation video really made a huge impact on my mind. I remember playing this one over and over again since it was one of the very first metal songs I heard in my life. Poland was a communistic country back then and it was rather impossible for a kid like me to get this music in the store. There was no distribution, no REAL record stores whatsoever. Anyway, this video and this song (which still today is one of my all time fave Iron Maiden tunes) introduced me to the metal world and made me play my first guitar, which I bought shortly after! Anyway, it’s motivating to see these dinosaurs doing so great today.

Metal is timeless, and that’s thanks to Iron Maiden. No doubt ‘bout that!

dave mcclain of machine head Dude, they were the most important band that came out in the early ’80s.

In my opinion, they were a huge kick in the ass for metal. A lot of the bigger bands of that time were putting out “safe” metal and here comes a new band called Iron Maiden that was taking the guitar harmonies of Thin Lizzy, a bass player that could shred more than most guitar players, and a drummer and vocalist that borrowed more influences from the punk scene than the metal scene, and made one of the most influential bands in metal history! I think it made those bands taking the “safe” route reconsider what they were doing and start to write heavier stuff. I think Iron Maiden influenced us more as young musicians. I know for me, after hearing Iron Maiden for the first time, me and my friend actually quit the band we were in because the other guys didn’t like them. There’s a point in every Machine Head show where we do a section of cover songs, and Iron Maiden is always one of the bands that we love to play.

bryan cox of alabama thunderpussy Iron Maiden are definitely and obviously one of the most important and influential bands when it comes to guitar and everything guitarrelated. I could be wrong, but I’m pretty sure that the phenomenon of “air guitar” is a direct result of the world’s love for what Maiden has done. And obviously all of that goes for both six- and four-string guitars.

However, being a drummer, I think it’s important to note how much of a true badass and an innovative drummer Nicko McBrain is. While I do love Clive Burr’s work, it’s Nicko that takes it to the next level for me. He’s one of the old school greats. He’s got great chops and technique, but what really makes him so killer to me is his feel. A lot of “metal” drummers today seem to be more concerned with playing faster and perfectly than they are with writing cool parts and feeling a groove.

While speed and technical perfection are admirable qualities to have (and ones that I definitely struggle with daily), I think that there are a lot of people out there these days that could really benefit from catching a buzz and watching Nicko slay the fuck out of everybody in Live After Death.

jason bittner of shadows fall Iron Maiden is my favorite heavy metal band of all time! Heck, I just interviewed Nicko for Modern Drummer last week. Plus, they are super cool dudes. As far as my standpoint, I definitely hear Nicko McBrain’s influence in my drumming style. On a whole musical level, I think any two-guitar harmony part has been influenced by Maiden—and we seem to have a good share of those types of parts! [ 4]

3 Shockingly bad

Blaze Bailey (seated) dies with his boots on, circa 1995

for the soundtrack to A Nightmare on Elm Street 5: The Dream Child. Maiden re-recorded the track for their No Prayer for the Dying album and garnered their first and only No. 1 UK single. Dickinson’s voice was sounding more raw with each album, losing a bit of the theatrical quality he’d brought to the band and making them sound even more

they’d successfully switched lead singers at the height of their career once before, the transition between Dickinson and new recruit Blaze Bailey couldn’t have come at a worse time. Not only was traditional metal’s popularity at an alltime low, but unlike Paul Di’Anno, Dickinson’s versatile vocals and kitschy, hyperbolic persona had come to embody the spirit of Iron Maiden. With the band, he’d become one of not just heavy metal’s, but pop music’s most popular and recognizable frontmen.

As Bailey kept Dickinson’s throne warm, the two albums he sang on quickly became ugly ducklings in the band’s catalogue, despite the high quality of songs like “Man on the Edge” and “The Clansman.” (When Dickinson returned to the band, he obliged in singing both songs, along with a couple other Bailey-era tunes in concert.)

Ultimately, Bailey proved to be an inconsistent frontman under the pressure of their heavyduty touring schedule and he left the band on

We were kind of the uncoolest band in the world…

— JANICK GERS metal. Even during grunge’s first wave, Maiden landed a No. 12 on the Billboard chart with 1992’s Fear of the Dark, which tied with 1988’s Seventh Son of a Seventh Son as their highest charting record.

Despite the success, Dickinson decided to break from the group to record as a solo artist.

This is where the damage began. Even though

DECIBEL : JANUARY 07 : 81

IRON MAIDEN

3 Excellent forever, bogus never

Murray and Harris shout at the devil

trevor strnad of the black

dahlia murder

Iron Maiden is the definition of heavy metal. I think we wouldn’t exist without them right now. All the melodic bands that have influenced us were influenced by Iron Maiden—In Flames, At the Gates, just about everything. We watched them every day when we were on Ozzfest. I don’t think Ozzfest will be the same without them from now on. They are so great live, just like they’ve always been. It’s amazing the way they command everyone’s attention. One time I watched them, and I was on acid, it was soooo good. It was awesome.

ken susi of unearth

82 : JANUARY 07 : DECIBEL

dear Lord God… am I still gonna be the drummer of this band? Is this where you want me to go with this?’ And I felt in my heart that He didn’t want me to leave the band. And believe me, I prayed about it.” Although there were now three guitarists, even more reinvention was in tow.

CHILDREN OF THE DAMNED

A

s if by divine intervention, which McBrain of course insists is the band’s guiding force, the turn of the century signaled a shift in hard rock and heavy metal. After grunge almost single-handedly killed rock pomp, Gen Xers went bankrupt on dot-coms, and Korn and Limp Bizkit mooks wore out their multi-platinum welcomes, legions of Eddie-worshipping underground metal, punk and emo bands were crafting the albums that would shape the years to come.

The music community was returning to Maiden on Maiden’s terms. And yet, Maiden’s songs became even less commercial radio-ready, even more influenced by the prog rock the band had grown up on: Yes, King Crimson, Hawkwind and Brian Eno. “[The new album] is pretty much the most progressive album that we’ve done,” says Murray. “And I think with each album, you just try and stretch yourself. Or go try and visit places you haven’t been before, musically. I think if you play the first album, it sounds very raw; it has an edge to it… but it sounds like we were young, 20-year-old kids. But the songs,

tim roth of into eternity Iron Maiden are one of the very few bands that I own the entire catalogue of music. They are the one band that you know when they release a new album that it is going to be killer. Any band that can put out so many classic albums has got to be respected! I’ll never forget delivering papers as a kid and blasting Powerslave on my Walkman. When Into Eternity was formed, I knew that we wanted a strong clean singer like Bruce. Not many singers can touch Bruce’s high, full-chest tone. Another thing we stole from Maiden were the lush two-part guitar harmonies. I think Maiden mastered that sound of the two- and now, three-man guitar team. These days Iron Maiden continues to be an exciting progressive metal band and still is a huge inspiration to our band.

LIVE PHOTO: JEREMY SAFFER

friendly terms. Those five years, an eternity in radio rock, proved Maiden to be powerful watertreaders.

“Even though some people think we stepped back when we had Blaze on two records, I don’t agree with that,” says McBrain. “That was a chapter of Iron Maiden’s history that was written… and there were two good albums—great, great albums, actually—that came out of that. It regenerated us to another level.”

“Although Maiden still played to massive audiences in Europe, America was a little bit quieter,” says Smith with the benefit of outside eyes throughout that period. “I don’t know if we got any new fans during that time, but it’s certainly the older fans that have stuck with the band. And I think in the last five years or so, we’ve started to get a lot of new fans, like a new generation of fans. That’s what I noticed having come back into the band. I was quite amazed.”

With the space open, the band turned to Dickinson to rejoin the group, and also extended an olive branch to Smith. To longtime fans, it appeared everything would return to old hat.

But like everything else Maiden, nothing is as it seems. During the time Bailey and Gers replaced the pair, the prodigal ones were surprised to learn everyone in the band had matured. They spent more time with their families, at home and on the road, and McBrain had even re-avowed his faith in Christianity, briefly questioning his band’s image and message. Of his conversion, he says, “In the very beginning, I did think, ‘Well,

To me, Iron Maiden is like religion.

When I was growing up, it’s all I listened to. That was the band that changed my whole life and my whole existence with music—listening to the riffs, listening to everything, the whole product with an awesome charismatic lead singer, mixed with an amazing bass player and great guitar harmonies. Everything that is pretty much modern now, as far as metal goes, is directly [related] to Iron Maiden.

Back when we were starting in 1998, people weren’t appreciating metal. Everyone was really into dumbed-down NY heavy hardcore stuff. There was obviously Pantera and Metallica fans around, too. As far as our scene, kids just wanted to sound like Earth Crisis or Hatebreed. We thought that Iron Maiden was the shit. No one was playing that type of stuff.

We wanted to combine the heavier element with Iron Maiden—having those talented major riffs and the dueling guitar harmonies, up to what we based our sound off of, before it was even cool to do that. That’s how we got to where we are now.

frédéric leclercq of dragonforce Iron Maiden means a lot to me—this is my favorite band. I’m a complete devoted fan! The music, the covers, the charisma, everything combined makes Maiden one of, if not THE best heavy metal band! Somewhere in Time is my favorite album, but I shall not forget Seventh Son of a Seventh Son, Killers, and, of course, Number of the Beast. I think that most heavy metal bands, and to some extent, most metal bands in general are influenced by Maiden— the twin guitar melodies especially. As for DragonForce, Iron Maiden is simply part of our musical culture. We all grew up listening to Maiden, so naturally you can feel it in our music.

jamie hooper of 3 inches of blood I think Iron Maiden is important simply because of their longevity as a consistent (for the most part) and relevant heavy metal band. There are few bands that stand the test of time the way Iron Maiden has in the genre of metal.

Their lasting mark on metal is pretty evident in contemporary bands, both soundwise and in the ridiculous amount of Maiden covers. If I had a quarter for every time I’ve watched a band play “The Trooper”…

paolo gregoletto of trivium Iron Maiden were very influential on me when I started playing music.

When I was first introduced to them by my music teacher I was blown away, because it was such a different sound from what was popular at the time in the late ’90s. I guess I can be considered a new generation Iron Maiden fan, because I wasn’t even born when their self-titled debut was released or the three albums following it, but rather became a fan around the time of the “classic” lineup re-forming and playing together again. Our band and countless others owe much to Iron Maiden for the influence on our sound and live shows. But the most important aspect of the band that I respect is the fact that no matter what trend in music came and went, Iron Maiden’s musical integrity remained and proved that their music is timeless and will live on like the music of other greats like Led Zeppelin and Queen. [ 4]

though, were still very strong songs.”

Indeed, their songs may have grown longer, but they still maintained enough of their signature sound that they didn’t sound foreign.

In interviews, each member of Iron Maiden declares that he’s most proud of his band’s songwriting. More than Eddie, more than their outrageous live shows, and maybe even more than their albums as a whole, it’s all about the songs—the just-under-the-pop-radar, fist-pumping gems that entice fans to buy their next record.

And although Maiden’s recent albums flirt less with pop sensibilities, Smith, who wrote the seed riffs for their first post-Bailey comeback single, “The Wicker Man,” says, “I’ve been trying to write hits for years. I don’t think there’s anything wrong with that. I grew up listening to Thin Lizzy and UFO and bands that were sort of song-orientated rock. I mean, Thin Lizzy had loads and loads of hits, but they retained their credibility as a rock band.”

Although Smith admits he’s changed his writing style since his return (“We’re not really a groove-oriented band”), the elements that make a good Iron Maiden song haven’t changed. Harris continues to act as the band’s rock, writing the lion’s share of material, whistling the guitar

feel that it’s something that’s going to be really good. Really, the best songs are gonna make the album.”

In his role as Maiden’s songwriting nucleus, Harris still helps the other members assemble their bits into better bits. When Gers came up with an idea for a song about a politician he’d recently learned had been putting on an act as a man of peace but was actually responsible for many of the atrocities in the Middle East (he won’t say who), he turned to Harris. “[Steve] said, ‘Well, we can’t really talk about this kind of thing…’ and he took it to another way,” says Gers of the song that became “The Legacy.” “He took it to a First World War soldier coming back.

And it’s exactly what I brought into the equation of the song, and Steve’s brilliant lyrics and he twisted it another way and took it totally somewhere else, which is fantastic.”

But Harris does so much more than act as sage to his bandmates. While the rest of the group is playing golf, tennis, and flying planes during their off time, he’s meticulously editing videos and upping the Irons, as it were, as much as possible. “It’s probably not a bad idea to be a drummer,” says Harris with a laugh. “He does his bits for three weeks and goes back to the sun.”

But perhaps in spite of Harris’s quality control,

Obviously there's been some controversy over the years with the Number of the Beast thing… at the end of the day, we're just musicians and we're playing music.

— DAVE MURRAY part or vocal line to the other members while playing his bass. In their three-guitarist lineup, they now create subtly textured harmonies.

Dickinson actually sings more on each of the three albums since he’s rejoined, undoing the Fear of the Dark’s yelping in concert.

Even though the songs on A Matter of Life and Death average seven minutes and 11 seconds, with more “longer” songs than “shorter,” each track has a memorable melody and anthemic chorus.

“The bottom line is the songs,” says Harris, the humble spokesman. “The live shows are fantastic and important, but if you’re not playing good songs, then no one’s gonna want to hear them, are they? The standard of the music is very, very important.” Murray agrees, “It’s pointless coming up to the band [with a song] unless you

the band stands on their own 12 feet. It’s in their blood.

“The reason why Maiden is so successful is because we are genuinely really fucking good,” says Dickinson. “A while back… I think I said something about Metallica. And I said, ‘Yeah, we’re just much better than they are.’ And people said, ‘Well you can’t say that.’ And I said, ‘But I just did. It’s true.’ I didn’t mean that in a bad way, but it’s just manifestly obvious. And, oh God, what a shitstorm it caused.” He starts roaring with laughter. “We don’t need to say things like that—we probably shouldn’t—but the band is really fucking good, I mean, musically. It’s quite stunning… Until you’ve seen Maiden live, you couldn’t possibly understand what the band is about.” [4] DECIBEL : JANUARY 07 : 83

IRON MAIDEN 3 Gotta have faith!

McBrain’s technique stands alone

alex webster of cannibal corpse Iron Maiden is a band that defines the term “heavy metal.” Their sound and their lyrical ideas have been borrowed from by scores of other bands. They are a band that is truly a team, where each member of the band is equally important. I think that the best bands are bands that have great teamwork, as opposed to having a “star” member, with the rest of the band backing him/her. For me personally, Steve Harris was an inspiration, not only because of his amazing bass playing, but because of his important role as a writer in the band. For our band, although our sound may not have been directly influenced

by Maiden’s, we were definitely influenced by their team work ethic, and their tenacious approach to everything they did. After all of these years, they’ve never broken up and reformed, or even taken a significant amount of time off. They never altered their sound or image to match current trends. This tenacity and consistency is something that all metal bands should admire and try to emulate.

byron davis of god forbid FROM HERE TO ETERNITY

I

n 2005, Harris, the only founding member who remains, celebrated the band’s 30th anniversary. Other than numerous lineup changes, the main difference between that Maiden and their current manifestation is the tour schedule. In 2003, they announced they’d spend less time on the road. Ten- and 12-month marathon tours just aren’t in the cards for six middle-aged men. In keeping with their isolationist rhetoric, their inter-band changes don’t faze them.

“I think too many people kind of look over their shoulders, too much, really, and worry about what they’ve been doing,” says Harris. “We just don’t worry about that; we’re just concerned with what we’re doing now. It’s nice to have a fantastic past, and we’re proud of it 100 percent, but that’s another thing. That is why it’s so great to go out and do so much new material.”

But now, almost eight years into their current and most consistent lineup, the tables had finally turned in Maiden’s favor once more. The state of hard music had become closest to how it was in late ‘70s and early ‘80s, except this time bands were borrowing from them.

Ultimately, though, Maiden haven’t felt these bands’ impact. According to Dickinson, “We don’t watch MTV; we don’t take any notice of anything in the rock media at all. I don’t think any of us buy Kerrang!. It’s much easier. We’re just an awkward set of sons of bitches.” Although Harris says he admires how bands like Dimmu Borgir

84 : JANUARY 07 : DECIBEL

orchestrate their music, he ultimately wants to listen to something a little lighter. Gers doesn’t like listening to metal because “most metal singers can’t sing… It’s kind of, ‘We couldn’t bother to learn to sing properly, so we’ll just shout.’ The difference to me between a great band and good band is generally the singer.”

Smith just prefers to listen to guitarists like Joe Satriani and Gary Moore. But despite their dissatisfaction with current music, their impact remains undeniable.

On the domestic tours for their recent albums, Maiden have seen fewer and fewer young fans coming to their concerts. That changed with this run. “It might be that we’re kind of so uncool that we’ve become cool again,” says Gers, previously one of the group’s most outspoken

Iron Maiden was very influential to me as a young musician. I remember the day like it was yesterday when I went up to the local mall and bought the Live After Death cassette, I had the videotape concert and the back patch. I was so excited I wasn’t sure what to expect, but I got home and popped it in. I played that tape on repeat for the longest time and still play it to this day. I actually still have it, although I replaced it with the CD. They were my first introduction to heavy metal outside of the glam metal of the time, such as Mötley Crüe, Poison, Bon Jovi, etc.

To have seen them on last year’s Ozzfest was a dream come true, I felt like it was 1986 all over again. They are a symbol of longevity and determination. I cannot say enough about them. They are truly the best band of all time.

I did think, 'Well, dear Lord God… am I still gonna be the drummer of this band?'

Believe me, I prayed about it.

— NICKO MCBRAIN members about the missing youth, straightfaced. “But you know, we’ve always been a pretty uncool band. We traveled, playing this music, when grunge was happening and all that other stuff. And there was people saying, ‘We will not

play this music on the radio.’ And we were kind of the uncoolest band in the world, but we stuck to our guns and just played what we believe in, and I think the whole thing’s come around.”

Even more shocking to Gers is that MTV picked

björn gelotte of in flames I think that they were one of the bands that brought melody, and loads of it, into metal. Obviously, we’re heavily influenced by that.

They paved the way with twin guitar leads and twin guitar harmonies. I think incorporating that into death metal was very new and no one was expecting it. When people heard it, they were kind of waiting for something like that, because it made it OK for all metalheads to like death metal.

With all the melodies in it, I think there is something for everyone: the aggression, the speed, and, as I said, the melodies. Everyone in Gothenburg, playing in bands or in this genre, was doing that.

brann dailor of mastodon Piece of Mind was the first record that I bought. Stole some money out of my mom’s purse when I was seven. Walked my ass to the record store and I saw that record, it had a monster on it, so I bought it. It was like $8.

There’s something, a fantastical element about Maiden that has stayed with me. Now we have the opportunity to write our own music and make our own records. They have a huge part, for me, in having an overall theme to our records. For me, Iron Maiden was this whole world that you could get lost in. I had an Iron Maiden t-shirt for every day of the week. All my friends had all the singles hanging in plastic bags on the wall surrounded by all the posters. They were a band you could actually collect, like a comic book. It’s something for people to dig into and sink in a little more. I think it means more to the person. The Maiden records meant more to me than other records that came in and out of my life. Piece of Mind is so comforting to me to put on when everything else is failing; at least I know I can put in Piece of Mind and everything will be alright.

up their new single, and “they only go where the advertising is.”

“It’s good that solos are starting to come back a little bit,” says Smith. “[With] some of the younger bands, I’ve been waiting for that to happen. They had all the power and aggression and attitude, but I was waiting for some more musicality, and I’ve been starting to hear that in younger bands. Some melody, you know?” He, too, is surprised by the sudden ubiquity of heavy metal: “You put on a wrestling [program] and there’s like metal in the background, all these riffs going on. It’s everywhere. It’s, like, really cool again.”

Essentially, this is also why Maiden feel driven to challenge their fans with new music. The diehards will stay true to them despite whatever placards they scrawl about wanting to hear classics. It’s the newer fans—those that possibly discovered Maiden via last year’s Ozzfest or possibly saw them cited as an influence by a newer band— that will most be enchanted by their music and stage show. While many established and influential bands feel passionate about their new work, few to none would dare risk their fanbase by playing an entire album live. To Maiden, anything less would be a disgrace. McBrain says, “Balls and bollocks to all the winding frickin’ hypocrites out there that call themselves Iron Maiden fans and

new material. But with a legacy like Maiden’s, it’s just par for the course, and the fans are usually forgiving.

“If you actually look back at our albums, some of them have been good, some of them have been patchy, some of them have been better than others,” says Dickinson. “But it hasn’t made an overall difference on the inexorable progress of the band, because it’s not just about the album.

It’s about the whole commitment and community surrounding the band.”

Although there are differing opinions within the band about attracting new fans at all, they agree that playing this album is something important to them.

I said, 'Yeah, we're just much better than [Metallica]…' It's just manifestly obvious.

— BRUCE DICKINSON moan and groan at us because we’ve decided we want to play this record from top to bottom. It happens to be virtually our favorite record. And just out of a selfish point of view, bollocks if you don’t like it.”

Although this is the first time Maiden have ever toured on a new record with such vigilance, they’ve always included up to seven originals from the current album in their set list. This tour, it’s different. “Rock and roll to me has become a bit of a parody of itself,” says Gers. “To me, it was all about taking chances. A bit of it’s gone out of rock music now. It’s becoming a bit predictable.

You know, there’s guys running around with frills hanging off the tops of their biker gear playing stuff from the ‘80s, but I don’t really want to be in a parody band or in a covers band. I want to be in a band that has something to say right now.”

A MATTER OF LIFE AND DEATH

A

fter playing their new album, repeatedly winning the audience over by clapping their hands during instrumental breaks and other crowd participation techniques, they play five classics, including “Iron Maiden,” “2 Minutes to Midnight” and “Hallowed Be Thy Name.” Whether fans left the show happy or not isn’t Iron Maiden’s concern. Almost all of the band members say “it just feels right” to play the whole album. Of all their US dates, of which there are eight (they decided only to play in their strongest markets for this tour), New York was the only show where any fan openly resisted the

“We pick up new fans, which is always a wonderful thing to do,” says McBrain, “but that’s not what the aim is, as it was in the early days.

Now we’ve got quite a stable fanbase and we’re still expanding with these young kids, which is really wonderful. You go to the front of the stage after the show and you see these kids at the front—what am I, Dr. Who here, or what?” He laughs. “I’ve come back in time. It’s brilliant.”

Adrian Smith looks at it far more literally, saying, “You’ve got to do something new; otherwise it’s like cabaret, isn’t it? Get up there and play your old songs.”

Nevertheless, few heavy metal bands, past or present, can claim as much influence or significance as Maiden, and if they do, it’s even harder to prove it. But, as they already know, it’s their songs and albums that bear testament to their impact. And their fans, ever appreciative, will never forsake them for that. McBrain knows firsthand the indelible print he’s left on one Midwestern American fan’s life, but the story could be true of any of Maiden’s devoted.

“There was one boy that came up to me that thanked me,” says McBrain, “and said that not only had Iron Maiden saved his life, [but] when he knew I was a Christian, he turned to God. And I said, ‘What do you mean we saved your life?’

He said, ‘Well, I was gonna commit suicide.’ And he put on, I think it was No Prayer for the Dying, would you believe—no pun here—and he put this record on, and he decided that it was so good listening to the band. He said, ‘Why would I want to leave this?’ ” A DECIBEL : JANUARY 07 : 85

A LL T H E NO I S E T HAT F I T S

96 101

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KNOW THE SCORE OBPcore SUNNO)))/BORIS Snorecore

102 103

WOLD Lectercore JOHN ZORN Mensacore

o s ’ o n e m Hon y

Over

reviews

by TH3

NUMb3R5

66.6

percent of albums reviewed by Kory Grow in the last two months that construe black metal, no shit

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0

black hairs on Kory Grow’s head, apropos of nothing

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4

average rating of bands that Decibot could’ve and probably should’ve reviewed

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10

score J. Bennett would have afforded WOLD if Reviews Editor weren’t “such a pussy”

My Dying Bride A LINE OF DEATHLESS KINGS PEACEVILLE

➐

I

n some ways, I don’t know whether it’s

actually a compliment to say that My Dying Bride have “perfected” the epic doom metal form. Cuz, you know, they have. Few bands could be counted on to deliver as many solid, entertaining and interesting albums as MDB

have over such a long period of time. From the dark fiddle majik of OFFICIAL DECIBEL MAGAZINE SUPER-DUPER HALL OF FAME RECIPIENT Turn Loose the Swans from 1993 all the way to 2004’s Songs of Darkness, Words of Light, the band’s addictive riffs, meandering songs with do what they do prog-like structures, best—to a fault—on their latest and patented mood of autumnal dead-leafgazing that shines like a wormy poison apple falling from the hand of a comatose dwarf-loving princess are never anything less than

My Dying Bride

impressive and classy. MDB have always been good at what they do, and what they do hasn’t really changed all that much from album to album (with the exception of the very singular 34.788%…Complete record). The traces of death metal recede more and more every year and the goth elements, always strong, are front and center thanks to Aaron Stainthorpe’s sorrowful crooning and penchant for Victorian-era poesy.

On A Line of Deathless Kings, all the usual stars are aligned. The churning guitars and delicate synths [4] DECIBEL : JANUARY 07 : 87

provide a bed for Stainthorpe to rest his weary mortal frame on. The riffs are suitably heavy and engaging. The slickness and professionalism and the sweetness of certain lyrical passages belie the fact that

there is absolutely nothing commercially viable about MDB. Their sound takes too long to sink into for it to be of any use to rock radio, which is why they’re still beloved by their hardcore fans. Unlike other

Ground Up Where “Walker/Steer” can be an adjective and a verb

Now we’re back on track, and with six discs this time around!

UK metal acts of the ’90s, they never dissolved or neutered their essential sound over time. They’re still a bunch of sad motherfuckers, and the faithful will no doubt revel in more of the same. The blood, the wine, the roses—it’s all here. And it must be mentioned that opening track “To Remain Tombless” is not only an amazing title for a My Dying Bride song, it’s possibly the strongest song on the album; its forward momentum and hypno-riff will have baby doomsters crying fresh new tears when they hear its seeming simplicity (which ain’t that simple at all) and the ways in which a band working at full creative speed can make something

— BY ANTHONY BARTKEWICZ

sound so effortless.

Other fans may wish for a bit more forward movement after this initial burst of freshness (and things do get a little more intriguing during the last half of the disc) and perhaps just a little bit more color or sonic variation (um, maybe me?), and the band’s chops and dark vibes will no doubt impress new listeners, even if they might be better served by listening to the groundbreaking Turn Loose the Swans or some other earlier (and stronger) material first. It’s safe to say that My Dying Bride are masters of the game, but it’s a game they won long ago. —SCOTT SEWARD

36 Crazyfists ➐

REST INSIDE THE FLAMES The wondrously tasteless cartoon cover to Amoebic Dysentery’s Hospice Orgy had me prepped for some lo-fi Anal Cunt action. It’s actually some pretty accomplished goregrind, heavy on the dialogue samples, with surprises like the mini-hoedown in “My Name Is Bubbah,” the brief pop-punk segment in “Necrophiliaxe,” and fucking ska on “Nobody Cares ’Cause You’re Fat.” There’s a Repulsion cover too, but these guys totally have NOFX records hidden deep in their collection. (DEATHGASM RECORDS ) Grindcore dudes love zombie gorefests. So why has it taken until now for someone—namely Cadaveric Crematorium—to unite the two? Serial Grinder starts off by reimagining Christ’s resurrection as the first sign of a zombie plague, then revels in Fulci/Romero-style undead gore over seriously vicious deathgrind. Zombie fans have already accepted that the Italians do this stuff better than everyone else, and these guys are no exception. They also work an animal rights message into “Family Vivisection,” and if you’ve seen 28 Days Later you saw where animal experimentation got us. (SPEW RECORDS ) Misery Index’s Jason Netherton doesn’t play on Career Criminal, even though he wrote lyrics for three of the songs. Members of Suffocation and Dying Fetus come together in Criminal Element to crank out some tough deathgrind with, duh, crime-themed lyrics. It’s catchy, and Terrance Hobbs doesn’t tech out much. Guys with NYDM vests will love this. (EMETIC RECORDS ) Cripple Bastards’ first LP, Your Lies in Check, is a lot like their other records—superfast, punky political grind—even though frontman Giulio the Bastard is the only current holdout from this lineup. A few of these songs are CB anthems that they still play live, like “Sexist Society… Must Destroy It!,” and the cover of “21st Century Schizoid Man” is actually kinda faithful. (CRIMES AGAINST HUMANITY RECORDS ) On the cover of Insect Warfare’s At War With Grindcore, one of the EPs collected on Endless Execution Through Violent Restitution, the insect getting all warfared on is a locust. Subtle!

Needless to say, there are no frills, keyboards or white belts. Think Cretin if they were more into powerviolence. Bonus nerd points awarded for showing off their record collections on the tray card photo. I love when bands do that. (625 THRASH ) Putrescence actually note that Dawn of the Necrofecalizer was recorded on George A. Romero’s birthday. Going another extra mile, “Scooped Out Eyeballs” isn’t just about scooping out eyeballs, but also doing so to guitar store customers. “No more funky slap bass solos/ No more ‘Smoke on the Water.’ ” The lyrics are all pretty funny, while the music is no-joke goregrind.

Bonus nerd points awarded for including a collage of the band and all their tour friends. I love when bands do that, too. (NO ESCAPE RECORDS ) If it’s fast (really fast), send two copies to: Decibel Magazine, Ground Up, 1032 Arch St., 3rd Floor, Philadelphia, PA 19107.

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D R T E N T E R TA I N M E N T

Anchorage away!

Released last June through Roadrunner in Europe, Rest Inside the Flames is only now seeing the light of day through DRT, also home to Soil. Whatever issues with their licensing or record deal there might have been, one is left wondering why Roadrunner US didn’t pick up the option to 36 Crazyfists’ third album. Racking up a fairly impressive amount of rep for 2004’s sophomore A Snow Covered Romance, the Alaska-via-Oregon band have here opted not to stand still, pushing themselves musically instead.

The most striking difference between Rest and its predecessors is just how much heavier it is, capturing something of the ferocity of their live performances. While this works in general, at times the added heaviness can make 36CF seem generic, as on “Elysium,” where Killswitch Engage’s Howard Jones adds guest vocals to what might as well be a KSE cover band tribute. Where 36CF truly shine is on the mid- and vari-tempo numbers, where the lack of frenetic aggression allows the band to set up ever more dizzying contrasts between metalcore breakdowns and Cave In-style melodies, opting for

l

strength through diversity. Indeed, the band goes so far as to record a metalled-up and acoustic version of the same song (“Midnight Swim”/ “The City Below”), all the better to show off Brock Lindow’s incredible vocal range.

As good as much of the music is, the album suffers from that perennial problem: a song so much catchier than the rest that it might as well be a self-inflicted wound.

The name of this prime candidate for iTuning or eMusic-ing? “Felt Through a Phone Line.” You’ll see what I mean when you download it.

—NICK TERRY

All In ➌

NOTHING TO LOSE HAND OF HOPE

Isn’t gambling considered a no-no in the sXe rulebook?

As the poker craze continues to barrel along and fortunes are won and lost in televised tournaments, online, and in the back rooms of Chinese restaurants, more and more hardcore bands seem to appropriate the imagery and terminology. But here it’s a case of “the more things change, the more they stay the same,” because even as this Alabama band litters this album with poker references, including kick-starting the affair with an “Ante up!” gang vox scream, the fact of the matter is that if you’ve heard Madball, Hoods, Earth Crisis, et al., you’ve heard All In—and you’ve heard it done much better.

All In merely flirt and tease with the notion of uniqueness: humorous and cheeky song titles such as “Babar: The Bill Cosby of Elephants,” “The Ol’ Doo Rag’s a Skipper,” and “The Institute of Zoot Suit McGoot” are forced to hold fort over lyrics as generically X-tian hardcore as “His sacrifice means my failures are only skin deep” and “We’re desperate for change/ We’re so lost and wanting more…

Only You can the sense of honor and integrity we once knew.” Oh, did I forget to mention they com-

bine blasé tough guy hardcore, the gambling motif, and lyrics praising the Lord? And here I am expecting individuality. I’d have a better chance at beating World Series of Poker champ Mike Sexton in a headto-head match.

—KEVIN STEWART-PANKO

Anaal Nathrakh ➑ ESCHATON

SEASON OF MIST

Total fucking curveball

Ho, ho—it’s Anaal Nathrakh album No. 3, which means another fulltilt, bottle-overthe-head, straight-for-the-jugular black metal holocaust… er, mastered with 48-bit technology, and featuring guests from Mayhem and Napalm Death. Yes, Eschaton is as surprising a listen as 2004’s Domine Non Es Dignus, with the UK duo of Mick Kenney and Dave Hunt once more using clean vocals, cleaner production values, and not-so-clean sonic embellishments to augment the bleak, antisocial pummeling at their core. Thankfully, despite all the trimmings, their shit smells as rotten as ever.

Following the bilious, uncorked spew of track one, “Bellum Omnium Contra Omnes,” things officially go bananas with the epic-style mood-swinger “Between Shit and Piss We Are Born.” Unable to align himself vocally with Jake Bannon or Ihsahn, Hunt uses the song’s dynamic breaks to eviscerate Converge and Emperor in tandem, leaving Mayhem throat-singer Csihar to lick up the remains while live bassist/Napalm Deathsman Shane Embury hate-fucks the mixing board. And while “grim” and “necro” are fine summaries of the album’s remainder, it’s often more fun to hear Hunt and Kenney veer off course: See barnburners like “The Yellow King” and “The Necrogeddon,” both of which pile on some of the best completely wretched guitar soloing in recent memory; the FX-laden industrial slag heap “Regression to the Mean”; and the time-change-happy

MySpace single (!) “When the Lion Devours Both Dragon and Child.”

Admittedly, it was cooler to imagine what went into making such material before Anaal Nathrakh debuted live last year and didn’t actually kill anyone in the process. But it’s good to know they’re at least still aiming for our heads.

—AARON BURGESS

there’s an element of commitment to the music that few bands have retained. In fact it seems everything about Asunder is about restraint and patience… they play live so little the one “upcoming” show on their website is from September 2004. But then again, doom metal was never intended for people with ADHD. —KORY GROW

Asunder ➑

Beherit ➑

PROFOUND LORE

SEASON OF MIST

What crust has joined together let no man put Asunder

Back in black blood

WORKS WILL COME UNDONE

With preeminent O.C. crust metalloids Dystopia, lead vocalist and drummer Dino Sommese created some of the fiercest, most aggressive, and yes, catchiest discordant underground racket of the ’90s. Now with doomsters Asunder, Sommese (still carrying double duty) has created one of the most vicious, ominous, and musically memorable doom groups, especially considering the other founding member, Geoff Evans, came from “stenchcore” mavens Skaven. But while Dystopia was more of a fierce aural assault on humankind (they had an album called Human=Garbage), the two songs that comprise Asunder’s latest seem more like a building tension headache from all of Sommese’s previous hissyfits.

Building more from early Euro- and funeral-doom bands like My Dying Bride, Skepticism and Anathema, Asunder’s songs steep themselves in the same murky sludge that stumbled throughout Sommese’s prior work, but with far more urgency to their melancholy.

With cellist Alex Bale-Glickman providing highlights throughout most of “A Famine,” the song takes on a far more epic quality than most doom metal bands can achieve without sounding more sappy than lugubrious (we’re looking at you, Moonspell). Moreover, considering this album has only two songs and over 73 minutes (“Rite of Finality” is over 50 minutes long by itself),

THE OATH OF BLACK BLOOD

Each of the pioneering Scandinavian black metallers’ debut albums had a unique tone, a certain individuality that has nothing to do with what “black metal” became.

Mayhem’s Deathcrush mini LP was a mess of thrashy, Bathory-influenced jackhammer assault; Burzum’s self-titled debut was a D-beatladen homage to Wagner’s forceful cacophony; both Darkthrone and Immortal’s debuts are more akin to thrash-death metal; and then there’s The Oath of Black Blood, originally released in 1992.

Like some fellow Finns that started around the same time, funeral doomsters Skepticism, Beherit valued atmosphere as much as directness. As much as this pretty straightforward reissue (c’mon, give us some demos at least!) captures the band battling raw, static-laden, almost sludgy guitars with poorly recorded drums, it also highlights Beherit’s avant-garde side, most notably on the “Black Mass Prayer” and “Beast of Damnation.”

Following the synthy soundscapes of the former, guitarist/vocalist Nuclear Holocausto very creepily whispers the vocals throughout “Damnation.”

On the follow-up to Oath, 1994’s arguably better Drawing Down the Moon, the band dabbled more in what would become traditional black metal “genre” music (alternating slow-fast blasts and symphonic caterwauls of guitars). But it’s most interesting how Oath’s interludes DECIBEL : JANUARY 07 : 89

foreshadowed where Beherit would go with later albums after they’d gotten first-wave black metal out of their system and started playing dark ambient music. Although most modern black metallers have taken at least the attitude that pervades The Oath of Black Blood right down to its overtly Satanic lyrics, no one can really match Beherit in murky atmosphere. —KORY GROW

Cable ➒

LAST CALL T R A N S L AT I O N L O S S

They don’t have to go home, but they can’t stay here

brutal truth

➒

SOUNDS OF THE ANIMAL KINGDOM/ KILL TREND SUICIDE RELAPSE

Mind grind

redefIned

To recall just how much of a splash these two records, now repackaged onto a single CD, made back in 1996 and 1997, it’s helpful to remember that by the time of their release, death metal, the great white hope of the early ’90s, had more or less rotted from the head down. Brutal Truth, formed as a hobby band by Nuclear Assault bassist Dan Lilker with the assistance of vocalist Kevin Sharp, guitarist Brent “Gurn” McCarty, and drummer Scott Lewis (later replaced by Rich Hoak), began their six-year-long recording career at the height of Earachemania with Extreme Conditions Demand Extreme Responses in ’92.

Whether or not BT really were the fastest band in the world, as the stickers proclaimed, was beside the point: They sounded like they were, crushing the preceding two Napalm Death releases into a cocked hat.

But like every other act on Earache at the time, BT were hemmed in by the need to pay obeisance to the death metal gods, as shown on the follow-up Need to Control. Liberated from their contract and from Colin Richardson’s metal production sound, BT found a new home at Relapse and in Melvins/Neurosis producer Billy Anderson’s no-fi studio. The results, first heard on the short, sharp shock of the 20-minute-long Kill Trend Suicide mini-album, were completely devastating. Abandoning the genuflections to metal that had characterized early ’90s grindcore, BT instead punked themselves up, rediscovering the vitality and spontaneity of grindcore in the process.

For the subsequent full-length, the album that turned out to be their swan song, Sounds of the Animal Kingdom, they widened the sonic spectrum even further to blend fast blasts with slow grinds, ambient industrial noise with Boredoms-style free jazz, and even a nod at Lilker’s native New York art-rock scene through a cover of Sun Ra’s “It’s After the End of the World.” That they found the classic opening sample (“Still not loud enough! Still not fast enough!”) from a Dr. Seuss movie filmed long before Jim Carrey was even born, and created a half-man, half-ape cover portrait that still remains one of the most iconic extreme music sleeves, were apt reflections of how Brutal Truth’s music joined the dots in a way that few matched before or since. —NICK TERRY

90 : JANUARY 07 : DECIBEL

Cable were a great band. The fact that one needs to say that in the past tense is probably due to the fact that they were a great band for 10 freakin’ years and not nearly enough people knew it.

Hence, this excellent compilation and DVD, a perfect bookend to a slept-on career. No band is truly ahead of its time any more than you or I can predict which horses will win, place or show, but there are bands who stumble upon ideas earlier than everyone else is ready to process them. (Or does it all have to do with promotion and if you’re on a hip record label? I still don’t know.) Cable was one of those, locking down—and then abandoning—proto-metalcore riffometry well before the stuff became the indie rock of the 21st century. It also didn’t help that lineup gyrations were one of Cable’s calling cards —they had stable periods, but the only two constants were bassist/ singer Randy Larsen and drummer Vic Szalaj.

Or maybe, as the excellent little documentary on DVD suggests, the Connecticut band simply didn’t give a fuck about anything but playing; to hell with the fact that Dillinger at one end and Isis at the other took aspects of Cable’s sound to the bank.

The key word is “aspects.” Last Call covers the band’s full range, from bellowing metalcore teetering on the edge of mess on ’97’s Variable Speed Drive to the nasty trio urk of

’99’s Gutter Queen to the mutant noise-sludge of ’01’s Northern Failures to the Skynyrd-squee on ’04’s Pigs Never Fly. There are even seven songs from their final 2004 show.

Unlike DEP or Isis, Cable never let technical prowess or atmospherics get in the way of sharp riffs— hooks fucking abound. The title track, recorded this year, is a magnificent, winding blast of interlaced guitar and almost laconically laid back rhythms. They will be missed.

—JOE GROSS

Chavez ➑

BETTER DAYS WILL HAUNT YOU M ATA D O R

Gone glimmering, but not forgotten

New York’s Chavez, a band that featured future Zwan guitarist and Early Man producer Matt Sweeney, formed in an era when grunge-filled airwaves and a relentless stream of Pavement and Sebadoh wannabes had, for many, ruined the sound of electric guitar. That’s pretty bad timing for a quartet that owed much of their aesthetic to local twin-guitar acts like Television and Sonic Youth.

But contexts change—techno and post-rock never overtook the world—and thus also-rans can also become after-the-fact contenders. Or so Matador would hope.

Better Days Will Haunt You, a double CD-plus-DVD collection that culls most, if not all, of Chavez’s guitardrenched output, isn’t quite the deluxe treatment that the label lavishes on Pavement. Even so, the mere existence of a Chavez discography suggests that someone thinks it’s time for a reappraisal.

And you know what? They’re right.

Hindsight being what it is, this stuff can be spun a couple different ways. First, there’s the indierock angle: Chavez’s second and last album, 1996’s Ride the Fader, is, without a doubt, a Clintonera classic, a progressive-minded recording that hints at everything from Drive Like Jehu’s Yank Crime to, yes, Pavement’s Crooked Rain, Crooked Rain. And then there’s the

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inevitable proto angle: Chavez, for all their melodic vocalizing and tuneful chord changes, were often darker and heavier than their ilk, with a metallic tendency that, in light of recent alt-metal developments, could be described as prescient. (It wasn’t. But, hey, if that sort of thing floats your boat, then, sure, Chavez were every bit as crossover as Don Caballero or Engine Kid or any other indierock act that stared into the void.)

Either way, those Days may not exactly haunt you, but you will now know that they were better than they seemed. —BRENT BURTON

Coffins ➒

THE OTHER SIDE OF BLASPHEMY 20 BUCK SPIN

Three… extremes

The cover of Coffins’ last album, Mortuary in Darkness, depicts a naked

lady on her back in a cemetery, one of her legs held up by a bonewinged demon who’s gnawing on her severed arm. Another demon lurks in the background with a bloody machete in one hand and a spine (with the skull still attached) in the other. Plus a few inverted crosses. The cover of The Other Side of Blasphemy has another unclothed woman spread-eagled in front of a demon. On this one, she’s nailed to the ground with crosses and our guy is holding the demon baby he has obviously just ripped out of her womb. Oh, and there’s a burning church in the background. This demon is bigger and clearly higherranked in the demon hierarchy than the Mortuary guys. In D&D, Blasphemy Demon could once per day summon 5-8 (1d4+4) of the Mortuary Demons; in a video game, he’d be a middle-of-the-game boss, and eventually you’d just kill the smaller ones for power-ups.

As a man with word count limita-

tions, I’m happy to report that the albums are pretty much the same deal: The Other Side of Blasphemy is a meaner, more damaging big brother to Coffins’ previous records. A tshirt scan pulls up Hellhammer, Corrupted and Grave, and the Tokyo trio nails the good parts of all of them. The tempos rarely rise above a crawl, except for the Frosty gallop in the first half of “Evil Infection,” with “Destiny to Suffering” wallowing in the deepest sludge for seven-and-a-half minutes. It’s still less muddy than Mortuary, and the slightly brighter recording gives Blasphemy an occult flamejob assisted by the increased presence of lead guitar. Which makes the melodic and triumphant (but still doomy as hell) instrumental “Rise” a surprising closer. I like to assume that it’s the demon who was triumphant, and that he’s flying the demon baby off to his even bigger master, where he’ll be trained in demonic arts involving naked

ladies and the saga will continue.

—ANTHONY BARTKEWICZ

Dark Water Transit ➏

DAWN OF THE GOBLIN L E T ’ E M TA L K

A thriller night this is not

I think the operative question here is “Why?” As in, why do we need a post-rock reading of Goblin’s seminal Dawn of the Dead soundtrack when the original’s untouchable and Zombi’s already carrying the torch of its Romeroreferencing name with new synth and drums undulations for the undead? The truth of the matter is we really don’t, even though Dawn of the Goblin makes a considerable, commendable effort to stretch its source material in new directions with drastically extended alternate takes and a live, widescreen approach that’s like plopping an orchestra

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pit in front of a midnight movie screening. (Dark Water Transit’s power trio core brought in six extra session players to flesh out horns, strings and synths.)

The problem is in the presentation—it’s more bloated than a body that’s been floating in the river down by the docks for 30 days.

Rather than recreate every track, the group devotes a half hour to “Zombi,” “La Caccia” and “L’alba Dei Morti Viventi,” which goes from being a six-minute graveyard soliloquy of instant dread to a twopart, 14-minute exercise in excess.

Dead heads won’t find any of it too offensive, though; if anything, the thick, punchy bass lines and crackshot percussion work sharpens the sepia tones of certain moments like a meticulous Criterion Collection transfer. Just don’t expect a call from Dario Argento anytime soon, guys. —ANDREW PARKS

Dead Poetic ➍ VICES

TOOTH & NAIL

… ’cause there ain’t much in the way of virtues

Nice album title. What Vices can a band on Christian punk sweatshop Tooth & Nail really have, anyway? Oh, wait, I’ve got one: plagiarism. As in, when listening to the opening track of Dead Poetic’s third album, it’s apparent that frontman Brandon Rike would really, REALLY like to be Maynard James Keenan. The track’s a little less proggy than a typical Tool song, but come on—I’ve heard more originality on a Clay Aiken album. (Quick show of hands—who wants to see Mr. Asexual Idol cover “Stinkfist”? Just a thought…)

And that’s the problem. While Vices is more melodic and less screamo than the recent T&N material (see: Underoath), not to mention earlier Dead Poetic albums, it’s no less easy to pigeonhole.

Apparently, adding three new band members in the last two years (drummer Jesse Sprinkle and exBeloved members Dusty Redmon 92 : JANUARY 07 : DECIBEL

and John Brehm) has convinced the group that a ’90s alt-rock makeover was necessary. So, you’ve got more Tool (“Lioness”), a track that sounds a whole lot like the Deftones/ Maynard duet “Passenger” (“SelfDestruct & Die”), some fast grunge à la Stone Temple Pilots (“Narcotic”), and a whole lot of Chino Moreno, who co-wrote the album’s two “moody” songs (“Crashing Down” and “Paralytic”)… which, come to think of it, sound better than anything on the Team Sleep album. OK, some points there, my friends.

Blatant homages are not the worst thing, and the band is certainly catchier than the groups that, uh, inspired them. But nobody, whether it’s Chino, Maynard, Ozzy, or especially DP’s Rike, could ever sell me on a mixed metaphor lyric like “the fire burns like cancer” (track eight, “Sinless City,” if you’re curious). That’s just wrong.

So forget DP. Meanwhile, I’m off to listen to Wolfmother. Who knew Robert Plant could still wail like that? Amazing! —KIRK MILLER

ously exciting and not over people’s heads.

In a cryptic interview on their label’s website, one unnamed Deathspell member quotes Dantec (we’re thinking he means cyberpunk author Maurice Dantec) as saying, “True art is cruel by definition.” And by all accounts, Si Monumentum Requires, Circumspice makes good on that promise: It’s structured like a double-disc record (with four sides), it contains enough unintelligible Satanic lyrics to spawn a PMRC translation council, and every song is more aggressive than the one before. Also, it’s supposedly the first part of a trilogy (their 2005 EP Kénôse doesn’t count), and a very daunting starting line to break from. While a few other bands have played and are playing black metal with similar experimentalism as Deathspell Omega (Enslaved, Wolves in the Throne Room, Weakling), their mysterious nature has helped them establish their own league of avant-garde expression. —KORY GROW

Deathspell Omega ➒

Dual ➏

SI MONUMENTUM REQUIRES, CIRCUMSPICE A JNA/SOUTHERN LORD

Circumspice up your life

Continuing France’s legacy of forwardminded thinkers (Sartre, Duchamp, Prévert), Poitiers-based black metal trio Deathspell Omega reinvented the avant-garde within their genre in 2004. Before this album, released now by Southern Lord in the States for the first time, the group had dabbled mostly with charred, postDarkthrone aggression, but this album—two years in the making— single-handedly opened the gate to hell. The 11-plus minutes that comprise “Carnal Malefactor” wander between Gregorian chanting, compulsive blast beats, and soaring, near-operatic arias of sound. This is progressive metal (“prog” is a genre; “progressive” is an attitude) the way it should be: Challenging yet accessible while simultane-

PYROCLASTICS

a noise fan, and this third Dual album—the band is, surprise surprise, a duo, consisting of Doug Theriault on custom-built guitar/ electronics and Ed Chang, electronics—ain’t half bad. It references, as is hard to avoid, the usual Alec Empire/Merzbow axis, but also leaps into Naked City/Mr. Bungle/ Atomsmasher/Venetian Snares territory as well—the bouncy jazzgrind bop of “Shadow of Death” being a prime example of this tendency towards improv.

Nonetheless, Pyroclastics is a pretty familiar listen, and since it doesn’t vary its message throughout, or take any particularly impressive risks, it’s nothing you haven’t heard before done better or even noisier. But for those moments in your life, and for me they come three, maybe four times a year, when just nothing else will do the trick but noise, this collection of scatterbrain percussion, hiccupping distortion, and all-out controlled chaos spazz is as functional a well-timed headfuck as should be expected from any self-respecting noise album. If that isn’t a contradiction. —DANIEL LUKES

QUODLIBET RECORDINGS

A bunch of noise

Noise is relative. When Igor Stravinsky’s The Rite of Spring was first performed in 1913 in Paris, its sonic dissonance and rhythmic clatter—meant to express and mirror our higher tolerance for noise in the mechanized world—were met not with thrown tomatoes, but a full-blown riot. If they’d been played this album then, one wonders whether the audience would have full-on imploded into a mushroom cloud of flesh. Which is a roundabout way of saying that listeners of 2106 might see Pyroclastics’ basic reliance on noise-as-what’sannoying-now as rather quaint.

Listeners of metal are divided on noise: Some think it’s shit, some appreciate its massive relevance and influence on so much else of what we listen to. Personally, I consider myself something of

Flotsam and Jetsam ➐

DOOMSDAY FOR THE DECEIVER M E TA L B L A D E

Flotzilla returns! You know, the big green lizard guy.

The timing of Jason Newsted’s departure from Flotsam and Jetsam to join Metallica in late 1986 had a double-edged effect on the Arizona band: They’d lost a key member mere months after their debut was released, but on the other hand, waves of curious Metallibashers (yours truly included) scurried to record stores to hear that band with the funny name, and were treated to a real gem from the American thrash era.

As admired as Doomsday is, it’s an odd duck of an album. But it’s an endearing one, partially entrenched in early ’80s NWOBHM and doggedly trying to climb on the Bay Area thrash bandwagon at the

same time. The two styles collide, sometimes awkwardly (“She Took an Axe”), but with often rousing results, as on the furious doubletime meets double entendre of “Hammerhead” and the contagious “Iron Tears,” which has singer Eric A.K. in full-on power metal shriek mode. However, “Desecrator,” the ironically ornate “Metalshock,” and the epic title track show some real imagination, with guitarists Mike Gilbert and Ed Carlson swapping leads and staccato riffs and Newsted showcasing his own bass prowess.

The extras on this swanky threedisc reissue are plentiful; we get both the original version of the album as well as a punchy remix (call me a geezer, but I like that muddy old Slagel production), plus a pair of 1985 demos; but the real fun is to be had on the accompanying DVD, including live performances, a painfully awkward high school interview, and a hilarious video treatment of “Hammerhead” that must be seen to be believed.

—ADRIEN BEGRAND

Frost ➍

OUT IN THE COLD SCREAMING FERRET

Jack Frost nipping at your nose, your ears, and your last nerve

There’s a lot of hyperbole in the bio accompanying Out of the Cold about how guitarist and project leader Jack Frost is metal’s version of the hardest working man in showbiz; he not only wrote all the music here, but engineered, produced and mixed this record, then wrangled all the guest appearances—each song is performed by a different lineup, varying from recognizable names such as Joey Vera, Alan Tecchio and Neil Turbin to guys who’d probably even get punked off at a Brave Words and Bloody Knuckles barbecue—while solving global warming and the federal deficit. Why is it, then, that Frost can’t take the time to find someone who has a greater working knowledge of graphic design and Photoshop than I do? Sure, 94 : JANUARY 07 : DECIBEL

GAZA

➒

I DON’T CARE WHERE I GO WHEN I DIE BLACK MARKET ACTIVITIES/ M E TA L B L A D E

All roads point to Utah being fucked up. Now, I’ve never really experienced Utah—sleeping while someone else drives through the state doesn’t cut it with the Lonely Planet people— but everyone I talk to who has been comes back with crazy stories about the Peyton Place backdrop, guys with multiple wives, excessively violent mosh pits, unparalleled straight-edge militancy even though the state has ridiculously frustrating drinking laws, and that whole thing about the Mormons and their sacred undergarments. Thus, it’s really no surprise that this most violent sounding of bands calls Salt Lake City home. Gaza channel and unleash the repression they’ve lived with since they were knee-high to a grasshopper, with the culmination a hedonistic, sonic slashing wrapped in an outpouring of acerbic and sardonic… well… everything.

First reaction: This is fucking unhinged! The promo sticker on front reads, “For fans of Botch, Pig Destroyer, and Premonitions of War,” which is pretty

the airbrushed caricatures are well done and any hardcore fan would be pleased as punch to have replicas adorning the side of his ’70s styled shaggin’ wagon, but they’re just plopped willy-nilly into a CD booklet with no attention paid to aesthetics, detail or the fact that Frost looks like he’s starring in the Cars’ “You Might Think” video.

But that’s pretty symptomatic of J.F.’s body of work and Out in the Cold. This disc brims with plodding, meat-and-potatoes, Judas Priestworshipping metal that lacks any stylistic finesse or energetic flair.

In fact, the few redeeming qualities brought to this are courtesy of Tecchio and Turbin’s gristly, airraid siren voices in “Hell or High Water” and “Crucifixation.” For a

battle lines drawn

accurate, but fails to mention the multiplication by 10 that Gaza have foisted onto these influences, or the addition of Coalesce-like rhythmic pulsating and Deadguy’s all-encompassing hate. The swell thing about I Don’t Care is that even amid the caustic bedlam, Gaza keep the individual songs flowing like a river of angry lava; “Sire” is capable of summoning the Earth to open up and swallow small countries, while “Slutmaker,” “Moth” and “Hell Crown” take Coalesce’s Give Them Rope, blindfolds it, and throws it into a dank dungeon.

The lyrics are equally compelling, provoking and hilarious. A random sampling: “Dumber than a bag of Hatebreed fans,” from “Slutmaker”; “What the fuck smells like bad priest in here/ We’ve got blood on the door/ God war/ Death president/ Let’s get hopped up on horse tranquilizers and play with clawhammers,” from “Calf”; and “They used you to clean up tears after a Thrice show/ Fucking belt buckles everywhere/ Never digesting anything is a hell of a diet plan,” from “Gristle.” Awesome stuff.

—KEVIN STEWART-PANKO

disc that employs the services of 18 different players, Cold is remarkably homogenous and uneventful. Put it this way—you know an album is in trouble when the most entertaining track is a double-kick accented cover of April Wine’s “Sign of the Gypsy Queen.”

—KEVIN STEWART-PANKO

God Dethroned ➒ THE TOXIC TOUCH M E TA L B L A D E

Toxic avenging… sevenfold

Since reforming in the mid ’90s (an earlier incarnation produced a single album in 1992), God Dethroned have notched

up half-a-dozen albums, their consistently improving quality earning them an enviable reputation in the European metal scene.

In fact, this seventh outing for the Dutch quartet has won full marks and album of the month awards across a slew of German magazines.

Does this acclaim translate across the Atlantic? If US readers are expecting God Dethroned’s brand of melodic death metal to resemble the much more popular Gothenburg sound, they’ll either be very disappointed or down on their knees thanking the Lord (real, Satanic, or metaphorical) that at least one band refuses to sing-scream their vocals.

Often compared to Swedish MDMers Amon Amarth, God

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Dethroned here outstrip this benchmark fairly convincingly. Tracks like “On Wings of Pestilence,” “Falling Down,” and the closing “Fail to Exist” shroud their incessantly catchy melodies within a moving wall of relentlessly crushing death metal. Not that God Dethroned resort to blast beat clichés or the usual tired Morbid Angelisms to get their point across.

Rather, they unleash colossal grooves into their songs, a menacing torpor that makes you wonder whether repeated tours with labelmates Bolt Thrower haven’t rubbed off as an unconscious influence.

If there’s a catch, it’s probably the comparative lack of evolution in the vocal department. While the fact that Henri Sattler has stuck resolutely to the death metal rasp is in many ways admirable, he just isn’t that great a screamer. So while Rock Hard dished out a 9.5, we’ll

have to settle for a notch down.

—NICK TERRY

HORSE the Band ➑ PIZZA KOCH

Extra cheese

People hate HORSE. During the Warped Tour, the group’s mix of cookie-cutter vocals, tacky synths, and old school metal nearly caused a riot. OK, not really, but there were a lot of “You suck!”s thrown around. Hey, that’s cool—the band doesn’t like you guys either. “Sometimes it is hard to believe how many douchebags there are in the world,” they posted on their homepage. “Most of them are in bands on Warped Tour.”

Ha! Anyway, HORSE are known as a “Nintendo-core” band, a useless moniker that’s derived from the

group’s love of dinky, MIDI-quality keyboard noise and a few namechecks of Zelda in their early material. Whatever. For their Pizza EP, the guys switch their lyrical bent to our favorite food product. (That’d be pizza, genius.)

It’s still fucking weird. The schizo “Anti-Pizza” is sort of what Mike Patton would sound like if he were... uh, 8. For the first 20 seconds, “Pizza Nif” has the hallmark of a (gasp!) single: The cheesy guitar licks and peppy keyboards sound like a knockoff of Van Halen’s “Jump.” Fortunately, the song kicks into a continuous hardcore “P-I-Z-ZA” hardcore chant, which made me immediately hungry. I smell a new theme song, Domino’s!

On a down note, the cover of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles theme song (they love the ’za, remember?) is useless, and not nearly as funny as the Vanilla Ice TMNT 2 hit “Ninja Rap.” But it follows the spooky,

organ-drenched epic “Werepizza” (think Pete Steele with a jones-ing for thin crust), so that misfire is entirely forgiven.

If you think HORSE sucks, well, this won’t change your mind, even if you get the vinyl version (featuring pizza-box packaging!) But do remember this old bit of wisdom: Pizza is a lot like sex—even when it’s bad, it’s good. —KIRK MILLER

The Human Abstract ➏ NOCTURNE HOPELESS

Their guitar teachers would be proud

These are the contents of “Harbinger,” the leadoff track to the debut album from California’s the Human Abstract: an acoustic and classically influenced intro; furious sweep picking workouts; good cop/bad cop/cop-who-

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Kayser

➑

FRAME THE WORLD… HANG IT ON THE WALL SCARLET

Nevermore lack balls. Sure, the long-standing power/thrash outfit released the highlight of their career last year with This Godless Endeavor. But even as the press were doling out perfect scores and their fanbase was dropping its collective load in salutation of the album’s inarguable awesomeness, hones-tly, the band still failed to consistently deliver in terms of testicular fortitude—a problem even during their previous incarnation as Sanctuary. So, if you’ve ever wondered what the Seattleites would sound like with a hefty pair of cantaloupes hanging between their legs, look no further than this Swedish outfit, which brings together the talents of former members of Spiritual Beggars, the Defaced and the Mushroom River Band.

Granted, trying to appear tough and surly while

confiscated-and-smoked-your-stash vocal transitions in and out of herky-jerky metallic hardcore riffs; an acoustic interlude featuring a disturbing cock rock croon; and more flashy guitar work. On paper, this may seem like a scattered mess of ultra-talented musicians aimlessly throwing parts together, and it pretty much is.

The Human Abstract have less focus than a drunk scientist viewing the Ebola virus through a cracked microscope. The second tune, “Self Portraits of the Instincts,” has tons of jaw-dropping guitar gymnastics, completely unmemorable tech-metal riffs topped off with arched-eyebrow power metal vocalizations, and this 96 : JANUARY 07 : DECIBEL

Skitsnack!

kicking off your latest album with a tune called “The Cake” (before segueing into “Cheap Glue,” “A Note From Your Wicked Son” and “Jake”) might not be the manliest course of action, but then again their vocalist is that dude from Spiritual Beggars who voluntarily runs around calling himself Spice, so it’s clear introductory handles obviously aren’t his forte. However, all his questionable choices are cast aside once the glorious, piss ‘n’ vinegar guitar and vocal work of the aforementioned tracks—plus other nuggets of classy power thrashing fun like “Turn to Grey” and “Lost in the Mud”—blast forth from the speakers, combining Slaytanic speed, the up-tempo chug of Forbidden’s Twisted Into Form, some Swedish thrash/death élan, and the omnipresent Nevermore influence, all recorded cleanly and digitally. The world could’ve done without the terrible ballad, but overall Frame the World is a solid slab of full-stop metal. —KEVIN STEWART-PANKO

sort of musical 52 Pick Up goes on for the majority of Nocturne’s 46 minutes with the most cohesive and melodically powerful tracks, “Mea Culpa,” “Movement from Discord” and “Polaris,” ironically coming after a simplistic acoustic interlude.

The band’s troubles are two-fold: one, they have more technical talent than they know what to do with and, because of it, much of their material suffers from “Where’d the song go?” syndrome; and two, listening to Nocturne at home subtracts the visceral reality of their live show, where guitarists A.J. Minette and Dean Herrera get into these funky headbanging and sweeping picking battles while vocalist Nathan Ells lunges around

like a DIY Axl Rose, annoying the piss out of everyone trying to stare at his bandmates’ fingers. Go see them live, as they don’t have the tunes—as I’ve said before—yet.

—KEVIN STEWART-PANKO

Khlyst

➑

CHAOS IS MY NAME HYDRA HEAD

Ripping out your veins with hooks and chains

How many albums fucking ruin themselves by staying the same throughout?

How many times does a CD start off with a bang and continue along

the same damn vein all the way to the end, so that even if it started with a great idea, that same idea repeated over and over conducts only to where boredom lieth? The art of variety is a necessary one, and James Plotkin of O.L.D./Scorn/ Khanate/Phantomsmasher fame is an old hand at this, which is why his latest outpouring, in the company of SunnO)))/Thorr’s Hammer (female!) screecher Runhild Gammelsæter is willfully, impressively, and successfully all over the map.

Chaos Is My Name is very much like a nightmare, roaming without rhyme, reason, or logic, as Melvinsremixing-Immortal grind noise psychofugues unravel into Laswellesque, percussive, industrial, ambient cityscapes. Stumbling around the gloomy alleys of the latter, we’re caught in a hypnotic daze of drones, echoes, and minimalist avant horror movie atmospherics. Then, the monsters suddenly appear, and just like in Hellraiser, we’re rushing down corridors pursued by a skinless hound brandishing blackmetallized doom-grind jaws. Not one for listening to whilst on drugs and paranoid, then.

I once read a review of David Bowie’s Outside by a guy who’d listened to the thing on headphones on a plane and pointed out how the experience was enhanced by external noise butting in. When I was listening to this last night, my neighbors’ pounding reggaeton beats intruded from outside, making Chaos Is My Name even more befuddling and meaningful. A grower—and in mysterious ways. —DANIEL LUKES

Know the Score ➐ ALL TIME LOW EULOGY

No time for losers

One furious punch from defensive forward Kermit Washington was all it took for Rudy Tomjanovich to collapse in a pool of his own blood and spinal fluid during a legendary LakersRockets match that turned the tide

BLACK LABEL

DEBUTANTE BALL:

I HATE RECORDS

Sweden’s I Hate Records label is so cool I can’t even think of anything funny to say about them. And I LOVE making fun of people. It masks my own insecurities and pervading feelings of hopelessness. Plus, I’m kind of a jerk. Hmmm… they did put out an album by Thee Plague of Gentlemen. Ewwww! But that was before anyone knew that the dude in that band was a creepy child rapist. And, they deleted the album from their catalog once the facts were known. Which just makes them cooler than cool in my book. Sadly, some labels might have used that kind of publicity to sell some records. I guess there’s nothing left to say other than this: I Hate is an outstanding doom (with a smattering of death and thrash) metal label that always puts out interesting music with great art and packaging and always, ALWAYS, brings the heavy. Four recent releases go a long way toward proving that too.—SCOTT SEWARD

Burning Saviours HUNDUS

Already a household name in houses where all the windows are covered over with garbage bags and where all the good drugs can be found, Sweden’s Burning Saviours may in fact out-Witchcraft Witchcraft when it comes to making seriously groovy stoner jams filled with Hammer horror lyrics and slinky vintage tube amp guitar solos à la Pentagram. Plus, they bust out a righteous flute solo every now and again. Do Witchcraft rock the Satanic flute? I think not. Burning Saviours also delve deeper into Dungen-esque prog/psych than Witchcraft. All in all, this album rules. Old riffs are new again in the band’s capable hands and clouds of very sweet smoke hovers languorously over their heads. Five bongs!

Fall of the Idols WOMB OF THE EARTH

Could things possibly get any cooler? You betcha, you creepy little bowl-scraper! Especially when the forestful of Finns in Fall of the Idols are dishing up such luxurious doom epics as “Atonement for the One.” Dudes, seriously, you HAVE to hear this song. Remember when Danzig was really cool? Yeah, me neither, and the runty one post-godliness never came close to making a song as awesome as this. Or if he did I couldn’t hear it ’cause I was playing my Misfits and Samhain albums too loud. Sweeping mass-hypnosis vocals, buzzing and blissful guitars, a stately undertow of crushing despair… oh, I could go on forever. Just buy the damn thing and shut me up.

The Gates of Slumber SUFFER NO GUILT

If you love doom metal—really love it—then you love the Gates of Slumber. They are doom at its most elemental and they take great pains to honor their forefathers, which in this case would be St. Vitus, St. Vitus, and St. Vitus. As Homer Simpson might say: Mmmm… doomy. St. Iommi, the one true riff, occasional ’80s Brit metal excursions, and tons and tons of fragrant Nepalese hash all come into play on Suffer No Guilt. Mmmm… hashy. Anyway, they will knock you silly. Check out some of their epic live-action on YouTube. These three dudes from Indiana know what’s up: True doom will live as long as there are pills to score and graves to dig.

Isole

THRONE OF VOID Sweden’s Isole are a grander affair than the other three bands listed so far. They get out the good china and their very best red velvet tablecloth for you on the epic Throne of Void.

All the same names are thrown around when people talk about Isole: Candlemass, Solitude Aeternus, etc., but these guys have been quietly honing their funereal chops for years and definitely make their own distinctive tear-stained mark on the epic doom genre. Slow and low, that is the tempo, for the most part, and the fun is in listening to the twists and turns of the band’s serpentine compositions. That and bitterly bemoaning the unending torment that is the hell of life on earth, naturally.

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for a kindler, gentler NBA. That’s exactly what All Time Low sounds like: This Florida quintet applies the full-court press on 18 tracks of relentless old school hardcore.

These dudes should really pass out Bill Lambeer facemasks before they let their fans venture into the pit—four seconds of chest-beating brutality (as exemplified by the “You Suffer” piss-takes “God Damn Rich Cunt” and “Hit and Run”) is all it takes for someone to get hurt.

On All Time Low, Know the Score concern themselves more with the two-minute drive than the twodrink minimum. The best cut from last year’s All Guts, No Glory makes a triumphant return, too, as the band clears the bench after an instrumental time-out to bitch-slap the Boston faithful on “Red Sox Nation My Ass.” The line between sports metaphors and hardcore metaphors is increasingly thin, anyway—both cultures beg for 110% effort and despise weakness and fair-weather fans. Even if hardcore inspired the type of compulsion common amongst black metal fans, no one would be able to pick tracks like “Hammerhead” out of a police lineup. But Know the Score inspire confidence by playing to their strengths—gang vocals and bulky breakdowns—all the way until the final track. That one offers two halves of the same song divided by several minutes of silence and an awkward edit. Shaq needs some practice from the free-throw line, too. —NICK GREEN

Nerve Gas Tragedy ➏ NO TOMORROW

SPOOK CITY RECORDS

The same old convulsions

If tomorrow yields any more of the beenthere-done-that20-plus-yearsago-in-the-Bayarea-styled thrash metal that these upstate (Wappingers Falls!) New York lads belch up, then we heartily concur: No Tomorrow, please. Just kidding, sorta…

Nerve Gas rose out of the ashes of metalcore band All Out War. After

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reforming, the band decided to get more alloyed, less ’core—a few breakdowns here and there still, leaving an aftertaste of them crazy old roundhouse pit days, but fans of that band’s ubiquitous half-time chug and Slayer jones may not dig the early ’80s speed metal this CD emulates. To be fair, the band does mix in some more contemporary elements. (Allegedly, their first album, Written in the Blood of the Dead was a bit more loyal to their shavedhead roots.)

There are some crankin’ riffs on here—Exodus meets Possessed meets less dexterous Lamb of Godstyled circular notations—but when every song on the album is under three minutes and you keep checking your watch waiting for the song to end, methinks they need some new tricks in their arsenal—maybe more tempo variations and less sameyness in the songwriting. Three songs do deviate from the norm-storm of double-bass thumpa-thumpa and robo-chugging: The moody instrumentals that bookend the CD (with one stuck in the middle) kinda bring to mind the intro of Mercyful Fate’s “Melissa,” but some watered-down keyboard cheese-cutting thins out the darkness. All in all, a pretty decent thrash outfit for those wishing to wander a couple centimeters out of hoodie-core land.

—D. SHAWN BOSLER

Passion ➐

THE FIERCE URGENCY OF NOW GOODFELLOW

Are you passionate? Well, are you?

Slayer.

Eyehategod.

Carcass.

Emperor.

Black freakin’ Sabbath. All classic examples of eye-grabbing band names perfectly suited to their music. The Blunt Band Name has become somewhat of a dying art as of late, as youngsters come up with so many confusing, sentence-long names that it often becomes a chore when trying to remember who the hell you just saw at Sounds of the Underground

taking flipper way to literally

american hardcore The shape of punk that came the fix ➐

ORIGINAL SOUNDTRACK RHINO

➐

AT THE SPEED OF TWISTED THOUGHT TOUCH & GO

American Hardcore the book and movie definitively mark 1986 as the end of hardcore. Anything that came after just wasn’t the same. You weren’t there back in the day, man; you don’t know what it was like. Fortunately, when taken as a compilation free of scene pontification, the movie’s soundtrack is an essential history lesson, with the 1980-1986 in the subtitle serving as a reference point instead of an epitaph. It kicks off the only way it possibly could: Black Flag’s “Nervous Breakdown,” the lesser-known “Out of Vogue” by Middle Class (arguably the first real HC song), and Bad Brains’ defining “Pay to Cum.” Skipping from scene to scene in roughly chronological order, it hits DC (Minor Threat, Void), Boston (Gang Green, SS Decontrol), Cali (Circle Jerks, Battalion of Saints), and points in between. NYHC is only represented by one track, but at least it’s a good’un: “Don’t Tread on Me” from the Cro-Mags’ phenomenal demo. The compilation closes out with “HA HA HA” from the hardcorenegating, crowd-baiting Flipper—I’m a little

(“Was that Every Time I Die?” “No, that was A Life Once Lost”), and some recent bluntly named bands have succeeded more than others (the Sword, yes; Bludgeon, not so much). So when you give your metalcore band a bold name like Passion, you had better hold up your end of the bargain.

surprised they didn’t go with Negative Trend, whom author Steven Blush posited as the only band who “got it” (and whom he also happened to manage).

The Fix never made a record as essential as Black Flag or Minor Threat, but they’re notable for being among the first Midwest hardcore bands and for their “Vengeance” seven-inch being Touch & Go’s second release. Tracks from that single and the Jan’s Room EP could fit comfortably on American Hardcore, except for maybe the gruff, trudging “Signals,” with its relatively epic 3:37 running time. Filling out the 24 tracks are Jan’s Room outtakes, their contribution to the Process of Elimination comp, and some live tracks of unknown origin, including a vicious take on the Germs’ “Media Blitz.” Liner-note scenesters Thurston Moore and Henry Rollins note the Fix’s stark, minimal presentation, while early HC zine editor Tim Tonooka writes that “Back in 1981, punk had supposedly run its course.” Meanwhile, Touch & Go recently celebrated its 25th anniversary, a “dead” subculture has a documentary about it two decades later, and at this very moment some hoodied-up message board warrior is lamenting how the new kids in his scene just don’t get it. These are the days of our hardcore lives. —ANTHONY BARTKEWICZ

Thankfully, this Philly fivesome does just that and more, drawing heavily from three other bands with great names: Botch, Converge, and Goodfellow labelmates Cursed. Preoccupied with the visceral, cathartic power of hardcore, yet varied enough to hold our interest for 45 minutes,

The Fierce Urgency of Now doesn’t break new ground so much as pull off a reliable formula with the confidence of seasoned veterans.

Guitarists Sheerin and Tony (no last names, folks) are a versatile pair, adding mathcore flourishes, black metal tremolo picking, and Gothenburg harmonies when DECIBEL : JANUARY 07 : 99

they’re not crushing us with Kurt Ballou-esque riffs, but it’s vocalist Kenny who wins us over, making his angst sound genuine on “Bulletproof Mona Lisa” and delivering one of the most perceptive political diatribes of the year on the enthralling “Patriot for a Day.” —ADRIEN BEGRAND

blast beats. The song’s simplicity defies how no one already figured out this formula—and Rydén would probably say there isn’t one.

Righteous Jams ➎

—KORY GROW

Profundi

The newest signings to Hammy’s house of horrors couldn’t be much more modernPeaceville if they tried. Operating squarely in the alterna-goth vein pioneered by labelmates Katatonia, Gothenburg’s the Provenance have hitherto released three albums through Italian label Scarlet, each crafting and refining an ever more subtle take on the band’s postgothic metal sound. Their fourth album, Red Flags, immediately strikes the listener as an accomplished, fully-formed release, and may well convert Lacuna Coil and Gathering fans with the vocal tradeoffs between frontwoman Emma Hellström and guitarist Tobias Martinsson. (Exceptionally sharp-eared listeners may twig that Hellström moonlighted as Vampirella in Snowy Shaw’s Notre Dame project.)

The Gathering comparison is most noticeable on the elegiac “Deadened,” while the similarities with Lacuna Coil begin and end with the dueting, since the Provenance are a virtually metalfree proposition. Instead, like Katatonia, they rely on a more organic, alternative-influenced sound, with the likes of “Crash Course,” “The Cost” and “At the Barricades” more closely resembling Failure or A Perfect Circle than the stereotypical goth-metal troupe. The cheekily-named “Second and Last but Not Always,” meanwhile, uses the same acoustic hypnotic drone that labelmates Beyond Dawn stole from Swans to power themselves along. Fans of any of the above-named bands will likely find something to cherish here. —NICK TERRY

One must get down in accordance with virtue and morality in order to jam righteously. It would aid one’s cause tremendously if the jams of righteousness were reinforced by booty-flaming tunes. Bands like Public Enemy, MC5 and Bikini Kill are all righteous mama jamas who make you wanna throw the horns.

They use intellect, passion and amplifiers-to-11 to bring their righteousness to the masses.

So, when confronted by a band that calls themselves Righteous Jams, one would assume said band can deliver the goods. The Boston hardcore band is a big proponent of the straight-edge lifestyle (hence their proclamation of righteousness) and lifting weights. On the jammier end of the stick, they’re like that high school hardcore band that sounded the same no matter how many hours they practiced the Earth Crisis catalog. But two songs from Business as Usual do share some righteous jamming: “Lizards” and “Adams St.” get the momentum rolling for some possible circle pit action. Otherwise, kick out these jams, motherfucker.

➑

THE OMEGA RISING PROFOUND LORE

Like Naglfar on a chalkboard…

Unlike most traditional blackeneddeath metal bands, a phrase that sounds about as appealing as “McDonalds filet mignon” (you pick which is which), Stockholm’s Profundi come with two advantages: breeding and a clearly defined musical vision.

Written and performed solely by ex-Naglfar multi-instrumentalist Jens Rydén, Profundi’s debut walks a fine line but never seems to stumble, mostly due to Rydén’s tenacity and perseverance. It’s too easy to balance death and black metal influences for something almost commercial sounding with crossover potential, yet not quite Ozzfest ready (e.g. Behemoth, God Dethroned). Certainly, the 13 years he spent in his previous band taught him the power of contrast in a way that Naglfar itself never fully achieved.

On “Split-Tongued,” Rydén turns the opening organ motif into a greater riff to carry his anguished vocals at a breakneck tempo, as with most of the songs here, leaving reprieve to carefully calculated solo breaks and breakdowns.

Maintaining this kind of consistency is the easy part—it’s Rydén’s ability to transform the simplest musical motif into a cacophonous symphony of blasts and keep it interesting from song to song that’s impressive. To introduce “Lifeless, Cold and Crimson,” he takes a slow, high-pitched squealing riff, turns it into something heavier, breaks it down, and commences with government-issued 100 : JANUARY 07 : DECIBEL

The Provenance ➐ RED FLAGS PEACEVILLE

Cold and distant, but not quite great

BUSINESS AS USUAL ABACUS

Dude! Bro! No!

—JEANNE FURY

Saosin

➍

SAOSIN CAPITOL

Safe sux

After losing original vocalist, rumored druggie, and sole interesting member Anthony Green to the more progged-out Circa Survive, California post-hardcore pinups Saosin could’ve pulled a Van Hagar and replaced the dude with an unfamiliar face. Well, as the band’s longoverdue debut album proves, they at least got the “face” thing right: New frontman Cove Reber is decidedly more clean-cut than Green (what

do you expect—he’s Mormon), but his vocals are so close to Green’s, it might as well be karaoke. Not to fault the guy, of course—you try shouting melodies that high into the upper registers while staying in key—but considering all the fans who’ve been expecting a money shot, Saosin feels more like an anticlimax.

Compressed into a radio-ready hue by super-producer Howard Benson (My Chemical Romance, Head Automatica), Saosin will surprise absolutely no one, including the choppy-haired, anorexic screamo kids who’ve waited three years since its announcement to hear the thing.

Which isn’t to say there hasn’t been refinement; just that it’s less in the way of sonic reinvention and more “So this is how they would’ve sounded with a hitmaker behind the boards for all those EPs.” There’s the big single (“Voices”), the moshinciting rocker (“Bury Your Head”), the aggro post-hardcore cred track (“Sleepers”), and the usual truckload of vaguely atmospheric hoo-ha (everything else); but there’s ultimately no sense of surprise. Which may well be the point: When you’re a rock ‘n’ roll brand, you don’t schedule a makeover before the big campaign. —AARON BURGESS

Sewage Sammich ➐

ONE MAN’S SEWAGE IS ANOTHER MAN’S SAMMICH 3XM PRODUCTIONS

Want some whiz on that steak?

Sewage Sammich make digi-gore grind that is way more accomplished than their lowrent, old school, cartoon album cover or their idiot song titles like “Surfin’ With Satan” and “Sluts on the Internet” would suggest. Not that this necessarily makes them better than some grade-Z grind band filled with halfwits who think that chopping off boobies is the height of hilarity. Those bands have their charms, in the way that anything with zero redemptive qualities and absolutely no perceived social benefits does. If goregrind is about

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extremes, then sounding like complete shit seems like a goal to shoot for. And that’s why SS’s album is such a conundrum: It doesn’t sound like shit at all. It sounds really good. State of the art, even, thanks to mastering help from Scott Hull.

OK, maybe not state of the art, but it definitely sounds cool and silly and there is a D.I. cover, plus the Sammich’s dementia is way more fun to listen to than labelmates/pals XXX Maniak and their full-length Harvesting the Cunt Nectar. The Maniaks supposedly came from the porn world, which would explain a lot. Their album reminded me of the fat old dude in gold chains who shows up at the rave wanting to party with the kids. Ew, granddad, you aren’t sikk; you’re just gross. Give me 20-yearold Peruvians with several axes to grind any day. Or just give me these guys, who now hail from Philly.

They rock the gabber beats and put the “fun” back in fundamentally retarded. —SCOTT SEWARD

Stabbed by Words➏ STABBED BY WORDS HAWTHORNE STREET

Soc-core?

If Hatebreed and their ilk are the Greasers of contemporary hardcore— a united front of tough guys who live on the wrong side of Coolsville—bands like Stabbed by Words are the scene’s Socs: smarter, snottier and more suburban, but capable of holding their own when shit gets heavy. The Chicago band’s shrapnel-throated frontman, Dave Claibourn, helped to rally this sort of scene in his seminal ’90s smart-core band Unbroken, and here, teamed up with Neeraj Kane (the Hope Conspiracy, the Suicide File, Holy Roman Empire), Jay Jancetic (Holy Roman Empire), and Jason Gagovski (Suicide Note, Extinction), he keeps up the fight.

Not that there’s anything wrong with being a Soc in hardcore: Even though it’s as derivative of the classics (see: Swing Kids,

These arms are snakes

EASTER JADE TREE

➑

Given the band’s roots in both math-core pioneers Botch and hard-wired experimentalists Kill Sadie, you can safely assume that any appreciation of Easter from These Arms Are Snakes will boast an orientation rooted more in matters of crucifixion than chocolate eggs and bunnies. Sure enough, Biblical themes and elemental portents run amok through their second full-length. “The sea may wash you away/ The ground may eat you whole/ The mountains may split and cave into the turf” runs vocalist Steve Snere’s apocalyptic invocation on “Corporeal.” But while Snere’s lyrical viscera carries a corrosive impact all of its own (“If I bite through my cheeks long enough/ I figure I could eat right through the skin,” he hollers on “Horse Girl”), the real rewards on Easter come with the music itself.

Loosening the bolts on the hi-tensile groove

Unbroken, pretty much every adventurous disc ever released on Indecision Records) as it is aligned with contemporary artcore like Some Girls and Fucked Up, Stabbed by Words at least keep up the illusion of forward momentum. Instead of breakdowns, they’ve got lumbering bass figures (“Burning While Standing in the Rain”); where leftover Slayer riffs might do, they borrow propulsive angularity from Drive Like Jehu (“Growth Curve”); and whereas most tough-guy studio sessions would prefer to be sausage parties, they opt for an X-style collaboration with female vocalist Elizabeth Louise Remis (“Train Wreck Love”).

rattle and tantrum

precision that defined much of their 2004 full-length debut, Oxeneers, has allowed TAAS a far wider canvas of expression—one that’s as comfortable (if such a word were applicable to their bristling mantras) with the dirt-rock bluster of “Mescaline Eyes” as it is with the neo-country sorrow of “Perpetual Bris.” Such expansion hasn’t been at the expense of intensity either; Brian Cook’s gutchurning low-end coils and shudders throughout the mix, pinning the combustive rancor of “Lady North” to the floor one moment, elevating the post-core wasteland of “Subtle Body” with some snaking, galactic FX the next—or simply flexing hard-drilled muscle for the pulverizing showdown, “Crazy Woman, Dirty Train.” True, the ghost of former glories looms over the guttural, dissonant “Abracabraca,” but with the strength of material on offer here, TAAS seem content to let the past be just that. —CATHERINE YATES

If there’s a weak point to the album, it’s that it’s too samey and there aren’t more tracks like that duet. The idea that they’re somehow literally “Socs” is strictly to keep you meatheads in Terror tshirts from demanding your money back later. —AARON BURGESS

Sunn0))) + Boris ➐ ALTAR

SOUTHERN LORD

Sunoris? Bonn0)))?

Sunn vs. Boris.

It’s a cage match for thee ages, really.

Three falls to submission, no

holds barred, everyone must wear robes. And move very, very slowly.

Boris aren’t allowed to hurl tiny guitarist Wata at the Sunn dudes, the Sunn dudes aren’t allowed to tag in any of the eight million guests who end up on their albums.

Except this isn’t a duel—it’s a straight-up collaboration between two sludging monsters of rock, the very axis of Southern Lord’s eating-weed-with-a-fork wing come to life. No black metal fury here, this is pure goop for now stoners.

If this were a ’50s Marvel comic book, Sunn and Boris would have merged into a Drono: The Thing That Droned.

Like any hip-hop collaboration DECIBEL : JANUARY 07 : 101

(or Sunn album, for that matter), guest stars abound. Jesse Sykes lends a whispery voice to “The Sinking Belle (Blue Sheep),” a lovely epic complete with spacey guitars and glacial fills. Soundgarden axeman Kim Thayil lends his guitar to “Blood Swamp,” which might be the most perfectly-named piece of musical flotsam since the Stones’ “Sucking in the Seventies.” Opening track “Etna” unfolds a rolling drum solo over Sunn’s patented low end hum. Occasionally, Wata’s guitar lifts its head with a spotty overtone here or there before retuning to the mire. Then about halfway though the song she asserts herself with vigah (as Vaughan Meader used to say), peeling off solos like the biker rock chick we know resides in that tiny frame. Be nice if there was more of that sort of thing, frankly.

But this album is all about that mire and moving slow, sinking into the earth. —JOE GROSS

WOLD ➒

SCREECH OWL PROFOUND LORE

Horton hears a “Who!” and proceeds to shit his pants

“Screech Owl is both uncanny and earthly,” says WOLD vocalist and manipulator of devices, Fortress Crookedjaw. “She is both subtle and grand.”

Well... that’s one way to say it, alright. Another way is to just say that this album is deeply fucked up.

Which should come as absolutely no surprise to anyone who heard this Canadian scour-trio’s incredibly bizarre and unsettling 2005 album, L.O.T.M.P., which sounded like it was made by professional torturers—or at least by people suffering from the kind of dementia that compels one to stuff larvae into dead girls’ throats, tuck one’s balls between one’s legs, and insist that one’s captives always put the fucking lotion in the basket.

And for all we know, that’s how Fortress Crookedjaw and his piss-eyed minions, Opex and Obey, spend their Saturday nights. Or every night for that matter.

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FALSE ALARM Since False Alarm is usually our trial by fire examination of two awful bands with a common bond, we thought it would be fitting to definitively decide who the real Supernova is this month. As in the Tommy Lee-sparked, boardroom-born monstrosity Rock Star Supernova, pitted against the aging pop-punk act who sued them over that awesome name. Which, we must point out, has no relation to the Today Is the Day record with the badass snake cover, or the label Steve Austin just launched. —ANDREW PARKS

Defendant

Rock Star Supernova ≥

Supernova ≥

Accessory

Rock Star Supernova

Last heard on the 2001 LP Pop as a Weapon, which wasn’t as fierce as the title suggests

EPIC, [2006]

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Pop-punk by way of Costa Mesa, CA; Background “Legend of the World finds the band trying founded in 1989 and free of any significant to save [the] planet the only way they know how: through the power of the almighty riff.” success except for appearing on the Clerks soundtrack, playing the original Warped Tour in 1995, and settling out of court with CBS over this Supernova business. Oh, they once toured with the Presidents of the United States of America.

Hair

Spiked, frosted and/or subtly grayed.

Not important. While image may be everything to an unintentional porn star like Tommy Lee, it matters not to a pop-punk trio from Costa Mesa.

Sound in a Sentence

Auto-tuned modern rock with Marilyn Manson vocals, if Manson found God, took his cat-eye contacts out, and reclaimed his Brian Warner name.

Nerdy, offbeat looks at “Chewbacca,” “Long Hair and Tattoos” and “Mentos.”

On the Plus Side

Not having to witness another leg of Mötley Crüe’s reunion tour, complete with bloated, botoxed Vince Neil.

Jay and Silent Bob like them.

On the Negative

First he quit Metallica; now Jason Newsted is wasting quality Voivod time on a manufactured cock rock man—these guys are too old to be called boys—band?

Jay and Silent Bob like them. (Dude, they’re too stoned to know the difference between good and so-bad-it’s-good.)

Telling Bio Copy

Er, there isn’t any. They were pretty much “The story of Rock Star Supernova is one lying low until a “cha-ching!” went off in that could only happen in Hollywood.” No someone’s head shit.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Verdict False. It’s a TV show! And we Not guilty. They already won a lawsuit

all know TV isn’t real.

and probably got at least 1,000 curious boneheads to buy their back catalogue on iTunes because of it… like us.

l

Then again, they’re probably way too busy gnawing mercilessly, gracelessly, and occasionally gracefully on black metal and power/horror electronics, issuing bleak pronouncements from the Great Beyond—or at least Saskatchewan, where WOLD ply their aberrant trade(s)—eking out the type of creepy, sepia-toned night terrors that would scare the hot green piss out of Merzbow, causing Captain Akita to discharge that particular kind of rank urine stream that finds its origins in rotten urethras corrupted by disease and years of unchecked fucking. Yes. You know the type. But after all the frantic hissing, the unrelenting harshness, and frayed sheets of I-accidentallycut-my-dick-off noise that constitute “A Habitation of Dragons and a Court for Owls,” “Ray of Gold” and “The Field Hag,” (and really, most of the album), Fortress Crookedjaw and the boys find a weird kind of solace—musically, anyway—on tracks like “December Eve” and “I Am the Chisel” before settling into the locked-groove narco-hypnotic never-ending of “Undying Fire of Urian.” But even that kinda sounds like Boards of Canada coming down from a four-day crystal binge. Which is A-OK by us. —J. BENNETT

John Zorn ➑ ASTRONOME TZADIK

A theatre of cruelty

Astronome may not be the most metallically inclined of John Zorn’s eight million (give or take) releases to date, but it’s close; and however you choose to judge the thing, you can be sure it’s the only occult jazz-metal mini-opera by a 2006 MacArthur Foundation “genius grant” recipient. Oddly enough, Zorn appears on Astronome in name only. Though he scored the three-act opera and its accompanying preverbal libretto, the disc’s musical portion is a three-way orgy between the trio responsible for Zorn’s song suite Moonchild: avant-metal manabout-town/Yamantaka Eye stunt

trouble

PSALM 9 ➑ THE SKULL ➐ ESCAPI

In 1984, the situation for Sabbath fans was bleak. Neither Ozzy nor Dio were at the mic, and the band’s most recent album, Born Again, featured former Deep Purple singer Ian Gillan on vocals. At least a few people—including the dudes from Cannibal Corpse—dug “Zero the Hero,” but it would be the last time Sabbath would do anything even slightly worth listening to. Luckily, doom metal had already reared its sluggish, misshapen, and occasionally plastic green head in the form of Sabbath disciples like Saint Vitus, Candlemass, Witchfinder General, and Trouble—the latter of whom staggered around the streets of Chicago in a Heavy Metal Parking Lot-style fog of headbands, feathered hair, and brown acid, churning out killer detuned riffery, skyscraping twin guitar harmonies (courtesy of axe wizards Rick Wartell and Bruce Franklin), and the occasional Cream cover (see “Tales of Brave Ulysses” on Psalm 9). They flashed the occasional Mötley Crüe speedqueen lick (most notably on “Assassin” from Psalm

double Mike Patton, Mr. Bungle bassist Trevor Dunn, and longtime Zorn drummer Joey Baron (here in one of his heaviest transmutations yet).

The playing is deceptively complex, its compositional backbone virtually impossible to get your head around even when you pore over the score Zorn provides in the liner notes; and though the actual concept behind Astronome

december’s doom 9, which also happens to be one of the Trouble’s sweetest jams) and Eric Wagner’s vocals shared that same classically overwrought “range”—somewhere between totally awesome and slightly goofy— occupied to varying extents by fellow doom messiahs Johann Langquist, Lee Dorrian, and Scott Weinrich.

Originally released by Metal Blade in ’84 and ’85 respectively, the band’s first two albums, Psalm 9 (initially self-titled, it was renamed when Trouble released a second eponymous album in 1990) and The Skull get the full re-master/reissue treatment from Escapi here, with bonus DVDs included in both packages. Psalm 9 is the better of the two albums regardless of bonus materials, and if you’ve already got the The Skull on CD, there’s absolutely no reason to pick up this version; the production values on the bonus DVD—a 16-song live set (including a cover of Sabbath’s “Children of the Grave”) shot from the back of a club in Aurora, IL, in ’84—are so horrible it’s a wonder why the band or the label bothered to include a DVD at all. On the other hand, the killer three-song live set and hilariously bad interview conducted by someone’s clueless mom on a public access cable show in ’82 make the Psalm 9 bonus DVD worth every fucking penny. —J. BENNETT

combines heady ideas and dark inspiration from Aleister Crowley, “Theatre of Cruelty” pioneer Antonin Artaud, avant-garde composer Edgard Varèse, surrealist film director Alejandro Jodorowsky, and avant-garde playwright Richard Foreman, it’s just as easy to enjoy as a slab of hyper-distorted, jazz-inflected, impeccably executed noise (picture the Flying Luttenbachers

dueling with Abruptum beneath a frozen moon). Zorn, in fact, suggests immersing yourself in the disc on headphones, in the dark, to get the full effect—there’s definitely some harder stuff out there if you’re looking to fuck with your own head (paging Khlyst…), but if you prefer high art with your masochistic ritual musick, this would be a safe first stop.

—AARON BURGESS DECIBEL : JANUARY 07 : 103

Every Time I Die ➒

Red Harvest ➑

FERRET

SEASON OF MIST

A tour de idiocy

Language of the mad

This won’t surprise anyone remotely familiar with the selfproclaimed “shitty dudes” of Every Time I Die, but their nearly two-hour Shit Happens doc is like the YouTube of music DVDs—much less concerned with lame, multi-angled live clips than with countless ADDafflicted chapters of completely random stupidity, none of which drag the feature down, even as it eclipses the 90-minute mark.

Among the many standouts: a trip to K-Mart, a sound clip of the kick heard round Western New York (Scott Norwood’s inexcusable failed field goal during Super Bowl XXV), lots of terrible tattoos (Leonard Nimoy, Keith?

Come on!), a Mighty Taco cameo (the greatest local crap Mexican chain ever!), Andy Williams’ tremendous Paul Bunyan beard, lots of making love to the camera, the looting of a Paul Frank warehouse (says a PF promo rep of Williams: “I’m always wondering why he gets little girls pajamas and then I see them on eBay; now I know and knowing is half the battle”), apartment tours that’d never make Cribs, exploding appliances, and more snowy shots of “The City of Good Neighbors” than Buffalo 66.

I may be biased since I was actually born in Bills country, but it’s kinda heartwarming to see the boys play a hometown Christmas benefit attended by ETID’s extended family, including the Buckley clan’s dachshund and Williams’ dad, who proudly shares the fact that the guitarist’s mom “got the whole load” the night he was conceived.

Apparently, the Buffalo wing doesn’t fall far from the bucket.

Hard to believe, but in over 15 years of making music, Red Harvest have never put out a DVD. OK, that’s not hard to believe, but the point is the Norwegian mecha-metal titans have released their first-ever DVD, and with all the right adjectives in mind.

Relentless, powerful, and finessed, Harvest Bloody Harvest documents Red Harvest’s entire live set from the 2005 Solstice Festival in Oslo—and thanks to some ace production values (e.g., a 5.1 surround mix, along with 12 different camera angles), the 99.9 percent of us who missed the gig firsthand can now experience it more vividly than those who were actually there.

HBH opens with a montage of ordinary people strolling the streets of Oslo, the implication apparently that they have no idea of the fury about to be unleashed, but the effect being akin to watching crowd footage from public-TV newsreels. Laughs aside, the DVD gets much more serious once the music commences, with the set focusing heavily on the era spanning from 2000’s Cold Dark Matter through 2004’s Internal Punishment Programs. Though the crowd noise feels canned (more likely a fault of the mix), the concert footage rules, with many unsettling close-ups of growler/guitarist Ofu Kahn’s bald, bearded visage and some choice aerial- and side-view shots of Erik Wroldsen’s kickdrum feet in action.

All of this, of course, is just foreplay for HBH’s bonus money shots, which include pre-gig rehearsal footage and videos alongside decidedly less cleanedup amateur video (including an almost imperceptible 1990 appearance). And as if we already

SHIT HAPPENS

dissection ➐

THE REBIRTH OF DISSECTION ESCAPI

C’mon, no one’s gonna top that bit of irony

If Dissection mainman Jon Nödtveidt had a sense of humor, you can bet it’d be of the dark sort. That’s why I like to think that he’d probably laugh as hard as I did when this unfortunately titled DVD fell into my hands two days after he offed himself as an offering to his Dark Lord. He’d probably find it even funnier that the day The Rebirth of Dissection came into my possession, I happened to open my mail while seated on the porcelain throne. Of course, any of black metal’s basement Internet warriors who aren’t already calling for my head and genitals for speaking so dismissively of one of their own (and for not really being much of a Dissection fan to being with) are probably already clamoring on about how Nödtveidt haunts non-believers from beyond the grave. But really, what they should do is study this two-year old Stockholm concert to see how their own bands could go about not sucking. If buddy can get out of prison and cobble together a show this impressive in six weeks, well, you sycophants have a lot of explaining to do.

Granted, the rapid-fire editing and post-production treatments go a long way toward creating a visual energy for the home viewer, as the concert video rightfully focuses much of its attention on Nödtveidt and his formidable skill as a frontman and one-man wrecking crew, especially when compared to stoic guitarist Set Teitan and their emotionless, light-hitting drummer. The sound is top-notch and the visuals sharp and professional; you can hear every praise to Satan and see everything from Nödtveidt’s veins bulging to the glimmering “666” candelabra-type things anchored on each side of the stage.

The compelling interview portion helps explain why Nödtveidt didn’t give interviews after the release of this year’s Reinkaos—he pretty much answers, in depth, everything you’d be able to ask about the old and new Dissection, his time in prison, his personal philosophy, and the Stockholm gig in the course of a record company sanctioned half-hour interview slot. He comes across in a calm, collected and intelligent manner without a hint of wingnut-ism, even as he’s describing his “666” neck tat and how it was him actually “making of my birthmark visible.” Rest in peace, wherever the hell you are.

—KEVIN STEWART-PANKO

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—ANDREW PARKS

HARVEST BLOODY HARVEST

weren’t convinced these guys take their industrial metal both seriously and literally, the whole thing’s packaged in a goddamned metal canister.

—AARON BURGESS

Slipknot ➐

VOLIMINAL: INSIDE THE NINE ROADRUNNER

Unexpected nüance

Slipknot’s always been an artier proposition than their serial killer closet/upperclass costume shop look suggests.

Actually, that’s just it—love or hate the big lugs, but the more time you spend with their music and this queasy think-piece of a DVD, the more the jumpsuits and masks make perfect sense. More than ever, it’s clear we must look at Slipknot as the big-budget art project of people who enjoyed burning bugs and blowing shit up when they were cornhusker kids.

Especially M. Shawn Crahan, the It/Bozo the Clown crossbreed that’s the loudest mouth on the conceptual side of Slipknot. And not just in interviews; as the director of Voliminal, he meticulously spliced and diced live, backstage, and athome-in-Iowa scenes to a dizzying degree that’s more like Saw: The Musical than a concert film.

To be honest, don’t even bother watching the 80-minute Voliminal disc if you’re looking for insightful “behind the mask” interviews or raucous renditions of “Spit It Out,” “(Sic)” and “Liberate.” Those are tucked away on Disc 2, which features the usual music DVD stash of videos, live footage and interviews with all nine members, even that creepy fucking sampler dude with the S&M/Hellraiser steez. I’d share some anecdotes from it, but Roadrunner is keeping the only revealing side of this DVD away from asshole journalists.

Apparently, there are surprises we could have spoiled. (Clown’s really a woman? Wow!)

Eh, whatever. I’d venture to guess that the interesting thing about this set isn’t the backstory of the brutish, grizzled Midwesterners playing dress-up; it’s the supremely bizarre narrative thread Crahan pieced together in jittery, sepia-toned snuff film frames like the Davids, Lynch and Fincher. Oh sure, it can be frustrating as hell to watch, what with disjointed, handheld camera shots and audio that often ventures in the red, but Crahan’s determination to make us feel uneasy is commendable. Dude knows what he wants from Slipknot and will do anything to convey it, even if it means giving viewers vertigo. Now would you please excuse me for a second? I have to go dry heave now. —ANDREW PARKS

Various Artists ➑

THE REALM OF NAPALM RECORDS N A PA L M

They’re the Vi-kings of the world

Last year, Willowtip Records had me at RARRWRR! One awesome and furious trigonometry lesson after another. This year, Austria’s Napalm Records had my number and then some. I drooled over the forest folk hoedowns of Korpiklaani. My jaw dropped after hearing the Viking magnificence of Tyr and Falkenbach.

I wept tears of laughter at the sight of Norwegian hair metal goofs Wig Wam. Those bands and a bunch more are featured on the wildly inclusive label’s sampler DVD, which also comes with a CD of even more stuff by the likes of Battlelore, Lacrimas Profundere and Weltenbrand.

The label has a serious jones for light, operatic, femmeled goth metal à la Lullacry, Nightwish, etc., and if you aren’t already a fan, you might end up asking yourself: “Wait, was that Midnattsol or Leaves’ Eyes? Or Battlelore? No, I think it was

hate eternal ➒ THE PERILOUS FIGHT EARACHE

Our kind of Hatorade

It takes confidence to make a three-piece lineup work, even more so when your chosen genre is death metal.

Even Morbid Angel, one of the few bands to have tried it, generally brought in Erik Rutan to help fill out the sound live. So it’s perhaps ironic that The Perilous Fight sees Rutan’s own band Hate Eternal play on this live DVD as a three-piece. But then, few other bands have the sheer confidence, playing ability, or knack of zeroing in on what actually works in that most exhausted of genres.

Recorded at the London Garage in June 2006, the live set that makes up the bulk of The Perilous Fight could scarcely be more to the point. With the bulk of the set list taken from Hate Eternal’s third and best album I, Monarch, the trio—Rutan, bassist/backing vocalist Randy Piro, and session drummer Reno Kiilerich—show off their chops on the likes of “Two Demons,” “Victorious Reign” and “To Know Our Enemies.”

Rutan’s solos work brilliantly without the usual second guitarist to add filler, creating a spaciness that makes the riffing on the verses and choruses all the heavier. His stage persona might not qualify him for admission to the actor’s guild—a typical Rutan-audience interaction is when he declares, “Don’t be scared motherfuckers; it’s wakey wakey time” in a Cookie Monster voice between songs—but most fans will be more fascinated to watch his fingers snake along the length of the fretboard and dextrously pummel the strings.

The usual bonus interviews and behind-the-scenes footage aside, The Perilous Fight is rounded out by three promo videos, with the two from I, Monarch showing some signs of cash spent, while the representative from King of All Kings, “The Powers That Be,” looks like it was recorded using Earache boss Dig’s lunch money. A sad footnote to this DVD release is that it hit the shops just days after the death of exHate Eternal bassist Jared Anderson, on October 14, 2006. —NICK TERRY

Sinamore.” The hard stuff is pretty much covered by one clip from Hurtlocker and a live performance by Enthroned. The musthave live footage, though, is of madcap German electronic/hurdygurdy/polka/Ren-faire/techno/ dragon’s head bagpipe/rap-metal band Saltatio Mortis. They are a hoot! And everyone needs more Korpiklaani videos in their life.

Not to mention three hilarious clips from the aforementioned

Wig Wam. (Love the red/white/ blue jumpsuit in the vid for “Hard to Be a Rock & Roller.” And it’s also nice to see everything looking and sounding so good after making do with YouTube downloads for so long.) WARNING: There is claymation involved in at least one video. But mostly just lots of Viking mayhem and lively tributes to swords, ice, snow, and possibly sleet. Like I said, my kind of label. —SCOTT SEWARD

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We Will Not Let You Go The Year’s Best shit on screens big and small BY CHRIS KAYE BEST WAY TO DUCK OUT FOR A BUTT

It’s the best movie line of the year, from a movie where all the dialogue was genius, and it’s one that will be heard at countless no-smoking establishments for the rest of recorded history: “I’m gonna go have a smoke right now. You want a smoke? You don’t smoke, do ya, right? What are ya, one of those fitness freaks, huh? Go fuck yourself.” —Alec Baldwin as Ellerby in The Departed

THE “MEH” AWARD FOR A MOVIE WE THOUGHT WE’D LOVE, BUT INSTEAD MERELY LIKED

This one goes to Slither, for amping up our expectations in an online teaser that claimed just about every horror flick we love was for pussies. It had everything going for it: the delicious Elizabeth Banks, Nathan Fillion from Firefly, zombies created by alien possession. So naturally, we went in thinking big, hoping to see some really icky, gross shit, and it was there, but… meh.

MOST DISSAPPOINTING COMIC BOOK MOVIE

It has to be X3. Fanboys would love to blame director Brett Ratner, but he brings his A-game to the action sequences, showing us the X-Men fighting together as a team for the first (and probably last) time. Too bad the script felt like a first draft, 30 pages of which were left on the printer at Kinko’s. For instance: Why kill Jean Grey when you can just use the cure on her?

Huh? Huh?!

BEST QUOTE FROM A GUY WITH HIS EYE RIPPED OUT

“Which side are we on? We’re on the side of the demons, Chief. We’re evil men in the gardens of paradise, sent by the forces of death to spread devastation and destruction wherever we go. I’m surprised you didn’t know that.” – Colonel Tigh on Battlestar Galactica

The show was originally going to go to HBO, but when Fox got it instead, the writers kept in the profanity (and nudity) making censors bleep and pixelate where (in)appropriate. Thankfully, the DVD is uncensored.

THE “YOU MUST BE SHITTING ME” AWARD FOR MOST UNNECESSARY TV SHOW ON DVD

There were a lot of contenders, but we had to give this one to Growing Pains – The Complete First Season. We have no idea who would want this, since our sister no longer thinks Kirk Cameron is cute, and even though he’s on the god squad now, Christians have better taste in TV than this shit.

BEST REASON IT’S OK TO LIKE TOM CRUISE AGAIN

Mission: Impossible 3 was totally righteous. Alias creator J.J. Abrams brought an actual story with him, making this third in the franchise easily the most effective. The stunts on the Chesapeake Bay Bridge alone are worth the price of admission. And when was the last time the third movie in a series was any good at all? Points right there.

BEST WESTERN SECOND MOST DISAPPOINTING COMIC BOOK MOVIE

Superman Returns… and stalks Lois. What a weird flick this was. Preserving the tone of the Donner movies was a good move and the sequence where Supes saves the plane is easily the year’s best effects sequence, but Brandon Routh is so stiff he makes Al Gore look like Jack Black. And why does Lex Luthor always come up with schemes that sound like brainchild of a Century 21 real estate agent? And don’t even get me started about that fucking kid.

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Broken Trail. Bobby Duvall and Thomas Haden Church hit the road with five hot Chinese virgins destined for whoredom. Directed by the underrated Walter Hill, there’s not one gay cowboy eatin’ pudding in sight.

MOST EAGERLY AWAITED TV DVD

Action: The Complete Series. Before Entourage, there was this misanthropic little show that aired briefly back in 1999. Jay Mohr stars as slimy movie producer Peter Dragon, who struggles to get his movie—Beverly Hills Gun Club—made.

MOMENT THAT LAUNCHED A MILLION TIVO REWINDS

Battlestar Galactica episode Exodus, Part 2: As the human resistance fights on the surface of New Caprica, the Galactica jumps into low orbit, launches attack vipers as it burns in the atmosphere, falls straight down and—with only seconds to spare before it might crash into the ground—jumps back out into space, blowing up countless Cylons and the entire season’s effects budget in the process. A

Best Year Ever

16

BY JOE GROSS

Fables by Bill Willingham and various: Turning fairy tales into epic fantasy, it’s possibly the best mainstream “mature readers” comic out there…

20 Reasons the Whole Comics Thing Didn’t Suck in 2006

01

It’s the golden age of reprints: From Peanuts to Gasoline Alley to Little Nemo and many more, the market for classic comics collections has never, EVER been this good.

02

Kramer’s Ergot #6: Cutting-edge art comics, illustrations and general weirdness in a beautifully designed coffee-table slab of art.

03

Fun Home: A Family Tragicomedy by Alison Bechdel: A complicated memoir about the author’s relationship with her father and their struggles with sexuality; possibly a masterpiece.

11

NextWave by Warren Ellis: Since this is Ellis at his fluffiest, you can read the things in about three minutes, but it’s the funniest three minutes of your month.

12

17

13

18

Schizo #4 by Ivan Brunetti: The Chinese Democracy of underground comics, this self-loathing sprawl finally saw the light of day; totally worth the wait.

We All Die Alone by Mark Newgarden: The most death-focused gag cartoonist since Charles Addams.

14

The Fate of the Artist

by Eddie Campbell: The man who brought us From Hell and the Alec confronts writer’s block with a bravura meditation on, well, art and fate.

04

Lost Girls by Alan Moore and Melinda Gebbie: Art? Porn? Fine lit? A pricey stroke book? A knowing, lushly rendered meditation on sexual awakening, or a simplistic reduction of complicated stories to their crassest elements?

All of the above?

05

Loveless and 100 Bullets by Brian Azzarello and various …Except maybe for these. The first brought the savage Western back to the funnybooks, the second is the finest crime comic around.

Dork #11 by Evan Dorkin: a new issue from the pound-for-pound funniest man in comics, whether he believes it or not.

19

Pretty much anything by Los Bros Hernandez: These two haven’t lost a step in 25 years.

20

The Internet: Not getting enough old comics? The Internet is lousy with fileshared reprints. A

15

David B.’s work in Mome and Babel: The French comics savant blended myth, psychology and gloriously fluid craftsmanship into amazing phantasmagoria.

American Born Chinese by Gene Yang: The first-ever graphic novel nominated for a National Book Award, this masterful, mythological look at high school racial math deserves everything it gets.

06

Abandon the Old in Tokyo by Yoshihiro Tatsumi: A master’s nuanced, powerful short stories of everyday life from the other side of Japan’s ‘60s economic miracle.

07

Ganges #1 by Kevin Huizenga: Domesticity as rendered by the one of the most naturally-talented cartoonists the underground’s seen in years

08

Criminal #1 by Ed Brubaker and Sean Phillips: Hardboiled noir from the folks who gave us the amazing anti-hero drama “Sleeper.”

09

Chris’s Invincible Super-Blog: The hand’s down, no-contest, without a doubt funniest comics blog on the Web. Stupid comics have never been this good.

10

All-Star Superman, Batman and pretty much everything else by Grant Morrison: Is there any character he can’t turn into solid superhero gold?

Ibeep Doot Beep Redux Metal’s wankiest further indulge their inner dork with Power Up! Mutations and Mutilations of 8-Bit Hits BY CHRIS KAYE Ask any band the question, “what kind of music do you play?” and there are a few stock responses, but one of the best—and my personal favorite— is, “we’re unclassifiable.” This usually means that the band is not only full of shit, because in a world where words have meanings, everything is classifiable, but that they probably sound like shit too, since saying “we’re unclassifiable” is usually the kind of condescending shorthand that selfstyled brainiacs who think 4/4 time is lame and guitars should be played with Hello Kitty vibrators or something you’d use to blow people off with.

So imagine my surprise after importing Power Up! Mutations and Mutilations of 8-Bit Hits into iTunes and seeing its genre automatically tagged as “Unclassifiable.” Surely an album filled with versions of Nintendo and other video game hits from around a decade and a half ago could be more described with more detail. Like, oh, I dunno… maybe “Shit You Listened To Because You Were Too Young For Grunge, Played By Yngwie Malmsteen Over an AM Radio” or “What It Sounds Like When a Guy With Rock Critic Glasses Decides That the Best Instrument For Math Rock is a Commodore 64” or “Moog Cookbook Without a Sense of Humor or Irony” or “Really, MIDI is Cool!” or “Haven’t You Heard the Fucking Tetris Theme Enough, You Goddamn Loser?”

Any of those work for me. A

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The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion: “...Who had nearly stood up to the vicious Chicken of Bristol.”

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For the Virgin on Your List…

Decibel gets its game on with this year’s best for the holidays THE CONSOLE YOU NEED IF YOU LIKE LOOKING LIKE AN IDIOT

The Nintendo Wii is what you want, my spastic friend. Though the innovative control mechanism will have you jumping, slicing, conducting and generally looking quite foolish to the outside observer, it’s also fun. With sports games and Metroid, it rocks, and just wait until they do a Star Wars lightsaber game for this thing, which you know they will. Fingers crossed.

REASON WE STILL HAVE NOT THROWN OUT OUR PSP

Video iPods and the fact that UMD movies have gone the way of Betamax have crippled the PSP’s dominance as a portable video device, but a few new games such as Loco Roco have kept us coming back to the slick little portable. Despite it’s cutesy-poo action, it’s one of the best pick-up-and-play titles for the unit and doesn’t require the insane load times that most other games do. Oh, and Tekken: Dark Resurrection ain’t bad either.

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WHAT TO DO WHEN YOU NEED BACKUP

Western Digital’s WD Passport is a sleek black external hard drive that’s designed for travel.

Holding up to 140GB, it allows PC users to synchronize photos or music with their internal drives, allowing you to back up your tunes and take them with you on the road. Works with Macs too, but without the fancy synching program.

BEST REASON NOT TO BUY A PLAYSTATION 3

It’s fucking $600 and there are no games.

BEST GAMING ACCESSORY

Razer’s Tarantula gaming keyboard not only has a cool name, but it sports a bunch of cool features for hardcore games, allowing you to reprogram and remap keys to your guns, create macros for combo moves, and save multiple profiles to internal memory. Interchangeable keys let you switch out broken ones without having to buy a whole new unit, and the onboard “battledock” allows you to mount accessories like UV lightsources and cameras right on top. Schweet.

BY CHRIS KAYE

GAME OF THE YEAR The Elder Scrolls IV:

OBLIVION

It’s also the best reason to buy an Xbox 360 if you haven’t already. Hundreds of hours of playing time in, and we still haven’t discovered all the narrative paths that this fantasy RPG has in store. The graphics are bananas, the controls are great, and plus, hey—Patrick Stewart provides some of the best voice acting in all of gaming. Get it now and clear your calendar. You won’t have much of a social life for a while. Not that you do anyway. A

It’s never safe to turn off your computer.

“The

descent to hell is the same from everyplace,” writes Anaxagoras, but this is crazy talk. Is one beer as good as a short case? If so, would you get me a beer? We hit Mapquest to let you sinners know how far you’ve got to go: Hesher dude who works at Quik Stop: IS GOING TO HELL BECAUSE: still owns 2nd tour Van Halen shirt even though Van Halen totally sucks now WILL ARRIVE IN HELL APPROXIMATELY: three hours after the Robin Trower gig at Legends COULD BE REDEEMED BY: reanimating Bon Scott Your spazzcore cousin from New Jersey: IS GOING TO HELL BECAUSE: he did not support the scene IN HELL, WILL BE FORCED TO WEAR: Abercrombie FIRST STATION IN HELL: extremely painful tattoo removal COULD BE REDEEMED BY: supporting the scene

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Beefy death metal tech support dude: IS GOING TO HELL BECAUSE: steals pencils from work UPON ARRIVAL IN HELL, WILL EXCLAIM: “Hey, bullshit—this looks like a fucking tech support office!”

PERSONAL COMPUTER TERMINAL IN HELL WILL RUN: Windows 95 COULD BE REDEEMED BY: wrapping stolen pencils in pink ribbons and giving them to any black metal singers he has called “fags” Recent convert to Southern Lord: IS GOING TO HELL BECAUSE: there was an assload of good stuff on Southern Lord for years which he refused to listen to PERSONAL WETBAR IN HELL WILL BE

STOCKED ENTIRELY WITH: Keystone Light WHAT IF HE BEGINS TO ENJOY THE KEYSTONE LIGHT?: I told you this was Hell COULD BE REDEEMED BY: taking his Olivia Tremor Control t-shirts out of mothballs and owning the fuck up European metal tour manager: IS GOING TO HELL BECAUSE: does not actually care if his bands’ rider requirements are met WHY GOD CARES ABOUT THIS: is tired of busted-ass snack tables during His annual summer tours of Europe UPON ARRIVAL IN HELL, WILL EXPLAIN: why he is several hours late, and where the band is instead of with him COULD BE REDEEMED BY: n/a A