Decibel #207 - January 2022

IRON MAIDEN CARCASS PANOPTICON REFUSE/RESIST

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60 January 2022 [R 207] decibelmagazine.com

The New Blood COVER STORY COVER AND CONTENTS PHOTOS BY MELISSA MAHONEY AND KRISTIN COFER

upfront 10 obituary:

eric greif Saying goodbye to a champion of metal

12 metal muthas Progressive parenting 14 low culture More unpacking than he anticipated 15 no corporate beer (Half) decade of aggression

16 genocide pact They wanna rock 18 alda A (hawk)eye for atmospheric black metal 20 morgul blade Devil’s advocates 22 apostle of solitude Learning to hope

features

reviews

24 lock up No one wants to see this band more than themselves

73 lead review After a dozen years of inactivity, Unanimated mark their triumphant blackened death return with Victory in Blood

26 q&a: the darkness Vocalist Justin Hawkins is in search of a real sex machine 30 the decibel

hall of fame Arcturus may have danced with the devils, but they worshipped the old masters on their debut LP Aspera Hiems Symfonia

74 album reviews Releases from bands that are waiting for their chance with Pete Davidson, including Knocked Loose, the Lurking Fear and Outre-Tombe 88 damage ink Fault and fracture

41 special feature:

the top 40 albums of 2021 Contains more than the recommended daily value of salt

Decibel (ISSN 1557-2137) is published monthly by Red Flag Media, Inc., P.O. Box 36818, Philadelphia, PA 19107. Annual subscription price is $29.95. Periodical postage, paid at Philadelphia, PA, and other mailing offices. Submission of manuscripts, illustrations and/or photographs must be accompanied by a stamped, self-addressed envelope. The publisher assumes no responsibility for unsolicited materials. Postmaster send changes of address for Decibel to Red Flag Media, P.O. Box 36818, Philadelphia, PA 19107. © 2022 by Red Flag Media, Inc. All rights reserved.

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Forgive me for reminding you how goddamn old I am, but it feels like, not that long ago, I could count the books about extreme metal on one hand.

Maybe I remember it clearer than most because I had a (bound printed) horse in that race, but when Decibel began in 2004, the extreme metal book choices were essentially Lords of Chaos and Choosing Death (and, on the periphery, Tom Gabriel Warrior’s Are You Morbid? autobiography and a few sections of Ian Christe’s Sound of the Beast).

Back then, extreme metal only had about two decades of history to chronicle. The publishing landscape was vastly different, too, relying heavily on big-box chain stores for national distribution, which rendered books about most metal subgenres tough sells—and ones about micro-genres virtually impossible.

In 2007, Swedish Death Metal quietly joined the party. I recall it well because I was one of five Americans who shelled out $70 to order a self-published copy direct from author Daniel Ekeroth. A year later, Ian Christe launched Bazillion Points and released a revised U.S. version of the book. Other indispensable historical documents like Metalion: The Slayer Mag Diaries and Only Death Is Real: An Illustrated History of Hellhammer and Early Celtic Frost 1981–1985 soon followed from BP, exponentially raising the extreme metal book bar.

After authoring the authoritative genre history Black Metal: Evolution of the Cult, Decibel contributor Dayal Patterson introduced his Cult Never Dies publishing house, releasing more black metal anthologies and band biographies, and stocking his webstore with ultra-niche titles like books about the German death metal and Icelandic black metal scenes.

Of course, Decibel Books has added to that now-buckling bookshelf with, among other titles, our Decibel Hall of Fame Anthology series and last year’s monstrous USBM: A Revolution of Identity in American Black Metal. Recently, we sent our latest offering to a print—Turned Inside Out: The Official Story of Obituary, authored by David E. Gehlke (No Celebration: The Official Story of Paradise Lost; Damn the Machine: The Story of Noise Records). The first fully authorized biography of the Tampa, FL death metal institution is a 328-page hardcover that unearths 35 years of history on one of America’s most important metal bands. It’s the kind of historical document that I could have never imagined existing back in 2004, but am proud to have a hand in bringing to life for—in most cases— under $70.

albert mudrian, Editor-in-Chief

www.decibelmagazine.com

REFUSE/RESIST

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Periodical postage, paid at Philadelphia, PA, and other mailing offices. Submission of manuscripts, illustrations and/or photographs must be accompanied by a stamped, self-addressed envelope. The publisher assumes no responsibility for unsolicited materials.

CORRECTION: In our Q&A feature with Ministry’s Al Jourgensen in the November 2021 issue (No. 205), we incorrectly attributed the photos to Ed Newton. The actual photographer for the piece was Derick Smith (@derickphotography on Instagram). We sincerely apologize for the mistake.

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READER OF THE

MONTH

Roger Riddell Arlington, VA

You host Cult House Podcast. We think its focus is comic books, but we’ve not read one of those since the Robocop one we bought in 1987, so please fill us in!

I’m not really sure I’ve even figured out what Cult House is yet, aside from a platform for long-form conversations with people who are creating cool things or have perspectives I’m interested in. The conversations cover a wide range of topics. I have kind of a bucket list of guests I wanna build up to if the show catches on some more, including more musicians, writers and artists—and expanding to comedians, wrestlers and people involved in film.

You’re pretty fanatical about working out.

Could you take Greg Puciato one-on-one or what?

I’m gonna level with you: I definitely double-checked on Google to see if Greg has cauliflower ears. That’s a very good

8 : JANUARY 2022 : DECIBEL

sign upfront that you shouldn’t fuck with someone. Even so, I also don’t know what kind of training Greg might actually have, and I only have some novice-level boxing and wrestling skills that I haven’t practiced in several years.

Why would I be fighting him in the first place, though? I’ve never met him, but I’ve heard he’s a pretty decent guy. Can’t we just, like, engage in rational discourse and go work out together?

Have you started attending shows again yet? If so, was it weird or were you right back in a prepandemic state of mind?

I haven’t been back to any shows yet, but I also haven’t been super concerned about doing so since I’m vaccinated. The big adjustment is just being in a crowd that size again. There are a ton coming up I’m looking forward to hopefully getting out to: Mastodon and Opeth, Pig Destroyer, Immortal Bird, GWAR, Cannibal Corpse, Decibel Tour ’22. What I’m really looking forward to even more than just attending the shows is hopefully getting a chance to shoot some of them again. I’ve been really lucky over the last

several years to build a bit of a portfolio shooting bands like Behemoth, Lamb of God, GWAR, Napalm Death and more for my friend Denise Borders’ site PunkWorldViews.

This issue includes our annual unintentionally controversial Top 40 Albums of the Year list.

You’re welcome to list your favorites, but you also have to defend the list against a preemptive strike of “What about [insert album not on your list here]? Your list is invalid without that.”

I’m leaning hard into Mastodon’s Hushed & Grim right now. There’s a sonic diversity on display there that I could compare to Black Sabbath’s Sabotage (my favorite album of all time), but I know space is limited. Beyond that, I’ve been digging Cradle of Filth’s Existence Is Futile (possibly their most hard-hitting and consistent outing of the past decade), Eyehategod’s A History of Nomadic Behavior (those guys are crushing to begin with, but Sanford Parker’s production takes it to another level), Zealot R.I.P. (Blake [Harrison]’s a hell of a guy) and Cannibal Corpse’s Violence Unimagined (was hooked on that from the moment the groove locks in on “Murderous Rampage”). I’d also be remiss if I didn’t mention the new stuff from Red Fang, King Woman and Contrition—and I feel like I’m still forgetting a ton of stuff!

Chuck BB is the illustrator of the graphic novels Black Metal, Vol. 1, 2 and 3 For more info and art, head over to chuckbb.com

new album

echo out now

OBITUARIES

ERIC

GREIF 1 9 6 2 - 2 0 21

TO

quote Dean Charles Stanforth (played by actor Jim Broadbent) impossibly hazier. Over the years, Greif was

in Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull, “Seems we’ve reached the age when life stops giving you things and starts taking them away.” Corny perhaps, but very relevant to where we are in extreme metal’s four-decade, slightly myopic pursuit of immortality. Indeed, things from ages-old are new again, fueled by the red-hot fire of nostalgia and gap-filled by sheer necessity. Our editor-in-chief’s mandatory read Choosing Death is the product of both. Likewise, and informed by Mudrian’s 400-page retrospective, is our monthly Hall of Fame series. The job at hand: Recount via the voices and personalities that were there, and document as responsibly and exhaustively as possible. ¶ The unfortunate and tragic October 29 passing of Eric Greif, the former manager of Death and guardian of Chuck Schuldiner’s musical catalog, reminds us that the future is not always bright, our security fragile, and the bond that we share through the musical fabric that is extreme metal requires consistent and repeated affirmation. When I asked Greif about friend and musical pioneer Chuck Schuldiner’s passing in 2010, he said, “I can only think back to an earlier time when we were young and never once had a thought that we were mere mortals.

I honestly thought Chuck Schuldiner was one of those musicians who would grow old gracefully, putting out mature and interesting albums throughout a long life. That he was cut down at 34, after a devastating and brutal battle, is a tragedy I’ll never fully come to terms with. At the same time, Chuck is an inspiring model to 10 : JANUARY 2022 : DECIBEL

me personally because of the way in which he handled adversity as his death became inevitable. He loved his family above all else, and his wishes centered on their well-being.”

Greif’s statement about Chuck’s life mirrored his own, especially as Greif’s day-to-day existence became more challenging and the horizon

entrenched in a profession—promotion first; management second; legal third—that forgave little and demanded much. The music industry never stopped asking of Greif. And yet, despite a five-year search for a kidney donor (indeed, he was recently looking forward to positive medical tests from a serious candidate), dialysis and an increasingly grim medical outlook, he remained bright, engaging, caring and eager to assist not only his friends, colleagues and clients, but be involved with folks like me and publications like Decibel.

Recently, we chatted often; first to catch up, then to connect the dots over the 30th anniversary of Death’s inimitable Human full-length.

We commiserated on the untimely passing of Sean Reinert (January 24, 2020) and Sean Malone (December 9, 2020). We were both in disbelief, but thought that the then-secret tribute gigs in Tampa might be a way to bridge two decades of loss and heartbreak through remembrance and subsequent celebration—just like we had done days earlier to mutual satisfaction with the Human commemoration. I knew Greif was suffering terribly, but he was undeniably committed to our collective cause. His last message to me wasn’t in words; it was a thumbs-up icon.

Rest in Power, Eric. —CHRIS DICK

NOW SLAYING Wonder what Decibel world HQ has been rocking for the past month?

Well, here are the records that we spun most while carefully considering your invite for the Decibel Tour to come to Brazil.

Because not all of us were spawned in the darkest recesses of hell

This Month's Mutha: Jill Schilling Mutha of Kelly Schilling of Dreadnought

Tell us a little about yourself.

I grew up in the coastal area of Mississippi. I have an accounting degree and have done office and retail work. I married a musician (Kelly’s dad), whom I met playing at a local bar in MS, so I guess you could say Kelly has music in her blood! We have been married going on 41 years, so who says musicians don’t stay married?! My interests include tennis and old movies, and I have become a gym rat.

When Kelly began classical training at a young age, did you ever think her talents would manifest in a metal band?

No, I did not necessarily think Kelly would be into metal music when she was young. We offered her piano lessons, but she hated practicing. She played flute and piccolo in high school, but fell in love with the guitar and played it in the high school jazz band. She started playing guitar in several bands with friends, and that’s when the metal music really took off. She also plays flute and keyboards in her various metal bands.

What were some of Kelly’s non-musical interests growing up?

Kelly played soccer for several years, and she competed in gymnastics from kindergarten through high school. Her best and favorite event was uneven bars. She even took first place at a gymnastics meet in Aspen, CO. Your daughter is influenced by a variety of progressive artists, including Pink Floyd and Yes. 12 : JANUARY 2022 : DECIBEL

Were any of those personal favorites that you passed down to her?

Oh, most definitely! I was into both of those artists and really all prog rock. I grew up exposed to music at an early age. My parents would always have records playing on Sunday mornings and my sister, who is 11 years older than me, would always have her ’60s music playing. I always loved the psychedelic music of the late ’60s.

Having gone to high school in the ’70s, I always had that era of music playing in our house when Kelly was growing up, so she was definitely exposed to that music.

Dreadnought’s fifth album will be released later this year. Does Kelly share her work with you before it goes out into the world?

Since Kelly’s dad is a musician, she tends to share her work more with him than me. The two of them will discuss the technical aspects of the music, etc. She will definitely ask both of our opinions on her new material, though.

What’s something most people wouldn’t know about your daughter?

Kelly is actually a very good artist (drawing, painting, etc.). Her favorite things to draw when she was growing up were orca whales, and they were very realistic. She was one of a few students selected by her art teacher to participate in a summer arts program at the Philadelphia Art Institute. She also loves caring for her large number of “pet” houseplants.

Albert Mudrian : e d i t o r i n c h i e f  Candlemass, Epicus Doomicus Metallicus  Lamp of Murmuur, Submission and Slavery  Dream Unending, Tide Turns Eternal  Converge, Bloodmoon: I  Corrosion of Conformity, Blind ---------------------------------Patty Moran : c u s t o m e r s e r v i c e  Black Sabbath, Vol. 4  Kikagaku Moyo, Stone Garden  Butthole Surfers, Rembrandt Pussyhorse  Marissa Nadler, The Path of the Clouds  Mazzy Star, So Tonight That I Might See ---------------------------------James Lewis : a d s a l e s  Blazon Stone, Damnation  Apparition, Feel  Helheim, Woduridar  Katatonia, For Funerals to Come...  Nonexist, Deus Deceptor ---------------------------------Mike Wohlberg : a r t d i r e c t o r  Knocked Loose, A Tear in the Fabric of Life  Enforced, Kill Grid  Andrew Lee, Heavy Metal Shrapnel  Obituary, Obituary  Antichrist Siege Machine, Purifying Blade ---------------------------------Aaron Salsbury : m a r k e t i n g a n d s a l e s  Obituary, Cause of Death  Municipal Waste, Slime and Punishment  Gatecreeper, Deserted  Enforced, Kill Grid  SpiritWorld, Pagan Rhythms

GUEST SLAYER

---------------------------------Trevor William Church : h a u n t  Seven Sisters, Shadow of a Fallen Star, Pt. 1  Hällas, Conondrum  Night Demon, Are You Out There  Spirit Adrift, Forge Your Future  Fortress, Don’t Spare the Wicked

—ANDREW BONAZELLI PHOTO BY HRISTO SHINDOV

Y ISEMAN

TNE

BY COUR

Scene Cancer Year-End Clearance Sale writing this surrounded by

boxes and a sense of overwhelming apathy, as it’s just been a few days since I’ve moved and there’s so much I need to do that I’m paralyzed and doing nothing. Seems like the perfect time to reflect on the year as it’s gone thus far. (I’m in the distant past of a few days before Halloween here.) So, where are we?

The last two years kind of blur together, so it’s difficult to pick out differences, but we did have an Emperor livestream this year. I’ve been mildly warm on Emperor the last 10 years or so. Not out of any kind of malice; I just haven’t listened to them very much—I was never too big into the post-Nightside albums. I’d already seen them at Milwaukee Metalfest in 1998 (the year they forgot to bring the correct power adapters) and I was honestly kind of underwhelmed. But I was curious enough due to the Mortiis/Faust configuration and the thought of them playing earlier material to give it a few minutes of my time when a stream popped up.

The sight of Mortiis playing with them in his full goblin gear stirred something in me that’s been dormant for a long time: a sense of enjoying something through the eyes (ears?) of my much younger self, a feeling of letting go of a lot of the biases and preconceptions that getting older has soldered onto me like the barnacles that older whales attract, and just digging the moment. Emperor with Mortiis in full getup covering Bathory? Holy fuck. That’s my moment of the year musically, and put me on an Emperor kick that’s not only lasted months, but even saw me open my palette to the later albums. You can go home again, I guess.

As I went through my top 40 albums of the year for Decibel’s submission process, I noticed that the majority of the new releases I’ve lis14 : JA NUA RY 2022 : DECIBEL

tened to this year are either demos or splits.

Lack of full albums notwithstanding, it feels like I’ve checked out and enjoyed more recordings this year than last. I’m sure having my time lessened with a new baby and new job have made something like a demo or EP an easier, bite-sized piece to get through; that could be one reason, but I think that it’s closer to the fact that there’s just a lot of killer new projects out there. This is the third year in a row where I’ve had this kind of sentiment, which is incredibly out of character for me, but loops back to the theme that I’ve been allowing myself to experience pleasure in things more.

Oh yeah, and I’m a father now. That’s been a huge paradigm shift in 2021. It’s caused me to think differently about how I approach my work, my health and my environment. I’ve become less annoyed by other people’s genetic dribbles when they’re loud in public and somehow more forgiving when I see tired parents doing their best to not throw their regrets into a deep pond without first signing them up for swimming lessons. I’m still doing my best not to force my tastes onto my child, which is pretty fucking difficult since she’s seven months and can’t walk, thus a totally captive audience in the truest sense of the word. But I think I’m doing okay thus far. She can now say, “Hi, dada,” which is another moment where my usual miserable indifference melted clean away, making me forget even the heaviest diaper.

Will things return to normal in 2022? Of course fucking not, you tit. And I’m sure we’ll talk about it in greater detail when I’m back here next month, probably still surrounded by boxes, but possibly less apathetic. Until then, try to find enjoyment in the small things; otherwise you’ll turn into an angry shell of a human being without any regard for other people. And the world has enough politicians.

KCBC, A Brewery With Metal in Its Blood, Turns Five

K

ings County Brewers Collective

celebrates its fifth anniversary this year. Since Tony Bellis, Zack Kinney and Pete Lengyel founded it, KCBC has made a huge impression with hop-loaded IPAs, complex sours, indulgent stouts, crushable lagers, over-thetop art, creative events and a metal twist to it all. KCBC doesn’t set out to be a metal brewery, but the music that inspires its team bleeds into beer names, labels, collaborations and the festivals they pour at. I caught up with co-owner Bellis to dig into that.

Congratulations on five years! How are you feeling looking back on the journey so far?

Really, I just can’t believe how quickly these five years have moved. It feels like we just opened, and we’ve grown pretty steadily and quickly. We’ve expanded and had to rent more real estate to grow, we have more people working for us than I imagined we ever would and we’ve built an awesome team. And we’ve been really lucky to have been recognized by a lot of our peers in the industry for the beer we make.

You’ve said KCBC isn’t a “metal brewery,” but rather a brewery that happens to have a lot of metalheads. How does metal exist in KCBC’s DNA, even if it’s not an intentional theme?

It’s the world I live in. Since I was 9 years

old and got my first Mötley Crüe tape and thought, “Oh, I like heavy music; there’s a world beyond pop music and the music my parents listen to.” That was the beginning of an obsession, and it’s always been part of my life. As far as how that incorporates into KCBC, we’re always listening to music, discovering new bands, going to shows. It informs my creativity, and I think for a lot of the other staff it does, too. I’m inspired by the music around me, and that inspires making beer, hiring people and doing cool projects.

From label art to collaborations like working with Six Most Metal Breweries, what are some standout ways that a metal identity has manifested itself at KCBC?

We’ve done collaborations with bands like Behemoth, Gatecreeper and Tombs; we make Morbid Hour with our boys from Saint Vitus Bar … With [these] collaborations, it’s about making it more holistic, not just something we slap a band’s name on. Like with the Tombs collaboration, since Mike [Hill] has a coffee company, we said, “Hey, let’s actually use your coffee in the beer.” Or we’ll use a band’s artist for a special collaboration instead of our usual artist Earl Holloway.

What do you think bonds heavy metal and craft beer?

Beer goes with live music; that’s number one.

That’s how I got into craft beer. One of my favorite beers is still Sierra Nevada Pale Ale. In the early 2000s, that and Brooklyn Lager were really the only craft beer you could get at venues in NYC, and they’re still two of my favorites. I have vivid memories of standing in a crowd watching bands I love and drinking craft beer.

What do you hope to see for KCBC over the next five years?

We’re going to keep growing. I’d like to see us open some new taproom spaces in NYC or elsewhere. Beer-wise, we’ll keep doing a lot of what we do well, taking that into the next phase. We love making crisp, classic lagers, and I think we’ll do a lot of that.

I also see a much bigger team working for KCBC, which makes even more room for creativity and art-focused projects. People doing cool stuff that’s not beer, that’s something inspiring to us, whether it’s music or food or art. That’s one of the best things about beer; it’s a great way to connect with people.

Morbidly delicious  In just five years of existence, KCBC have carved their name into the bones of extreme metal brewing with brews like Morbid Hour Black Pilsner

DECIBEL : JA NUA RY 2022 : 15

GENOCIDE PACT

D.C. death crushers owe cheery disposition to cacodaemons

W

hen tim mullaney says that Genocide Pact had planned for their third album to be a rock record, it sounds like the guitarist/frontman has no earthly idea what rock music is. A few listens of their self-titled fulllength, though, will make it clear that’s exactly what the band succeeded in doing. ¶ “It’s still death metal,” Mullaney clarifies for anyone worried that the D.C. quartet went full Aerosmith.

“But I think the progression between our first and second record was pretty typical, where the riffs get trickier and faster. For this, it’s heavy and pissed, but we wanted to have choruses and make something catchy.” ¶ Thanks to that mentality—and an isolating pandemic that allowed for a more focused writing approach—the band unearthed a whole slew of hummable, headbangable riffs that came in part from some unconventionally conventional sources. ¶ “On the last record, we zoomed in more on obscure death metal,” he says. “For this one, it was big names: 16 : JA NUA RY 2022 : DECIBEL

Melvins, Metallica, Slayer. We decided to not rip off some Canadian war metal from 20 years ago. Because, like, who’s better than Slayer?”

Mullaney’s earnestness is refreshing, and it also helps shape his lyrics, which range from the band’s usual attacks on social ills to, this time, some more personal reflections.

“We’re a band that’s been through some shit,” Mullaney says. “Since we started, most of us have experienced loss, and me in particular. Since our first album came out, most of my family has died. And this last year I wasn’t going home and going to Zoom happy hour. I was working at the fucking Amazon warehouse just getting bad news nonstop. It was a pretty bleak period of my life. I didn’t want to incorporate that as a main topic of things, but it’s a global pandemic

and people I know are dropping left and right. Let’s not mince any words on this one.”

To sum it up, life is short, people are garbage, and the world is out to get you. But Genocide Pact still have something that keeps them feeling positive about the future, and it isn’t that old time rock ‘n’ roll.

“I don’t want to say that a lot of pain went into this record, but while we were making it, it was the only thing I had fun doing,” Mullaney says. “And that is always the role metal has served in my life. I’m a pretty goofy, don’t-give-ashit guy. I work construction with these guys who are dicks, and they don’t have an outlet for whatever is turning that gear in them. And sometimes I think if I didn’t have Morbid Angel and Deicide in my life, I would probably be a fucking dick, too.” —SHANE MEHLING

PHOTO BY BRIAN BOECKMAN

GENOCIDE PACT

ALDA

ALDA

Call them atmospheric Pacific Northwest black metal, but don’t call them Cascadian

A

six-year break between albums, at least for black metal band Alda, set a bit of a new precedent in what was once a relatively active discography. “We lived together off and on from 2008 roughly to 2016,” explains drummer and vocalist Michael Korchonnoff. “That was time spent in two houses; then Jace [Bruton, guitars], Timmy [Brown, guitars] and Stephanie [Knittle, bass/cello] all moved way out into rural Washington—in the foothills of Mount Rainier—and I was even further out. ¶ “We were all separated for a while,” Bruton adds.

“Then 2018 rolled around and we went to Europe, and that was the catalyst for me.” ¶ With time comes change, and with Alda’s change comes a newfound aggression and speed not really heard since their eponymous 2009 demo. “[We] were always inspired by old-school Norwegian black metal and got back to our roots as far as guitar style,” says Bruton. ¶ Korchonnoff elaborates: “We had all this pent-up energy and this explosion of desire 18 : JANUARY 2022 : DECIBEL

to play, which had to come out. It ended up much faster and more aggressive, but it wasn’t conscious.

We’ve never intended to write in one way or another. It all comes out of how we are feeling at the moment.

“We have never felt that Cascadian black metal was a genre of music,” continues Korchonnoff regarding a term often associated with Alda. “It does not accurately describe a genre of music, in our opinion. What people are referring to generally—sometimes it becomes a music journalism term, but oftentimes when people use that, they are referring to a scene or a community of bands. There is some validity to that. There was a particular time when a bunch of these bands were popping up at the same time. It was clusters centered around particular music scenes and like-minded people. People from a distance, not

actually being in the mix, maybe interpreted it as more of a movement or style than it really was. The concept of Cascadia as a bioregion means something to us, but we’re not going to introduce ourselves, nor have we ever introduced ourselves, as ‘Cascadian black metal.’”

“Alda was created in Eatonville, WA, which is a small logging town in the middle of nowhere,” says Bruton. “When we started doing this, as far as we knew, we were the only ones. As we moved out and branched, we realized we weren’t.”

“There definitely isn’t as much of a metal scene as there used to be. A lot of our friends that made this type of music have moved on to different styles,” Korchonnoff explains. “A lot of the music that’s being created by these folks is outside the realm of metal.”

—JON ROSENTHAL

MORGUL BLADE

MORGUL BLADE

W

hen I was a little kid and playing cops and robbers, I always wanted to be the bad guy. Everybody has a side where they secretly enjoy evil, and especially romanticized evil—Sauron, Morgoth, the arch evil—and it’s a bit criminally underused in modern [traditional] heavy metal.” ¶ Turns out vocalist, guitarist, synth player and primary songwriter Klauf, of Philadelphia blackened traditional metal outfit Morgul Blade, had a crystal-clear vision for his band’s debut album, Fell Sorcery Abounds. “True metal, not that it’s a slight against it, but it leans too much on the bright and shiny and the heroic, rather than the core part of being straight evil,” he explains. “One of my favorite albums of all time is Slayer’s Show No Mercy—I like to take cues from just how wicked and evil that album is, and try to give you the same feeling as if you would be listening to Eternal Champion or Omen or Manilla Road in that it’s mystical and mythic, but at the same time, way more sinister.” ¶ In practice, Morgul Blade evoke similarly divergent acts like Malokarpatan, Hexenbrett, Varathron and epic era Bathory— 20 : JANUARY 2022 : DECIBEL

think 1996’s Blood on Ice. Their music is delivered with a confidence and proficiency rarely heard on a debut, more than delivering on the promise of their 2019 EP Harbingers of Power and the World’s End. “When you’re playing music that a lot of people could consider ‘corny,’ hubris and arrogance is necessary,” Klauf reasons. “If you don’t buy in, how do you expect your listener to buy in? As far as my lyrics go, I think the worldbuilding is really important because when anyone listens to the album, I want you to close your eyes and feel like you’re in a field and there’s stuff swirling around you and swords and arrows and whatever else, and I think rudimentary song structures and keeping it simple lends to that.”

Fell Sorcery Abounds hardly sounds simple in practice—instead, it’s anthemic and driving, with acoustic

interludes, ample synth integration and two vocalists with at least three vocal styles between them. Of course, given the name, Lord of the Rings references appear frequently (after all, morgul blades turn their victims into Ringwraiths), as do references to folklore and history.

Add some original world-building, a healthy dose of ’80s video game and cultural nostalgia, and you’ve got an album that feels conceptual and features zero weak tracks. Its intense focus was hard-earned.

“This album wouldn’t exist if I didn’t lock myself in a house for a year. I’d probably still be writing it, honestly,” offers Klaus. “I got laid off, obviously, because everything shut down. So, I went from working 70 hours a week to zero hours a week, so I was like, ‘Well, I gotta do something; otherwise I’m going to completely go out of my fucking mind.’” —SARAH KITTERINGHAM

PHOTO BY DANTE TORRIERI

Philly trad-influenced quartet embraces the power… of evil

APOSTLE OF SOLITUDE

APOSTLE OF SOLITUDE

Indy doom dealers find a light in the darkness

T

he first thing that strikes listeners upon first hearing the fifth album by doom veterans Apostle of Solitude is how, for all the beautiful, slow melancholy going on, there’s more of a sense of urgency in the music this time around. Clocking in at just over 36 minutes, Until the Darkness Goes wastes no time grabbing one’s attention, and in the process just might be the Indianapolis band’s finest work to date. ¶ “For this album in particular, the end result was a very honest reflection of how things felt over the past couple years,” says drummer Corey Webb. “The roots of those songs began before the pandemic, but the emotional weight of the times, so to speak, is definitely apparent in these songs. We all have personal struggles, which seemed to be amplified by world events during the writing of this album.” ¶ Right. That damn pandemic. “This overriding sense of uncertainty and worry sort of permeated through to the music,” Webb adds. “Having to reschedule the recording

22 : JANUARY 2022 : DECIBEL

three to four times did, however, give us ample time to really let these songs marinate, so when we finally were able to set up for a few days, we were ready, and everything went smoothly and comfortably. The songs were tight and we were confident in our direction, so it felt good to finally put these songs to tape.

“We made the decision early on that this album might be a bit more focused than prior records. The production was stepped up a bit as well, so this is a more refined version of all the things that we think we do well as a band. We’ve done the 15-minute ‘Sincerest Misery’ dirges before, so it felt right to go straight for the throat on this one, with a bit more direct approach.”

One of the best things about melodic doom metal is how it can be comforting to wallow in misery, the

music enveloping the listener like a quilt as the snow blows outside.

When it comes to Apostle of Solitude, it always feels like there’s the faintest glimmer of optimism cracking through the darkness, but especially on this record. With a mostly bleak 2021 in the rearview, such sentiment is especially welcome.

“Each of us in this band is drawn to this sort of music for our own reasons that are reflected in the music, but hope is always present,” says Webb. “Without hope, sometimes there’s not much else, is there? There has always got to be hope for something better, for some sort of good in this world to ultimately prevail; otherwise there’s not much point to anything.

It’s easy to get lost in the blues sometimes, but it’s important to remember that there is hope.”

—ADRIEN BEGRAND

Grindcore powerhouse use lockdown to strengthen an already ridiculous lineup

W

BY KEVIN STEWART-PANKO

ith members spread across the south and northeast U.S., England, Sweden, Chile and Spain’s Basque region, it’s only appropriate that the genesis for the latest lineup and album by grind supergroup Lock Up was kickstarted in Berlin, one of Europe’s most cosmopolitan and artist-friendly cities. ¶ “On the Campaign for Musical Destruction Tour in early 2020, Misery Index was touring with Napalm Death, Rotten Sound and Eyehategod,” begins drummer Adam Jarvis (of Baltimore).

“At the Berlin show, we were backstage shooting the shit with [bassist] Shane [Embury, of Birmingham] who was telling us that [ex-drummer] Nick [Barker] wasn’t feeling it anymore and was out, and that he didn’t know what they were going to do… unless I wanted to play drums. I was like, ‘It’s that easy, huh?’ Plus, he was talking about getting [co-vocalist] Tomas [Lindberg, of Gothenburg] back in the band. So, in the course of a 15-minute conversation, I was in Lock Up.” 24 : J AAPN RU I LA 2R0Y2210:2D2 E: CDI B EC E ILB E L

With everyone locked down—or up—as COVID-19 worked its infectious black magic around the globe, the newly-minted lineup got to work on the band’s fifth album, The Dregs of Hades. This work involved guitarist Anton Reisenegger (of both Santiago and San Sebastian) and Embury sending various formations of riffs and songs to Jarvis, who would hash them out at his practice spot, devising rhythm patterns and beats, arranging and rearranging the raw material so it was smoothed out enough for the vocal duo to do their own back and forth about who was going to do what, how and when.

“Once we got the songs, Tompa and I would work out what we wanted to do and what songs we wanted to work on,” explains co-vocalist

Kevin Sharp (of Atlanta). “Tompa and I would track everything. I would send him my tracks and he would track the songs the way I wrote them; then I would take his tracks and do his songs. During the mixing process was when we would take whatever sounded best—call-and-response here, double vocals there, Tompa this, me that—until we had a full record, and the way it turned out had a cool phrasing and contrast dynamic. It was a good idea and it came out better than I thought it would!”

“I gotta say that Anton is a riff-writing machine!” enthuses Jarvis about his new bandmate. “He channeled some [former and late guitarist] Jesse Pintado on this, man. It’s awesome; grind as fuck at times, really punk, and there are even a few hardcore riffs in there. It’s a fun listen! We’ve all been doing this for decades and you can hear it. Everybody had their parts, did what they had to do, let it rip and nailed it.

“I ended up being furloughed from my job at the time,” he continues on a personal note about how working on The Dregs of Hades elevated his COVIDimposed downtime, “so this allowed me to work on the new album as well as the 7-inch we did with the Repulsion cover. It was pretty awesome and gave me something to do during a very dark time. Thinking back on it now, joining the band was a blessing in disguise because it kept me playing drums, allowed me to leave the house, go into the studio and have some fun.”

This current version of Lock Up

still hasn’t all been in the same room together.

Adam Jarvis

As for what the future holds for these very busy and very spread-out gentlemen, who knows? Everyone involved approached The Dregs of Hades for the love of the game and as something out of creative necessity they would have embarked upon whether the world was on pause or not.

“Lock Up is a place for old dudes to get together and reminisce about the metal they grew up on and their record collections,” laughs Sharp, “but I recorded five albums during the pandemic; music is just what I—and we— do. It was good to be able to press ‘record’ when everyone was in crisis.”

But now that live music and touring is chipping its way back to some semblance of normalcy, the members are finding that it’s easier to be in Lock Up when you’re at home for two years, as opposed to actively juggling the over 20 bands they are actively involved in.

“I think we’re going to be more of a festival appearance type of band,” reasons Jarvis. “Possibly a tour, but everyone is still playing catch-up with what was supposed to happen last year, and 2022 is still going to have some of that carry-over; like Shane touring the last Napalm Death album will be a priority. Honestly, my first thought was that we weren’t going to be able to play a show for years, but we just signed with a new booking agency in Europe and, sure enough, we’ve already had an offer to play a festival in Belgium that Misery Index and Napalm Death are booked at. It’s like, ‘Well, if you two are already there…’ It’s starting to get a little bit more real, and I encourage it. But this current version of Lock Up still hasn’t all been in the same room together, so the first step will be to get in a room and have a band practice; that would be cool!”

D E CDI B EC E ILB:EJLA:NAUPARRI L Y 2021 2 : 25

interview by

QA j. bennett

WI T H

THE DARKNESS frontman on sex robots, partying with Lemmy and the band’s new album 26 : JANUARY 2022 : DECIBEL

I’M

used to people coming up to me in the U.K. and

saying things like, ‘Oh, my friend reckons that you used to be famous. Can I have a picture, please?’”

That’s Justin Hawkins talking about the cultural differences between his native country and his adopted home in Switzerland, where he’s lived for the last few years. “In the U.K., they want a picture even if they don’t know who you are. In Switzerland, I find myself in situations where people know exactly who I am and what my band has done, and they don’t say anything.” ¶ Such is life for the frontman of the Darkness, the world’s preeminent glam rockers. The British band exploded into international fame with 2003’s Decibel Hall of Fame-certified Permission to Land, which managed to be one of the catchiest and funniest records of the entire decade. Propelled by Hawkins’ awe-inspiring falsetto, high-flying guitar solos and zebra-print jumpsuits, the Darkness topped the U.K. charts and sold well over a million albums before going tits up in a mountain of cocaine. Since reuniting in 2011, they’ve released five albums, including their latest, Motorheart. According to Hawkins, it’s meant to be an antidote to these trying times. ¶ “I wanted it to be a record that wasn’t talking about the impact of COVID,” our man says. “In this period where everyone’s sort of finally reaching out and saying, ‘We got through it, guys!’ the last thing you want to hear is the Darkness moaning. Our job is definitely to play really loud guitar solos, wear spandex and have some fun.”

You’ve been living in Switzerland for a few years now. Do you miss anything about England?

I always think about when we were starting out as a band and renting whatever places we could afford. Some people were sleeping on each other’s floors. It was really just scrambling around trying to be able to exist in London, where the opportunities were for music, you know? In Switzerland, there’s absolutely no way you’d be able to do that because the bureaucracy is so strict that you can’t exist like that. I don’t know what the benefits system is here, but I just don’t think the culture for music and arts is like the U.K. If you try to be a struggling artist here, you’ll end up working at a bank like everybody else. So, I think there’s something really exciting about London and England that just isn’t ever done here. But it’s super comfortable, so I think the benefits probably outweigh the drawbacks now that I’ve had some success.

You had a terrifying accident last year involving some pool chemicals and ended up in the hospital. What happened?

What happened was, I saw a leak in my pool house. I’m a pretty hands-on person, so I thought I’d have a little fiddle around and find the source of the leak. And then all these chemicals ended up on my hands. I didn’t realize they were chemicals—I just thought it was water.

PHOTO BY SIMON EMME T T

And I rubbed my legs to dry them off, and then my shorts melted. But the hospitalization thing was a bit of an exaggeration by the U.K. press.

There was no hospital involved. I did one of those Cameos, you know—the video messaging thing? I mentioned what happened, and it never occurred to me that it would end up in a music paper. And then it did. My mum got all upset and worried, but it was okay. I mean, my shorts melted into my leg, but it went back to normal after a couple of days.

Well, I’m glad to hear you’re okay. I read it in the NME, which I now realize was probably the source of the exaggeration.

They like to exaggerate. It was scary, but I’m all right.

Your new record is called Motorheart. I notice there’s no umlaut.

I was pro-umlaut, but I think Motörhead fans dislike me enough. I don’t need them on me anymore than they already are. You know, Lemmy was a friend. That’s the thing that bothers me.

There was one incident early on when he said some bad things about the band, so I didn’t let him into a show. That was really the extent of the “feud.” And then afterwards, Dave Grohl sat us down together at a table. We hashed it out, and we were really good friends after that.

We shared the stage on dodgy biker festivals in Germany, and every time we were on the same bill or in the same town, he and I would get completely hammered and we had a great time doing it. So, it annoys me that people think we were enemies or something like that because we weren’t—we were actually friends. But I didn’t want to antagonize the already tedious furor around the Darkness and Motörhead by having the umlaut in there. And I eventually conceded that it’d probably be best without it. But it’s not about that. It’s about a sex robot.

More specifically, it’s about a relationship with a sex robot. What got you thinking along those lines?

It came about because COVID is a challenging and lonely time, isn’t it? I was looking to alleviate the feelings of enforced solitude. I was looking to certain contraptions to amuse myself in those difficult and uncertain times. At the same time, the guys sent me a backing track for that song. [Bassist] Frankie [Poullain] described it as a cross between Motörhead and Heart, so I thought, well, “Motorheart”—it’s obvious. And then I thought, well, I’ll just write a song about these things I’m buying off the internet.

We should add that you’re singing in character on the title track.

Right. I wanted this sort of character that I’m singing from to be a total dumbass. I’ve got the feeling there’ll be some people who find it not very PC because of that first line, when I’m saying I never have to listen to ridiculous opinions—as if my partner’s opinions were always ridiculous. I mean, they probably were at one point, but that’s not to say I have that feeling about all women. Although, there is a line later on when I say that I haven’t had much luck with women. So, I think what I’m saying is that when you have relationship problems that recur and you don’t learn from the mistakes, you’re destined to repeat them. And then finally you end up basically having a relationship with an inanimate object—and all the same relationship issues emerge. So, this character has to turn the light on himself and accept that it might be him.

There’s a choice line in the press release that says, “The Darkness are the Orwellian boot stamping on the flaccid face of limp rock forever!” Did you write that?

I couldn’t possibly confirm or deny that.

Fair enough, but is the Orwellian aspect of the album confined to the title track or does it spread its tendrils throughout?

Every song on the album is a description of a DECIBEL : JANUARY 2022 : 27

Programmed for love  There’s nothing artificial about The Darkness’s brand of glamorous rock

The hospitalization thing was a bit of an exaggeration by the U.K. press. I mean, my shorts melted into my leg, but it went back to normal after a couple of days. song, it’s me describing to an authority figure the way I feel about someone I’m not supposed to be having sex with. So, it’s a bit tricky. There’s a bit in there that’s talking about alien love, just because she looks so unusual. But there’s no law against that.

Not yet, anyway.

If Motorheart is your Orwellian record, Easter Is Cancelled was a bit Nostradamus. That album came out in October 2019, and the following Easter was cancelled.

When it becomes a thing, I’m sure there will be a law. Or it might just be discouraged. I’m not sure.

Yeah. That was the weirdest situation. A lot of people mentioned to us how we’d seen it coming.

There’s a line in that song as well—the title track from the last record says, “Spreading the disease so they can sell the cure.” Now, I’m not an anti-vaxxer at all. I’m double-vaccinated and I’ll get triple-vaccinated. It makes life easier when we’re trying to get home from the road.

But that was a really curious thing that came up.

I think maybe there was a temptation at some point to call this new record Justin Hawkins Wins the European Lottery.

A new documentary on the band Sparks recently came out, which got me thinking about your old British Whale project, in which you covered their “This Town Ain’t Big Enough for Both of Us” and made a very funny video with the Mael brothers.

Do you think you’ll ever bring British Whale back, or is it one and done?

And who could blame you?

We’d be having a different conversation, and I’d be on a beach somewhere.

One of the songs on the new album is called “It’s Love, Jim.” Who’s Jim?

It’s Captain Kirk. But it’s not just about Star Trek.

It’s more about the expression. Bones is always saying things to him like, “It’s life, Jim.” In the 28 : JANUARY 2022 : DECIBEL

No, it’s one and done, I think. But I will try and do some kind of release because I’ve got all these songs I’ve done for other people where I feel the definitive version is yet to have been heard. The best version is always my demo. And that’s just my opinion, obviously, because I love myself. But I’ve also got a load of new songs that I’ve written in the last year. So, when this campaign’s over, I would like to try and squeeze something in between this and the next Darkness album. But I don’t think it will be called British Whale. I’ll probably do it under my own name.

When one plays glam rock, as you do…

I call it glamorous rock.

Excellent choice. When one plays glamorous rock, it seems like it would require one to stay glamorous. How do you achieve that?

The temptation here is to say it’s an attitude, but I don’t think it is. I think you have to be quite exacting in the arrangements of the songs.

I think you have to really think about the way you look as well. I think jeans and T-shirts is a no-no for me. I mean, when I do that, it’s tiny cutoff shorts and a Revenge of the Nerds T-shirt, but you can see the difference already. But if you do this kind of music and you care about it, then it comes naturally. You never really concern yourself with how you’re going to maintain it. If we’re talking about wardrobe, we do have some budgetary constraints. But I’ll break into my daughter’s piggy bank if I have to.

Every year, some self-appointed expert tries to peddle the idea that rock is dead. I think the whole conversation is stupid, and it’s obviously based on a premise you don’t agree with, but is it something you think about?

I think it ebbs and flows. It’s certainly had moments in the last 30 to 40 years where it was dominant, and then it’s had moments where it’s been overlooked. There’s a frighteningly big community that listens to rock, but at the moment, it’s the underdog. But that’s not to say that it’s dead. That means it’s hopefully doing press-ups in a dark room somewhere waiting to come back. Or more likely rock is masturbating furiously over magazines that have pictures of, basically, me.

PHOTO BY SIMON EMMETT

failed relationship, be it with an alien or somebody who’s promised to another in matrimony, perhaps. So, some of the themes from the song “Motorheart” are in all of them. I wanted it to be a bit of fun, really—even though that’s quite a dated concept. We tried not to make another Easter Is Cancelled, basically.

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the

definitive stories

behind extreme music’s

definitive albums

by

jeff wagner

To Hell and Bach the making of Arcturus’ Aspera Hiems Symfonia

T

he story of Arcturus is largely the

called Ravn to raise the needed funds. It story of Steinar “Sverd” Johnsen. took him one month to assemble thouAt just 15 years of age, Sverd, sands of steel rings and 800 meters of along with Marius Vold, formed wire into the required armor. Along with Mortem, a band that delivered chainmail, Sverd hand-crafted nail bats septic death metal devoid of (the one Count Grishnackh wields in an sophistication or refinement. Recording infamous picture is one of Sverd’s), and several songs in March 1989 under the soon the mission was complete: He could watchful eye of Øystein “Euronymous” finally afford the Ensoniq. This piece of Aarseth, the Slow Death demo is the lone equipment formed the basis of Arcturus’ output by the first Mortem iteration. sound for the ensuing 10 years.

The band fizzled quickly, which paved While Arcturus rubbed shoulders the way for a new project that Sverd, with, got drunk with and even included Marius and Slow Death drummer Jan Axel members of various legendary black DBHOF205 “Hellhammer” Blomberg dubbed Arcturus. metal bands, they weren’t exactly a The music of Arcturus pivots on Sverd’s satanic endeavor. Arcturus were instead keyboard work, which was immediately focused on nature, the cosmos, literaapparent on their 7-inch debut, 1990’s ture and psychedelia. Their attitude was Aspera Hiems Symfonia My Angel. This was intentional: Mortem’s firmly progressive—there was nothing dissolution was the direct result of Sverd they would not attempt. Depressive ANCIE NT LOR E CR E AT IONS dropping guitar after becoming consumed dirges, Faustian mischief and squishy JUNE 3, 1 9 9 6 with the myriad possibilities of keyelectronica all feature somewhere in the Times, they were dark boards. He was listening more to classical strange Arcturus mélange. composers such as Bach, Beethoven and Along with Ved Buens Ende, Fleurety Tchaikovsky, masters who inspired obsesand Beyond Dawn, Arcturus strove sion with his new instrument. Fascinated for expansion beyond black metal’s by the bombastic, overwhelming sounds strictures. 1994’s Constellation EP, a raw of church organs, he wormed his way into a situation that proved crucial to work of symphonic blizzards and aurora borealis brilliance, firmly estabhis creative development. lished the Arcturus methodology. Its follow-up, Aspera Hiems Symfonia, Sverd was close with schoolmate Erik Wroldsen, then in thrash band authoritatively capitalized on that approach and remains an influential Decadence and later Red Harvest. Wroldsen arranged for the aspiring cornerstone of Norwegian metal. Its title translation—“Harsh Winter keyboardist to enter the Bakkehaugen Church in Oslo—where Decadence Symphony”—is an apt descriptor for the blazing bombast and orchestral practiced in the basement—for surreptitious workouts on the huge pipe intensities of its 41:28 runtime. organ upstairs. Sverd remembers that “after some rehearsals, I decided At the time of Aspera’s recording in the summer of 1995, Arcturus held to confess to the organ player in the church, and the result was that I got within their ranks one of the most impressive metal lineups ever assemmy own key to the church. The only rule: Do not bring any others and stay bled: Sverd, Hellhammer (Mayhem), vocalist Kristoffer “Garm” Rygg away when there is activity there.”

(Ulver), bassist Hugh Stephen “Skoll” James Mingay (Ulver, Ved Buens As self-critical as he was ambitious, Sverd felt the keyboard he used for Ende) and Carl August Tidemann (Tritonus). Aspera’s eight monuments My Angel—a Technics KN800—didn’t suit the newer material that Arcturus of icy wickedness, released on the tiny Ancient Lore Creations label in were writing. He had his eye on an Ensoniq SD1, but it exceeded his budget. June of 1996, are celebrated here as foundational canon of the initial Resourcefully, he crafted handmade chainmail for a role-play group in Oslo Norweird surge.

ARCTURUS

DECIBEL : 31 : JANUARY 2022

DBHOF205

ARCTURUS aspera hiems symfonia My band Tritonus was rehearsing in the same building as a lot of other metal bands of that time, like Mayhem, Ulver and others. I was already friends with Jan and knew Steinar from meeting him occasionally.

Their former guitarist, Samoth, was, if I remember correctly, incarcerated, so I was requested to step in on fairly short notice. I believe my interest in various kinds of metal and classical music is probably why they turned to me for help when Samoth was unable to participate on the album.

CARL AUGUST TIDEMANN:

Coming off the Constellation EP, you brought in a couple new members to replace Samoth, who was imprisoned at the time. How did you find Carl August Tidemann and Skoll?

Carl August’s band Tritonus also rehearsed in Skippergata 21, where most of the bands at that time rehearsed, and after I watched them in a rehearsal, I kindly asked if he could help me with guitar on Aspera Hiems Symfonia. And he agreed, but was not very stoked to play in a black metal band because he wanted to do his own prog metal project. As for Hugh “Skoll,” Kris let us borrow Hugh from Ulver for this recording. He eventually decided to stay in the band permanently. Carl, on the other hand, left right after the recording. He was done when he went out the door from the Aspera recording. He said it was only a session appearance and could not take part in the band because of his own projects. [Future Arcturus guitarist] Knut [Magne Valle] was already around, visiting us on the last days of the Aspera recording in Panzer Studio.

JAN AXEL “HELLHAMMER” BLOMBERG: We hoped Tidemann would play on more Arcturus albums, but he didn’t have the time because he was playing with Tritonus after this. And I didn’t have time for Tritonus; I only played one gig with them and didn’t really record anything because I had loads of other bands, and everything I was doing was revolving around drumming, so I had to give something up. And so it only was that one Arcturus record with him, but of course I continued my musical relationship with him later, in a band called Winds. We did four records together with that band.

KRISTOFFER “GARM” RYGG: Skoll was brought in because he was a good bass player and he played in Ulver and was in those [rehearsal] rooms all the time, so yeah, it just made sense from a practical standpoint. After a while, calling him a “session player” didn’t make sense. He became part of the gang.

HUGH STEPHEN “SKOLL” JAMES MINGAY: Ulver, Mayhem and Arcturus shared a rehearsal place, so I was already in there with Ulver. I was also rehearsing across the hallway with Ved Buens Ende and hanging out at Elm Street [Rock Café in Oslo] a lot. I was always around. Being probably one of the most alternative bass players in the scene naturally made me interesting for Arcturus as well, so Sverd stretched out a hand.

I was listed as “session” on Aspera because Garm had the attitude that we can’t all be playing in the same bands, and I can sorta understand that.

But there was never any question about me leaving once I got started. Guess I was the right man for the job. I was the only bass player Arcturus ever had. I fit in there just fine and have loved being part of it.

STEINAR “SVERD” JOHNSEN:

Why did you re-record all four of the Constellation tracks for the full-length? Was it just a matter of lacking enough fresh material, or was it a case of perfectionism?

BLOMBERG: Well, that was Garm’s idea to do that.

He wasn’t happy with Constellation, and it was easy to record those songs again. [Laughs]

“We didn’t care much about what was going on around us or staying true to any particular genre.

This just happened.

Not sure if we realized how different we were at the time, but it didn’t matter.

Arcturus was its own thing.”

H U G H ST E PHE N “SKO LL” JA ME S MINGAY And those songs did come out way better the second time. It was also the experience of being in the right studio, and while recording them, realizing, “Shit, this sounds really good!”

RYGG: Constellation was a demo that got released as an EP, but it was always meant to just test these songs in a studio setting, and that’s why the same songs ended up on the proper album.

Constellation is flawed, but it captures the atmosphere of the time. Everything was a bit rough in those days.

How much freedom were the new members given with the Constellation material that was re-recorded for Aspera? What did they bring to the band that wasn’t there before?

I was given a lot of freedom, as I recall, and only a few parts were defined by Sverd. I have a pretty strong music theory background and arranged a lot of the guitar lines on the spot during rehearsals. Sverd and I worked TIDEMANN:

JANUARY 2022 : 3 2 : DECIBEL

very well together. We both had—and have—an admiration for classical music and arrangements.

MINGAY: The big difference between Arcturus and the other bands we were playing in was that the music was inspired mainly by Bach and was made on the keyboard instead of guitar. This certainly makes for a completely different basic recipe, but my approach was largely unaltered. I make my own melody lines based as much on the main instruments’ harmonics as anything, and here I was answering to the keyboard, as was the guitar. I received a fair bit of input from Sverd, but also a lot of prog rock inspiration from [Carl] August [Tidemann], who really pushed me along.

We were all into all sorts of different music and worked with the energies that were flowing there and then. We didn’t care much about what was going on around us or staying true to any particular genre. This just happened. Not sure if we realized how different we were at the time, but it didn’t matter. Arcturus was its own thing.

RYGG: When I tagged along, those songs were more or less done. Steinar and Jan Axel—and Marius, to a degree—had rehearsed them for some time. But they were then of course colored by the fact that Samoth and I joined the team.

Later, Carl and Hugh brought their own personal touches to Aspera. That’s how it is. There were few instructions, and more or less a mutual vision. We all brought what we could, to the best of our abilities, with some arguments and trifles in between. Tidemann’s playing, I kind of loved it at the time, because I was a big fan of technical guitar solos and some progressive metal back then. I’m not too enthused about that stuff now, I have to admit, but back then I loved it.

We felt we had come up with a unique synthesis. We wanted to make something that would work atmospherically with the sort of ingredients we had at hand. We have this amazing technical guitar player; the same with drums, and synths, too. I was the weak link, in many respects. I didn’t have anywhere near the musical experience those guys had. But because I was in Ulver, which was sort of more gnarly, subterranean black metal at the time—even though that, too, wasn’t strictly harsh black metal—and Jan was in Mayhem, then Arcturus was our place to do something a bit different. Combine our different sensibilities. I remember Steinar, he liked some of the black metal stuff, but he wasn’t overly engaged in it. He would rather listen to Bach or Prokofiev. I guess we were part of that [black metal] scene, somehow, but it wasn’t really of any concern to us what people called our music. We didn’t define ourselves.

Can any kind of thread be drawn from Aspera to the earliest Arcturus material, the My Angel stuff? Beyond personnel, do you hear any commonalities?

RYGG: Well, a few of those songs stem from the My Angel times and were first rehearsed with

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ARCTURUS aspera hiems symfonia

Marius Vold, who had a very different approach to singing. Aspera is more elaborate, in many ways. Less doom and gloom. But to me there’s a natural trajectory there. Of course, things happened when more people entered and brought their own ideas to the table. Our goal with Aspera was to make it sound better and bigger [than Constellation] and further tap into the vibe we were after, even if that vibe is quite difficult to paint precisely in words. But there was a soundscape we were looking for, and I think with Aspera, it blossomed a lot better. We had a bit more time and a bit more money. The studio was better. At that time, it sounded like a million bucks to us, so we were happy.

Aspera Hiems Symfonia was recorded in Panser Studio in Oslo, in the summer of 1995. They also recorded bands such as Fleurety, Khold and Tulus, as well as Kamelot and TNT, and stuff far outside of metal, too. What are your memories of the sessions there?

TIDEMANN: Panser was a studio that a lot of the underground bands were using at that time. It had a convenient location at Kalbakken in Oslo, and was run by three guys, one of which is a very skilled guitar player, Ken Ingwersen, who knew a lot of people in the industry. I remember the recordings to be a very positive and creative process, despite some fighting with Kris about the vocal style. We were good friends, but remember that I had absolutely no connection to the black metal scene and did not enjoy that kind of singing too much back then. Now I could never imagine the album with any other vocals than his. He did a great job on that album.

RYGG: They were friends of Tidemann, the guitar player. Because he didn’t really come from this black/death metal scene. He was more of a prog metal guy. And these guys who run Panser Studio, they were fairly into that stuff, too—the more technical metal. I remember the band they were in was called Jack in the Box, which had some modest success in Norway in those days.

Also, one of the guys behind it is actually the same guy who recorded Ulver’s Vargnatt demo a couple years before. So, they were these guys, slightly older than us, into technical stuff and… well, what’s the word? “Gear sluts”? [Laughs] You know, built their own studio, and I guess they were keen to record Arcturus as well.

BLOMBERG: I remember it very well, and a very special thing that happened there. We wanted these kind of fade-in crashes, like crash cymbals. So, me and Garm got the idea where he was holding a couple of very dark-sounding handmade cymbals by his fingertips, in the hole there in the middle. And I played them with a mallet, like a crescendo, and then he dropped the cymbal and grabbed it before it fell

“We have this amazing technical guitar player; the same with drums, and synths, too.

I was the weak link, in many respects.

I didn’t have anywhere near the musical experience those guys had.”

KRISTO F F E R “GA RM” RYG G to the floor. So, then this falling sound, it gives a special sound. I’d never done that, before or after. It was quite fun.

The lyrics on Aspera are either nature-oriented or concerned with the cosmos. Not to mention a combination of Norwegian, Latin and a kind of Old English. Those themes, and that lyric approach, seem common now, but at the time it felt rather innovative. What are your thoughts on it all now?

RYGG: The leaning was more towards nature and the night sky and all that stuff. This was a relatively calm, sort of tranquil time. Not too long after the Cold War and lots of serious tension in the world. A time of relative peace. So, this whole black metal thing came about as a result of that, in a way. Like always, all these youth movements, you need to have something to rebel against. I don’t know if that has anything to do with nature, but it does have something to do with the embracing of cosmic forces and natural powers. It was quite fascinating. How old was I? Seventeen, 18 years old. And we were roaming about quite a bit in the woods and in the mountains. I can’t really answer why this was brought into the music, but I guess if you ask a JANUARY 2022 : 3 4 : DECIBEL

poet, it’s the same: Why do you write about the night sky or nature?

What I can say is it fits the music, somehow. “Wintry Grey” has got this sort of windy, windswept thing about it. But I didn’t write all the lyrics to this early Arcturus stuff either, because they had some stuff lying about, possibly some things that Snorre [Ruch] from Thorns had written. So, some of that stuff was already in the wind, to use a fitting lingo, before I started expanding on it. Those seeds were already in place. And I guess black metal, Lord of the Rings and all that stuff [of a] dark, fantastical nature. All those things were in that mix. As for some of the lyrics… [Laughs] Some Shakespearian endings and stuff, for sure. Some Latin and some Norwegian. It just sounded cool to a bunch of young men using “whence” and “goest the wind.” I mean, it’s no bigbrainer, really. Just sounded epic, you know?

Grandiosity. Just looking at Old English poetry and Shakespeare and taking the leads from there. But we can’t have been the only ones who were doing the whole “-eth” endings and stuff like that. That whole archaic form, it was quite scintillating. Like My Dying Bride, who were a band we listened to at that time.

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Jan, did you change your approach for Arcturus in terms of your specific drum setup, from how you arranged your kit in Mayhem or any of the other bands you’ve recorded with over the years?

BLOMBERG: I usually have always used the same kind of ground setup: two bass drums and three toms and the snare and the floor tom. And from there I just build it, or take away from there; whatever fits for the material I’m playing. And for different setups, I play differently. And that’s good, absolutely. I also think I sound different, I get a different atmosphere, when I’m playing different setups. What’s special about Arcturus compared to other bands is I’m using more drums with Arcturus. More tom-toms. I was into this Nicko McBrain of Iron Maiden type of thing, so that also shows through in that phase of Arcturus. Huge tom fills, and flams on the toms.

To this day I always have my ride cymbal set up Nicko McBrain-style, hanging over the tom-toms, the rack toms, instead of how most people have it, totally flat and parallel to the floor tom. I could never actually play like that because it was too far away from the hi-hat for me, and I like to play the hi-hat and ride cymbal sitting in front of me. So, it makes more sense for me to have the ride at the comfort angle. Just for me. For other people, it might look uncomfortable to play, but for me that was absolutely always the way to go.

And still is.

time with Ted [Skjellum] and the Darkthrone guys way back when they were recording their first album, but besides that, I just knew some of the other guys vaguely from meeting them at Elm Street when we were all drunk. I was a total guitar geek, and still am, and did not share any of the scene’s view on religion, politics or whatnot, and did not understand why they were all so angry when living in the most well-functioning democracy in the world. I spent most of my time behind a guitar practicing and could not care less about the black metal scene.

MINGAY: Some of us had roots in black metal, and I suppose somebody in the band once said he was a Satanist, but Arcturus was never black metal to me. Not at all. I personally was dark-minded and into all sorts of metal, but never felt I belonged to any specific movement.

“Not mainstream” feels more descriptive of my whereabouts. Collectively, we didn’t much care for living up to anybody’s expectations or needs to put a label on everything.

RYGG: There were some progressive metal bands I remember Steinar and Carl August took leads

from, like Dream Theater. We also dug stuff such as the Italian-Slovenian cult band Devil Doll— which was perhaps a bigger influence on [1997 follow-up] La Masquerade Infernale—industrial sounds, Cold Meat Industry. But Arcturus was of course its own beast, taking only certain cues from these things and kind of merging it with black metal aestheticism, as well as Steinar’s strong penchant for the classical/romantic era.

It certainly did feel quite unique at the time, especially in Norway.

Aspera was originally released on Norwegian label Ancient Lore Creations before being picked up by two bigger labels for wider distribution.

Ancient Lore Creations only ever released two albums: Aspera and Ved Buens Ende’s Those Who Caress the Pale (first on cassette in 1994, then on CD in 1997). What’s the story there?

JOHNSEN: His name was Anton [Merckoll] and he tricked us very well. After the recording and after we signed the contract, he disappeared to Scotland. It was impossible to reach him, and we never got paid.

Do you remember recording the vocals for “Whence and Whither Goest the Wind”?

They’re recorded backwards, which is an interesting choice.

RYGG: I think they are backwards, yeah. I can’t even remember what the hell those words are, or why we did that, but it might be some Bible passages or something.

Arcturus were tangentially a type of black metal, but also something beyond that. Did you feel part of the black metal movement at the time?

JOHNSEN: Yes, we all rehearsed at the same places, and we went to the same pub, Elm Street, so we were absolutely a part of it.

BLOMBERG: Yes, absolutely. Back then, of course, it was kind of more pretentious bullshit by a lot of people, but there [were] some good moments and some good people in the black metal scene.

And I think the good things that black metal was doing, Arcturus was absolutely part of it.

TIDEMANN: Me, not at all. I mean, I was listening to Yngwie Malmsteen, Steve Vai, Dream Theater, Fates Warning and Queensrÿche at the time, and the only relation I had to the black metal scene was when I met these guys out partying. I know the Fleurety guys well, as we grew up in the same small town outside Oslo, and I spent some

“I was listening to Yngwie Malmsteen, Steve Vai, Dream Theater, Fates Warning and Queensrÿche at the time, and the only relation I had to the black metal scene was when I met these guys out partying.”

CA RL AUG UST T ID E MA NN JANUARY 2022 : 36 : DECIBEL

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RYGG: I think he was a friend of Hugh. He lived sort of around where Hugh lived. I think he was close with Tiziana [Stupia] of Misanthropy. I remember she came over, too, but that must have been later, before La Masquerade Infernale. I can’t remember why Ancient Lore put that out and why we didn’t do it directly with Misanthropy.

I do remember we had a bit of a falling out with that guy later because we never received a dime in royalties. Then we caught wind that he had been buying himself a brand new motorcycle and stuff with the money he got from Misanthropy, which was a bit provoking. So, there were some arguments there. But you know, it’s whiskey under the bridge. He was a scenester guy. He wanted to help and that’s how he started, like, “Oh yeah, I’m going to do this thing and I have distribution through Misanthropy,” and we thought, “Well, great.” That’s how that happened, I think. But that guy, he kinda disappeared. Probably as a direct result of that stuff becoming quite unpleasant. We learned that he received quite a bit of money from sales and never distributed any of that onto any of the rest of us. It was probably not such a cool experience for him overall, I imagine. He just disappeared. And then we started to deal directly with Misanthropy after that.

MINGAY: Anton Merkcoll was basically a friend of a friend living just up the road who decided it would be cool to start a label to release some of the stuff he really liked. We all weren’t too keen on getting ripped off by a major label, so went along with what seemed like a fair deal. Not too long thereafter, Anton moved to Scotland to go to school and that was that.

Rights signed over to Misanthropy. And we never saw a penny for any of it.

BLOMBERG: I really don’t know much about it, but I think he sold the rights to Tiziana Stupia of this English label, Misanthropy. I’ve never seen any money from that either, although I simply don’t care. I’ve never seen this Anton guy again either. I guess he just found other things to do.

Later in 1996, you attained solid North American distribution through Century Media’s black metal imprint, Century Black. Do you feel like that helped spread the name of Arcturus wider and gained more attention for Aspera?

Oh yeah. No doubt. I guess this was the time that this stuff sort of popped out of the underground a little bit. Century Media, you know, they were actually in most record shops.

So, yeah, obviously that helped big time.

JOHNSEN: When Century Black showed interest, I got very excited. I remember I was so ready to go on tour at that time. We only had one gig, in December 1995. It was at a small venue in [new Arcturus guitarist] Knut [Magne Valle]’s RYGG:

 Black No. 2 A promo copy as well as the final CD release of Aspera Hiems Symfonia proudly display the logo of the now defunct Century Media black metal imprint Century Black

hometown. I guess there were 100-something people there. However, Kris did not want to perform live after this, so there were no more gigs, unfortunately.

Future Arcturus records don’t have the same atmosphere as Aspera. You were truly progressive and explored other things after this.

Did you feel you nailed a kind of “symphonic black metal” approach here and felt no need to improve upon it? Was it better to just move ahead onto something else?

RYGG: The “psychedelic” aspect had made itself more apparent by then. We were a bit older and more open-minded. Pink Floyd and all these things entered the picture. Knut Magne Valle was also very important in this shift, although I think we were all keen to move a bit further away from the black metal trappings, generally speaking. The floodgates had opened!

What are your thoughts on Aspera in hindsight?

And do you have any favorite songs that still resonate with you today?

TIDEMANN: In retrospect, I can see we shaped something that has been followed a lot later, but in all honesty, I had no idea at the time that the album would be so influential. To this day, it is the work I get most credit for, of all I have done through the years.

RYGG: If you listen to it now, it’s obviously a product of its time. But I like that first song, JANUARY 2022 : 38 : DECIBEL

the opening track, “To Thou Who Dwellest in the Night.” As far as the track that best sums up the Arcturus feel, it’s maybe “Wintry Grey.”

Or “Du Nordavind.” Or maybe the last song [“Naar Kulda Tar (Frostnettenes Prolog)”]. The Constellation tracks, basically. Because I guess the rest of those songs were patched together fairly quickly after Constellation, to have a full album.

Those four Constellation tracks, they were around for a couple of years, they were played again and again and again, so, to me, they emotionally resonate a bit more.

JOHNSEN: Each song has its own charm, so it’s difficult to pick favorites. They were written over a period of four years, approximately. We kinda created our own universe and did not have any borders to follow on this album. We felt totally free to make our own product. The only place I picked up inspiration was through classical music, and to show that, I rebuilt a theme from Beethoven’s “Appassionata in F Minor” to a 6/8 beat and placed it in “Fall of Man.” BLOMBERG: I still like the songs and I still like the atmosphere on that album very much. You can always say, “If we did it like this and like this, it would turn out like this,” but we never know, so there’s nothing that I really regret. Of course, there’s tons of things I would have done differently, but there’s no way to even think about it, because that would change the history later to come, and that shouldn’t happen. So, yeah, I would rather point out the highlights.

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Nutrition Facts 40 Servings per feature

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1 Album

40

The Top Albums of 2021

W

here’s Mastodon? No Gojira? Uh, At the Gates?”

These are all reasonable questions you might ask yourself while perusing our annual Top 40 Albums of the Year list. “Wait, WHERE THE FUCK ARE AT THE FUCKING GATES?” Sorry, that last one was me.

With nearly three dozen writers and staff members contributing to this year’s list, it’s amazing how much consensus was achieved. Our No. 1 record captured the AOTY crown in a landslide. Whereas albums by multi-generational legends and acts barely two years old were often championed in equal measure, making it difficult to isolate any trends from the Decibel electorate. This suggests a healthy metal scene. And the fact that you’ll be screaming about what albums we included, which ones we did not, and where we ranked the ones that made the final cut confirms that your passion hasn’t diminished a tick in the 17 years we’ve been doing this.

Still, in a year where “getting back to normal” was perpetually pushed as the flawed narrative, Decibel happily welcomes back fervent-but-considered pre-pandemic reader rebuttals such as, “dying over no Havukruunu,” “it’s only November!” and, of course, “Ulcerate?” Clearly, nature is healing. —A LB E R T MU D R I A N The # Number Ranking (NR) tells you how much we liked an album this year. The following list of 40 records should be used for general metal listening advice.

DECIBEL :

41

: JAN 2022

D E C I B E L : J A N U A R Y 2 0 2 1 : 41

Top 5

Records That Tied For #41

40

Rivers of Nihil

39

Darkthrone

38

Body Void

37

Frozen Soul

36

Mare Cognitum

1. At the Gates, The Nightmare of Being, 4 [ C EN TU RY ME D I A]

41. Dream Unending, Tide Turns Eternal, [ 2 0 BU CK SPI N ]

41. Pan-Amerikan Native Front,

Little Turtle’s War, [ S ELF- RE LE ASE D ]

41. Mastiff, Leave Me the Ashes of the Earth,

[EONE] 41. The Crown, Royal Destroyer,

[ M ETAL B LAD E ]

Top 5

Locations to Enjoy Decibel Metal & Beer Fest: Philly,

by Daniel Lake

1. Crushed against the stage barrier in front of the Converge circle pit 2. Stage-right balcony next to Decibel’s EIC during his favorite Napalm Death songs 3. Stage-left balcony with the

Requiem Metal Podcast crew 4. In front of any brewery station with Nick Green 5. The concrete room backstage, where every performance sounds like Neurosis’ Resonant Sun experiment

The Work •

M E TA L BLA D E

While a death metal album about life and the living thereof may seem like a contradiction in terms, I would be hard-pressed to name any subject more brutal. This conceptual piece uses all of the considerable tools at their disposal to represent the difficulty of building a worthwhile existence. Besides, Rivers of Nihil shed their deathcore roots in favor of a more progressive approach a while ago. The Work cements their place as one of the most forward-thinking bands to emerge from that primordial ooze. — J E F F TRE P P E L

Eternal Hails…… •

P E AC E VILLE

Most albums with a minimum track length of seven minutes are strictly snoresville, but in the hands of the looser, fun-loving, we-don’t-give-a-fuck Darkthrone that emerged in 2006 with The Cult Is Alive, it’s pure heavy metal satisfaction.

On Eternal Hails, we get five (mostly) slower, doomier tracks in 42 minutes, each brimming with more personality and killer riffs than most bands can muster in a career. Speaking of careers, who’s putting out music this good 19 albums in?

Darkthrone. End of list. — J . BE N N E TT

Bury Me Beneath This Rotting Earth •

P R O S T H ET I C

Said with the utmost respect, Body Void make music that’s tough to get through.

Any description of the sludge duo requires some synonym of “pain” or “distress” to be accurate. And Bury Me Beneath This Rotting Earth is their most painful and distressing so far. They offer no relief across four tracks of feedback and noise played at a grueling pace, with only glancing shifts in speed as they shriek about vengeance against mankind’s greed and cruelty. Any silver linings here are traced with blood. — SHA N E M E HLIN G

Top 5

“Yeah”s on That Last Rob Zombie Album,

by Nick Green

1. YEAH! 2. yeaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhh 3. Rama lama whama ding dong YEAH! 4. (mostly unintelligible series of yeahs in a nursery rhyme cadence) 5. Super-farty guitar solo punctuated by cheesedick sample, creating such a perfect simulacrum of 1998 that no further yeahs are necessary

Top 5

Releases Too Cool for the Top 40 List,

by Neill Jameson

1. Grinning Death’s Head, Cataclysm 2. Fanebærer/Carved Cross, Split 3. Kommodus/Burier, Split 4. Jernved, Stormvasel 5. Spiral Staircase, Cellar Dream

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Crypt of Ice •

C E N TURY M E D IA

Call them Icicle Thrower. Like the Brits before them, Frozen Soul have sharpened their death metal into a deadly projectile that can pierce through any armor, much less frostbitten skin. Crypt of Ice suggests the bodies have already piled up, an appropriate threat—nay, reality—given these Texans’ quick ascension to the now-snow-covered tip of the death metal mountain. The cause of death?

Hypothermia, leaving warmth as a shadow of (the) past. Frozen Soul’s riffing is as precise as a mortician preparing a body, yet as raw as the reality that it will never rise again. — BRA D LE Y ZO RG D RAGE R

Solar Paroxysm •

I, VO ID HA N GE R

Giving hope to basement-dwelling virtuosos throughout the land, Jacob Buczarski’s fifth LP under the Mare Cognitum moniker is a dazzling display of cosmic black metal that packs as much cataclysmic power as the celestial event that adorns its cover. Luckily for us Earth-dwellers, the Portland-based multi-instrumentalist had plenty left in his propellant tank after 2020’s astonishing Wanderers: Astrology of the Nine split with Spectral Lore—in fact, the frantically aggressive, yet intrinsically melodic qualities of standout tracks like “Frozen Star Divinization” and “Ataraxia Tunnels” are undoubtedly among the highest points of Buczarski’s entire catalog. — M ATT SO LIS

35 34

33

32 31

Silver Talon

Decadence and Decay •

M-THE O RY A UD IO

Silver Talon play metal for people who check the CD booklet to see who played which guitar solo. The Portland band’s triple-axe attack of Bryce VanHoosen, Devon Miller and Unto Others shredder Sebastian Silva trade flailing, wailing leads across Decadence and Decay’s eight tracks of thrashy, maximalist power metal. Andy LaRocque adds a guest solo to “Resistance 2029” for good measure, a fitting co-sign for a band whose heady melodicism puts them somewhere between King Diamond and Pacific Northwest kin like Queensrÿche and Nevermore. — BRA D SA N D E RS

Spectral Wound A Diabolic Thirst •

PROFOUND LO RE

The musical growth contained within Montreal melodic black metal act Spectral Wound’s third album is, well, pick an evocative adjective for their best effort yet and it applies. Frigid, icy, atmospheric, ferocious, unrelenting, vicious, dense, brutal, cold, powerful: A Diabolic Thirst is it. For 40 incessantly heavy minutes, the listener is inundated with blasting drums, dueling tremolo-laden guitars, and (much improved from previous albums) screeching howls that both borrow from and build on the traditions of Finnish and Québécois black metal. —SARAH KITTERINGH AM

The Ruins of Beverast The Thule Grimoires •

VÁN

Alexander von Meilenwald is unto himself. This has been proved out time and again, starting with Unlock the Shrine (2004) through, but certainly not ending with Exuvia (2017). The Thule Grimoires is impenetrably opaque, yet deceptively bewitching. This isn’t music for fleeting hearts. From “Ropes Into Eden” and “Kromlec’h Knell” to “Polar Hiss Hysteria” and “Anchoress in Furs,” the Ruins of Beverast demand acquiescence, but reward perspective. The Thule Grimoires is confrontationally profound, inexplicably superlative and purposefully heavy. Fortunate we are to witness its power transformative and transcendent. — C HRIS D IC K

Enforced Kill Grid •

CENTURY M EDIA

What is a “kill grid” exactly—a targeting reticle? A chessboard on which the elite play deadly games on a global scale? Both images spring to mind while listening to Enforced’s sophomore barrage of militaristic riffs and pugilistic gang shouts.

Here’s another option: the square mark this crossover quintet leaves when they take the pizza box away from every watered-down high-top thrash band of the past 20 years and smack you in the face with it. The party’s over; the war has just begun. —JOSEPH SCH AFER

Examples of Dumb Shit We Forgot/Forgave in 2021,

by Neill Jameson

1. Bands with Patreons asking broke artists for free logos 2. Most musicians are not doctors 3. That whole Inquisition/child porn thing 4. People who buy records as status symbols 5. That time Bobby Liebling beat his mother

Top 5

Things I’m Looking Forward to At MDF 2022,

by Kevin Stewart-Panko

1. It actually happening 2. Watching the unvaccinated having to hang outside with the crusty hobo punks after being refused entry 3. How many creative ways I can respond to, “What have you been up to the past two years?”

4. How the bootleg T-shirt guy has expanded his inventory 5. Being somewhere other than my place of employment and/or my living room

Top 5

Neon Metal Albums of 2021,

by Jeff Treppel

1. Perturbator, Lustful Sacraments, [ BLO O D M USIC ]

2. John Carpenter,

Lost Themes III: Alive After Death, [ SAC RE D BO N E S]

3. GosT, Rites of Love and Reverence, [ C E N TURY M E D IA ]

4. Mega Drive, Neuroframe,

[ SE LF - RE LE A SE D ] 5. Xordox, Omniverse,

[ E D ITIO N S M E G O ]

Top 5

Knoll

Interstice •

Top 5

SEL F -REL EASED

Interstice, the debut full-length from Memphis deathgrind sextet Knoll, is as primitive and savage as it is refined. Over the course of 12 songs, the band assails the listener with a unique take on the genre, splicing in bits of noise, powerelectronics, doom and black metal. Few bands—especially ones as young as Knoll—have such a deep-but-flexible understanding of their sound. Interstice feels like a glimpse into the future of death metal and grindcore, and the future is bright. —V INCE BEL L INO

Doom and Heavy Metal Demos,

by Dutch Pearce

1. Ceres, Tyrant’s Rise 2. Void Witch, Void Witch 3. Solemn Lament, Solemn Lament 4. The Watcher, The Watcher 5. Vision Master, Orb

DECIBEL : JANUARY 2022 :

43

30

Archspire

29

Dungeon Serpent

28

Exodus

27

Hulder

Top 5

Metal Bands With Unvaccinated Members,

by Albert Mudrian

1. Flotsam and Vax’em 2. The Obsessed (With Conspiracy Theories) 3. Bloodclot (Which Was Definitely Caused by the Vaccine) 4. Vax-oless 5. Chelsea Grin Because You’re a Fucking Idiot

Top 5

Death Metal Demos,

by Dutch Pearce

1. Morbid Sphere, Demo I 2. Exsul, Exsul 3. Degraved, Exhumed Remnants 4. Cessation, Cessation 5. Reaper, Butchery From Beyond!

Top 5

Recurring Themes in Decibel Year End Top 40 Lists,

by Nick Green

1. Darkthrone has a standing reservation at table No. 39 2. Old-school thrash band that now eats gluten-free pizza is always in the 25-29 range 3. No. 31 must be a self-released recording 4. Other magazines will have a different No. 1 unless Marilyn Manson or Korn released an album with the same title 5. Jeff Walker has an AMAZING blackmail file on Albert Mudrian

Projected Metal NFTs of 2022, 1. Mushroomhead Non Fungusable Token 2. GG Allin shit-eating hologram 3. Bölzer “It’s Just a Sunwheel” jpg 4. Album art png for vinyl that won’t be back from printer until 2024 5. Dave Grohl fart in a jar

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: JANUARY 2022 : DECIBEL

SE A SO N O F M IST

Word-spewer Oliver Rae Aleron has to be some David Cronenberg experiment gone right; the dude’s million-syllables-a-second delivery surely a result of telepod gene-splicing à la The Fly between Corpsegrinder and rapper Tech N9ne. Outside of his frankly insane vocal performance, the tech-death that Aleron competes with on Archspire’s finest LP yet is so fast, memorable, melodic and impactful that the listener is left in a steaming pool of their own gelatinous living tissue.

Bleed the Future is bone-powdering next-level shit. — D E A N BROW N

World of Sorrows •

N A M E LE SS GRAVE

The initial mix circulating in the forums did zero justice to Dungeon Serpent’s powerful and somber melodeath debut. Scooped up by American label Nameless Grave, World of Sorrows was given the proper mastering treatment, transforming its five gruesomely battering tracks into a propulsive behemoth evoking early Kataklysm, Mi’gauss and the Chasm. Helmed by (then) 18-year-old multi-instrumentalist Arawn, Sorrows is resplendent with blazing fretwork, thick distortion, barking growls and dramatically downtrodden atmosphere, heralding a new band on the precipice of international recognition. — SA RA H K ITTE RIN GHA M

Persona Non Grata •

N UC LE A R BLA ST

My own personal AOTY chart-topper, Exodus’s 11th full-length offers the best example of thrash’s continued relevance in 2021. These Bay Area vets bring all the touchstones of the genre with authority—aggression, speed, expert riffing, angry lyrics—and make it relevant and diverse by mixing in hues of bloody death metal, steel-honed trad metal and bruising hardcore. The eviscerating title track lays the groundwork for an hour-long lesson in violence performed by a band at the top of its game late in its storied career. — A D E M TEP ED EL EN

Godlastering: Hymns of a Forlorn Peasantry • IRO N BO N E HE A D For this black metal force of nature, Godlastering is the culminating storm presaged by years of promising demos and singles that made Hulder one of the most exciting voices in the underground. For fans of dark medieval black metal, songs like “Upon Frigid Winds” and “Purgations of Bodily Corruptions” play like campfire anthems of the armored hordes before the final battle. Other highlights include the fistpounding “Creature of Demonic Majesty,” the haunting “A Forlorn Peasant’s Hymn” and the melancholic masterpiece of “Sown in Barrel Soil.” — J . A N D REW Z A LU C K Y

Top 5

by dB staff

Bleed the Future •

26

Craven Idol Forked Tongues •

DA RK D E SC E N T

“Our magnum opus, a classic third album,” proclaimed Craven Idol frontman Miika Virtanen herein about Forked Tongues back in August. “A combination of everything with added fury and better songwriting.” Production thickened, but cruder, coarser, infinitely more hellish than 2017’s The Shackles of Mammon, the North London foursome’s recorded peak immolates inaugural black, death and thrash fury. “Lots of Finno black metal melody [in Craven Idol],” offered the aforementioned Finn to dB in 2013. “The death metal aspect just comes from Possessed or even Slayer.” — RAO UL HE RN A N D E Z

DECIBEL : JANUARY 2022 : 45

Top 5

25

Deafheaven

24

Rudimentary Peni

23

Stormkeep

22

Genghis Tron

21

Gatecreeper

American Cities for Premium Black Metal Hangs,

by Daniel Lake 1. Minneapolis, MN 2. San Francisco, CA 3. Portland, OR 4. New Orleans, LA 5. San Antonio, TX

Top 5

Awards Sound of Metal Won Because They Prominently Displayed Decibel in the RV,

by Andrew Bonazelli

1. Academy Award: Best Film Editing 2. Academy Award: Best Sound 3. Independent Spirit Awards: Best Male Lead (Riz Ahmed) 4. Directors Guild of America Awards: Outstanding Directing – First-Time Feature Film (Darius Marder) 5. American Film Institute Awards: Top 10 Movies of the Year

Top 5

Dungeon Synth/ Dark Ambient Releases,

by Dutch Pearce

1. Yearner & Til Det Bergens Skyggene,

Split EP 2. Old Tower, The Old King of Witches 3. Blood Tower, Northern Smoke 4. Vöghräth, The Castle Sleeps Eternally 5. Coniferous Myst, Long Quests and Dull Blades

Top 5

Words in Chris Dick Reviews Even We Had to Fucking Look Up,

by Andrew Bonazelli and Albert Mudrian 1. tempi 2. kyphi 3. Systembolaget 4. sisu 5. nucleus accumbens

46

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Infinite Granite •

SA RG E N T HO USE

Deafheaven finally made their pop record with Infinite Granite, but it’s no heel turn. With “In Blur” and “Great Mass of Color,” they’ve finally become heir apparent to both Madchester and Creation Records’ heydays. George Clarke’s shift to clean vocals got all the attention early on, yet it’s their greater emphasis on vocal harmonies that really define the record. One thing hasn’t changed: They know how close an album, and “Mombasa”’s return to metal is their Deathwish beginnings more realized, more explosive. — A N DY O ’ C O N N O R

Great War •

SE A LE D

After an 11-year absence, save one very disappointing 7-inch, coming in with the audio equivalent of Journey to the End of Night would be impressive for any band, let alone one that’s been active across five fucking decades. Great War shows the band can still match the gloom of Cacophony with the dismal angst of Echoes of Anguish, decades after either were recorded. There’s a reason Mayhem and Chelsea Wolfe covered Peni, and it still pulses through their work today. —NEILL JAMESON

Tales of Othertime •

VÁN

Though many know him for his drumming in the likes of Blood Incantation and Wayfarer, Isaac Faulk (here known under the pseudonym “Otheyn Vermithrax”) expresses a different kind of musicality as a multi-instrumentalist and frontman in melodic/symphonic black metal band Stormkeep. Don’t expect aliens or cowboys, though, as Faulk and company (which also features Wayfarer and Lykotonon bandmate Jamie “Apokteino” Hansen) transport the listener to an alternate realm of high fantasy and adventure on debut album Tales of Othertime. —JON ROSENTHAL

Dream Weapon •

RE LA P SE

Anything can be used as a weapon. Even a dream. On their first full-length in 13 years, Genghis Tron wield their armaments with surgical precision, striking directly at the heart through humankind’s fear of extinction. This time around, their arsenal consists of strafing synthesizers and bunker-busting drumming rather than the Nintendo-fied grind they made their name with. Even Genghis Khan had to change up tactics back in the day, though. The assault proves just as devastating. — J E F F TRE P P E L

An Unexpected Reality •

C LO SE D CA SK E T ACTIVITI ES

One of the most pleasant releases of a truly rotten year was this surprise EP by a band that continually raises the bar for American death metal. An Unexpected Reality clocks in at a paltry 18 minutes, but the Arizonans make every second count, whether it’s the groovy, Entombed-meets-Napalm Death of the first seven tracks or the staggering exercise in doom-death that is “Emptiness.” There are more dynamics on this little record than what most bands are capable of, in just a fraction of the time. — A D RIE N BE G RA N D

RARE BIRD

Wherever Good Books Are Sold

EARLY 2022

ALSO NEW FROM RARE BIRD FATHER, BROTHERS, AND SONS by Frank Bello of Anthrax with Joel McIver HALLUCINATIONS FROM HELL by Gregg Turner of Angry Samoans NEW FROM DEAD BOOKS TOMORROW RUINED TODAY by Ryan Kent and Brett Lloyd SOME OF US LOVE YOU by Ryan Kent and Brett Lloyd

STILL AVAILABLE MUTATIONS by Sam McPheeters of Born Against SCALE and WATCH by Keith Buckley of Every Time I Die

Top 5

Beers of 2021,

20

by Courtney Iseman

1. Wandering Into the Fog Double IPA from Abomination Brewing, 8.6% 2. Urban Anomaly Stout from Crowns & Hops Brewing Co., 6% ABV 3. Rare Earth Foeder-Aged Pilsner from The Drowned Lands, 4.8% ABV 4. Short Fuse Smoked Helles Lager from Threes Brewing, 4.2% ABV 5. Make Art Not Content Saison from Keeping Together, 5.4% ABV

Top 5

Takeaways From Eric Wagner’s Final Decibel Interview (2018),

Top 5

Metal-Adjacent Weirdo Records of 2021,

19 18

Unto Others

17

Full of Hell

16

Cerebral Rot

1. Midwife, Luminol 2. Thief, The 16 Deaths of My Master 3. Steve Moore, Gone World 4. Godspeed You! Black Emperor,

G_d’s Pee at State’s End! 5. Floating Points & Pharaoh Sanders,

Promises

Metal Bands Under the Sea,

by Nick Green

1. Arch Anemone 2. Genghis Prawn 3. Crabtopsy 4. Cod Orange 5. Behold… The Octopus

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: JANUARY 2022 : DECIBEL

M E TA L BLA D E

That cabal of Mighty Taco-scarfing horror movie nerds and Bills fans (originally) from the fire pits of Western New York now reign as middle-aged masters of their craft! Fifteen albums in and the “Murderous Rampage” and “Ritual Annihilation” are more pointed in quality, scope and ferocity than ever before. With the drafting of death metal’s biggest Philadelphia Eagles fan (producer/Hate Eternal frontman Erik Rutan)—a case of a band’s fifth member actually becoming its fifth member—a deadly precedent has been set. Let the “Overtorture” continue!

Worm

by Daniel Lake

Top 5

Violence Unimagined •

— K E VIN STE WA RT- PA N KO

by Raoul Hernandez

1. “The more you learn, the less you know.”

2. “Happiness is not a destination, it’s a journey.”

3. “I like the way I sound now. It’s a little deeper, maybe, more cigarettes.

I sound mature.”

4. “You just have to keep going—no matter how high the mountain is, and I’ve created some big ones in my life.”

5. “Building a new website for the Skull, I got to the part with Trouble and a younger me, and I wanted to jump into the picture and strangle that guy: ‘Dude, you’re being a fucking idiot.’”

Cannibal Corpse

Foreverglade •

2 0 BUC K SP IN

Floridian death/doom luminaries Worm have built an awe-inspiring basilica of worship to their chosen style of extreme metal on Foreverglade. With sticky ichor slowly dripping from its arching walls and candlelit, cobwebbed altars to Transcendence Into the Peripheral, Forest of Equilibrium and The Second Ring of Power acting as an unholy trinity centerpiece, this duo’s ceremonial edifice will endure for those of us who wish to kneel in reverence of the arcane, spiritually enlightening and yet physically oppressive sonic specters that inhabit its structure. —DEAN BROWN

Strength •

ROA D RUN N E R

Cascadian howlers Unto Others are on the verge of greatness with new album Strength. The jump from Eisenwald to Roadrunner is one thing, but the masterful blunge of heavy metal (Iron Maiden) and gothic rock (the Sisters of Mercy) is quite another. Bolstered by Arthur Rizk’s massive ’90s-style production and buttressed by a band firing on all cylinders, Strength is definitively superlative.

Cases in point: “When Will God’s Work Be Done,” “No Children Laughing Now” and “Destiny.” Even the Pat Benatar cover (“Hell Is for Children”) kills. —CHRIS DICK

Garden of Burning Apparitions •

RE LA P SE

Like every good shapeshifter, Full of Hell have a default state to which they can return. (You know, so they don’t reveal their inhuman abilities.) Their default state just happens to be mind-warpingly malleable and menacing; a noxious concoction based in grinding death metal with swirling noise soundscapes making it extra volatile. This time around, they make good on those influences by delving deeper into noise rock riffing, albeit filtered through aggression à la Converge or guitarist Spencer Hazard’s Eye Flys project. Don’t worry that they’ve gone all jangly on you, though; the addition barely stabilizes the explosive formula. — BRA D LE Y ZO RGD RAGE R

Excretion of Mortality •

2 0 BUC K SP IN

Excretion of Mortality is the sort of feel-bad record that wages a quasi-olfactory death metal assault on its audience, with Detto Vincent Detto’s all-analog production bringing an organic, biohazard quality to tracks such as “Retching Innards” and “Bowels of Decrepitude.” The riffs are infectious and gnarly, but come from guitars long past decayed, rendered unto fizz and sludge. The only misstep is 20 Buck Spin’s, who should have done as John Waters did with Polyester, issuing an accompanying Odorama scratch-and-sniff card to heighten our discomfort. —JONATHAN HORSLEY

15

Amenra

14

Lingua Ignota

13

The Silver

12

Skepticism

11

Fucked Up

Top 5

Black Metal Demos,

by Dutch Pearce

1. Moortrieder, When Death Appeared 2. 七生報國, デモ一 (Demo One) 3. Xandelyer, Upheaval of Medieval Darkness 4. Nightreign, Nightreign 5. Alucard (Fin), Blood Relations of Heaven and Earth - Deathmonstration MMXX

Top 5

Bands by That Guy in Gnaw Their Tongues With Releases in 2021,

by Daniel Lake

1. Cloak of Altering 2. Coffin Lurker 3. Golden Ashes 4. Grand Celestial Nightmare 5. The Black Mysteries

Top 5

“Helpful” Fan Suggestions to Decibel, by dB Staff

1. “You should stop hating [insert my city/country here]. Plenty of fans live here, too!”

2. “You know what would be really cool?

If you put all of the band logos on the back of the Metal & Beer Fest shirts.”

3. “Shipping to [European country] is ridiculous. Sort that out and you’ll get a load more orders.”

4. “You should put the flexi disc songs on a CD.” 5. “Stick to writing about music.”

Top 5

Flexi Discs of 2021,

by Albert Mudrian

1. Khemmis, “Sigil” 2. The Crown, “Driven to Disaster” 3. Celestial Season, “Black Water Mirrors” 4. Ripped to Shreds, “燒冥紙 (Sacrificial Fire)” 5. Undeath, “Diemented Dissection”

50

: JANUARY 2022 : DECIBEL

De Doorn •

RE LA P SE

Paradigm-crushing global pandemic aside, 2021 turned out to be quite the banner year for Amenra. With the release of their colossal fifth LP, De Doorn, not only did the Belgian quintet earn their first appearance on the cover of this very magazine, they also saw their uniquely atmospheric brand of post/sludge/ doom metal reach scores of new ears through the extremely unlikely avenue of All Elite Wrestling (AEW), whose resident boogeyman, Malakai Black, prowls to the ring every week on national TV to the apocalyptic vibes of leadoff track “Ogentroost.” — M ATT SO LIS

Sinner Get Ready •

SA RG E N T HO USE

Sinner Get Ready isn’t a metal record; it’s some sort of 21st century folk mass. Calls for public displays of penitence come early and often. It feels like God is glorified and gelded in nearly equal measure across the nine tracks. Each chapter and verse has its own resonance, and new gospels of violence and self-flagellation are proclaimed loudly, noisily. Blood is shed. Flesh is consumed. Even at its most abrasive, Sinner feels like a prayer desperate for both comfort and damnation.

Fuck your accusations of pretension; this is important music. — DA N I EL L A K E

Ward of Roses •

GILE A D M E D IA

The exquisitely sculpted songcraft of the Silver’s debut album is a far cry from the prog-death of Horrendous and the epic doom of Crypt Sermon, outfits with whom the Philly supergroup shares members. On Ward of Roses, black metal is the organizing principle, but the band follows wherever their impish muse leads them, diving down rabbit holes of muscular NWOBHM, ghostly death rock, romantic ’80s goth, even screamo-inspired spoken word. At the core of all their genre blurring is a keen ear for melody that makes every song memorable. — BRA D S A N D ER S

Companion •

SVA RT

The Finnish funeral doom pioneers dropping a new album like a church organ from a sixth story window was one of the biggest surprises of the year. Their most concise album to date, Companion seems to pack the whole of Skepticism’s 30-year reign into one astoundingly accessible album. From its epic and cinematic opener to the cello-driven masterpiece that closes the affair, Companion is pure class, a most sophisticated and mature record with one of the deepest reservoirs of emotion any one disc has ever contained. — D UTC H P E AC E

Year of the Horse •

TA N KC RIM E S

Two decades into their career, Fucked Up evoke the feeling of a wildly imaginative and irritatingly gifted college drama club pulling off the performance of their lives over this sprawling epic. The bizarre airs of Murder Junkies-style haymakers washing into Hiatus Kaiyote-hued neo-soul and earnest Tom Waits-esque testimonials may elicit eye-rolls from the normies, but the sense of movement thread throughout this four-part concept album is joyous and, frankly, brilliant. 2021 did far less to soothe our brows than we’d hoped, but it was at least gorgeously Fucked Up. — FO RRE ST P ITTS

DECIBEL : JA NUA R Y 2 0 2 2 : 51

10 Top 5

Albums of 30 Years Ago,

by Albert Mudrian

1. Paradise Lost, Gothic 2. Carcass, Necroticism Descanting the Insalubrious 3. Death, Human 4. Sepultura, Arise 5. Cathedral, Forest of Equilibrium

8

Lamp of Murmuur

7

Converge

Top 5

Boners (Unsigned/ Indie Releases) of 2021,

by Kevin Stewart-Panko 1. Ischemic, Ischemic 2. Choices Made, Convince 3. Dying Sun, Doomsday Cometh 4. Priests of Prometheus, Lodestar 5. Tidak, Demo 2021

Top 5

Bands of 2021 in Anagram Form,

by Nick Green 1. Sac Scar 2. Hem Skim 3. Libation Rut 4. To Pair Pain 5. No Pot, Panic

52

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Wolves in the Throne Room established their position among USBM’s titans long ago. With Primordial Arcana, they’ve created their first self-contained work—recorded, produced and mixed by the band—that worships the natural beauty of their Cascadian refuge in the Pacific Northwest. Majestic tracks like “Mountain Magick” and “Through Eternal Fields” summon alpine lakes and autumn landscapes at golden hour, basking in the fire and ice of WITTR’s epic black metal resonance. Nearly 20 years into their impressive lifespan, they still wield rare and unique powers. — J . BE N N E TT

9

Zoom “Supergroup” Covers We Desperately Need in 2022, 1.

2.

3.

4.

5.

RE LA P SE

Iron Maiden

Top 5

by Andrew Bonazelli

Wolves in the Throne Room

Primordial Arcana •

6

Senjutsu • BM G/ SA N CTUA RY Iron Maiden’s post-millennial metamorphosis reached a new creative peak on their sprawling 17th album. Blending equal parts formula and ambition, they’ve developed an incredible knack for taking sharp stylistic turns while retaining familiarity. An 82-minute album shouldn’t work, but this one does.

The massively heavy title track, the rousing “Stratego” and the brooding “The Writing on the Wall” show incredible breadth, while Steve Harris’ two prog epics that close the record are instant classics. No other band could attempt such a stunt and get away with it. — A D RIE N BE GRA N D

Submission and Slavery • SE LF - RE LE A SE D Black metal and goth/darkwave have always been quiet bedfellows. Both genres champion banal introspection, sometimes prodigious song lengths and songs about forests. Lamp of Murmuur are just one of the first to make this frequent dalliance a public thing. Submission and Slavery is a Count Grishnackh vs. Soft Cell amble through the interwoven pain and pleasure that Depeche Mode sang about three-plus decades ago. It’s USBM filtered through clove cigarettes and trenchcoats. If Rozz Williams lived and formed a black metal band, this is the record he’d make. — J USTIN M . N O RTO N

Bloodmoon: I • E P ITA P H/ D E ATHW ISH IN C .

When Converge first announced Blood Moon (the show) as a live collaboration with Chelsea Wolfe, Ben Chisholm and Stephen Brodsky in 2016, a recorded version sounded like a no-brainer. Well, the existence of Bloodmoon I (the album) was inevitable, but its execution is excellent. Wolfe’s siren wails play nice with Jake Bannon’s banshee shrieks, while Chisholm and Brodsky expand the band’s already impressive dynamic range on these new compositions. Those itching for more of the band’s left-turn finale on Axe to Fall have found their fix. — J O SE P H S C H A F ER

Hooded Menace

The Tritonous Bell • SE A SO N O F M IST Across their first five albums, Finnish mainstays Hooded Menace dripped forth a stellar discography of horror-tinged death/doom. Now 14 years into the band’s curse, founding guitarist Lasse Pyykkö steered the project from doom’s catacombs to the haunted towers of King Diamond’s pulpy moonlit metal. It’s not a wicked coincidence that The Tritonous Bell was engineered by King Diamond guitarist Andy LaRocque. Pyykkö impressively retains the rotten darkness of the band’s foundation while indulging in crypt-creeping solos and echoes of Abigail. —SEAN FRASIER

DECIBEL : JANUARY 2022 : 53

Panopticon … And Again into the Light

P

BINDRUNE

rofound art strikes universal chords by delv-

ing into the most personal spaces. Panopticon’s music is profound art. “Each record,” Austin Lunn says, “whether it be political rants, environmental concerns or documenting a personal struggle, is a part of me processing everyday life and working through my thoughts and feelings about the world I live in. … And Again into the Light is another chapter, another mile in the trail I’m continuing to walk into some unknown end. Some albums are expressions of love, some albums are expressions of sorrow, some albums are both.”

And that’s where he leaves us to wonder which kind of album this one might be. We believe that maybe it’s both. That’s certainly how it feels, opening with the wistful title track and the wrenching “Dead Loons,”

54

: JANUARY 2022 : DECIBEL

and closing with the urgency of “Know Hope.” And then there’s every gripping moment in between, carving out a story arc within the broader context of Lunn’s lifelong journey.

“You can’t dissect Austin’s albums

into parts or songs,” says cellist Patrick Urban, who has contributed to multiple Panopticon songs and has performed as a member of the live band. “It’s a whole musical and lyrical concept. It is difficult for me to say how the albums move me—every album has a different topic. All of them move me in a personal way, but each of them hits a different side of me. … And Again into the Light is about experiencing dark times and rising above them—and who can’t be moved by that?”

Violinist Charlie Anderson is a more recent addition to the Panopticon family, and his inclusion on … And Again into the Light gives resplendent wings to songs that already yearn for flight. “First, Austin sent me the title track to the record,” Anderson reports. “He told me to do exactly what I felt, without giving me any guidance.

I took that as a huge sign of trust.

He was probably expecting me to do something more traditional to my country roots, [but] I wanted to

give the song a sense of panorama, to bring it more in line with the sonic scope of the heavier tracks on the record. The early Scott Walker records were a huge inspiration for me. The album opens with a bed of violins playing false harmonics, kind of like the violin version of pinch harmonics. I am always trying to find ways to use the violin in unexpected and new ways, to subtly subvert people’s expectations for what string instruments can do in a metal context.”

Profound art is special to each listener for their own reasons. “Listening to the record now,” says Anderson, “some moments put me right back on [Austin’s] porch in Minnesota, drinking beer and watching sandhill cranes take off through the woods. I feel those sensibilities in the ravaging black metal sections of the record, too. I really grew to know Austin through the process of making this record. If you know his music, you know his heart.”

— DA N IE L LA K E PHOTO BY BEKAH LUNN

D

eath metal calls for a unique kind of adept

and passionate-but-morally-desensitized musician, and the players behind Los Angelesbased outfit Apparition seem to fill that role like they were not only trained, but genetically designed to construct spine-obliterating, singular death/ doom. ¶ In fact, the core of Apparition, Miles McIntosh (guitars, bass) and Andrew Morgan (drums, vocals), met at college, where they studied and played jazz together, eventually forming “LAIN, an improv-grindcore band that only played one show,” McIntosh told us earlier this year, for our feature on Feel.

So began the frenetic energy that became the mind-controlling tentacular beast that is Apparition’s sound on this debut album. Although it came out only a few months ago, Feel has tyrannically dominated the playlists of well-informed death metal connoisseurs ever since. Bearing a staggering sound not exactly cinematic, but somehow Lynchian; Feel is cosmic, existential death metal.

And tight. So astonishingly tight.

Each player here not only seems PHOTO BY KYLLA BARSELL

tuned into, but possibly driven mad

by Feel’s internal rhythm. They’re keeping some infernal, dark time, that’s for certain, but they’re by no means playing to a click.

Beginning with a drum fill that drops into a set of choked palm mutes no doubt deliberately designed to knock the listener out of their comfort zone, Feel wastes negative time in giving you a taste of its full range.

Energetic, yet despondently miserable; atmospheric but shred-your-face

Apparition Feel P RO FO UN D LO RE

aggressive; straightforward and yet deeply complex; concussive; breakneck; boasting plenty of solos, but not a single gimmick. Throughout its 35-minute runtime, this apex predator of a death metal record balances manifold dichotomies while always pulling tighter the tension of unpredictability. Tracks like “Nonlocality” and “Perpetually Altered” occupy utterly lightless territory mood-wise, but their combined powers blindingly mushroom-cloud with the selfsame radioactive fires unleashed by the elder gods some 30-plus years ago.

Feel succeeds in reinvigorating the nuts and bolts of tried ‘n’ true classic OSDM by devouring and instantly regurgitating its own rotting death metal. The end result does more than speak for itself; it silences the room so that only the

diSEMBOWELMENT-like abyss in “Unequilibrium” can be heard.

Faster, heavier, more technical and memorable like the old school used to be, Apparition annihilate their first album, track for track, like some kind of unstoppable autonomous death metal force gone rogue.

With Feel, rewards await the listener at every turn, after every listen. Apparition have debuted with a kind of parasitic album that yields deeper pleasures the more time that’s spent in its clutches. To these ears, it’s a perfect and impressively balanced blend of Canadian, American, Finnish and English DM and death/ doom. Other bands have worked with these elements before, but Apparition distinguish themselves through undeniable excellence and perfect form. — D UTC H P E A RC E DECIBEL : JANUARY 2022 :

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Tribulation Where the Gloom Becomes Sound

T

METAL BL ADE

ribulation’s relationship with our Albums of the Year poll reaches back to The Formulas of Death. Since dancing dead into our Top 10 of 2013, the Swedes have had an impressive graveyard run. That subsequent albums would indeed breach miry earth after wasn’t surprising. Both The Children of the Night and Down Below perched minaciously from our Number Two position in 2015 and 2018, respectively. Thus, it is with the smell of incense and crepuscular salutations that Tribulation point the dagger yet again at our Top Five with the ghastly beautiful, dangerously melodious Where the Gloom Becomes Sound.

Holding at bay a global pandemic and defying a formidable cadre of top-tier albums, the foursome—guitarist/songwriter Jonathan Hultén has since been replaced by axeman

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Joseph Tholl—summoned beasts Machiavellian and ominous to aid their quest for (gothic-informed) death metal dominance.

“It warms our hearts to get this

kind of recognition,” grins frontman/bassist Johannes “Jonka” Andersson from his Stockholm-based lair. “Every album is a chunk of our soul being displayed. The soul of Tribulation is still plentiful and refills itself even more with this kindness from one of our favorite magazines!”

As they say in the land of ice and snow, “Det är väldigt snällt av dig.”

This two-way back-slapping wouldn’t have been possible, however, without Where the Gloom Becomes Sound.

Throughout the album’s spine-tingling suspense—evinced on “Dirge of a Dying Soul,” “Inanna” and “The Wilderness”—Tribulation wax and wane mysteriously with melodic craft. These are songs on par with, yet different from their strongest offerings of old. Elsewhere, Where the Gloom Becomes Sound is a moon eyeing the churchless from between dark clouds. “Hour of the Wolf,” “Leviathans,” “Funeral Pyre” and opening black diamond “In Remembrance” haunt and hunt, paying tribute to forebears (and others) while their

bony fingers probe the promise of a forbidding, if felicitous future.

“Since we, for obvious reasons, haven’t been able to meet our fans or even see their reactions from the stage since the album was released, it’s positive for us to see the album end up in a spot like this in Decibel,” chimes guitarist Adam Zaars from atop the belfry. “‘Time is an abyss profound as a thousand nights,’ as a certain count once said. Sums up the distant feeling we have for being on the road. Luckily, that is about to change, as we now see some light in that abyss and will, in time, return to North America to let you experience all that gloom. New gloom is also in the making!”

The denizens of Decibel can’t wait for the Tribulation spectacle to materialize in blood-chilling onstage form.

But a new album creeping somewhere below the endless horizon is all-too enticing to ponder. Certainly, whatever is to come will find its way to the top, aching pleasurably as death metal is wont to do when it emanates from such guileful minds. — C H R I S D I C K PHOTO BY ESTER SEGARRA

S

tarting with their 2015 debut album, Absolution,

Denver doom merchants Khemmis have never placed lower than the ninth spot in the Decibel Top Albums of the Year poll. That’s now four albums and four Top 10 finishes, including their latest, Deceiver. Pretty rarified air. The band’s second album, Hunted, was even named our number two album of the entire 2010–2019 decade! So, guitarist/vocalist Ben Hutcherson, guitarist/vocalist Phil Pendergast and drummer Zach Coleman are probably getting pretty used to such accolades, right? Maybe not. “It is an absolute honor to be recognized by Decibel,” Hutcherson emails us from his Mile High home, “and we certainly don’t take such praise lightly.”

It’s no easy task for any band to so consistently resonate with both critics and fans over the course of four albums in six-plus years, but Khemmis have done so not only by remaining consistently good, but by evolving and growing and, in many ways, creating a sound uniquely their own. To say they are simply a PHOTO BY JASON SINN

doom band sells them dramatically short. On Deceiver they retain their majestic melancholia and trad metal flourishes, but push ever further beyond. “We remain inspired by classic albums,” notes Hutcherson, “opting to relisten to [ZZ Top’s] Fandango!, [Priest’s] Sad Wings of Destiny and [At the Gates’] Terminal Spirit Disease for

Khemmis Deceiver N UC LE A R BLA ST

the umpteenth time rather than pursuing what's ‘hot.’ We just write the music we need to hear; it’s a gratifying bonus that it resonates with others as well.”

Deceiver feels like a refining of many of the attributes already present in Khemmis’ music in that, even as it explores more shades, the sound remains intact. The songs are still fairly lengthy, the guitar harmonies ever present, and the harsh/clean vocal clashes continue to provide welcome contrasts. If, as Hutcherson asserts, this is the music the band “need[s] to hear,” then it certainly is in line with what the metal world wants to hear, as well.

Khemmis have something to offer listeners of many stripes.

The fact that it was made during a historically disorienting and unsettled time is a testament to Khemmis’ solidity. We all went through our own version of pandemic hell, but Khemmis brought forth something glorious and creative from the experience. “This record is a totally honest reflection of who we were, what we struggled with, and how we recommitted to life and music in 2020,” says Hutcherson.

“That this album even exists and that we are here to celebrate its release together is reward enough.”

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As

Carcass Torn Arteries NUC LE A R BLA ST

much as it may seem like it, Carcass doesn’t automatically just

get the top slot in whatever list we are putting together at the moment. Sure, Surgical Steel grabbed the pole position for both 2013 and the entire past decade; they’ve headlined the Decibel Magazine Tour and both our Philly and L.A. Metal & Beer Fests; five of our 200+ cover stories belong to them; and they’ve been inducted into the Hall of Fame three separate times.

They only came in second in our Top 100 Death Metal Albums of All Time special issue, so there! ¶ “I think I just assume, because I’m good-natured and all, that this is always going to happen, but it is quite surprising. Has it been such a shitty year for music?” singer/bassist Jeff Walker says with his trademark wry sense of humor. “It’s a pleasant surprise, I didn’t think lightning was going to strike twice. And between me and you—and I’m sure Albert would admit this anyway and I’m sure he’s not really averse to having this published—he was deliberately thinking about, even though we won it, he was thinking about fixing it so that we didn’t. He just thought it was looking a bit kind of contrived. A bit fixed. Which I would’ve been fine with if there was a good winner.”

Fortunately for Mr. Walker, neither Paradise Lost nor Napalm Death released a studio album this year, so Torn Arteries it is! The generous bribes from the Nuclear Blast camp aren’t the only reason the Decibel collective voted this in over an incredibly strong pack of contenders, though.

It fucking rips.

From drummer Daniel Wilding’s vein-opening kickoff on the title track through the sound of buzzing flies on rotting meat that closes “The Scythe’s Remorseless Swing,” these British butchers take you through a guided autopsy of death metal’s fetid corpse. Weirdly, even though it’s the band’s seventh full-length, it feels almost like a sophomore effort now that they’ve dialed in their sound with Surgical Steel. They’ve figured out what Carcass sound like after their original run took them from grindcore to melodic death metal to death ‘n’ roll. Now it’s playtime.

Song titles like “Eleanor Rigor Mortis” and “Wake Up and Smell the Carcass.” Bill Steer’s groovy classic rock riffs, keyboards, Celtic Frost and PHOTO BY ESTER SEGARRA

Mercyful Fate homages. An almost 10-minute song. Whereas Surgical Steel sounded like they had something to prove, here it sounds like they’re having fun.

“It’s fine that it isn’t revolutionary, but I don’t think Surgical Steel was,” Walker offers. “You can accuse this album of being cut from the same cloth as Surgical Steel so we weren’t really trying to reinvent the wheel either. All you can really do at our age is try to write some good songs or good music. I think everything’s been done and played out in this style of music anyway. If you want something new and exciting, you gotta get out to some teenagers, not some guys in their early 50s, for Christ’s sake.”

While the thrill of the new is of course a big thing, there is something equally exhilarating in witnessing masters at their craft show how it’s done—Steven Spielberg directed Saving Private Ryan in his early 50s, after all. Shit, Metallica were younger than that when they released their supposed comeback, Death Magnetic,

and that felt way less vital. While it’s undeniable that—as many of the reviews have pointed out—this is Carcass doing more of what they do best, they sure aren’t repeating themselves. Walker handwaves the idea that they have much to offer beyond what they’ve already accomplished, though.

“I think it’s a nostalgia thing.

It’s definitely a case of it does raise feelings in people, things from years gone by, is the best way I can describe it. It really connects on some kind of primeval level with people who were fans of older albums. It brings out those feelings they had. Maybe they were listening to a certain album when they got laid or they were enjoying a good beer or something and it reminds them of those times.

Though it’s the same with all music, isn’t it, I guess.”

Were a lot of people getting laid to Reek of Putrefaction?

“I like to think so. If they were teenagers, sex didn’t last that long anyway. They could’ve gotten laid multiple times to some of those tracks.”

Whether it’s nostalgia, sheer excellence or the undeniable aphrodisiac quality of songs like “Flesh Ripping Sonic Torment Limited,” Torn Arteries is Decibel’s Album of the Year. And we aren’t the only ones to award them such accolades—although Walker expresses characteristic disappointment.

“I’m more interested in reading bad reviews. I like it when people slag us off. There’s an English magazine called Classic Rock and they gave us a kind of middling score, like 60/100. They were saying that the album is full of heavy metal tropes and clichés, and what’s funny about that is that the magazine is called Classic Rock and you’d think, isn’t that meant to be up your alley? Your whole magazine consists of clichés and tropes of classic rock and you’re accusing us of being lazy? [Laughs] That kind of tickled me. I do like a good bad review, and I think I’m kind of disappointed because I haven’t seen that many. I’m kind of gutted, you know. I was expecting us to get a good kicking with this album.” — J E F F TRE P P E L DECIBEL : JANUARY 2022 :

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STORY BY

SHANE MEHLING PHOTOS BY

MELISSA MAHONEY & KRISTIN COFER

CONVERGE, CHELSEA WOLFE, BEN CHISHOLM and Cave In’s STEVE BRODSKY How

came together—while apart— on the stunning

BLOODMOON: I

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Being in a band is not always going to be the way it was since I was a teenager.

I’M NOT THAT LITTLE KID ANYMORE AND I HAVE A LOT MORE TO OFFER THIS WORLD — JAKE BANNON —

upergroups don’t work. Not really. Shout out your favorite

exception, but all that’s gonna do is prove the rule. And why don’t they work? ¶ “They end up being kind of stiff,” opines Converge guitarist Kurt Ballou. “Each member’s contribution just sounds like the thing they do in their own band.” ¶ Now, putting that aside for a moment, let’s talk about music made piecemeal, where members write and record remotely and then it gets stitched together with studio magic. That also usually doesn’t work. So, what’s the problem there? ¶ Steven Brodsky, known best as the guitarist/vocalist of Cave In, says, “With remote recordings, you’re missing the interplay that happens naturally when humans are in a room together.

It’s impossible to have any high expectations when everyone’s spread out and trying to email about music.” ¶ Makes perfect sense. So, the sevenmember supergroup that is the subject of this cover story—forced by a global pandemic to record an entire album separately in fits and starts— probably shouldn’t be good. It definitely shouldn’t be great. And when Bloodmoon: I turned out to be a cohesive-yet-diverse, punishing-yet-fragile, richly layered and at times nearly transcendent album, no one was more surprised than the people who made it.

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,

.

FIRST LIGHT

“It’s unfair to think art is going to fix everything.”

Jake Bannon’s been considering this a lot lately. Long known as one of the most intense and emotionally raw vocalists in heavy music, the Converge frontman is starting to reconsider what, exactly, that means.

“You scream about a lot of stuff and unpack a lot of your baggage, whatever it might be, and it’s enough for a while,” he continues. “But then you start to want something more satisfying out of what you make. Being in a band is not always going to be the way it was since I was a teenager. I’m not that little kid anymore, and I have a lot more to offer this world. I want to be able to make things that just make me feel good. That doesn’t mean they’re necessarily going to be pretty and happy. But I need to look at art from a different perspective. So, [this project] happened to come together at a time that was really good for me.”

This coming together, though, took many years and faced a lot of obstacles before it happened. And it all started with an idea that was much more finite.

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“A long time ago we talked about doing [Converge’s] slower material,” says bassist Nate Newton, noting that songs like “Wretched World” and “Cruel Bloom” required more than what the four-piece could pull off live. “We didn’t put much thought into it, and then Roadburn asked us if we’d do pretty much exactly that, which is when the idea came together.”

This was for the 2016 iteration of the festival, inspiring the band to go hunting for the right musicians to help them pull off their experiment.

Brodsky, an old friend, was an obvious choice. He had once been in the band (and remains in multiple projects with other members), which is to say nothing of his incredible voice and exceptional guitar playing. But the need for elements like keyboards and loops led them to newer acquaintances.

“I’ve been a huge Converge fan since I was 18, so 20 years now,” says Ben Chisholm, best known as a producer, multi-instrumentalist and longtime collaborator of Chelsea Wolfe. “We were on tour driving through Texas and Kurt called me. He said, ‘Hey, would you ever be interested in playing some keyboard?’ I saw Cave In and Converge together in 2004. If I could go back and tell myself, ‘You’re gonna be ripping with these guys,’ I’d think, ‘No, not possible.’”

While memories are conflicting (they often are with seven people), this led to someone quickly deciding that Wolfe should join the fray.

She signed on immediately.

“It all sounded really fun and challenging to put myself into someone else’s band and have to step up to the plate,” she says. “It was an honor of sorts to play these songs that hadn’t been played very often and play them in this new way.”

After the lineup was solidified, the band played the aforementioned Dutch festival and a few other European dates, showing unwitting audiences not just a new side of Converge, but a new band altogether.

“The audience had no idea what to expect,” Bannon says. “I remember being in Germany and a guy saying, ‘This isn’t a fucking Converge show.’ But there’s more to what we are.’

The Roadburn set concluded with a reimagined “Last Light,” a track from You Fail Me slowed to an ethereal pace, Wolfe’s wraithlike vocals helping build to a crushing, tortured end. That, more than anything, seemed to set the tone of what this particular group was able to do. And everyone’s memory is pretty much in sync with what happened next: They started trying to write new songs.

THOUSANDS OF MILES BETWEEN US

“The initial concept was always to make slower, moodier, weirder songs,” says Converge drummer Ben Koller. “These layered, textured, big pieces.

And it took a long time to materialize.”

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Considering that the members of this new project all had other bands, side projects, touring, and maybe even some friends and family to hang out with occasionally, what happened after the shows was a lot of demo-trading. People would throw ideas into a Dropbox to be scrutinized, edited or added to by other members.

Brodsky elaborates: “Usually in the demo process it was either a barebones iPhone memo, lucky if I have two riffs that join together, or it was like the opposite end of the spectrum, with fully programmed drums, vocal melodies, harmonies that sounded like they could be on the album. That was like the title track, which Kurt had put together. The arrangement was slightly different, but the core elements were there. He played it for me when I was visiting his house and next thing I knew, I was plugging into a pedal and recording a solo.”

That specific solo didn’t make the final cut, but Brodsky and others did plenty to shape the final product.

“That song started with an idea of Jake’s and that came together right after the tour,” Ballou says. “I did some development on it and then it went around to people. Ben [Chisholm] certainly had a big contribution to that, and Steve had a lot of arrangement ideas for it. And when Chelsea added her melodies, that really brought it to a whole other place we never thought it could be.”

And even though members lived on both coasts, this kind of remote work was kept in order thanks to good old-fashioned spreadsheets.

“If I’m honest, the first time I saw a spreadsheet or Google Doc I was like, ‘Noooooo!’” Wolfe says. “Stuff like that just doesn’t resonate with my soul. But I did realize it was necessary to keep track of seven people that live in different places, and it ended up being really helpful.”

“Despite all of that weirdness with organization, it still felt relatively natural,” says Newton.

“A lot of the songs grew organically. You were putting an idea out there and someone could have heard it completely differently than you did. They would add something, and people would add in other ideas, and all of sudden it has all these layers and it’s a completely new thing.

And we kept building like that. I felt like everything we worked on together turned out to be miles from where it started, but in a much better way. It was like a musical potluck dinner, where somehow everything tasted good together.”

“You’re throwing things at the wall seeing what sticks,” Brodsky says. “Not only that, but what other people come over and comment on.

Like, oh, look at that cool shape on the wall. I can write about that. Or this little spot on this side of the wall looks great, so let’s focus on that.”

Aside from Google Docs, though, what truly made this songwriting free-for-all work was a word that people kept coming back to: trust.

Both Wolfe and Chisholm understood that even JA N 2 0 22

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if this began as a retooling of Converge songs, they had total freedom.

“I was gonna do my thing and not consider what Converge stuff should sound like and just create this new energy,” says Wolfe.

Chisholm adds, “I did whatever I felt like; there were no rules. It was so cool to drop a shitty-sounding demo and it’d get sent back with Converge playing it. It was such a mind-blowing part of the whole thing.”

This attitude played a big part in why Wolfe and Chisholm were considered so invaluable to the band. “The great thing about Ben and Chelsea is that they have done so much work that there is just no ego,” Ballou says. “Ben is such a team player that if one little thing he does doesn’t get used, or he does something he doesn’t think is good, but other people think is amazing, he’s willing to expand on it or not use another thing he’s worked on. He’s a master of all trades.”

Ballou also sees how Converge’s shift in attitude allowed them to work better with everyone: “We probably couldn’t have made this record 10 or 15 years ago because we wouldn’t have been able to let go enough. When making a record, there is so much that matters, but you can’t democratize it all, because then you wouldn’t be able to get anything done. You just have to make a decision and get on with it. We tried to trust everybody’s tastes and talents to do something in line with the overall vision of the project at heart. For me, collaboration at its worst sounds like a compromise, but collaboration at its best makes a song bigger than it could have ever been with just one focal songwriter. To hear someone take one of your ideas and make it better, it’s the ultimate flattery.”

“Converge always jokes that everyone needs to be equally unhappy at all times,” Bannon says.

“Nobody wins and that’s the way we like it. But in this, everyone was always winning a little bit.”

While Dropbox continued to fill up with ideas, nothing truly concrete happened until 2019, when five of the seven were able to nestle in for a week at Ballou’s GodCity studio to bring some of the songs to life. They worked on demos for a handful of the 11 tracks, laying down music beds with the intention of everyone coming together that next April to make the record in earnest.

Everyone felt like it was finally coming together.

That was until 2020 happened.

CONTROLLED MAYHEM THEN ERUPTS

“It was devastating. Not only do you not get to tour with this band, but you can’t record with that band. Every plan was cancelled. Everything you had was completely wiped clean. It was very strange processing what that next block of time was going to be. And you’d think maybe something was going to happen in a month or two months, and then that would get cancelled

I saw Cave In and Converge together in like 2004. If I could go back and tell myself,

‘ ’ , ‘

YOU RE GONNA BE RIPPING WITH THESE GUYS I’d think,

,’

.’

NO NOT POSSIBLE — BEN CHISHOLM —

and it just kept happening. At that point, it’s just a really confusing mass of emotions. People like to say the Groundhog Day thing, where you get up every day and try to get through with nothing to look forward to.”

This, from Koller (who had moved across the country to L.A. just six months before the pandemic), sums it up best. Every participant has, more or less, been on a consistent schedule of recording and touring for years, and the grinding halt of that not only put the brakes on this project, but their entire lives.

Wolfe and Chisholm’s highly anticipated acoustic tour in Europe was cancelled and they had to scramble back home under the cloud of travel restrictions, while Ballou found himself in an empty recording studio with all of his bookings postponed. No one knew when or if anything would ever go back to how it had been.

But all was not lost.

“I gotta give everyone so much credit for doing all this work remotely, especially Kurt,” Koller says. “He took our rehearsal demos [from that week in 2019] and modeled drum machines on the practice recordings. He knows how I play pretty well, so it was his best guess as to what I’d do on the songs. The way he programmed some of the faster songs was not exactly what I would have done, but I liked his approach and got used to hearing it that way and went in that direction. So, I really didn’t have to do that much work. A lot more just cradling the songs and making sure that I wouldn’t take away from 66 : NOVEMBER 2021 : DECIBEL

the vibe. We had those demos we were trading around and layering and layering until the songs were pretty close to what they are now.”

“I had nothing to do,” Ballou says, downplaying his fervent and integral role in making this record happen, a role which led to bandmates describing him as everything from a mad scientist to a superhuman robot mutant. “I used the programmed drums as a way to start recording guitars. Steve started tracking his guitars at home and would send [them to be re-amped] in my studio. Nate was doing home recording and we were also coming up with new songs.

So, we ended up recording a bunch of material that way and then slowly started adding. Ben Chisholm was really on top of the keyboard at that same time.”

“It was when the pandemic hit that I dove in, in March of 2020 until about June,” Chisholm recalls. “It was such a weird time, with everyone sucked into the news. And it was my chance to break away. Like okay, I’ll go into Bloodmoon land for eight hours. It was great to get me through.”

And this was the sort of determined slog that happened throughout that terrible year, with people ducking in and out, putting the work in at home and hoping it was all time well spent.

When March of 2021 rolled around, things had become cautiously normal enough that Koller was able to fly out to GodCity, doing the reverse of how it’s normally done by recording his drums onto tracks of already recorded music. But that is what finally started turning these workable JA N 2 0 22

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demos into real songs. And as this focus on the music continued to evolve, an entirely different part of the record had slowly become a new beast to be wrangled.

DISTANCE AND MEANING

“At the beginning of the pandemic, I feel like

there was pressure on artists to create and make things happen, but I wasn’t feeling inspired,” Wolfe says. “I wasn’t feeling that for a long time.

And it wasn’t really until early 2021 that I sat down with these songs again and saw them as a whole. I started curating what I wanted to sing on and setting them aside, and sort of took it a song at a time; open one up and just record what came naturally, then hone it from there. Steve and Jake were doing the same thing.”

As she continued recording at home, Bannon and Brodsky were able to spend time together at GodCity to refine their own parts. But this process for vocals, a three-person nucleus with others chiming in when needed, was not exactly second nature.

Wolfe explains: “There would be times where I’d write a part and Steve would write a part, but neither of us had heard the other one’s parts yet. So, we had to come together and mesh what worked together and get rid of what didn’t. It was really interesting.”

Bannon also had to upend his expectations of how vocals are usually done. “This record was a weird process for me,” he admits. “I’ve worked with the same core folks in this band forever,

so trying to build something with new people was super challenging. I was excited, but when we started it was hard. Steve and I would bounce ideas and melodies and things off each other.

We’d be in the middle of tracking and Chelsea would send over an idea or a semi-finished vocal, and it would take it to an entirely different place, and we’d run with that. That is way different than anything I’ve ever done.

“For so long, in a variety of ways, I steered my part of the ship. And it’s a little isolating doing vocals. It’s just me. And with this, it was the opposite. I wasn’t ready for it. I was so used to putting a different part of myself into songs, and had to say, well, this song isn’t about me and my feelings. I’m helping others explore and craft what they want to sing and trying to amplify them and not just do what I do. I might have an idea for how a vocal melody should go and they would come at it from an entirely different angle and derail that. But it’s not a negative. It’s a huge positive. It inspired me in ways I hadn’t been inspired before.”

And this comes back to a different kind of trust; trusting that what you’ve done is good enough.

“One of the biggest things about making art and music is you’re always uncertain,” Bannon says. “You might feel initially good about making something, maybe have a couple epiphanies, but once you’re done you don’t know what’s successful. For me, every insecurity in the world comes out when I’m doing vocals. I have to trust someone seeing the strength in something I do.

Having that kind of assurance, it’s a very warm thing, especially when you’re typically wrestling with the process to begin with. I don’t think any musician I know is secure with what they do. Everybody feels their performance is flawed.

When I write melodies in my head, the voice I hear is Ronnie James Dio in Rainbow. Not for me to sing that way, but that’s what I hear in terms of emotive vocalists. So, after I hear it that way in my brain a thousand times, and then I hear my chicken scratch, I’m like, ‘Jesus Christ, I’m not this other thing.’ But I have to listen to someone like Steve when he tells me I’m not meant to be that.”

Brodsky has his own personal take on what it feels like to get that approval from others.

“With Chelsea on board, being able to write for her voice and tonality was really exciting,” he says. “She filled this vacuum of what heavy music could be. Writing for a creative force of nature like that was huge for me. ‘Crimson Stone’ was a demo mapped out by Nate, and so when it came to assembling vocals for the record, I had some lyrics and ideas of what it could be, fully expecting her to take it and regurgitate it into some other form. But then to hear her come back with a vocal that was almost duplicating what I had sent over was 68 : NOVEMBER 2021 : DECIBEL

like, ‘Oh shit. Really? You don’t see this being any better than what it is?’ And that was hugely validating for me.”

That song, the penultimate track, and one of the most viscerally moving parts of the album, also allowed for a similar moment with Newton.

“I did do some melodic vocals that were terrifying for me,” he says. “We went back and forth for a while on what to do vocally for that song. It almost didn’t seem like it was going to make the record. And then Steve came up with the lyrics and melody, and Chelsea just took it up to the stratosphere. It felt amazing just to hear Chelsea and Steve sing over that song. Then they said I should sing on it, too, and I was like, ‘Have you heard me?’ But I did it and got to hear my voice next to some of my favorite singers on something that I wrote. It still blows my mind every time.”

These kinds of vocal left turns were, in part, by design, with Ballou pushing as many cooks into the musical kitchen as he could fit.

“I was trying to take advantage of all the singers in the band,” he says, noting that even though he deleted many of his own vocals after a while, he still has some moments in there. “If additional voices are needed for complementary parts, the idea was to keep it interesting and also stay true to how it could be performed live. We tried to avoid people harmonizing with themselves, and help expand the sonic palette. I was also encouraging people to sing on songs they didn’t write, or for somebody to write lyrics for someone else to sing. If it’s Chelsea singing Jake’s lyrics on Steve’s song, it’s not going to sound like Chelsea Wolfe or Converge or Cave In.” And that is the other daunting part of the record: taking three experienced, distinct lyricists and having them come together to create something unified.

“It’s so intense because it’s so personal sometimes,” Bannon says. “When there is constructive criticism of our art, it feels like the ultimate kick in the teeth. You have to turn off all your abilities to take it personally. You want to take it positively, but you’re hyper emotional inside about it. There were a lot of instances where Steve and I would share our lyrical ideas with each other. And then we’d work on those and edit together. At first, I didn’t know if I liked it right away, but I really ended up getting a lot out of it as a person. Some songs, if Steve was working on something and ran into a certain block, he would come to me and ask what I thought about it or how to make it say something in a different way. That was very rewarding. And Chelsea would give us her lyrics and we’d try to expand on a vocal idea she had or reprise something or add this line as a call and response. We shaped a lot of those things in real time; each song was partially realized like that.”

A cursory reading of the lyrics doesn’t reveal many concrete themes at the outset, but they JA N 2 0 22

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delve into rich, otherworldly imagery that is both fairly disturbing and sometimes quite tender.

“I think thematically it started to feel for me like a mythical story of sorts, a hero’s journey through the album,” Wolfe says. “I felt like I had been pretty vocal on the titles to give it that energy. The song ‘Scorpion’s Sting’ had the alternate title ‘Come to Me,’ which is a lyric in there, But to me it didn’t feel as strong, whereas ‘Scorpion’s Sting’ immediately brings up that journey in your mind. I think in a lot of different ways we made a conscious effort to make it as cohesive as possible, and as we honed things you could tell everyone was on the same page, even if we didn’t define it.”

“It’s like Pink Floyd’s The Wall, where themes and ideas pop up in different places,” Bannon says. “A true fluid work that is all interconnected, but you don’t necessarily see all those connections right away. I like when things work as an art piece. It’s almost a design approach to art and music. And everyone understood what [the band] was after those shows. When Steve brought ‘Flower Moon’ to the table, it was absolutely brilliant. This simple, unified, poetic take on these two metaphors.”

Brodsky describes “Flower Moon” as “a love song for the love of nature itself, and for the love of these mysteries that are beyond our reach, which we add all kinds of significance to with our imagination. On the flipside, a song like ‘Daimon’ was written at the fever pitch of 2020.

It’s about how the little things that make us question who we are and the ways we beat ourselves up over our ambiguities or what characterize us as being human, it all just pales in comparison to what is going on around us. ‘Crimson Stone’ is probably an amalgamation of those two worlds crashing into one another.

“Jake [really helped me] clarify my stance on a certain theme here or there. And there were times Chelsea would add additional lyrics and take my themes even further. I’d pluck a little from the new mutation and just build off that.”

And Brodsky truly appreciated how much value was placed on these lyrics. “Jake said this was the most work they’d ever put into vocals in terms of the construction, placement, delegating, lyrics, themes, etc.,” he reveals. “That was really exciting for me. Vocals and lyrics weren’t something that were openly discussed in my earlier years, and I think to an extent that was true with Converge as well. I felt like I was making up for lost time.”

So, once the music was done, the vocals were finished and everyone agreed to the sequence of the record (seemingly the hardest part of the entire process, described as “a couple weeks of text thread hell”), the band was ready to finish.

And in the summer of 2021, despite everything that had been keeping it from happening, that’s what they did.

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The first time I saw a spreadsheet or Google Doc I was like,

‘

NOOOOOO!

’

But I did realize it was necessary to keep track of

SEVEN PEOPLE THAT LIVE IN DIFFERENT PLACES — CHELSEA WOLFE — NEW MOON

GodCity is located in the Witch City (a.k.a.

Salem), and that’s where the seven members met, all together for the very first time since their shows in 2016, ready to mix the album, film a video, take promo shots and simply have fun.

“It was so joyful,’ Wolfe says. “It was a lot of hard work and coordination. But when we finally got to see each other at the studio, we all had such a good time. Just seeing the magic that can happen when all of the band members are in the same room. It was beautiful. And seeing how fast we could make stuff come together.”

Because, of course, you can’t get all those people in a studio and not expect some more inspiration to hit.

“It was a big ol’ laugh fest,” Newton says. “We were just being idiots and making jokes all the time. But everyone was committed to making it the best it could be. We were re-tracking vocals and guitars and changing little things here and there. Everything we did I felt just strengthened the songs. And it was really cool doing it that way. Chelsea would say, ‘I have an idea for a vocal idea right here,’ and she’d go in and do it, and Steve and I would say, ‘That’s amazing,’ and then we’d go in there, and it ended up bringing a lot more out of the songs.”

Chisholm remembers the same vibes, and all the final touches.

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.

“The studio time was really magic. We’d think one song just needs one more lift, and all of a sudden there’s just four dudes screaming. We were adding stuff to the last minute.”

Ballou called those days a celebration, but confirms they were still sneaking stuff in even as mastering had begun, clarifying that the “actual recording on this was 79 days of work. There’s still never enough time.”

And even if the world is still not back to normal, at the moment, that’s what it felt like.

“That was very effective and necessary for us,” Brodsky says. “It was like we made it. We survived this, with a great album intact. Nothing beats being all together, moved by the same waveforms in the same room.”

Koller says it was the first time they felt like a band, and in a way, it was the first time they heard Bloodmoon: I, this epically constructed piece of music that utilizes the strengths of each member and moves it into a completely different, wholly satisfying space.

They all heard the brooding opening of the title track, which sets a tone, but offers just a taste of the album’s ambition. Aided by Chisholm’s cinematic instrumentation, the songs surge forward, layers stacking on top of each other until they’re torn away to leave a single instrument or voice, only to build up again, all of it hurtling towards the finale, the elegiac “Blood Dawn,” which Wolfe perfectly describes JA N 2 0 22

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as feeling like “it’s all of us on the beach at sunrise, bloodied after a battle.”

But just like the album’s closing is tied to its beginning, the story of Bloodmoon, it seems, is far from over. There is talk of live performances, an enthusiastic desire to play these songs and present an experience that may not exactly be “a fucking Converge show,” but something that impacts the audience just as powerfully. In fact, there is simply the desire to play these songs together in the same room, something they still have yet to do.

But beyond a reprise of their stage show, what about another album? That Roman numeral I placed in the title is as conspicuous as a monolith, and while some fans may be expecting a return to the standard Converge ASAP (Ballou says their next record “will probably be the polar opposite of this”), more Bloodmoon down the road looks all but guaranteed. Each member made it clear that this was such a good time, they hope to do it again… and hopefully in person.

Bannon, though, surveying everything that blocked the path to make it this far, doesn’t want to take anything for granted; he’s just happy to enjoy the enormity of what he and his six band members have accomplished.

“I’d love to keep doing it. And that’s the intention. But who knows where the world’s gonna be in a year or two?”

AQUALAMBRECORDS_DECIBEL_SUMMER_2021.pdf

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INSIDE ≥

76 ANDREW LEE Ripped to shredding 78 ORDER The past is alive

ALL THE NOISE THAT FITS

80 RUDE Some music was meant to stay underground 82 SEPULTURA Totaly Maxed out 84 THULCANDRA

Sons of the mourning

More Like Reanimated

JANUARY

Melodic death metal pioneers UNANIMATED return with a triumphant, on-message blackened audio assault

10

Records with shaky Top 40 cases

6

Records with reasonable Top 40 cases

3

Records with weak Top 40 cases

1

Record of video game guitar shred with best Top 40 case

A

fter 12 years since their last full-length album, with only the slim pickings of a limited-run 2018 EP in between, the lesser-spotted Unanimated have got the UNANIMATED good sense to dive headlong into their all-action blackened Victory in Blood Swedeath sound without pussyfooting around. Grab ’em by the CENTURY MEDIA neck, right? Within 30 seconds, it feels like all their secrets have been revealed via hyper-tempo Stockholmer death metal savagery with a Wagnerian melodic grandeur. Any throat-clearing is quite literally incorporated into an atom-splitting opening arrangement over which Micke Broberg’s extended “bleeuuurgh” comes over like a howl into the void in tribute to L-G Petrov. And like Pavlov’s dog, Petrov’s hesher knows just how to react. In that respect, Victory in Blood is 100 proof headbanging fuel, distilled from the nightmare fuel of classic horror. “The Devil Rides Out”? We’re there, with bells on. ¶ This is audience manipulation that Hitchcock would be proud of. But that’s the deal, right? Even an underground audio nasty like this

ILLUSTRATION BY MARK RUDOLPH [MARKRUDOLPH.COM]

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is entertainment. That’s what we’re here for.

That’s what Unanimated do. The lyrics to “Seven Mouths of Madness” have a nursery rhyme quality that is all kinds of goofy fun amid a helter-skelter blitzkrieg of blast beats and necro melody, and it is all kinds of effective, too. It’s like how Nirvana described their songwriting— punk music for children.

Perhaps some of that brutally efficient logic is at play here, too. For all their extremity, and the relentless torrent of primo underground invective, Unanimated don’t make a habit of overcomplicating things. “As the Night Takes Us” is a feast of simple pleasures: big choruses, flame pots, a rock show sensibility bordering on the ceremonial.

Then things change. First, Unanimated show some mercy. “With a Cold Embrace” cleanses the palate with a haunting poetry and acoustic guitar. Then “Demon Pact (Mysterium Tremendum)” closes out side A with evidence that there is a more catholic musical sensibility to Unanimated than the brute force of what’s come before. As is the mid-tempo, stein-swinging epic “XIII,” which proves Unanimated don’t need tempo to hold our attention. Such detours are sound insurance policies against our attention drifting.

Unanimated were one of the prime movers for this melodic death metal sound. Their 1993 debut, In the Forest of the Dreaming Dead, helped establish its musical grammar. Such recordings have nostalgia on their side, a rearview boosterism that makes them seem untouchable, and yet the crisp-dry production of Dreaming Dead is one of those rare occasions in extreme metal where a more audiophile experience, as heard here, proves more effective. Well, “audiophile” in a manner of speaking. This production sounds like everything is dimed, pushing toward the red, just as it should be from a band that has finally rediscovered its taste for gore. —JONATHAN HORSLEY

ANTICHRIST SIEGE MACHINE

8

Purifying Blade P R O FO U N D LO R E

Every home should have one

Antichrist Siege Machine’s sound is such a redon-black, über-hostile alloy of black and death metal that it’s quite possible a 21st century evangelical bonfire of the vanities would leave this untouched by the flame. This is extremity as a work of totalizing anti-art, with the vibe seesawing between martial black metal and martial death metal. When they augment the full-on audio slaughter with explicitly death metal riffs, like on “Chaos Insignia,” or “(To Be Sooner) 74 : J A N U A R Y 2 0 2 2 : D E C I B E L

Broken by Pain”—which sounds like Entombed’s “Eyemaster” put through a particle accelerator— it’s truly exhilarating.

The purity of the Richmond, VA duo’s purpose is commendable. This is an old-fashioned Gatling gun to the altar, a primal scream from the godless—or in this instance, from drummer/vocalist Scott Bartley and guitarist Ryan Zell (both credited here as S.B. and R.Z.).

There’s more than a soupçon of crust in the mix here, a black metal sound for the grind kids to admire; and what Antichrist Siege Machine lack in subtlety, they make up for in conviction.

After an intro with a processed voice recording that’s like something Scott Hull would put together, it’s heads-down into the pummel, and you might well wonder how the daemonic duo will best the intensity on “Carried Into Darkness”; but it’s not long until you reach the thermonuclear ecstasies of “Led By Fire,” or flip over to Side B for “Defiled in Iniquity” and its quasi-psychedelic extremity. Sequenced explicitly for a vinyl release, with a second manipulated spoken word intro ushering in the second act, there’s a suggestion that, deep down, Zell and Bartley have an appetite for ceremony, albeit the kind conducted with machine guns and in warpaint. —JONATHAN HORSLEY

BONDED

6

Into Blackness CENTURY MEDIA

Gluey porch treatments

Given the knowledge that Bonded boast two former members of Sodom—guitarist Bernd “Bernemann” Kost and drummer Markus “Makka” Freiwald—as well as current Assassin vocalist Ingo Bajonczak, it’s hard not to draw some assumptions as to what the 11 tracks on the band’s sophomore effort might offer. Thrash?

Definitely, but with a little extra spice. Bonded, for better or worse, aren’t afraid to veer away from typical Teutonic thrash stylings and reach for some melody and big choruses from time to time.

That said, the five-piece—completed by second guitarist Chris Tsitsis (ex-Suicidal Angels) and bassist Marc Hauschild—just as frequently tear it up with a ferocity that honors their German roots. And therein lies the rub. Vocalist Bajonczak is given the challenging task of adapting his voice to whatever his bandmates throw at him, and occasionally finds himself shifting through a few different approaches—growl, shout, scream, clean sing, etc.—in the same song. Mostly he nails it all, but it does make Into Blackness seem slightly schizophrenic at times.

What makes the album feel inconsistent, however, can potentially be viewed as a positive, as well. The variety in the material—from death metal flirtations to anthemic choruses— is generally good for shaping the record’s dynamics and avoiding thrash fatigue, but finding a better balance between the lighter and heavier moments would definitely help Into Blackness seem more cohesive. —ADEM TEPEDELEN

FUNERAL

8

Praesentialis in Aeternum SEASON OF MIST

Funeral, doom.

Not funeral doom

With lyrics written entirely in Norwegian, interpreting the Enlightenment philosophies of Immanuel Kant, Funeral seem keen to get ever more cryptic and abstruse after a hiatus of nearly 10 years, even if their sound has never been brighter, their arrangements never more dynamic and animated. There’s a startling jolt when the saw-toothed electric guitar crunch wallops down to cut off the opening orchestral intro far quicker than expected, the crystalline clarity and gleaming weight of the production (and the resounding crack of the drumbeats) reminding us that sonically this band cleaned up their act decades ago. The distant, minimalistic rendering of Funeral’s seminal 1995 debut Tragedies—along with the haunting female voices that were such a key identifier on their early albums—remain things of the past, while the trajectory of 2012’s sumptuous Oratorium is faithfully followed, the band’s latter-day signature sound lavishly reaffirmed with new levels of power and sensitivity.

Symphonic elements still ratchet up the emotional atmospheres and dramatic bombast, but are rather more clustered in moderation and executed with subtler nous, emerging to stronger effect when they’re called for rather than slathered hither and thither willy-nilly.

This tasteful restraint may be a result of the band employing their first full-time violinist, Sareeta (whose strings have previously graced recordings by Borknagar, Solefald, Madder Mortem and Theatre of Tragedy), or a proactive decision to concentrate on huge, heaving guitar tones. Soloing has always been about the only facet of Funeral’s sound picture that ever reached for anything like vibrance and jubilation, but with Praesentialis in Aeternum, the Norse septet ease off on the bleak devastation (as if acknowledging that nobody is likely to outdo the heartbroken miasma of Swallow the Sun this year) to present a range of more quizzical, ambivalent moods and supple, muscular tempos. —CHRIS CHANTLER

DETEST “We Will Get What We Deserve”

A Danish death metal legend return with first album since 1994.

10.12.2021 Available in vinyl LP (3 colours, 300 each colour), CD & digital

TARDUS MORTEM “Armageddon” Blackened death metal from Denmark

05.11.2021 Available in vinyl LP (3 colours, 300 each colour), CD & digital

HELLSWORD “Cold is the Grave” Speed/black metal from Slovenia

24.09.2021 Available in CD, vinyl LP (limited to 100) & digital

BLOODPHEMY "Blood Sacrifice" Steamrolling Dutch death metal mixing modern and classic styles!

03.09.2021 Available in CD, vinyl LP (2 colours, 100 each colour) & digital

SON OF A SHOTGUN "Be for Oss Alle" Death/Grind feat. members of Blood Red Throne & Damnation!

11.09.2021 Available in CD, vinyl LP (3 colours, 100 each colour) & digital

Also available deluxe death metal reissues for extreme collectors:

CENSORED

CENSORED

CENSORED

CORPSE VOMIT “Drowning In Puke”

PANZERCHRIST “Soul Collector”

WWW.EMANZIPATION.DK

INFERNAL TORMENT “Birthrate Zero”

O R D E R A T T A R G E T S H O P. D K

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8

A Tear in the Fabric of Life PURE NOISE

Pop sensibility screaming in a meat grinder

If recent albums by Code Orange and Turnstile are any indication, hardcore is having its nümetal and Brian Wilson-circa-Pet Sounds moments simultaneously. And even if I personally prefer the post-hardcore evolutions of the D.C. and NYHC scenes in the late ’80s/early ’90s, I also recognize that the great Zachary Lipez is correct when he writes in a critical tour de force review of Turnstile’s (very engaging) Glow On for NPR: “[H]ardcore is as much about new shoes and dance moves and urban youth demonstrating their various styles as it is about shorthaired metal riffs and indescribable pain expressed by white hoodlums in black hoodies.”

All right. Wonderful. I’m really taken with some of this stuff as well. Yet, while a not insignificant portion of the hardcore scene is patting

itself on the back for getting in touch with its booty-shaking inner child, perhaps we should not so hastily throw out the “shorthaired metal riffs and indescribable pain” baby with this I-droppedmy-pink-cotton-candy-and-reverb-pedal-in-thetub bathwater. So, thank Beelzebub that Knocked Loose show up to offer a brutal counterpoint in A Tear in the Fabric of Life, a brilliant, expansive, hard-as-fuck metallic hardcore record that is forward-thinking in a decidedly non-italicized south of Heaven direction—essentially a collection of songs that sound as if they were written by dudes who own the right Integrity and Obituary records and maybe have a My Bloody Valentine disc floating around the tour van.

In a lot of ways, it feels like Kentucky quintet is finally catching up to the slightly overheated hype surrounding 2019’s A Different Shade of Blue—and then blowing straight past it.

One thing’s for sure: These searing, beautifully wrought odes to visionary/transcendent aural violence could not have arrived at a more apropos time. —SHAWN MACOMBER

THE LURKING FEAR,

8

Death, Madness, Horror, Decay Colluding with Cthulhu | C E N T U R Y M E D I A

Death: The Lurking Fear is probably best known as a wicked musical pact between members of At the Gates and Skitsystem.

The death metal pedigree is striking: Tomas Lindberg—the voice that shouted “Go!” on “Slaughter of the Soul”—rasps out tales of cosmic terror. Adrian Erlandsson is one of the most prolific drummers in extreme music. Even the active Skitsystem members have been in death metal projects Sarcasm (guitarist Fredrik Wallenberg) and Tormented (bassist Andreas Axelsson). The album nods to Stockholm’s sound with an ugly guitar tone

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that could power-sand a face to smithereens, but it’s not an ode to a specific time and place in death metal history.

Madness: From the discord-and-voidborne atmospherics of the opening track, this sophomore LP aims to disorient the listener and open portals to lethal worlds. Considering that the themes writhe from the abyssal slime of H.P. Lovecraft’s tales, that’s completely appropriate.

The title track’s eerie lurch mimics someone’s mind approaching lunacy. The Lurking Fear pair high-register guitar hypnotics with a grimy low end so their tonal realm remains unpredictable.

ANDREW LEE

9

Heavy Metal Shrapnel N A M E L E SS G R AV E

Ripped to Shreds 2: Gone Fusion

Several years in the making, Ripped to Shreds frontman Andrew Lee’s shred/ fusion instrumental album finally arrives, and immediately proves to be worth the wait. Heavy Metal Shrapnel is a 33-minute love letter to Shrapnel Records’ back catalog. What could’ve turned out as a cool idea taken too far (or, worse, not quite up to the standards of its influences) actually, in Lee and drummer Alex Zalatan’s morethan-capable hands (and feet), ends up being a truly awesome and fun experience.

First, Heavy Metal Shrapnel crushes all the requirements for shred/fusion with instinctive excessiveness on both of the musicians’ parts, proof that millennial metalheads can do better than evoke nostalgic bliss through mimicry of the past. Because, despite the record’s quaint title, Lee and Zalatan both hail from the death

Horror: While the band’s focus is on impactful death metal, the project is still entwined with the rotten tentacles of Lovecraft’s literature. Some sequences feel like horror set pieces, emerging from the gnashing distortion to cast darker shadows.

Despite being a 96-second ominous interlude, “Kaleidoscopic Mutations” is killer instead of filler. The synths concluding “Restless Death” are a harbinger of the more pronounced organs in “Leech of the Aeons.”

Decay. We can bury the “supergroup side project” tag that haunts bands like the Lurking Fear. Death, Madness, Horror, Decay is an impressively focused ripper with none of the rough edges or hastiness usually attributed to collaborations of this ilk.

—SEAN FRASIER

PHOTO BY MAX LJUNGBERG

KNOCKED LOOSE

P L AY I T. W E A R I T. L I V E I T.

F O L L O W O U R K V LT

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metal realm. Maybe they grew up on Tony McAlpine and Scott Travis, but McAlpine and Travis came up through the actual heavy metal scene. Meanwhile, there are blast beats in Heavy Metal Shrapnel’s title track—probably syncopated. And from the sounds of the first four chords of opener “Blasting the Ozone Layer,” it would seem that Lee used not much less than his usual amount of HM-2 buzz for the rhythm guitar track.

A wildly enjoyable record created by two of death metal’s sickest rising talents, this overthe-top video game guitar solos album is exactly what the metal world needs right now. Lee’s charismatic personality and dedication to his craft shines through every track, giving each song multiple moments of badass synth splendor and god-tier guitar playing. A real treat.

—DUTCH PEARCE

NECROMANTIA

8

To the Depths We Descend…

THE CIRCLE MUSIC

The Vampire Lord composes his own requiem

With the release of To the Depths We Descend…, Greek black metal legends Necromantia dissolve into the night which formed them some 32 years ago. The black swan that precipitated Necromantia’s dissolution was the untimely passing of Baron Blood, whose sinister and unique eightstring bass tone was one of the most important aspects of the band’s highly influential presence in the extreme metal world at large.

The entirety of Depths testifies that Necromantia could have continued to reign for years to come with Lucifer Child’s George Emmanuel on down-tuned, frequently palmmuted, heroically chugging guitars and the mercenary Maelstrom behind the kit. And the saxophone featured on the title track of their final album indicates that Necromantia would have still reigned weirdly from their abyssal throne. Nor has George Zacharopoulos (a.k.a. the Magus) given all of his ideas to Yoth Iria.

Instead, with six new tracks that blend seamlessly with re-recordings of two of their most well-known cuts (which are given monstrous new life-death via the guitar), the Magus sets fire to his and his fallen brother-in-arms’ band name and pushes it toward the horizon on black waters.

On To the Depths We Descend…, you’re hearing a Greek master at work. Across its expanse, the funeral fires rage with Satanic fury. This is no somber affair. From the ripping black metal assault that interrupts the hellish ambience of the opener to the haunting and epically 78 : JANUARY 2022 : DECIBEL

orchestral title track (which closes the new songs on the album), this is a staggeringly bittersweet swansong. —DUTCH PEARCE

OMNIUM GATHERUM

6

Origin

CENTURY MEDIA

Kansas, I have a feeling we’re not in Toto anymore…

This might be delirium talking, but on “Emergence,” the instrumental opener to Omnium Gatherum’s ninth studio album, it sounds like the Finnish melodic death metal band are coming from the same place as John Mayer. That is, they too have dipped their virtuoso instincts into a retro flavor ’80s soft rock. Those keys, the syncopated bass and that guitar lazing around in a half-time feel—“Running With the Devil” on Nitrazepam—and even the phrasing sounds like it was gleaned from Steve Lukather. Now, bear with us—that’s really kind of thrilling. It’s a big mood for this demographic. The note choices in “Prime” might back this up, too, even if the delivery reverts to type, a sound that might be described to the uninitiated as Amon Amarth adapting Devin Townsend for a friend’s wedding.

Of course, by now most people are initiated, and what you get on Origin is the evolution of a sound that has always been most effective when Omnium Gatherum are at their most melodically audacious, as on “Reckoning,” or when Markus Vanhala is leaning into all those thousands of hours spent woodshedding, or when those aforementioned ’80s influences sauce the stew with nostalgia. Omnium Gatherum write songs that appeal to us on an intellectual basis. It’s a risky ploy when some of the arrangements and feel changes are all too easily anticipated, spoiling the surprise. But for those tuning in principally because Omnium Gatherum’s frequencies resonate on a deep emotional basis, perhaps that makes it all the more rewarding as tension gives way to release. This, alas, is all good songcraft.

Vanhala and friends know what they’re doing.

Sometimes, however, it sounds like they’re wasted in melodic death metal. —JONATHAN HORSLEY

ORDER

8

The Gospel LISTENABLE

Much better than you ever thought it would be

Chances are the black metal hoi polloi missed out on Order’s debut album, 2017’s Lex Amentiae. Indeed, the current iteration of Mayhem were issuing live albums galore via labels flung and far back then. At the same

time, hordes from sea to sea—like Aosoth, Vassafor, Blut Aus Nord, Nightbringer, Wolves in the Throne Room, Taake and a few hundred others— vied wantonly for our precious maleficent mindspace. See, Order sport a lineup of Norwegian elite, from Anders Odden (Cadaver, Satyricon) and bassist Stu Manx (Gluecifer) to two fucking dudes who were in Mayhem well before De Mysteriis Dom Sathanas shattered our purblind black metal senses into cosmically insignificant pieces. Kjetil Esten Haraldsson Manheim (a.k.a.

“Manheim”) and Eirik Skyseth Norheim (a.k.a.

“Messiah”) return to roots in Order, who have now savaged yet another long-player in the form of The Gospel.

Like the debut, The Gospel will likely go underappreciated by know-it-alls currently selfenthroned on their Subreddits, but that’s fine.

Order have delivered a bastard of an album.

The band has that late-’90s Norwegian feel in many ways, where riffs roll tighter than a nun’s honeypot against a backdrop of sparse, if also rigid rhythms. This cold, militaristic black metal fashion—think: Rebel Extravaganza, Thorns, Masterpiss of Pain—felt like betrayal back then.

Now, it shows just how ready the Norwegians were edging beyond their teenage years as their scope widened (and middle finger continued to extend). What makes Order different is the sublime layer of filth, grime and offal that’s ritualistically scattered to the four corners of The Gospel’s edifice. From “Rise” and “It Burns” to “Descend” and “Tomb,” The Gospel might be the sleeper hit of the year. —CHRIS DICK

OUTRE-TOMBE

7

Abysse Mortifère TEMPLE OF MYSTERY

Morass of killing capacity

As a devout disciple of the HM-2 sound, I couldn’t help but be impressed by Outre-Tombe’s 2018 sophomore album, Necrovortex. With big backbeats, Unleashed-ish guitar licks and tombstone mentality, the Quebecois quartet scratched the same itch as top-tier revivalists like Black Breath and Gatecreeper. Their pit-friendly set at Maryland Deathfest 2019 cemented my admiration not long after.

On their third album, Abysse Mortifère, the winds are blowing a slightly different direction, albeit through the same cemetery. The guitars sound a bit fuzzier, and the song arrangements are a bit shaggier, both part of what seems like a conscious effort to be more protean this time around. I can’t fault Outre-Tombe for taking this turn; fetishizing buzzsaw tones has become a bit out of fashion (hell, it was in 2018, too) and nobody wants to be put into a box. That said, Boss pedal worship wasn’t the only strength that

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DECIBEL : JANUARY 2022 : 79

8

Cross contamination | R U N F O R C O V E R

The great Achilles’ heel of extreme music is that—in its congenital excess—it sacrifices emphasis. It becomes mere pornography; a hollow-eyed procedure, mindlessly grinding away. This is always the risk in the commodification of extremes: Nearly anyone can fabricate them, but their audience so quickly loses sensitivity that no matter how many macabre collages or gravity blasts you furnish us with, your vehicle remains tractionless in a ditch trawled by overlyfamiliar patterns. Depress the pedal to the fucking floor, behold the furious howl of your engine and know that you are going absolutely nowhere, Maestro.

Clearly it can be a real trick for heavy music to properly inflame an old fud like myself.

That said, a few noteworthy sawbones manage to make it sound easy. Napalm Death reliably arouse that maddening thrall, as do

bands like Nihilist and Dismember had—their songs sported rigid-but-memorable structures, and so did Necrovortex. Abysse Mortifère doesn’t, at least not all the time.

But while the average 2021 Outre-Tombe song is a little sloppy, Abysse Mortifère boasts higher highs than its predecessor. When the band locks in, they reach massive killing capacity, as on the fist-pumping finale of “Haut et Court”—now my favorite song in the band’s oeuvre. Abysse Mortifère contains many such moments; you just need to dig through a little more graveyard dirt to unearth them. —JOSEPH SCHAFER 80 : JANUARY 2022 : DECIBEL

Author & Punisher, as do (ta-da!) Portrayal of Guilt; and for that, these ghoulish Texan Sadducees deserve to be celebrated.

Portrayal of Guilt evoke early Carcass, Godflesh, Wire and Siege, and—believe me— they are marvelously ghastly. Listen to “The Crucifixion” or “Possession” and tell me that they don’t absolutely fuck your Christ. If there is a conspicuous flaw in this album, it’s that it feels like it’s in a slight creative retrograde compared to the band’s early 2021 record We Are Always Alone, and perhaps would have benefitted from a scad more cook time. Regardless, Christfucker boasts a dreadful cruelty that wasn’t quite so unequivocal on the band’s aforementioned, more forwardminded release.

The brunt of the impact here is tangible and substantial; it will take you down with it.

Like Streetcleaner or Drop Dead, Christfucker is a handy butcher and, lo, I am its willing veal calf.

Purchase. —FORREST PITTS

RUDE

7

Outer Reaches DAWNBREED

Old is the new young

Rude sound like the sort of band that, were it 1988, would have inked a deal with Roadrunner after being chased down and courted by scene champion/A&R superhero Monte Conner. Yusef Wallace’s throat abuse is the sound of merch options being limited to oversized longsleeves and sweatpants exclusively available through Blue Grape. The guitar tone of Wallace and

—KEVIN STEWART-PANKO

SARKE

7

Allsighr SOULSELLER

Temporary hails

It’s probably unfair to lead a review of Allsighr, Sarke’s seventh album since 2009, with a reference to Darkthrone. But when your lead singer is Nocturno Culto, that’s just what happens. Culto has one of those voices that is so thoroughly associated with his main gig that they’ll forever be the first thing that comes to mind when you hear him sing. Allsighr also marks the fourth time Darkthrone and Sarke have had an album come out the same year, further clouding matters. Within moments of hitting play, though, any lingering confusion should dissipate. Where Darkthrone took on the form of “heavy dinosaurs” on June’s primitivist Eternal Hails, Sarke continue to push into more progressive territory.

On Sarke’s early albums, they underpinned some of their blackened thrash riffs with haunted house synths. The keyboards have become much more central to their sound over the years, and on Allsighr, they have as much a claim to being the lead instrument as the guitar.

Anders Hunstad delivers an array of sounds, from burbling, psychedelic organ to stark piano to richly textured soundscapes. Whether he sits at the center of a song or serves in a complementary role, it’s his work behind the keys that defines the sound of the album—no small feat when Nocturno Culto’s around.

PHOTO BY ADDRIAN JAFARITABAR

PORTRAYAL OF GUILT, Christfucker

fellow axe slinger David Rodriguez approximates the sound of the boardroom shouting match that breaks out when Roadrunner informs the band that their debut won’t be issued on vinyl, only those newfangled CD doohickies.

Outer Reaches is dirty, old-school death metal that exists where space technicians and sewerdwelling cavemen hook up in a pre-dating app world; where early Pestilence, Obituary, Sepultura and non-Roadrunner-ites Possessed and Morbid Angel engage in a raw-dogging orgy on a bed of Dan Seagrave lithographs, as evidenced in the instrumental title track and “Adrift.” Then there’s “Omega,” with its surprising nods to Cynic’s thrashy demo days.

The production value may muddy and clutter up the rhythms, clip the potential of guitars to soar and mute parts of the prominent bass (and opinions will vary about whether sounding like soldering and duct-taping two eight-track recorders together and calling it a recording console is charming or gimmicky), but there’s no doubt that Rude enjoy ripping pages from the old-school playbook, and go whole hog doing so.

DECIBEL : JANUARY 2022 : 81

Beneath Hunstad’s versatile synths and Culto’s signature croak, eponymous bandleader Sarke (Thomas Berglie) holds down the low end on the bass, building locked-in grooves that keep the songs from drifting off into space. The title track showcases the alchemy between the three men brilliantly, with Culto laying a hammy, near-spoken vocal part over spectral synths and a meaty bass line. Darkthrone, it ain’t—but for what it is, it’s damn good. —BRAD SANDERS

SCARECROW

8

Raise the Death’s Head RELAPSE

Extreme conditions demand extreme re-responses

Certain things have happened very little during this god-awful pandemic: concerts, bar crawls, crowded movie premieres, packed parties and— if you live in parts of the American South—vaccination. And certain things have happened quite often: illness, Zoom meetings, backyard workouts and band reunions. Death Angel drummer Will Carroll, well, he got sick AND got back together with his old band Scarecrow, which he

formed with Exhumed frontman Matt Harvey in the time before he joined Death Angel.

Scarecrow—which also includes bassist Damien Sisson (Death Angel) and guitarist Bud Burke (ex-Exhumed)—were initially around in the mid-’00s, and appeared on a 2008 split with Landmine Marathon. After Carroll joined Death Angel, Harvey once again fixed his attention on Exhumed (All Guts, No Glory was a scorching comeback) and Scarecrow were left in the proverbial cornfield.

While plenty of bands that have come back since COVID showed up should have stayed buried, Scarecrow are a big exception. Raise the Death’s Head is new recordings of three old songs, and they are all vintage Bay Area-style thrash. Carroll shows his drum chops are in fine form post-COVID hospital stay on the eponymous opener, and “Desperate Hours” reminded me of Metallica’s “Fade to Black” in the best way. Harvey shifts up his vocals to suit the thrash approach, and his laid-back delivery lands perfectly. There are just enough guitar heroics to get heads banging, and the clean production works well.

Scarecrow is a band that could easily have opened for Exodus at Ruthie’s Inn during the thrash heyday. That they make this material

Oft overlooked early Derrick Green era assembled in new box set

SEPULTURA

8

Sepulnation - The Studio Albums 1998-2009 (box set) BMG

It’s the era of “reissue everything until touring is a thing again” and, as such, this box set revives a distant rearview speck at a curious time. Sepultura have been riding a re-energized slipstream as of late—specifically, previous two albums Machine Messiah and Quadra being topnotch additions to the Brazilians; canon.

Sepulnation collects five “Derrick Green years” full-lengths, presumably as a bottomline boost, but also as an inadvertent look at the band’s post-Max Cavalera development, cataloging their improved synthesis of progrock, tribal/world music, post-punk and classical influences into the thrash/death

82 : JANUARY 2022 : DECIBEL

metal that has provided the starting point since 1984.

Understandably, suspicion and cynicism greeted Green’s initial replacement of the elder Cavalera brother, but upon hearing the Discharge-tinged opening of 1998’s Against and witnessing the then-newly configured band live and seeing their new frontman-mountain dominate the stage (and make a Gibson Explorer look like a ukulele against his ginormous frame), it was clear that Sepultura were in capable hands.

Once that new relationship energy faded, however, they fell off this particular scribe’s radar until Nuclear Blast brought them back into the spotlight. Hence, there’s a lot

sound so convincing isn’t a surprise: The band is composed of Bay Area originals. Let’s hope Raise the Death’s Head is a taste of things to come and not just a quick walk down memory lane.

—JUSTIN M. NORTON

SENTINEL BEAST

6

Depths of Death MDD

Pulled from the depths

Before she went on to do time in both Ice Age and Znöwhite, vocalist Debbie Gunn sang for Sentinel Beast, a melodic thrash/speed metal band that existed briefly during the mid-to-late-’80s.

Sentinel Beast’s debut full-length, Depths of Death, originally came out on Metal Blade in the summer of ’86. Now, 35 years later, MDD has seen fit to reissue this lesser-known banger.

With a fierce and dynamic vocal attack, dual— sometimes triple if you count the bass—guitar leads and thrash assassin-level drums, Depths of Death finds the hidden paradise between Slayer, Metallica and Maiden’s early styles, and proceeds to set up serious shop. Violent thrash mixed with hooky choruses and exquisite interplay between

that I—and, I suspect, others—missed, and a lot to digest here for anyone in a similar situation. Over the course of five albums and the Revolusongs covers EP, much good and great (as well as some clumsy and quizzical) is flashed, with all of it connecting the dots between the present-day quartet that prizes Rush and Chico Buarque as much as thrash, hardcore and the spirit of recording Bestial Devastation on a no-string budget.

Opinions on musical strengths and weaknesses aside, Sepulnation’s package is gorgeous. The recordings have been remastered and pressed onto 180gm vinyl, with Nation, Roorback and A-Lex given double-LP treatment. Not being familiar with the original liner notes and photography, I don’t know how these compare, but the sturdy booklets and album sleeves are brimming with proper old-school thanks lists, extensive lyrics and credits, plus a shit-ton of photography and imagery. It’s also available in a less-weighty five-CD set, which is something to consider if you’re buying via post as opposed to a record store, because everything about this is hea-vy. Especially its archeological trip down memory lane.

—KEVIN STEWART-PANKO

LIVE AND RARE THEIR FIRST OFFICIAL LIVE ALBUM two previously unreleased shows

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DECIBEL : JANUARY 2022 : 83

THULCANDRA

7

A Dying Wish N A PA L M

John Zwetsloot, o brother, where art thou?

Six years in the making, Germany-based Thulcandra finally, almost silently issue A Dying Wish. For those in the know, this is yet another highly competent take on the sound that Dissection developed throughout their two classic—nay, cult!—albums in The Somberlain and Storm of the Light’s Bane. So, if Ascension Lost, Under a Frozen Sun and Fallen Angel’s Dominion felt like the full-lengths Cardinal Sin never had, A Dying Wish will undoubtedly satisfy (again). Not in the know, but curious what would’ve happened had Wrong Again Records not farted into oblivion in 1997; then Thulcandra—even four albums in— are ground zero. Sure, Stortregn, Black Horizons and Bane also occupy this narrow, subservient strip of sonic death-black, but let’s stay focused.

Hoisted into existence by Steffen Kummerer (also of Obscura fame) and ironed into melodic trem reality by his backing band—bassist Chris Kratzer passed in August 2020—Thulcandra hit all the right Nödtveidt-inspired tunes, tones and themes. The Necrolord “blue” cover (a running theme) and Dan Swanö’s ensemble production also convey expectedly conspicuous pontification. Some of the album’s choicest cuts are “The Slivering Silver,” “A Shining Abyss,” “Funeral Pyre” and “Nocturnal Heresy,” but don’t let the topline tracks dissuade from enjoying A Dying Wish in its entirety. Certainly, innovation isn’t the goal here—there can be only one Reinkaos— as it’s preservation that appears to be Kummerer’s primary objective. That it’s all done with such unswerving conviction is reason alone to give Thulcandra a righteous chance. —CHRIS DICK 84 : JANUARY 2022 : DECIBEL

SPIRITWORLD, Pagan Rhythms

8

Go west, young band | C E N T U R Y M E D I A

SpiritWorld describe their sound as “death western,” and the PR campaign for Pagan Rhythms leans pretty heavy on this as a hook: The accompanying press materials cite band mastermind Stu Folsom’s love of George Jones. The legendary writer/label wizard Mike Gitter—currently Century Media’s vice president of A&R—calls the album “equal parts Slayer, Louis L’Amour and Sam Peckinpah.”

They’ve got an old-car-and-cowboy-hats promo photo that makes ’em look like something dangerously close to a rockabilly band.

Don’t let it spook you. There is absolutely zero gimmick vibe to Pagan Rhythms. In fact, outside of some creepy-cool country samples and a couple song titles (“Armageddon Honkytonk & Saloon,” “Comancheria”), and presumably lyrical content (Folsom says he merges Western imagery, horror fiction and

VILE AESTHETIC

6

To Bloom and Flourish From Utter Rot SELF-RELEASED

Corpse flowers

The utterly fucking gorgeous artwork by Adam Burke for Vile Aesthetic’s debut LP offers one fairly literal interpretation of the title. A white goat grazes and gazes at field flowers thriving amongst human remains. But blooming from rot could also mean flourishing despite horrendous circumstances.

Black metal duo Vile Aesthetic released their demo in the summer of 2019. The months since have been fatally eventful, to put it mildly. But there’s nothing mild about To Bloom and Flourish From Utter Rot. Founder Colter Niendorf (snarls and guitars) has poured more fury into those retooled demo tracks while inviting Christian Kee to be the full-time (hooded) bassist. Engineer Pete deBoer has recorded Blood Incantation and Wayfarer at his Colorado-based studio. Vile

heavy metal”), sonically you wouldn’t have a clue that any of the aforementioned plays any role whatsoever. Instead, what we get is one of the biggest-sounding, purest, most swaggering heavy fucking metal records in a long spell.

Think a sublime fusing of early Megadeth, Beneath the Remains-era Sepultura, Leeway, Priest, Morbid Angel and an extremely strong Integrity vibe. (I know—that’s the second time I’ve used the latter as a touchstone this issue. Must just be a good month for heavy music.) All of it shined up and smooth out in a Gojira-like fashion.

The bio sheet notes that both Gary Holt and Max Cavalera “raved about [Pagan Rhythms] on social media” when it was floating around selfreleased. It isn’t difficult to see why: The record feels special, important. Whether a tumbleweed is rolling by or not, we got some pioneers on our hands—and they’re poised to take over the whole goddamn town. —SHAWN MACOMBER

Aesthetic’s black heart oozes adoration for the genre’s origins. Here, deBoer’s analogue touch pays homage to old-school black metal’s thin lead guitar mix while capturing punchy percussion from session drummer Evan Barton.

Despite the crepuscular colors of the album’s cover, To Bloom and Flourish From Utter Rot conveys musical ideas in high-contrast black and white.

Icy tremolos swirl like a whiteout of white noise.

But blizzard blasts can feel like a time-chewing blur when riffs pursue hypnotism, only to achieve tedium. Thankfully, Vile Aesthetic limit those occurrences by blindsiding listeners with splashes of blackened punk (“Genocide & Conversion”) and muscular riffs (“Regressional Mass”).

Before the album concludes, closing track “Abstract Divine” features bass with bounce and groove uncharacteristic of the genre.

Vile Aesthetic haven’t seared their own sigil into contemporary black metal quite yet. But To Bloom and Flourish From Utter Rot is still a headturning introduction to the band’s grave-borne blossoms. —SEAN FRASIER

PHOTO BY SEAN JORG

the guitars proves to be a highly combustible concoction, indeed. Unfortunately, many of the melodies—not to mention the riffs and the lyrics—turn out to be rather derivative, and overtly (even distractingly) reminiscent of Sentinel Beast’s more widely celebrated influences.

It’s a shame the band broke up before they were able to hone their true voice, but tracks like “Mourir,” “Revenge” and “The Keeper” sound so much like Di’Anno Maiden (but with Gunn’s vicious singing on them) that Depths of Death is ultimately pretty sick regardless of its originality or lack thereof. Meanwhile, “Dogs of War” is so obviously influenced by “Fight Fire With Fire” it’s endearing and, again, undeniably badass.

There’s no doubt Sentinel Beast have their place in thrash metal history. But do they have a place in your record collection? The answer is yes. —DUTCH PEARCE

DECIBEL : JANUARY 2022 : 85

NEW ALBUM

THIS DARKNESS FEELS ALIVE AVAILABLE NOW www.overtoun.com

J. David Ross presents “Dead Lockdown”. A gore fest of human carnage inspired by the music of Cannibal Corpse, Carcass and Six Feet Under.

Available on Amazon.

DECIBEL : JANUARY 2022 : 87

by

EUGENE S. ROBINSON

A HARMONIC

CONVERGENCE F

uck Converge!”

If truth be told, at the time, I had not only not heard Converge, but I also thought that the Boston scene that they allegedly came from was some fantastical make-believe place since the last bands from Boston I had paid any attention to were SSD (a band I was unreasonably devoted to), Kilslug, Slapshot and Anal Cunt (who, technically, were from Newton and not Boston at all.)

But you see, like all hardcore cats, there was a rigid pecking order, and it was structured around, “Where the hell were you?” If you weren’t first-wave, even if you were 8 years old then? Step to the back. I mean, Harley Flanagan, later of Cro-Mags, was touring Europe when he was 8 with his first band.

So, the fact that Converge were hardcore and from Boston and I hadn’t heard of them immediately earned a snobbish sniffle and the above imprecation. “Fuck Converge” indeed.

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However, my assholitis notwithstanding, as we drove to the venue where we were playing with them in Bordeaux, France, our tour manager discovered that they had gotten the show order wrong. Turns out through some perverted twist of fate, Converge were now headlining and we were playing support. So, my high dudgeon was making more sense than not.

Right up until we pulled up to the main boulevard where the venue sat and we saw a four-personwide line stretching three blocks outside of the venue. One thing that being in OXBOW does for you, always and forever, is to introduce you to reality in the hardest of ways, and no one on this planet Earth was standing four-peoplewide and three blocks long for the kind of love we give.

So, where do we make our stand?

In the dressing room.

It may have been theirs, but it didn’t matter. We were going to squeeze in for some good ol’ band togetherness. And to be assholes.

I sat next to Nate Newton. I glanced over at him and asked him if he had a mirror.

Nate had no mirror, and I could see it flash through his head that I wanted a surface for coke. Which sort of ratcheted the tension up to a wonderful sweet spot. A sweet spot that was in no way lessened when I pulled out my eyeliner, eye shadow and lipstick. See, I went through a phase when I was wearing make up onstage.

Something I continued until one fan too many started asking me for naked photos (true) and whether or not I’d be interested in fellating them.

But then we got the call to play, and play we did. Our asses off. Some measure of “teaching these kids how it should be done”? Why, yes.

Then they, a band we had not heard or heard of prior to this very night, played; and like in poker, they met and matched our call. Royal flush style.

They fucking killed it. They crushed, they killed and they destroyed.

And I was in love.

I almost felt like I should apologize, but who wants their assholishness codified via a formal apology?

And, realistically speaking, I got an adjustment I very much needed.

By which I mean, if you think about how old some of your favorite musicians were when their greatness became apparent, you know that great musicians are like great mathematicians: likeliest to do their best work in their 20s. So, no harm at all in thinking/believing/ knowing that people who were younger than you can mine a nongenerationally bound vein of magic.

Over the years, I’ve since fanboyed out and interviewed Jacob Bannon because, well, who knew that he was an MMA judge and muay thai guy in his spare time? But in terms of ride and die? The man I first asked for the mirror.

And the last time we hung out at an OXBOW show in Boston, what did we talk about? Like any other two old guys: our kids.

So, fuck Converge? Nah, bro… not even a little bit.

ILLUSTRATION BY ED LUCE