Metallica × Exodus × Neurosis
Inside the Historic East Bay Metal Scene
e xt r e m e ly e xt r e m e d e c i b e l m ag az i n e . c o m
100 th Issue Show Reviewed! Rigor Mortis hall of fame
free 6
lock up!
clutch What's on Tap for the Cult Rock Heroes?
plus
suffocation | Portal | Sebastian Bach | Botanist
Sister Sin | Inter Arma | Lightning Swords of Death
flexi disc inside! Don’t see it? Then subscribe! apr 2013 // No. 102
extremely extreme
April 2013 [T102] decibelmagazine.com
62
c o ver s t o r y
Clutch
Still gripping and ripping
upfront 10 metal muthas Misery of muthahood
22 inter arma Carcass clouds
12 grinding it out Darker days ahead
24 kommandant Here come the high-steppers
12 brewtal truth Pure malt fury 14 cry now Killer looks 16 live reviews Throwing our own horns
26 kongh Sole patrol 28 devourment Did you know they’re utterly insane?
30 botanist 18 studio report Spilling his seed The Black Dahlia Murder goes extra-black 32 lightning swords 20 wormed Hole lotta love
of death
Friday night, they need a fight
reviews
features
73 lead review Yellow + green + bloody mountain red = Anciients
34 call & response:
74 album reviews Albums by bands that may not exist by our 200th issue show including Rotting Christ, KEN Mode, Soilwork, Saxon and Gruesome Stuff Relish
liv jagrell
Wicked wisdom 36 suffocation Live from New York… 38 portal Hood rats 40 q & a: sebastian bach Drinking kills frontmen dead
44 special feature: the
east bay metal scene Oakland: fuckin’ A!
50 the decibel
hall of fame
Eulogizing Mike Scaccia and Rigor Mortis 96 south pole dispatch Infant sorrow
92 sub:culture Pitt stains cover and contents photo by CLARK VANDEGRIFT
Decibel (ISSN 1557-2137) is published monthly by Red Flag Media, Inc., 1032 Arch Street, 3rd Floor, Philadelphia, PA 19107. Annual subscription price is $29.95. Periodical postage, Philadelphia, PA, and other mailing offices. Submission of manuscripts, illustrations and/or photographs must be accompanied by a stamped, self-addressed envelope. The publisher assumes no responsibility for unsolicited materials. Postmaster send changes of address for Decibel to Red Flag Media, 1032 Arch Street, 3rd Floor, Philadelphia PA 19107. Copyright© 2013 by Red Flag Media, Inc. All issn 1557-2137 | usps 023142 rights reserved. Reproduction in whole or in part without written permission of the publisher is strictly prohibited.
ON TOUR NOW ERIC PETERSON
NICLAS ENGELIN
TESTAMENT
IN FLAMES/ENGEL MIKE MARTIN
ALL THAT REMAINS
MATT BAUMBACH & MIKE KENNEDY
VISION OF DISORDER
JOE DUPLANTIER
GOJIRA
CHRISTIAN ANDREU
GOJIRA
GAURAV BALI
EVE TO ADAM
MIKE SCHLEIBAUM & MIKE “LONESTAR” CARRIGAN
DARKEST HOUR
ORIANTHI
ALICE COOPER/ SOLO ARTIST
THIS IS WHAT I USE. www.evhgear.com
VOGG
DECAPITATED
ERIC FRIEDMAN
CREED/TREMONTI
MATT WICKLUND & DOC COYLE
GOD FORBID
PHOTO: MATT YORK, BAUMBACH/KENNEDY, MATT BRUCK, TARA STEWART, ANICKA NILSSON, TARA STEWART, MATT FERGUSON, ANTHONY DUBOIS, DAVIID FRIEDMAN
© 2013 FMIC. EVH®, the EVH® logo, and the unique headstock and body designs of these guitars are trademarks of ELVH, Inc. All rights reserved.
JACKY VINCENT & DEREK JONES
FALLING IN REVERSE
www.decibelmagazine.com
extremely extreme
April 2013 [T102]
Publi s her
Alex Mulcahy
Editor -In-Chief
Albert Mudrian
managing Editor
Co ntr ibuting Wr iters
alex@redflagmedia.com albert@redflagmedia.com
Andrew Bonazelli
andrew@redflagmedia.com
Jamie Leary
Cr eative di r ector
jamie@redflagmedia.com
ar t di rector
Bruno Guerreiro
bruno@decibelmagazine.com cu s tomer se rvice
Patty Moran patty@redflagmedia.com
co ntr ibuting ar tis ts
Chuck BB, Mark Rudolph
adve r tising
Albert Mudrian
albert@redflagmedia.com
just words from the editor
photo by Raymond Ahner
540.878.5756 unde r to nes secti on
Drew Juergens
drew@decibelmagazine.com
Online Deciblo g editor
Andrew Bonazelli
andrew@decibelmagazine.com
“I Like Beer.” Not only is
this a fact, but the country song of the same title is the personalized ringtone my wife hears whenever I call her. (Note to Jeff Walker: Please don’t cover this on your next solo album.) I should qualify that statement by explaining that I like good beer—the stuff that our intrepid swiller Adem Tepedelen covers in his Brewtal Truth column each month (which will be anthologized in book form later this year). So, we are extremely grateful and honored that the fine folks at Flying Dog Brewery—one of my personal favorites—were kind enough to host this month’s cover shoot. Thank you, kindly. And what better band to shoot there than MD’s own booze and bruise crew Clutch? While Chris Dick’s exhaustive cover story on the history of these cult rockers doesn’t draught much in the way of beer, this month’s Brewtal Truth delivers mad hops on Clutch’s own “Collabeeration” craft brew with New Belgium Brewing. I can only hope that Tony Foresta was pouring something half as good down the barrel of “The Inebriator” when I was ordered onstage by Municipal Waste to perform an impromptu beer bong at our soldthe-fuck-out 100th Issue Celebration Show back in January. Dude could have poured a pint of Pennzoil through there and I would have had no choice but to suck it down. So, thanks for going easy on me. And a sincere thank you to everyone who performed, introduced the acts and came out to the show. It was truly an honor to share the night with so many friends, readers, and current and former co-workers who have all invested so much time and energy into this funny little magazine. I don’t remember all of the details (see “The Inebriator”), but I do know the film crew on hand that night captured everything. If all goes well, you can bring the party home on DVD by the end of the year. Note: craft beer optional, but encouraged for optimal video performance. albert mudrian, Editor-in-Chief
Anthony Bartkewicz Adrien Begrand J. Bennett Shawn Bosler Brent Burton Richard Christy Liz Ciavarella-Brenner John Darnielle Jerry A. Deathburger Chris Dick Jeanne Fury Nick Green Joe Gross Jonathan Horsley Scott Koerber Daniel Lake Frank Lemke Shawn Macomber Shane Mehling Kirk Miller Greg Moffitt Justin M. Norton Matt Olivo Etan Rosenbloom Scott Seward Kevin Sharp Rod Smith Zach Smith Kevin Stewart-Panko Adem Tepedelen Jeff Treppel Jeff Wagner Co ntr ibuting photo gr aphers
Main Office
1032 Arch Street, 3rd Floor, Philadelphia, PA 19107 Tel: 215.625.9850 / Fax: 215.625.9967 www.decibelmagazine.com
Ester Segarra Josh Sisk Gene Smirnov Clark Vandegrift Frank White
Rec or d Stor es
To carry Decibel, call 1.215.625.9850 x105 Decibel Sub s cripti o ns
Decibel subscriber service/change of address: 215.625.9850 x105 or contact@decibelmagazine.com To order by mail: Consult the subscription page To order by phone: 215.625.9850 x105 To order by fax: 1.215.625.9967 To order online: www.decibelmagazine.com VISA/MASTERCARD/DISCOVER accepted Subscribers: please alert us of any change of address 6-8 weeks before the date of your move. Decibel is not responsible or obligated to re-ship issues missed because of a move we were not informed of 6-8 weeks before the move took place. Decibel B ack Iss ues /Me rchandi se
To order by phone: 1.215.625.9850 (10 a.m. – 5 p.m. EST) To order by fax: 1.215.625.9967 To order online: www.decibelmagazine.com Decibel (ISSN 1557-2137) is published monthly by Red Flag Media, Inc., 1032 Arch Street, 3rd Floor, Philadelphia, PA 19107. Annual subscription price is $29.95. Periodical postage, Philadelphia, PA, and other mailing offices. Submission of manuscripts, illustrations and/or photographs must be accompanied by a stamped, self-addressed envelope. The publisher assumes no responsibility for unsolicited materials. Postmaster send changes of address for Decibel to Red Flag Media, 1032 Arch Street, 3rd Floor, Philadelphia PA 19107. Copyright ©2013 by Red Flag Media, Inc. All rights reserved. Reproduction in whole or in part without written permission of the publisher is strictly prohibited. PR INTED IN U SA
issn 1557-2137
| u s p s 023142
FACEBOOK.COM/FYEGUY
fanbase Reader of the Month Mike Lyon Edina, MN
Okay, what the hell do you do for fun in Edina, MN? No one is allowed to have any fun in Edina—I think it’s a city ordinance. Thankfully, we’re just minutes away from Minneapolis and St. Paul, where I take every opportunity to combine my loves of drinking and metal shows! Did I mention that it’s cold? Insanely, bitterly cold. But a friend and I have plans to start distilling small-batch gin to warm things up a bit. Clutch is the cover of this month’s issue. Can you get down with that? All the way down; those dudes write some tasty riffs! I’m glad they’ve got a new album coming out; hopefully they’ll swing through the Twin Cities and I can finally catch them live. You’re a metal dad. When do you plan on exposing your children to the sweet sounds of
Cattle Decapitation and the like? Or has that already happened? Oh, they are fully exposed! We never really went in for “Lullaby Renditions of Slayer” or whatever. I just put on Reign in Blood and watch them jump around! My daughter is a year old and she’ll listen to anything—we put on Fallujah and Assück during playtime this past weekend. My son is three and he’s already refining his own tastes. Lately, he likes things a little more melodic, like Amorphis or Judas Priest. True story: When they were babies, black metal would put them to sleep instantly. If they were fussy, I’d put on some Immortal and, boom, nap time!
letterbombs HOPE YOU CAN GET THAT TOUCHED UP WITH A “B.C.” Please see the attached photo of my portrait of Papa Emeritus of Ghost. It’s from issue #80 [June 2011]. I got it done in May 2012 by Mark Brettrager at Rising Tide Tattoo in Newark, Ohio. I hope you appreciate the photo. —Thanks, Kris Williams
You attended Decibel’s 100th Issue Show in January. What’s your favorite memory from the event? There were so many awesome moments, but I’d call it a tie: John Baizley joining Converge onstage to play “Coral Blue” in his first [full-band] performance since the bus crash, and Pig Destroyer’s whole set—I’d waited a decade to see them play live and they did not disappoint! Pure metal nirvana. My friend Johnny is a metal neophyte and I dragged him up from DC to attend—it was his first metal show. It was amazing to see a good friend experience all those bands for the first time, and to be welcomed by this great community of fans. Here’s to another hundred issues!
Chuck BB is the illustrator of the graphic novels Black Metal, Vol. 1. and Black Metal, Vol. 2 For more info and art, head over to chuckbb.com 6 : a p r i l 2 0 13 : d e c i b e l
web gems presents:
s s e f o k c u n S s o ie Symph n insane and inspired In which we recount the most comrades in blog posts of the month from our
SEBASTIAN BACH AND STEVE STEVENS ARE WORKING TOGETHER
FIVE FINGER DEATH PUNCH DRUMMER PREPARES HIS NOBEL PRIZE FOR LITERATURE ACCEPTANCE SPEECH
Oh, what the hell—Baz is the subject of J. Bennett’s Q&A this month, so we might as well o.d. now so we don’t have to write about him for the rest of the year. MS co-founder Axl Rosenberg shares Comrade Bennett’s inexplicable enthusiasm for current Bach projects, and is pleased as punch to see Vince Neil/ Billy Idol session player Stevens entering the fold. We’re pleased as punch to see the above photo of these two beauts, looking fan-fucking-tastic in 2013. TAGS: SEBASTIAN BACH, STEVE STEVENS
Many years ago, a member of one of Decibel’s favorite bands referred to Five Finger Death Punch as Five Finger Fruit Punch. That’s how you maintain lifetime status as one of Decibel’s favorite bands. Anyway, great headline here. The drummer for FFFP— sorry, FFDP—is named Jeremy Spencer, and if you’ve heard of him, he’s psyched, because he’s evidently writing an autobiography with Ron Jeremy sharing on the cover, featuring life-affirming fucking-on-coke anecdotes. TAGS: FIVE FINGER DEATH PUNCH
LISTENING TO THE NEW OCEANO SONG FEELS LIKE BEING MURDERED, SLOWLY
Venomous Maximus Path of Doom
…AND THAT’S HOW JOSE CANSECO ENDED UP WRITING LYRICS FOR EVERY TIME I DIE
Okay, maybe Oceano—any deathcore band, really—is a particularly low-hanging piñata, but considering this is a site that regularly employs Sergeant D, we don’t mind when MS take batting practice. The new chugfest is called “Slow Murder,” and Axl is quick to point out the discrepancy in the accompanying press notes: “If you want us to change, then you’re gonna be disappointed. We’re not gonna replicate any album that we’ve ever released.” Commence weeping for the future in 3… 2…
You don’t have to be a baseball fan to know that Jose Canseco’s Twitter feed is usually the saddest place on Earth. Here is a rare case of whimsy emanating from that nightmare world. The former roid-freak/ whistle-blower tweeted “Song lyrics have always been the most powerful form of social commentary. I know power.” Keith Buckley of Every Time I Die replied, asking Jose (sincerely, we think) to write lyrics for his band. After a brief logistics discussion, Jose mused, “I’m thinking Sepultura/Trivium type lyrics.” God, please let this happen.
TAGS: OCEANO
TAGS: EVERY TIME I DIE
Visit www.metalsucks.net 8 : a p r i l 2 0 13 : d e c i b e l
Satan’s Wrath
Slaves of the Inverted Cross
Weapon
Embers and Revelations
Clutch
A Shogun Named Marcus Visit the official Decibel channel at Metal Injection http://www.metalinjection.tv/decibel
news
now slaying Wonder what Decibel world HQ has been rocking for the past month? Well, here are the records we spun the most when we weren’t even pretending to care about forthcoming new LPs from the Blacks—Sabbath and Flag.
Metal
Muthas Because not all of us were spawned in the darkest recesses of hell
This Month's Mutha: Sharon Hasenauer Mutha of Misery Index’s Jason Netherton
At what age did Jason show an interest in music?
When he was growing up, his dad and I would listen to a lot of different music, primarily classical and a lot of Gordon Lightfoot. Jason would have been about eight or nine when it seemed like he was enjoying all of it. In elementary band, as I recall, he played trumpet, of all things. When he first wanted to take guitar lessons, he was probably 12 or 13. When did he develop musical tastes independent of yours?
Ah! I remember it very well. He came to me wanting a KISS album and I didn’t even know what he was talking about! When I found out it was Gene Simmons and the bloody tongue stuff, it sort of took me aback. It was like, “My little boy likes this stuff?!” But my thought was that if it makes him happy, it certainly can’t hurt him. But at the same time, he wanted me to take him to see Hall & Oates, and I won tickets to a Billy Joel concert that he thought was great. What were your thoughts when he started listening to death metal?
I was a little bit mystified. I began to enjoy heavy metal like Def Leppard, Scorpions, Iron 1 0 : a p r i l 2 0 13 : d e c i b e l
Maiden and all the things that came before grindcore, but I accepted it, even though it’s difficult to identify with things I can’t sing along to. How did you react when he formed a band called Dying Fetus?
That was interesting because I’d tell my friends about him forming a band, and how he was taking it a lot more seriously. Then came the time when people would want to know the band name, and I’d go, “Um… Dying [mumbles].” I like to think I was accommodating, but it wasn’t always easy. When it became Misery Index, that was easier for people to understand. Jason is presently taking time away from Misery Index to focus on his Ph.D. Did that decision surprise you at all?
What surprises me most is that he never backed off from music or education, and that he was able to get his degrees while touring, writing and practicing. He has a lot of energy, focus and passion for whatever he does. I wasn’t surprised, and I’ve always been proud with whatever direction he’s chosen. —Kevin Stewart-Panko
Albert Mudrian : e d i t o r i n c h i e f Cathedral, The Last Spire Iron Reagan, Worse Than Dead Immolation, New Album Advance Metallica, Kill ’Em All The Mountain Goats, The Sunset Tree ---------------------------------Andrew Bonazelli : m a n a g i n g e d i t o r Cult of Luna, Vertikal Intronaut, Habitual Levitations The Joy Formidable, Wolf's Law Thou, Peasant Lalo Schifrin, Dirty Harry OST ---------------------------------Patty Moran : c u s t o m e r s e r v i c e Naam, Naam Unsane, Wreck Neurosis, Honor Found in Decay Brian Eno, Taking Tiger Mountain (By Strategy) Electric Wizard, Dopethrone ---------------------------------Bruno Guerreiro : a r t d i r e c t o r Harvey Milk, Life... The Best Game in Town Death Breath, Stinking Up the Night Disfear, Live the Storm Graveyard, Graveyard Rotten Sound, Species at War
guest slayer
---------------------------------Alex Bouks : i n c a n tat i o n / goreaphobia
Voivod, Target Earth Metallica, Ride the Lightning Al Stewart, The Early Years PJ Harvey, White Chalk Scorpions, Taken by Force