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SEPTEMBER 2022 // No. 215
JONATHAN DONAIS GETS HIS WINGS
Dean Guitars proudly introduces
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E XT RE M ELY EXTREME
September 2022 [R 215] decibelmagazine.com
upfront 10 metal muthas A classical upbringing
22 dreadnought Less ending, more playing
12 maryland deathfest
24 panzerfaust No heroes
xviii review
Though this may be over... 14 exclusive:
metal & beer fest: philly 2022 review ...We’ve only just begun
26 castrator He was asking for it 28 the halo effect The jester retrace
18 low culture Team building exercises
30 northless All roads lead home
19 no corporate beer Are you afraid of the dark?
32 hulder Blowing her own horn
20 in the studio:
34 frayle They liked Kate Bush before it was cool
enslaved
Intimate slavery
36 psycroptic Misters worldwide
features
reviews
38 wake Breaking free from the grind
75 lead review Oceans of Slumber continue to progress past the need for genre classification on their latest offering Starlight and Ash
40 megadeth Historical significance 42 amon amarth Ready to fight 44 imperial triumphant Live is pain 46 q&a: arch enemy Riffmaster Michael Amott is still excited about extreme metal, no lie 50 the decibel
hall of fame Poised to break out beyond their Brazilian borders, Sepultura abandon their Satanic beginning to explore the true evil of their surroundings on Schizophrenia
76 album reviews Records from bands that weren't casually dropping Stranger Things spoilers on Twitter, including Conan, Machine Head and Spirit Adrift
62 MAX CAVALERA &
SOULFLY
88 damage ink Ass hypnosis
Family Matters COVER STORY COVER AND CONTENTS PHOTOS BY SHANE GARDNER ADDITIONAL COVER DESIGN BY ESTER SEGARRA
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. ISSN 1557-2137 | USPS 023142 Reproduction in whole or in part without written permission of the publisher is strictly prohibited. 4 : SEPTEMBER 2022 : DECIBEL
www.decibelmagazine.com
Few albums were more pivotal in
my youth than Sepultura’s Arise and Beneath the Remains. If you’re my age (don’t forget to schedule your annual colonoscopy), both records likely laid the foundation for a lifetime spent with extreme metal, leading you indirectly to this very magazine. And if you’re like me (you should really get that weird shoulder pain checked out), you likely moved on from Sepultura upon the release of their more grooveladen follow-up records. And if you are me (I’m sorry), you lamented Sepultura’s split with Max Cavalera, not just because it adversely impacted the band, but because it allowed Max to have complete control over a new project where he could doink out nü-metal riffs while screaming about Hootie & the Blowfish. I spent the better part of the next two decades actively avoiding Soulfly. In fact, it wasn’t until a longtime friend at Nuclear Blast insisted that I listen to the band’s 2015 album Archangel that things changed. Of course, I still had to be a dick about it. SMART FRIEND: “Max finally got back to his, um, roots—the record’s actually really good.” DUMB ME: “Dude, c’mon, I hear the same shit every time a legacy artist releases a new album. I don’t have time to listen to it. There’s no way a new Soulfly album is good.” SMART FRIEND: “How do you know if you don’t actually listen to it?” DUMB ME: “I just know.”
I felt like I had a solid case. (As I was writing this, I revisited a track from Archangel and Apple Music’s robo-curated auto-play function selected Obituary’s “Chopped in Half,” immediately followed by—I swear—Limp Bizkit’s “Nookie.”) Fortunately, my pal doing his job convinced me to do mine. While I wasn’t exactly compelled to jumpdafuckup, the record elicited more than a few head nods of approval. The follow-up, 2018’s Ritual, displayed further improvement, but the new LP, Totem, might be the best—and thrashiest—record Max has performed on since Roots. Justin M. Norton’s excellent cover story—amazingly, our first featuring Max—dives deep into Soulfly’s late-career surge with numerous assists from musicians who owe a massive debt to the earlier entries on our man’s equally immense résumé. And for those of you even older than me (I’m really sorry) who can’t get on board with anything that’s happened in the last 35 years, our Hall of Fame induction on Sepultura’s Schizophrenia should ease your old-school pain, if not your lower back tightness. albert mudrian, Editor-in-Chief
REFUSE/RESIST
September 2022 [T215] PUBLISHER
Alex Mulcahy
CONTRIBUTING WRITERS
alex@redflagmedia.com EDITOR-IN-CHIEF
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Vince Bellino Adrien Begrand J. Bennett Dean Brown Louise Brown Chris Chantler Richard Christy Liz Ciavarella-Brenner Cody F. Davis Chris Dick Sean Frasier Nick Green Raoul Hernandez Addison Herron-Wheeler Jonathan Horsley Courtney Iseman Neill Jameson Sarah Kitteringham Daniel Lake Cosmo Lee Shawn Macomber Shane Mehling Justin M. Norton Dutch Pearce Forrest Pitts Greg Pratt Jon Rosenthal Brad Sanders Joseph Schafer Matt Solis Kevin Stewart-Panko Eugene S. Robinson Adem Tepedelen Jeff Treppel J Andrew Zalucky CONTRIBUTING PHOTOGRAPHERS
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DAVE MUSTAINE TA K E N O P R I S O N E R S
READER OF THE
MONTH hobbies of staying out late and watching grown adults yell into microphones, collecting records, and [buying] the occasional sick King Diamond action figure.
Bob Deutsch
Minneapolis, MN You worked at a prominent metal label years ago. Why did you make the switch to civilian life?
There were a lot of things that happened, but I ended up moving back to Minnesota after living in L.A. for several years. Along with moving back, I ended up getting sober (eventually), and that’s one of the biggest changes and best things to happen to me. Along the way, I kept going to shows, ended up meeting a wonderful person who consumes music much differently, and getting married! Thankfully, Ashley puts up with my ridiculous
8 : SEPTEMBER 2022 : DECIBEL
Your Instagram profile largely consists of photos of metal albums, horror movie stills and beautiful nature shots. Are these your three major interests or are there others yet to be revealed on social media?
Those are the big ones, but I also love reading and am obsessed with everything Stephen King. I’ll talk your ear off about all his novels and will go down the rabbit hole to connect the Dark Tower mythos with his other works. One of my buddies found an awesome Stephen King pin that uses the old Death logo. My wife and I also just got done putting together coffin-shaped raised garden beds in the backyard. [Since] we only get six months of decent weather in Minnesota, we try to spend all the time outside in the summer. I’ve gone to all the state parks in Minnesota and completed that scavenger hunt.
You’ve been a subscriber since issue No. 52. Why have you stuck with us for 160-plus issues?
I used to read Decibel years ago and dragged my feet on actually subscribing, but the flexi discs are something cool to collect (that FOMO is real), and every issue successfully talks about the stuff I already am a fan of [and] highlights some bands I don’t know; and the Hall of Fame inductees inevitably poke holes in my concept of knowing a lot about metal. It’s pretty good for peeking behind the curtain to see how those records actually happened, but also great for pointing out glaring holes in my collection or knowledge. I got a journalism degree in college and still get the newspaper, too, so I guess you’ve got your claws in me. Max Cavalera is on the cover of this issue. And Sepultura are now the first band to have four records inducted into the Decibel Hall of Fame with Schizophrenia. What’s your go-to Max release?
I usually tend to reach for Beneath the Remains as a go-to, but this is a friendly reminder to revisit Schizophrenia, because it’s been a while. I got exposed to Soulfly in high school at a show and then worked back from there. Seeing the Cavalera Brothers at Maryland Deathfest this year was pretty sick, and all those fast thrash songs were a pretty awesome surprise to catch that whole set!
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
OUT gu Au st 12th
Ex-Moonspell drummer Mike Gaspar returns with his stormy new band! Melancholic metal with thunderous riffs and depth
40 YEARS OF GERMAN THRASH
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Primal Fear Sinner is back! 12 great hardrock-hymns, with guests from Eclipse, Evergrey, Rainbow, Benediction and more!
New edition of this classic. Deluxe edition with enhanced booklet, rare photos, linernotes and three bonustracks. A must-have!
OUT July 15th
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NOW SLAYING Wonder what Decibel world HQ has been rocking for the past month? Well, here are the records that we spun most while knowing things would have gone better if Eddie played something from Ride the Lightning.
Because not all of us were spawned in the darkest recesses of hell
This Month's Mutha: Connie Skildum Mutha of Carl Skildum of Inexorum
Tell us a little about yourself.
I grew up in a small college town in Northern Minnesota, surrounded by beautiful lakes, pines, birch and maples. My degree from the University of Minnesota in Art Education/Humanities— and eventually a Master’s Degree in Human Development and Psychology—led to a perfect career. I taught in public schools, museum studios and post-secondary while I traveled internationally with HS students, family and friends (51 countries). My greatest joy and accomplishment was raising my two incredible kids, Carl and his sister Sara. When did Carl start to express an interest in singing and performing?
Carl was a character when he was little. He wanted to learn how to play the violin and signed up to take Suzuki lessons at the local college where I worked in the Fine Arts Department. Finding a small enough instrument for him was an ordeal. And so, after the first lesson, he stated, “Well, now that I know how to play the violin, I want to learn the drums!” He was hooked on music! Did you influence his passion for metal when he was growing up?
HA! Me “influence his passion for metal”? Only if growing up in a home filled with classical music drove him to go the opposite direction! Carl mentioned in a recent Decibel profile that his mailman, of all people, recognized him from Inexorum. Is he the most famous member of your immediate family?
Yes, I would say so. My older sister was well known in the Cultural Anthropology world (Margaret Mead was her Doctoral Advisor, and the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation funded 10 : SEPTEMBER 2022 : DECIBEL
much of her international work), but that work was below the radar for most. Carl has written in the past about persistence through a variety of hardships. Have you ever discussed his lyrics with him?
In my mind, Carl has always been the wisest one in the room. Even as a little boy, he had questions far beyond the norm: “Why is there evil in the world?” “Why don’t you adults DO something?” He didn’t hesitate to ask the hard, tough questions, and he was a deep thinker. So, it is no surprise that his grown-up lyrics would deal with dark issues. His father and I were divorced when he was 10 and we moved away from his close friends when he was 13. That was difficult! Playing the guitar became a relentless refuge. He essentially taught himself by listening to Van Halen, Scorpions, Devo, Metallica and Prince. From Krakatoa and Antiverse to now Inexorum, Carl has been a vital part of the Minneapolis metal scene for almost 30 years. How do you feel watching him onstage?
Today is far from his kindergarten music debut when, singing a duet, he reached into his waistband and plucked the rhythm on the elastic band of his underwear. He brought the house down before he fell backwards off the riser. Today I am in awe! Such complexity, so much passion. Where does all that talent come from? And then I realize it comes from deep down—always persisting, working, problem-solving. What’s something that most people wouldn’t know about your son?
That he hasn’t always been bald! It started thinning when he was 21 and was rough to begin with, but he got over it. —ANDREW BONAZELLI
Albert Mudrian : e d i t o r i n c h i e f Oceans of Slumber, Starlight and Ash KEN mode, NULL Moribund Dawn, Dark Mysteries of Time & Eternity Sepultura, Schizophrenia Innumerable Forms, Philosophical Collapse ---------------------------------Patty Moran : c u s t o m e r s e r v i c e Teen Idles, Minor Disturbance Sin 34, Do You Feel Safe? JFA, Blatant Localism Eddie and the Subtitles, Fuck You Eddie! Fu Manchu, No One Rides for Free ---------------------------------James Lewis : a d s a l e s Sepultura, Schizophrenia Moribund Dawn, Dark Mysteries of Time & Eternity Esoctrilihum, Consecration of the Spiritüs Flesh Blut Aus Nord, Disharmonium Undreamable Abysses Scuzzball, Reality’s Flux ---------------------------------Mike Wohlberg : a r t d i r e c t o r Sigh, Shiki Craven Idol, Forked Tongues Tomb Mold, Aperture of Body KEN mode, NULL Jesus Wept, Psychedelic Degeneracy ---------------------------------Aaron Salsbury : m a r k e t i n g a n d s a l e s Barrio Slam, Rest Easy Wake, Sowing the Seeds of a Worthless Tomorrow Sanguisugabogg, The Devil’s Eyes Deadguy, Buyer’s Remorse XUI, Demo 2022
GUEST SLAYER
---------------------------------Shane McCarthy : w a y fa r e r / s t o r m k e e p / ly k o t o n o n Havukruunu, Uinuos Syömein Sota Satyricon, Rebel Extravaganza Dreadnought, The Endless Siouxsie and the Banshees, Juju George Cessna, Lucky Rider PHOTO BY ELIZABETH MARSH