“We want to get out there and pretty much destroy,” says Six Feet Under vocalist Chris Barnes in a Metal Blade press release. “We want to play to as many people as possible, and show all of the fans out there the new songs, and leave nothing but a trail of blood in our wake. We’re hoping that whoever makes body bags are upping their output, because after this record comes out there’ll be a lot of decomposing bodies out there!”

While we’re not sure if Barnes is equating the release of Undead to the unexpected decomposition of humanity or if he’s just stating the obvious (around 154,889 people die every day according to the CIA Factbook), we have to cross our Sanrio-fabricated hearts that the future ills facing his fellow man won’t befall the members of Six Feet Under, ’cause let’s face it drum madman Kevin Talley just joined, and, well, it’d be shame to have Talley’s quick licks appear on one Six Feet Under long-player.

Without further run-on sentences or random (but oddly relevant to Six Feet Under) factoids, here’s Undead:

** Six Feet Under’s new album, Undead, is out May 22nd on Metal Blade Records. Find your inner zombie (or zombie eradicator) and click HERE. And, trust us, it might just be the band’s best album since, uh, Haunted.

We’re all about A389 Recordings ’round these parts. If it’s not the consistently awesome cover draping each and every release and their annual birthday bash show/extravaganza every January, it’s that they’re fellow proponents of the flexi-disc and that alongside every world-hatin’, religion-baitin’, humanity-despisin’ slice of holy terror hardcore they release, they go ahead and show their (drunken) human side by putting out the Thor’s Teeth live album which had Pulling Teeth playing as backing band to Canadian hard rock legend – choose your own definition of “legend” – Thor.

Another reason to love A389 is that they give the world free stuff. Like the stuff mentioned below. Which is free.

Official press release:
Baltimore’s A389 Recordings have just posted their 2012 label sampler online via a streaming/downloadable digital mixtape. Clocking in at 52 tracks well over two hours of music) the digital mixtape showcases a plethora of new and unreleased music from A389′s impressive and eclectic upcoming release schedule (as well as some classics from the label’s current/back catalog).

Featured artists include: Seven Sisters Of Sleep, Countdown To Oblivion, Ilsa, Ringworm, Homewrecker, Like Rats, Children Of God, The Guilt Of…, Anne, Pulling Teeth, Young And In The Way, Junior Bruce, God’s America, Hatewaves, The Love Below, Empire Of Rats, Shin To Shin, Sick Fix, Kill Life, Enforcers, Pleasant Living, Gravehill, Cynarae, Triac, Thee High Priestess, Nothing, Rot In Hell, Unholy Majesty, Integrity, Gehenna, Low Places, Pharaoh (NJ), Full Of Hell, Vilipend, Ancient Shores, Pale Creation, Chapelle Des Morts, Virgin Witch, Pick Your Side, Eddie Brock, Penetration Panthers, Day Of Mourning, Withdrawal, Trapped Under Ice, In Cold Blood, Mindsnare, Astronomer, Masakari, Wisdom In Chains, Mighty Sphincter, Earthride and Vermapyre.

To stream or download the A389 MMXII Digital Mixtape/Sampler visit:
http://www.a389digitalmixtape.com

FOR MORE INFORMATION
www.a389records.com
http://a389.tumblr.com
www.facebook.com/a389recordings
www.stereokiller.com/a389recordings
www.twitter.com/a389recordings

And after you download it, you can do this:
Anyone who submits a link to a track-by-track review of the A389 MMXII DIGITAL MIXTAPE/SAMPLER will receive 25% of their webstore order (before shipping) refunded back to their paypal!!!

RULES ARE AS FOLLOWS:
1. Offer is valid from THURSDAY MAY 17th, 2012 – MONDAY MAY 21, 2012

2. Make the effort to type something for EACH band. Tell us why or how much each song rules or sucks. If you just turn in a no-effort list with one word answers, we will give you a no-effort one digit discount: 0%

Here is a great example of a review posted by Liam at TotalTotality:
http://totaltotality.blogspot.com/2012/05/a389-recordings-mmxii-digital.html

3. To qualify for the 25% refund you must post a link to the review in the comments section of your order. The actual review must be posted on a message board…blog…your facebook….whatever. Anywhere people can see it and check out the sampler. Please include a link to the A389 MMXII DIGITAL MIXTAPE/SAMPLER in your review so others can listen to it as well:
www.a389digitalmixtape.com

4. PLEASE NOTE: The 25% refund is not instant, but will be credited back to your paypal account the next time I am sitting at a computer. Be patient with me this weekend as I will be at the A389/Scion AV showcase in California. I’ll be back in office Monday. Oh yeah speaking of which…the A389/Scion AV showcase is this weekend! You going? RSVP here for free tickets: http://www.scionav.com/metalshow

5. Every order will get a FREE copy of A389′s MIDNIGHT MASS Magazine (while supplies last)

6. We now have A389 Patches in the webstore. Machine woven and diecut with iron-on backing.
Order yours here:
http://www.a389records.com/store/index.php?cPath=72

Here’s what’s going on in California this weekend:

And here’s Thor’s classic hit, “Keep the Dogs Away”:

Former Decibel cover stars Shadows Fall just released their seventh album, Fire From The Sky, on Tuesday. As Kirk Miller pointed out in giving the record his seal of approval in our June issue, the ten tracks have a little something for everyone, leading us to wonder what tunes these Massholes were blasting throughout the writing and recording process.

So we asked each member of the quintet—vocalist Brian Fair, guitarists Matt Bachand and Jon Donais, bassist Paul Romanko and drummer Jason Bittner—to tell us about an album he was digging throughout the genesis of FFTS. The result? Two records that we’ve inducted into our Hall of Fame, two that made it on our Top 40 of 2011 and one that led to this dude rockin’ the suburbs. As usual, we’ve compiled the band’s picks (er, most of them) into a Spotify playlist for your listening enjoyment.

Quicksand—Slip (1993)
Quicksand was always able to balance huge riffs and great vocal melodies in such a unique way. A perfect combination of crushing power and raw emotion. Simple tight songs, catchy hooks and monster grooves. What more do you need? (Brian Fair)

Crowbar—Sever The Wicked Hand (2011)
Such an underrated band. People will think they write heavy riffs until they listen to Crowbar. (Jon Donais)

Mastodon—The Hunter (2011)
Once again, this band never ceases to amaze me: the riffs, the sound, the heaviness. Brann used concert toms for Christ’s sake. I love it. (Jason Bittner)

Ben Folds Five—The Unauthorized Biography of Reinhold Messner (1999)
Because he’s a goddamn genius. (Matt Bachand)

Only Living Witness—Prone Mortal Form (1993)
OLW was the most underrated band to come out of the Massachusetts hardcore/metal scene. This album came out on Century Media in 1993 or so. I think everyone in a metal band from our area has been influenced by this amazing band in one way or another. (Paul Romanko)

*Pick up a copy of Fire From The Sky here

Horseback
Greg Mackintosh (Paradise Lost) (Part 1) (Part 2)
Torche
“Best of” Meshuggah
Astra
Pallbearer
Barren Earth
Shane Embury (Napalm Death) (Part 1) (Part 2)

Destruction, legendary kings of the Teutonic thrash metal scene, are continuing to thrash ’till death with their 30th Anniversary Tour. Almost halfway through, the band plays NYC tonight and then begins a furious march as they burn through Canada towards the west coast.

If you’re wondering if these guys are still doing the anti-lord’s work, here’s “Hate is My Fuel,” their most recent barrage from Day of Reckoning. And if that’s not enough, below that is a fair representation of what will be clobbering that pretty face of yours when you make it to the show.

The remaining tour dates:

5/16 – New York, NY @ B.B. Kings
5/17 – Pawtucket, RI @ The Met
5/18 – Ottawa, ON – CANADA @ Maverick’s
5/19 – Toronto, ON – CANADA @ Rockpile
5/20 – Joliet, IL @ Mojoe’s (DESTRUCTION + VITAL REMAINS ONLY)
5/22 – Pueblo, CO @ Kim’s Pixie Inn
5/24 – San Juan Capistrano, CA @ The Coach House
5/25 – Sacramento, CA @ Ace of Spades
5/26 – Oakland, CA @ The Metro
5/27 – Portland, OR @ Hawthorne Theatre
5/28 – Vancouver, BC – CANADA @ The Venue
5/30 – Seattle, WA @ Studio Seven
6/01 – Ramona, CA @ Romona Mainstage
6/02 – Santa Clara, CA @ The Avalon
6/03 – Hollywood, CA @ The Whisky

Revered Swedish death metal producer Tomas Skogsberg once claimed Borås-based Evocation were better than Stockholm’s best sliced bread. This was back in the early ’90s too, when Stockholm greats were on their respective—much beloved—second albums. At the time, Evocation never got to recording a full-length—despite being courted by a few “notable” labels of the day—due to ever-problematic “musical differences”. Says Evocation six-stringer Marko Palmén, “Musical differences in the ’90s forced us to put the band on ice. Every time we met—after splitting up in ’93—we always talked about re-starting Evocation. But there was always something stopping us. ”

Fortunately, the dust settled and the collective re-grouped in 2006 for a demo. Feeling the fire, so to speak, Evocation signed with German undie Cyclone Empire, issuing not one but three fucking full-lengths of old-school tinged death from 2007 to 2010. Established and album-proven, Evocation has moved on from Cyclone Empire to Century Media—who are on a “roots oriented” signing spree as of late—where they’ll enjoy Ferraris, an undefiled corpse or two, and, well, a larger distribution network. To celebrate the occasion, Century Media is releasing a compilation of demo, unreleased, and rehearsal material, which will differ from the 2004-released Breath of Night Evocation collection.

As for the feral track “Through The Darkened Peril”, Palmén reveals: “When we recorded the demo we all felt unanimously that this track should be the opening track since we all felt that it was the strongest one. ‘Through The Darkened Peril’ holds most of the Evocation patented features we make until this day. The groove is the most outstanding feature on this track and that is something we work with a lot nowadays as well. Skogsberg even told us that the mid tempo part in the middle of the track had a jazzy feeling. The first version of this track also had an opening riff which was quiet slow in tempo but before we recorded the track we decided to skip that part since it didn’t add anything for the track. We have done this track live several times and I think it will remain in our repertoire for a long time ahead. Another cool memory that just came into my mind was about Janne’s drumming; this is the only track on The Ancient Gate demo ’92 that he needed to correct after the first take. All other drum tracks on the demo are recorded on the first take and no corrections have been made afterwards, they are featured in their very raw and unedited form.”

Revel in the flesh of “Through The Darkened Peril” from the Skogsberg-produced The Ancient Gate demo.

** Click HERE to visit and like Evocation on Facebook.

** Evocation’s new demo compilation album, Evoked From Demonic Depths – The Early Years, is out June 26th on Century Media Records. Available only as an import from CM Distro, this sweetly disgusting compilation of old bones features a 32-page booklet and three live bootleg videos from 1992. Order it HERE, or find yourself on the bottom’s of Tomas Skogsberg’s trucker boots. Trust us, Entombed’s been there for a good while now. And well…

Last month, Savannah psychedelic metal crew Kylesa put in some serious road miles in support of GWAR. Prosthetics, artificial blood and semen are not everyday items on the underground metal touring circuit, so we got Kylesa guitarist/vocalist Laura Pleasants to take some pics and notes. This is what went down.

04-13 San Antonio, TX | Backstage Live
So we drove from Savannah, Georgia to San Antonio, Texas. We were supposed to have a show in New Orleans but they canceled on us at the last minute. We drove, I mean, it was 20-something hours. We had a van but it was the most pimped van I’ve ever been in; it was a big Spinner that had been converted into like, I guess a very miniature Nightliner. There were some bunks up there, some benches, a TV, DVD… it was pretty comfortable. I slept most of the way. We got there on the day of the show but got there early. The first day of tour is always so hectic; there’s merch everywhere, there’s just things you’ve forgot at home. We hopped on at the end of the tour, they had been pluggin’ along for several weeks already. It was cool in San Antonio ‘cos I didn’t know who was in Ghoul, and when I walked backstage I immediately saw Ross (Sewage) and Dino, and I’ve known those guys for years, from other bands. It was like, “Shit, you guys are on this tour!? Awesome.” Everything was starting off on the right foot. We met the GWAR guys, their crew – and the tour manager, Eddy, was super-cool. I first saw GWAR when I was like 14 or 15. It was definitely cool to go out with them ‘cos I hadn’t seen them for such a long time. We were the meat in a bloody sandwich between them and Ghoul.

Eric Hernandez, who used to be our second drummer, is playing bass for us on this tour. It’s kinda like an open-door policy with him; he’s going to school and we were kinda working it around the schedule so he could finish up college and play with us. But y’know, he is welcome to play with us when he can and when he wants to. It’s like on that level. Right now it’s working out for him and for us. He’s a good friend and great to tour with.

04-14 Corpus Christi, TX | House of Rock
Corpus Christi, I’d been there like once before, many years ago, and the show was pretty good. I don’t really have anything major to report. I don’t remember too much happening there, but we played, I got sick on a cold, second day of tour, and after this Corpus Christi show the cold was kicking my ass, then we had a day off to drive. I was kinda in a state of mucous and misery. I just needed sleep, water and no one to talk to me.

Phillip Cope and an Electrical Guitar electric guitar

04-16 Pensacola, FL | Vinyl Music Hall
I was looking forward to Pensacola. I planned to meet up with Kevin Burkett from Electrical Guitar Company. He and I had met at a Mastodon show in December, and we were talking about building a new guitar. Phillip [Cope, guitar] and I went to his workshop where they make all these badass guitars; he shows us around, all the machines, all the wood, all the pieces. It was cool to see how those guitars are made. We discussed my next custom guitar, which I am pretty excited about. Oh, you’ll just see it when it’s finished, but no it does not have a vibrato; I have a Fender Strat for that. But I am excited. We played around with some of the guitars he had there and then he and his wife came to the show, had dinner and hung out. That was definitely the highlight of Pensacola.

04-17 Orlando, FL | Beacham Theater
The weird town of Orlando! …but we have some friends from Savannah there, so they came to the show, and after the show we just had a big dinner, went over to their house. I had veal parmigiana, which was the highlight. And I had my own bed. See, that’s how exciting being on tour is; there’s nothing about the show, but I did have veal parmigiana. [That’s like Dave Witte] Yeah, he checks in with me all the time, “Do you know of any good beer places in Savannah.” It was either Orlando or the next show that there was a balcony so I could watch GWAR. They are so much fun. Towards the end of the tour I got shot in the face trying to get some pictures of Ghoul, blood, all over my jeans that I’d just bought that day… “But you didn’t get my camera! So it’s cool”; I played with a bloody face that day.

04-18 Jacksonville, FL | Freebird Live
I watched GWAR’s crew operate. Matt, who is a big part in making their costumes, he’s also a slave. I was just asking him questions about the costumes, man, it’s really self-contained: it’s really cool what they do. It is a music performance but very much a performance, a stage-show. You have to see them live [to understand them]. They are fun entertainment; the costumes, sense of humor is great, it’s good metal and people are there to have a good time. That’s why I liked their crowd; they were just getting drunk, there was blood everywhere… We played right by the beach, so I went to the beach, went sunbathing, went in the water and had beach drinks and it was pretty awesome. And after an afternoon of sunbathing and listening to music on the beach, we went in and played. I can’t really complain.

04-19 Asheville, NC | The Orange Peel
We stopped off in Savannah for a few hours to shower, drop off some laundry… For a few hours it was nice. The Orange Peel in Asheville is great. It is a great venue, and it is in a good location where you can kinda walk around and see some cool stuff. Asheville is just a beautiful, cool city. We got there early and met up with Kyle from Blackout Effectors. Phillip and I just walked over there and spent and hour just playing with some pedals. We each walked away with a couple of pedals, which is always a good feeling. I got a Crystal Dagger, which is a really cool octave fuzz and ring modulator, and I got a Twosome Dual Fuzz. They’re both super badass. The Orange Peel was great. We had some friends come round. Being from North Carolina I knew people from my hometown who live in Asheville. We played the show, and afterwards went to a dive bar where a couple punk bands were playing. On tour, I start out eating right, not drinking too much, taking my vitamins and by the time it gets to the end I’ll be eating any crap and it’s just game over.

04-20 N. Myrtle Beach, SC | House of Blues
Our set-up takes so long, and when we are doing these support tours, we just kinda knock out seven or eight songs and just keep it pretty straight and to the point. There’s only 30 to 45 minutes to play. Phillip has been using the theremin, but in this kind of set when there is less breathing time between songs it wasn’t as prominent as it is in our full set. We could play two different sets and sound totally different. We kept it short and sweet on this tour with the more aggressive stuff, although we were still considerably slower than the other bands. Myrtle Beach was great. I didn’t go to the beach, right by the club there was an alligator farm. I spent like two hours at this alligator farm looking at all these different alligators and crocodiles. They had these ancient turtles, bats, lemurs and all kinds of cool shit. A lot of us went over there. I held a baby alligator.

04-21 Baltimore, MD | Sonar
Yes, that’s totally the same venue as Maryland Death Fest. All of Baltimore is really bad, haha! You see some shit in Baltimore. It’s pretty sketchy. But that was a cool show. Some people who had saw us at MDF last year came to see us.

04-22 Columbus, OH | Newport Music Hall
Columbus was cool. That was, if I am not mistaken, in an old theatre place that was really cool. It was spectacular. Fuck, I can’t remember what happened there, except it was just rock and roll, playing guitar, drinking, hanging out.

04-23 Nashville, TN Marathon Music Works
Yeah, Nashville was cool! It was in this big kinda open-plan, I guess some sort of old warehouse that they’d renovated. My cousin lives there. I met up with my cousin for dinner, and that was cool, catching up, and all, but at the venue there was an arcade, with a bunch of arcade games that were free. I played arcade games for a good portion of that time, battling the guys in GWAR and Ghoul on Streetfighter. Basically, it was a lot of Streetfighter. I just mash the buttons! I’m a total button masher. You just need some super-basic moves like defense and jump, a special move and you’re golden. That might have been the Jägermeister night. I ended up with lots of bruises the next day. I was getting pretty surly, and the singer for Legacy of Disorder is this big muscly guy, so I was practicing my punches on him. We were both bruised; I had bruises on my fist; he had bruises on his ribs.

04-25 Buffalo, NY | The Town Ballroom
We hadn’t been there in a really long time, a long time. That was probably my favorite show of the tour; the energy was really good. There were lots of Kylesa fans there who either hadn’t seen us before or hadn’t seen us in a really long time. That was a fun show. We’d added a song to the set ‘cos we had a bit more time but we kept it the same pretty much every night. I feel sometimes like we play the same stuff too much and I wanna play just some of our other material to switch it up. But then there are the songs I always enjoy playing. I mean, I always enjoy playing everything or I would switch it up….

04-26 Poughkeepsie, NY | The Chance
I’ve never been there before. You missed off our day off. That was the mall day. Ross was looking for a pair of skeleton gloves, couldn’t find any, and I got a pair of acid-wash jeans that were properly destroyed with Ghoul blood. Then we watched the fairly entertaining Cabin in the Woods, which for a day-off matinee was pretty entertaining. Yeah, the day at the mall was kinda funny. Poughkeepsie was cold. I walked about town and it just seemed like a depressed area, not much to write home about. The crowd in a major city is going to be much different to the crowd in a smaller city. The average GWAR fan? Just super-fans, young and old, it’s a good mix of people who are just ready to have a good time and get bloodied. If you’re into comic books, sci-fi, video games and metal, GWAR is a perfect band for you. It’s got all of those elements. It’s perfect.

04-27 Hampton Beach, NH | Wally’s Pub
Although it was pretty chilly, it was beautiful on the beach. There was a masseuse there too. We walked about the arcade, and it was weird; you could totally tell that Hampton Beach was a seasonal town and it hadn’t quite opened up for the season yet. It was like all boarded up shops everywhere, even the McDonald’s was boarded up, ATMs were boarded up; it looked deserted, but the arcade was open and the beach was cool. We played a lot of arcade games. I had to say to the guys, “Man, this tour is great; there is like activities at every show!”

04-28 Allentown, PA | Crocodile Rock
I guess this is another small town, a college town, and it kinda seemed like I was in a time-warp, in the city that America forgot. It was pretty strange. I took some photographs there just ‘cos it was so desolate. That was the last show. It was fun. I watched GWAR’s set and went into the Maggot. There’s like this huge maggot thing that the slaves feed at the end of the set. They fed me to the Maggot.

**Kylesa “Spiral Shadow” is out now. Buy it here**

Yes, we know this about the laziest kind of post we can throw on yon Deciblog, but good christ we could not pass up the opportunity to share these. The simplest search on Youtube netted us some gems that 1) we could not stop watching and 2) were so bizarre as to make us wonder what the hell is wrong with people. Seriously. There must be some study done somewhere that draws the connection between the shit people decide to post on Youtube and the overall mental health and sanity of society. Don’t get us wrong, we’re GLAD that people are so narcissistic, simply for the comedic value, but we are a little disturbed.

So, if like us, you love beer and you love metal, you will love these beer and metal-themed Youtube vids.

We gotta start off with “The Metal MadmanTM” (yes he has trademarked his moniker, so step-off, bitches) who not only gives us some sweet air drumming to Iron Saviour, he chugs a beer in seconds flat. That’s his shtik apparently. And check out the sparring that ensues in the comments section of his vids.

Muppets playing metal is of course hilarious, but if you add beer—in this case Korpiklaani’s “Beer Beer”—it’s three times the funny.

While we love this guy’s taste in music, his “beer review” is lacking in detail. Unless of course, you consider “I’ve had worse, that’s for sure,” useful. He does give his frosty Holsten Festbock an 8 out of 10, then goes on to crank up the Sabbath for some killer headbanging at the 3-minute mark.

And now a commercial message from Pure Blonde Beer.

We had to add one more appearance from The Metal Madman who in this post shouts down “crybabies, pussy motherfuckers and posers,” and proves once and for all that he is not fakin’, as he chugs a Smuttynose IPA from his frosty Harpoon IPA glass.

We could have done a whole post on extreme bands doing beer-related tunes, but this kick ass track from Gang Green, L.D.S.B. (Let’s Drink Some Beer) says it all in 1:12.

Back in April an itsy bitsy salmonella swaddled spicy tuna roll tried it’s damnedest to throw a monkey wrench into self-described “party death metal rockers” Attila’s latest North American tour — prophetically dubbed “The Sick Tour” — but stricken frontman Chris Fronzak refused to sis out, instead performing through what he describes as “gut wrenching stomach cramps and overall pain — plus a bunch of other bullshit.”

Fronzak survived, but when the happy go lucky thrasher received his invoice for treatment — hashtag #holyshit — “Fronzilla” decided to lawyer up and sue the company whose questionable quality control practices put the icky foulness into the food supply. Or, as Fronzak’s attorney William Marler prefers to put it, “Mr. Fronzak’s favorite food was sushi and he has eaten it frequently for years without issue. When he sat down to eat a tuna roll, he was expecting to enjoy a few bites of comfort food while on the road with his band. What he did not expect was to become dangerously ill — taking on heavy financial strain and jeopardizing both his health and his tour.”

Decibel caught up with Fronzak yesterday to see how the post spicy tuna roll era is treating him and his lawyer.

Moon Marine has recalled 58,828 pounds of frozen Nakacochi Scrape, which is believed to be the source of the salmonella outbreak you got caught up in. If you had known your spicy tuna roll was made out of something called “Nakaochi Scrape” would you still have eaten it?

Fuck no. That shit’s so gross. I had no idea whatsoever. It amazes me how shitty food quality can be. You’d think that eating something expensive like sushi would mean better quality food…Sike. The food industry is all about cutting corners. Wait, so we can just grind up dirty fish bones and call it meat? Word let’s do it!!!!!

So…it’s a fairly badass move to continue a tour when stricken with severe salmonella. What were those performances like for you? Was there any particular point when you thought you might not be able to soldier on?

It was total hell. I could barely get out of bed without feeling like shit so you can imagine how i felt on stage. Quitting was never an option. Even if I had broken a bone or lost a limb, I’d still pull my gimp-ass on stage and play. I’d never let our fans down like that.

Do you think the crowds recognized something was off or did they just assume the wrenching performances suggested you were really feeling it that night?

Haha! to be honest I don’t even think many people noticed. Everyone said the performances were great even though I was sick. So as long as everyone isn’t lying I think I did okay…Like I said, quitting isn’t an option with Attila. The show must go on.

Did any Attila songs take on a deeper or different meaning during these shows? “Make it Sick” perhaps?

Haha! Not really. The only thing I thought during shows was, “Fuck, I want this set to be over soon. I feel like death.”

Your medical bills were pretty outrageous. Did you suffer a similar sort of sticker shock? What was going through your mind at that moment?

When I first saw my medical bill, my initial thought was, “FUCK NO, I’M NOT PAYING THIS!” and then I laughed a little. After the shock set in, I realized I had to do SOMETHING to cover it.

You were one of many who took ill in this outbreak, and are one of the first to sue. When did you decide this needed to be raised the level of civil litigation?

Once I read about the outbreak and got my medical bill, I decided to file a lawsuit. I never pictured myself as one to file a lawsuit, but this was just outrageous. People shouldn’t have to question the food they consume. I put so much trust in restaurants to serve me something that won’t make me violently ill. The fact that this company sent out infected tuna “scrape” of the lowest quality known to man shocks me. I NEVER get sick, and all the sudden I was the sickest I’ve ever been in my entire life. I suffered enough for those two weeks, they should at least cover my hospital visit…

Now that you’ve recovered, do you have more of an appreciation for performing healthy?

YES. Never take good health for granted. Stay healthy!

This really does put a spotlight on the sometimes precarious life of a touring metal band. Do you have any suggestions for other metal road dogs who get ill on tour?

Not really. Just watch what you eat. Hospitals are expensive as fuck and most musicians aren’t offered insurance like a typical working class person. You can get insurance on your own but that’s expensive as fuck too. Especially for someone like me who hasn’t been sick in over 10 years — until this shit.

Will the next Attila record be the “Salmonella Album”?

Hahahaha! Sure!

Now that you’ve recuperated, what’s next for Attila?

We are on the all stars tour this summer so come check us out on that! Our fall plans are HUGE but I’m not allowed to tell you about that just yet… Besides that, we’re starting the writing process for our next album, and it’s going to be the heaviest album we’ve ever put out!

For more information follow Attila on Facebook and/or Fronzak on Twitter.

It’s competition time, folks, and courtesy of the good folk at Metal Blade we have a selection of swag to give away, on the condition that you A) answer the question correctly and B) are lucky enough to be drawn out of our moth-balled and dandruff-flecked Six Feet Under beanie. Now, we were going to have some comely wench in a torn Pantera t-shirt exhibiting the prize in the fashion of an 80s game show but, sadly, they’re all under contract to Revolver, so you’re going to have to make do with a list, and the expertly shot photograph above.

THE PRIZE: 1 x Cannibal Corpse Torture CD, 1 x Cannibal Corpse Torture figurine, an Amon Amarth t-shirt for unseasonably Nordic U.S. summers, and a t-shirt from that superlative modern beat combo, the Black Dahlia Murder.

THE QUESTION: Six Feet Under and former Cannibal Corpse vocalist Chris Barnes is a dog owner: which gnarly breed of dog does he have?
A) Doberman
B) Labrador
C) Lhaso Apso
D) Irish Setter

Send your answers to: metalblade@decibelmagazine.com
Closing date for entries is 31st May 2012. Winners will be notified by Decibel’s on-call Corpsegrinder lookalike in full Viking garb (this maven of Amon Amarth cosplay is available for children’s parties) shouting through your window. Or email, whichever’s to hand.

Of course, given the cruel nature of competition, there can only be one winner. All those unlucky enough to miss out can buy Cannibal Corpse, the Black Dahlia Murder, Amon Amarth ephemera and more at the Metal Blade webstore, just click HERE.

Terms and conditions probably don’t apply. Umm, we don’t use your email address for anything (who would do such a thing?). Just remember to specify which size of t-shirt you need.

Good luck, etc…

You stepped up with more songs on Torture than on previous albums. Why is that?
Rob Barrett: The original plan was that each of us to write four or five songs, but we decided to stop writing several weeks before going into the studio to concentrate on the 12 songs that were already written. I was starting up on a 4th song, but it seemed best not to rush anything since we already had enough material for the album. I’m writing more now because it provides more variety and diversity on the overall sound of the album if the three of us are writing more evenly.

Which of the songs that you wrote is your favorite and why?
Rob Barrett: I’d say “Caged…Contorted” because Paul and I spent a lot of time working on the opening riff and the arrangement of the song is quite memorable in my opinion. I also think the lyrics are pretty graphic to the point where you can envision exactly what’s going on in the story.

How do you separate songs from Evisceration Plague and Torture?
Rob Barrett: I think overall, Paul’s drumming is much more busy on Torture than Evisceration Plague. A lot more drum rolls and busy sounding stuff going on with the drums. I’m convinced that it’s his best recording performance to date. He spent a lot of time practicing by himself this time around tightening up all the little parts that were giving him problems at first, so he was very prepared for the studio and even nailed a song or two in one take. Plus, I think there are more memorable songs this time around as well.

Who do you think Cannibal Corpse are identity-wise at this point?
Rob Barrett: I think we’re a non-compromising death metal band that has been able to stay vital in a scene where trends come and go every few years or so. Our fanbase has an age range that is unmatched by anyone in this genre proving that we’re able to keep up with the times without losing our own identity.

When I spoke with Alex [Webster; bass], he made it a point to discuss diversity and variety. Do you think Torture is your most diverse album to date? Why is that?
Rob Barrett: I think it definitely is because the songwriting has been split up more evenly this time around which automatically provides more variety. Plus it seems like we’re all on the same page more than ever before when it comes to writing at this point. Knowing each others’ strengths and weaknesses to be able to write material that we can execute live as well.

Why do you think Cannibal Corpse has lasted this long where others have not?
Rob Barrett: I think we’ve lasted this long because we’ve stuck to the original plan without drastically changing our style too much. A lot of bands move on and try to do different things musically and that will almost always alienate a good percentage of your fanbase. It seems that we’ve gained a lot of respect by sticking with our style instead of putting something out that isn’t in the ‘pure death metal’ realm.

Do you think death metal has room to grow? Given it’s around 26 years old? Give or take a few years, of course.
Rob Barrett: Absolutely! I’m sure you’ve noticed that a lot of ‘radio’ bands have deep, gutteral vocals in their songs nowadays and the main gripe that a lot of people have had with death metal is the vocals. I can’t even count how many times I’ve heard someone say, “Man, I think the music is killer but I just can’t get past those vocals!” It seems like the vocals are slowly but surely becoming more acceptable.

Describe your time at Sonic Ranch? Alex said it was a bit tense due to guitars not staying in tune.
Rob Barrett: I was very excited to go there after hearing about it from the guys and seeing footage there from The Wretched Spawn album. It’s out in the middle of nowhere with no distractions, so all of your focus is on the recording. Yes, we did have some stressful days in there when we weren’t getting anything tracked at all for several days due to a string of events. I think it started with one of Erik Rutan’s Tannoy monitors getting a speaker blown. Then when the replacement speaker showed up, it didn’t work so we lost a few days there. Then when we started getting to tracking the guitars were acting up and not staying in tune. Pat was in there taking a drill to his guitars to fix the problem. Then by the time we were ready to track with one of my guitars, we go into the studio the next day ready to track and the neck on my new guitar snapped all by itself! So yeah, after all these things happening one after another it seemed like we would never be able to get the record done in time, but we fought through all the bad shit and found a way to get it done. Overall, it was still a great experience aside from the delays that we had and I’d love to go back again.

Controversy has always followed Cannibal Corpse. Why you think that is?
Rob Barrett: I think it’s mostly because of the imagery that we have. The artwork and the lyrical content are the culprits for all the controversy. For us we’re more concerned about the music first though. The imagery and lyrics are secondary to me but we are very adamant about having all of that fit the music which is dark and aggressive. I’ve always found it strange how movies showing excessive violence are more acceptable than certain forms of music that contain violent lyrics.

Zombies are big part of Cannibal Corpse. Why do you think zombies have endured and, more recently, entered mainstream culture?
Rob Barrett: I think that a large portion of society has a morbid fascination with this lawless, mayhemic sort of ‘walking dead’ world where you have to scavenge to survive and most of the population are zombies. People watch horror flicks, go in haunted houses, jump outta planes, go on roller coasters all that kinda stuff because they like the rush of getting a little scared sometimes.

** Decibel #90, our “zombie apocalypse” issue, is available HERE. The full Cannibal Corpse story, replete with our boys of gore in full-on zombie kill mode, is neater than Romero’s love of the film, The Brothers Karamazov.