I Have Also Contributed Chapters to These Books/Anthologies

 Extremity Retained: Notes From the Death Metal Underground is a sincere and exhaustive contribution to the oral history of death metal music and culture. The outcome of three years of research and interviews, Extremity Retained intends to capture the experience and ethos of the international death metal scene from its origins in the late 1980s, through the successive incarnations and evolutions that made it the subcultural force it is today. Comprised entirely of first-hand stories, anecdotes and memories, the book reflects on such diverse areas as the early fanzine and tape trading culture, regional ‘scene’ reports, death metal performance and technique, the recording process, as well as life on tour, all in an effort to identify the vitality and unity that gives the underground its enduring spirit. Ultimately, the idea is to explore the scene through the voices of those who helped create it, in order to understand better how the death metal underground ‘worked’ in its early incarnations, how it has evolved, and where it is going. Featuring original cover and section art by Matt “Putrid Gore” Carr, incidental art by Gary Ronaldson, with design and typography from Tilmann Benninghaus and title page by Timo Ketola.

 The extended play recording. Not quite an album. More than a single. And not only an artifact of the vinyl era, — the EP has survived and even thrived at every turn of the music industry’s evolution, from vinyl to tape to CD to stream. This definitive book unearths the EP’s origins, history and cultural impact and enlists nearly 50 music-industry veterans (musicians, scribes, producers, executives, superfans) to create a list of the 200 Best EPs ever recorded and shapes these opinions into a book that seeks to trace the arc of the EP’s development and, in so doing, chart the history of the music industry writ large.

You’ve yelled at for us for the past eight years, so are we proud—and slightly relieved—to finally add The Decibel Hall of Fame Anthology: Volume I to the Decibel Books library! Volume I includes 25 of our best Hall of Fame stories from our landmark monthly series of artist interviews discussing the making of their classic extreme music albums. Collect all four volumes and crush your bookshelves under the weight the heaviest metal ever! 384 pages, hardcover.

The complete list of 25 Hall of Fame features is below:

Black Sabbath, Heaven and Hell (1980)

Diamond Head, Lightning to the Nations (1980)

Bad Brains, Bad Brains (1982)

Celtic Frost, Morbid Tales (1984)

Slayer, Reign in Blood (1986)

Napalm Death, Scum (1987)

Morbid Angel, Altars of Madness (1989)

Repulsion, Horrified (1989)

Obituary, Cause of Death (1990)

Entombed, Left Hand Path (1990)

Paradise Lost, Gothic (1991)

Carcass, Necroticism - Descanting the Insalubrious (1991)

Cannibal Corpse, Tomb of the Mutilated (1992)

Eyehategod, Take as Needed for Pain (1993)

Darkthrone, Transilvanian Hunger (1994)

Emperor, In the Nightside Eclipse (1994)

Kyuss, Welcome to Sky Valley (1994)

Monster Magnet, Dopes to Infinity (1995)

Opeth, Orchid (1995)

Down, NOLA (1995)

At the Gates, Slaughter of the Soul (1995)

Sleep, Jerusalem (1998)

The Dillinger Escape Plan, Calculating Infinity (1999)

Botch, We Are the Romans (1999)

Converge, Jane Doe (2001)

It's completely sold out. It doesn't matter what's in it.

 Decibel Books is proud to announce the publication of The Decibel Hall of Fame Anthology: Volume III. Our latest limited edition, webstore exclusive includes 25 more Hall of Fame stories from our revered monthly series of artist interviews on the making of their classic extreme music albums.

In addition to reintroducing many Hall of Fame pieces from long out-of-print issues of Decibel, The Decibel Hall of Fame Anthology: Volume III also includes a previously unreleased bonus feature on the making of Bloodbath’s death metal classic Nightmares Made Flesh. 364 pages, hardcover.

The complete list of 25 Hall of Fame features is below:

Scorpions - In Trance (1975) 
Judas Priest - Stained Class (1978) 
Satan - Court in the Act (1983) 
Hellhammer - Apocalyptic Raids (1984) 
Kreator - Pleasure to Kill (1986) 
King Diamond - Abigail (1987) 
Candlemass - Nightfall (1987) 
Napalm Death - From Enslavement to Obliteration (1988) 
Tormentor  - Anno Domini (1989) 
Judge - Bringin' it Down (1989) 
Dismember - Like An Ever Flowing Stream (1991) 
Ripping Corpse - Dreaming With the Dead (1991) 
Entombed - Clandestine (1991) 
Cynic - Focus (1993) 
My Dying Bride - Turn Loose the Swans (1993) 
Carcass - Heartwork (1993) 
Cradle of Filth - The Principle of Evil Made Flesh (1994) 
Deadguy - Fixation on a Co-Worker (1995) 
Cryptopsy - None So Vile (1996) 
Emperor - Anthems to the Welkin at Dusk (1997) 
Refused - The Shape of Punk to Come (1998) 
Opeth - Blackwater Park (2001) 
Watain - Casus Luciferi (2003) 
Mastodon - Leviathan (2004) 
Bloodbath - Nightmares Made Flesh (2004)

PURCHASE

 The Decibel Hall of Fame Anthology: Volume IV, our latest limited edition, webstore exclusive title, includes 25 more Hall of Fame stories from our landmark monthly series of artist interviews discussing the making of their classic extreme music albums.

In addition to reintroducing and expanding many Hall of Fame pieces from long out-of-print issues of Decibel, The Decibel Hall of Fame Anthology: Volume IV also includes a previously unreleased bonus feature on the making of Triptykon's earth-shaking debut Eparistera Daimones. 352 pages, hardcover.

The complete list of 25 Hall of Fame features is below:

Angel Witch – Angel Witch (1980) 
Black Sabbath – Mob Rules (1981) 
Tank – Filth Hounds of Hades (1982) 
Trouble – Psalm 9 (1984) 
Dead Kennedys – Frankenchrist (1985) 
Anthrax – Among the Living (1987) 
Soundgarden – Ultramega OK (1988) 
Ministry – The Mind Is a Terrible Thing to Taste (1989) 
Judas Priest – Painkiller (1990) 
Exhorder – Slaughter in the Vatican (1990) 
Autopsy – Mental Funeral (1991) 
Cathedral – Forest of Equilibrium (1991) 
Suffocation – Effigy of the Forgotten (1991) 
L7 – Bricks Are Heavy (1992) 
Emperor/Enslaved – Split (1993) 
Cannibal Corpse – The Bleeding (1994) 
Satyricon – Nemesis Divina (1996) 
Deceased – Fearless Undead Machines (1997) 
Thorr’s Hammer – Dommedagsnatt (1998) 
Agalloch – The Mantle (2002) 
Converge – You Fail Me (2004) 
The Red Chord – Clients (2005)
Wolves in the Throne Room – Two Hunters (2007) 
Triptykon – Eparistera Daimones (2010) 
Deafheaven – Sunbather (2013)

PURCHASE