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Video Premiere: Subdued Noise Rockers Bronson Arm Become “One With the Floor”

Kalamazoo’s Bronson Arm are a duo who deliver noise rock via a stripped down conglomeration of baritone guitar, drums and vocals. As such, their sound falls on the less dense, smoke-filled room side of the sonic spectrum, utilizing more contrast between paint peeling vocals, sparse rhythmic thumping and spacious percussion than it does oppressive walls of sound and neck-vein bulging screeching. Imagine the Jesus Lizard doing jazz hall jams with Morphine, Sonic Youth hiding Unsane’s distortion pedals or heroin (the drug and the band) never making it to the city of Seattle.

The band, consisting of vocalist/guitarist Blake Bickel and drummer Garrett Yates, recently released their self-titled debut full-length, which combines 2021’s Tosser EP with brand new material, on Learning Curve Records and today you can get a taste of what Bronson Arm have to offer in shape of the video “One With the Floor.”

Says Blake Bickel about the song and video: “When I started writing this song I kept on envisioning fog rolling over a dark wooded hill. I wanted to create a sound…a song that evoked a sense of sheer terror and impending doom that slowly crept in and consumed you. I wanted to create a feeling of, ‘Oh, fuck. That thing. That thing I dread is starting again. Here it comes.’

“For me, this song is about the foreboding dread of bad things to come. However, when the folks over at Dark Boiler Productions approached us about making a video for the song, I intentionally did not tell them anything about the song or what was behind it. I wanted to give them free rein to create whatever inspired them; allow them to pull their own meaning out of the song. And this video is what they came up with. Conversely, I made a point of not asking about the narrative they depicted. I love it! I think it’s fantastic!”

In our mind and interpretation, the songs’ grungy, loping feel is deftly captured and accurately displayed by the performers and visuals which reference a generation-whatever-backend-letter-of-the-alphabet-people-are-being-categorized-as despondent, slacker vibe fostered by a sense of exclusion from the mainstream before finding solace in counterculture and confidence in the self. I’m sure we’re all familiar with the feeling.

Bronson Arm was mixed by Robert Cheek (Deftones, Band of Horses, Tera Melos) and mastered by Blake Bickel and is out now on Learning Curve Records. Info, ordering links and upcoming shows below. You know the drill.

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*photo credit: Jacob Ludecker

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The Risen Dread’s New Single/Video Recounts a Harrowing Tale of Forced Isolation

Hailing from Dublin, The Risen Dread are six years into their existence with an EP and full-length under their spiffy stage clothes and available for public consumption. Drawing influence from death metal and metalcore, the band have scattered the scenes at home in Ireland and the UK as well as parts of Europe with promise and a precipitous exploration of the dark side of life on Planet Shit Hammer. Later this year, another release is scheduled to be foisted upon the world, but until then the band have pushed their focus toward newest single and video, “Betrayal.” Guitarist William Ribeiro comments:

“‘Betrayal’ is almost a rebirth of The Risen Dread as a band. We’re very happy with the sound of it. It has everything from headbanging riffs to blast beats and more. We also want to mention that Vasilis Nanos is the drummer on this track. He’s done an incredible job for us. We can’t wait to announce the things we’ve got in store for 2024. Fans can expect some exciting news!

“‘Betrayal’ draws inspiration from the harrowing tale of Blanche Monnier, a French socialite confined to a lightless room for 25 years by her own mother and brother at the age of 25. The song delves into the depths of her tragic story, encapsulating the essence of betrayal that led to the naming of our poignant composition. The video captures her feeling of being kept locked. However, we approached the video in a more modern way instead of trying to capture how things were when that happened.”

The story of Monnier is especially chilling, distressing and brutal. Read a bit more about it here and watch and listen to “Betrayal” below.

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Canadians Saluting Canadians: Hellbent Pay Homage to the Day-Glo Abortions

Hailing from down the street (from where I live, anyway) come punkers Hellbent with their rowdy and raucous style of hoser hardcore. Self-described as “the smokiest band in the game,” Hellbent are fiercely DIY having extensively gigged and toured across our home and native land by the skin of their teeth this past year. Additionally, each of their collection of singles, splits, EPs and full lengths have been issued mostly by their lonesome. As a bit of a holiday treat, they’ve released their rendition of the Day-Glo Abortions’ classic “Drugged and Driving” with an accompanying video, ironically enough collected and edited together from the raw footage of a recent tour the two bands did together.

People always used to ask me — well, they still do — why I shy away from going out much during the holidays, especially at night. Common sense and growing up listening to Day-Glo’s Here Today Guano Tomorrow, where “Drugged and Driving” originally appeared, on repeat drilled it into my head that most people behind the wheel are lit to some degree and description, especially around the holidays. So, staying at home under a bundle of blankets always seemed like a better option.

Says the band: “A modern twist on a Canadian hardcore punk classic, our cover of ‘Drugged and Driving’ pays homage to the Day-Glo Abortions while keeping it as Hellbent as possible. The video is a DIY edit made up of phone footage, IG stories and a couple cameras roaming around our last tour with the Day-Glos, perfectly encapsulating the experience. It was never about production value, but taking us back to those shows and anyone watching feeling like they were there. It’s the perfect tour recap and we’re super grateful Murray, Matt, and Marc like our band and have taken us out for so many shows!”

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Track Premiere: Mayan Bull (ft. members of Trappist & Despise You) “Kid Cleveland”

It’s not often that a band forms after being offered an opportunity to write music for a film, but that’s exactly what happened with L.A.’s Mayan Bull. Back in 2011, drummer/keyboardist Phil Vera (Trappist, Despise You), guitarist Kurk Stevens and bassist Chris Walters were approached by director Todd Hickey to write a song for the soundtrack of Takedowns and Falls, his documentary about high-school wrestling in Pennsylvania. The trio recorded 10-minute instrumental “A Dangerous Gun” in Vera’s living room with producer Paul Fig (Alice In Chains, Deftones), and Mayan Bull was born. “We had so much fun recording the song that we kept practicing and came up with new songs,” Vera says.

One of those songs is “Kid Cleveland,” which we’re premiering here today. The propulsive track is all the more impressive given that instrumental music is a distinct departure for the members of Mayan Bull. Stevens plays in the noise rock band Kevarra, Walters plays shoegaze in The Slow Signal Fades and Vera plays an entirely different instrument—guitar—in L.A. powerviolence kings Despise You and Crom. “We discussed Mayan Bull as being a project that we could do for decades to come, something that isn’t pinned down to any particular genre of music but will grow over time,” Stevens says. “We want people to hear us and watch this project evolve.”

Mayan Bull by Mayan Bull

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Video Premiere: Xael Creates Their Own World with “Srai – The Demon of Erring”

Featuring members of Nile, Rapheumets Well and Nile’s road crew, North Carolina sci-fi obsessed freaks Xael issued their second full-length, Bloodtide Rising back in February via Pavement Entertainment and today we’re premiering their video for “Srai – The Demon of Erring.” As heavy on the conceptualism as they are on the orchestrated metal, Xael have delivered an immersive experience with the concept of Bloodtide Rising which according to their bio goes a little something like this:

“Imprisoned by the counsel of Tymeer, led by the insidious entity Sen. Darmak ‘cursed with a degrading immortality’ and the Watchers of Xan were presented as an offering to the Sovereign Ruler and rare species collector, Atara Avuniir in exchange for military and economic support. Finding favor with the Queen, the Watchers were integrated into her elite guard where they became renowned for their success. Unforeseen, the Queen fell in love with Darkmak and she would bear to him a son. Vuul Athmar along with the outer planets of the Eiasian-Rim prospered yet the queen harbors a dark secret, an anomaly that threatens the outer-worlds.”

Got that? Good, because I haven’t the slightest idea what they’re on about. But don’t let that stop you; if you don’t feel like twisting your brain around the storyline, you can twist your brain around their progressive and labyrinthine take on blackened death metal a la Fleshgod Apocalypse, Dimmu Borgir, Cattle Decapitation, SepticFlesh and Nile.

When pressed for a comment about the video and the album from which the song is taken, the band replied by saying: “This video ventures back to tell how the antagonist Darmak of the story ended up with Srai, a deviant entity that some call a demon. It’s pretty much stalking him, but he ends up besting Srai. Unfortunately, the antagonist of the story suffers from an illness that causes him to faint in which he pretty much wakes up in the middle of a ritual with it trying to murder him (though unsuccessful). We were very limited in what we could do during the pandemic but I believe we pulled it off! The song has a mix of thrash, blackened death metal, and symphonic elements. We hope you guys enjoy.”

And about the album:

“In Xael, we are trying to not only create some brutal and primal metal, but cultivate the fusion of storytelling and epic adventures. We are building a multiverse with diverse planets and odd-powerful creatures, taking listeners on a journey. This specific album follows the ‘watchers’ as we are assimilated into the vile and mysterious world of Vuul Athmar. It is a tragic love story turned horror. Musically, we incorporate tribal elements, Asian and traditional folk instruments, and an array of vocals to capture the variety of emotions. Though there was a global pandemic, we worked hard to bring this musical odyssey alive and we are excited to finally share it.”

We’re also sure they’re excited to get back on the road after being recently being announced as openers for Bloodbath’s return to North America:

May 2022 Tour Dates w/ Bloodbath
May 22 – Brooklyn, NY – Warsaw
May 23 – Boston, MA – Paradise Rock Club
May 24 – Montreal, QC – L’Astral
May 25 – Toronto, ON – Opera House
Tickets on sale at www.bloodbath.biz

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Video Premiere: Satanic Planet Drops “Satanic Planet” onto a Satanic Planet

The last year-plus of isolation, lockdowns and no live music or tours may have been a kick in the crotch for many of our mental health and social lives. On the other hand, it’s personally allowed me to literally do nothing but work almost every day since April 2020 and thusly, have no credit card debt since I-can’t-even-remember-the-last-time-when. It’s also allowed those musicians with normally packed touring schedules to hit the studio and contribute to projects they otherwise might never have had time for.

One of those folks is a guy you may have heard us mention once or twice named Dave Lombardo. The other is Justin Pearson who, pandemic or not, always seems to manage to attach his name and playing to a variety of projects in his apparent never-ending battle against sleep and free time. Mr. Lombardo, on the other hand, found himself with nowhere to go once the multitudes of bands he was juggling (including Mr. Bungle, Suicidal Tendencies, Dead Cross, Misfits and whatever else I’m forgetting) had all their live plans scuttled. This allowed the former drummer from a band called you may have heard of called Slayer, the time to consider the umpteen number of session spot requests people have been probably throwing at him since he stopped haunting that particular chapel for good in 2013.

One project Lombardo jumped whole hog into was Satanic Planet. Lombardo, Pearson, hip-hop producer Luke Henshaw and frontman and internationally recognised Satanist, Lucien Greaves (co-founder and spokesperson of the Satanic Temple) have banded together in the creation of the project’s self-titled debut album of eerie, tribal, gothic, post-punk, ceremonial doomy industrial scoundscapes that also employs the talents of guests like Cattle Decapitation’s Travis Ryan, Nomi Abadi, Silent’s Jung Sing, Shiva Honey, Eric Livingston (a.k.a. First Church of the Void), and Hexa’s Carrie Feller.

Today, we’re presenting the video for the album’s title track, a fast-paced chanter with visuals that summon the power of old-school Saturday morning cartoons and, as Greaves describes:

“The Satanic Planet theme is an entire Satanic Panic condensed into under two minutes of blistering, rapid-fire, paranoid meltdown, complete with backward masking. Knowing that Satanic Planet, the band, will be a controversial act that will inspire pearl-clutching bible-thumpers to comb our material looking for evidence to confirm their worst fears, we decided to save them time by compiling a lyrical laundry list of anti-Satanist delusions that can be appropriately taken as mockery, or moronically as advocacy. Satanic Planet has something for everybody!”

Also, to quote the band’s bio: “These dark musical soundscapes serve as a vessel to share the important messages that The Satanic Temple stands for, including religious freedom, highlighting the hypocrisy in dominant organized religions, and the horrific consequences of pseudoscience and malpractice still being utilized today in America.”

Satanic Planet, the album, was recorded and produced by Luke Henshaw and Dave Lombardo. Mixed and mastered by Brent Asbury. Cover art by Stomp the Holy Bones. Layout by The Black Moon Design. It will be released by Three One G Records digitally, as well as on CD and vinyl, with four limited edition vinyl variants on May 28th. Preorder here.

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Track Premiere: Necronemesis – ‘They Live in the Attic’

Puerto Rican outfit Necronemesis keep it faithful, peddling no-frills, filthy death metal on their upcoming full-length, Some Things Should Stay Underground. Not to be confused with the band’s 2005 demo of the same name, Some Things Should Stay Underground features legendary guitarist Rick Rozz, best known as a founding member of Death and pre-Death group Mantas, as a guest member.

Decibel has partnered with the band to premiere “They Live in the Attic,” the second song from Some Things Should Stay Underground. The song is like a steamroller, picking up momentum and rolling straight through. Rozz’s shreds and dive bombs through the album, which is notably better produced and recorded than the band’s previous demo and EP.

Rozz, who is not a full-time member of Necronemesis, had positive things to say about the band after working with them.

“Great guys, and a brutal band,” he tells Decibel. “It was a honor and pleasure to do some whammy shenanigans on this album, wishing them all the best in the future.”

Some Things Should Stay Underground is out June 4 on Horror Pain Gore Death. Listen to “They Live in the Attic” and pre-order the album via the Bandcamp embed below.

Some Things Should Stay Underground by NECRONEMESIS

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Video Premiere: Danish Thrashers Killing Keep the Kill Alive with “Kill Everyone”

Denmark thrash demons, Killing have been, well, killing it since originally forming in 2013 and all the hard work which has seen them independently issue two EPs and bring the rage to the stage throughout Europe over the years has paid off as the band recently signed on the dotted line with Mighty Music/Target Group who will be releasing the band’s debut full-length, Face the Madness. The album was recorded at Dead Rat Studio with producer Jacob Bredahl (Horned Almighty, Koldborn, ex-Hatesphere vocalist) and is set for release later this year on August 13th.

One can never claim that Killing isn’t on the ball as they’ve already issued a video for what we presume will be the album’s first single, “Kill Everyone.” As drummer Jesper Skousen reports, “‘Kill Everyone’ is a fierce little bastard that should satisfy most thrash fans who are into aggression and violence; a short and fast attack of pure energy. The lyrics for this one were written by our bass player/vocalist, Rasmus Soelberg and are like a little continuation of the ‘Toxic Asylum’ theme from our first EP and the zombie-video for our single ‘Raise Your Anger.’ It’s about voices in the head of a mental patient, who tells you to kill….kill everyone!”

The video itself makes use of the old horror movie/grainy VHS production value one would expect from a band that loves force feeding raucous, mid-to-late ’80s east coast thrash and Germany’s Big Three into one another and visually answers the question, “what happens when two killers meet and one is more prepared than the other?”

For more info, music, merch and videos, check out Killing on Facebook, Bandcamp and YouTube

*Photos by Camilla Lundbye

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Lamb of God – Ashes of the Wake

Weapon of Mass Destruction
The Making of Lamb of God’s Ashes of the Wake

In the decade before the release of Ashes of the Wake, Lamb of God experienced only slow-burning forward momentum. Beginning life as Burn the Priest, they were DIY personified, using scrounged-up connections and resources to play whatever living room, basement, squat, garage or hole in the wall that would host them (providing their ramshackle van would actually make it to their destination). Following the cobbling together of their self-produced, self-titled debut, they flipped their moniker, inked a deal with Prosthetic and found fortunes nudging skyward: two widely released LOG LPs, including the Devin Townsend-produced As the Palaces Burn, and discovery by more fans via proper gigs at proper venues. But it was the 15 months following Palaces’ release that saw the most significant shift in the band’s history.

At the dawn of Decibel in 2004, the spotlight was shining on the New Wave of American Heavy Metal, and Lamb of God—alongside their cohorts in Shadows Fall, God Forbid and Killswitch Engage—found themselves with bigger profiles, courting the next phase of their careers. Sensing a rare opportunity, the Richmond-based quintet curtailed Palaces’ promotional cycle to juggle label attention and tap into the creative well, with the goal of delivering their major label debut. Undoubtedly, the flurry of activity agreed with Lamb of God. Ashes of the Wake is the sound of the underground clashing with the mainstream; maturity and experience battle with bluster and scrappiness, and both sides claim victory.

Enlisting the production talents of Gene “Machine” Freeman—though keeping the fader-slider on a short leash—and pointing an acerbic finger at personal demons, social dystopia, Gulf War II and the string-pulling politicos, Ashes rode the gritty groove and visceral power of “Laid to Rest,” “Hourglass,” “Now You’ve Got Something to Die For,” “What I’ve Become” and “Remorse Is for the Dead” to unexpected heights. With the power of Epic behind it, Ashes was the first Lamb of God album to crash the Billboard charts. First-week sales clocked in at 35,000 copies, as the record ultimately became the band’s biggest seller, eventually going gold in 2016. Lamb of God also graduated from dingy clubs to the top of the bill on outdoor festivals, playing arenas and shaking theater foundations around the world, and they haven’t looked back.

Ashes is Lamb of God’s most significant pivot point. It was the album where they made the biggest leap in terms of understanding what goes on in boardrooms and behind the mixing board. It also saw them take the life-altering plunge into the world of being full-time, professional musicians. Nothing would be the same, and for all the indelible changes it made in the lives of vocalist Randy Blythe, guitarists Willie Adler and Mark Morton, bassist John Campbell and then-drummer Chris Adler—as well as the enduring imprint it’s made in the name of American metal—we welcome Ashes of the Wake to our hallowed Hall.

Need more Lamb of God? To read the entire seven-page story, featuring interviews with all members who performed on Ashes of the Wake, purchase the print issue from our store, or digitally via our app for iPhone/iPad or Android.

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Blast Worship: Chadhel

Where they from?
Quebec. I know I’m not alone in saying this but, BRING BACK THE NORDIQUES! I was lucky enough to go to Quebec Deathfest in 2019 (in the before times) and despite getting to see one of my all-time bucket list bands live (the mighty Brodequin) the absolute highlight of the trip for me was finding a Quebec Nordiques’ beanie in the athletic store down the street. One of the all-time best logos in professional sports and they gave us Peter Forsberg on top of that! BRING BACK THE ‘DIQUES, YOU DICKS!

Why the hype?
So, back in December of 2020, Kshitiz Moktan of grindcore pioneers Chepang put together the world’s first online grindcore festival, Global Grindcore Alliance! (Rumor is he’s planning another follow up in May with some even more killer bands). As difficult a year it was for discovering new music in 2020, these Quebecians instantly caught my ear. They play deathgrind the right way, with the spastic parts just splaying out in front of you in every possible direction until the timely breakdowns come in and like a lasso around your feet, hang you from the ceiling. I think I saw that in a Clint Eastwood movie once… damn, what was the name of it? Ugh, I can’t remember. Anywho, this band is sure to scratch all the itches of people who miss bands like Maruta and Priapus. I know I sure do!

Latest release?
Split with Assidious Assault. Lots of straight BANGERS on this one but I’d like to take a second to highlight “Blood of the Hybrids.” which starts off with some TASTEFUL NU METAL CHUGGING before contorting itself into one hell of a Discordance Axis impression. That’s right, in 2021 we can use nu metal tastefully and there’s nothing wrong with that? Oh, I just remembered the name of the movie… MILLION DOLLAR BABY!

Split with ASSIDUOUS ASSAULT by Chadhel

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