Decibel Magazine’s newfangled issue focal points on Nails

July will bring us a fresh, contemporary issue of Decibel Magazine which lineaments Californian-based power violence Nails as the front cover. Nevertheless, the June 2016 edition, most respectively the #140 issue of this somehow extreme music publication, also merits some exceptional attention as it highlights the Sherbrooke, Quebec-based, Canadian technical death metal act, Gorguts.

Gorguts is a legendary old-school act constituted in 1989 which until date, remains with one single permanent musician, Luc Lemay. Has a musician and aloof from Gorguts, he was also committed to Negativa during 1994 until it met its demise, in 2010. Negativa was an avant-garde technical death metal that also held musicians from Ion Dissonance, Quo Vadis, and Augury.

Collectively, they released their first three-song recording, a self-titled EP release limited to one thousand copies. ‘Negativa’ was released in November 2006 via Prodisk Records, and was recorded at Wild Studios by Pierre Rémillard (which is a former musician of Obliveon, a Canadian progressive thrash metal act endowed in 1987 and later dissected in 2002), which leads to their first live performance which took place at Cafe Chaos on November 12th, 2006.

Besides Gorguts, Decibel Magazine June edition also features United States stoners Mastodon, post-metallers Neurosis (not to be confused with Colombian name usurpers), thrash metallers Death Angel, and others. It also carries a Flexi Disc featuring legendary Dutch death metal act, Asphyx.

In April 2016, the wrecking crew trio Nails announced the upcoming release of their third full-length studio album, titled ‘You Will Never Be One Of Us’, which is tentatively due for release on July 17th, through now multinational record company, Nuclear Blast Records. Recorded, and mastered by the United States producer Kurt Ballou, best known as the guitar player from Massachusetts-based hardcore-punks Converge and industrial post-rock drone oriented Supermachiner, last which was intended as a side project of Kurt Ballou alongside with singer and songwriter Jacob Bannon, also from Converge, the forthcoming new album promises to bring some flammable aggressiveness.

1. You Will Never Be One Of Us
2. Friend To All
3. Made To Make You Fall
4. Life Is A Death Sentence
5. Violence Is Forever
6. Savage Intolerance
7. In Pain
8. Parasite
9. Into Quietus
10. They Come Crawling Back

‘You Will Never Be One Of Us’ features artwork from Jef Whitehead of Leviathan, an ambient black metal solo project that started in 1998.

In which regards to the July edition of Decibel Magazine, it features as aforementioned said, Nails as the highlight, plus the Hall of Fame special column featuring Norwegian progressive black metal act Emperor, Swedish melodramatic and profound act Katatonia, both United Kingdom-based doomsters My Dying Bride and punk, hardcore fusionists, Discharge. Its pages also feature many other acts, lately under the spotlight, as well as a limited edition of a Flexi Disc, starring Ghoul.

Personally speaking, I would be more interested in reading their special column ‘The Making of Emperor’s Anthems to the Welkin at Dusk,’ due to my interest linked to the act, Emperor, and most freshly my increasing attention to Ihsahn solo releases. As admittedly, nowadays most of the contemporary releases handout with a tasteless ostentation, and very few are those that apprehend a second, or third listen. I still, however, admire the likes of old-school death metal. Nevertheless, the amount of new releases that pretty much resounds to the same aphorisms does not appeal my eagerness. Perhaps my musical liking became more refined, to usher progressive acts with feverishness other than the boredom of rhythmic sections fused with typical vocal dexterity.

Nails freshest video and also the title track for ‘You Will Never Be One Of Us,’ which I must say reverberates anyhow to Belgian death metallers Aborted and United Kingdom meat grinders Napalm Death in a savage wicked manner, achieved by hostility and an abrasive outburst of rhythmic segments, even if abruptly distorted and malicious, it is forceful and cupped with wrath.

[blockquote cite=”Todd Jones”]’You Will Never Be One Of Us’ is about the pain and the pride that goes into being involved in hardcore/punk/metal unconditionally… being a lifer. It is a knife to the throat of the people who come and liter their bullshit and impose on everyone for their own selfish agenda. It is for everyone who dedicates themselves to their craft… their music… their passion… whatever the fuck it is, and seeing someone come along and attach themselves to what you do/love and abuse it, with no regard or respect for it. This song is not for Nails, but for all of us.[/blockquote]

The video was produced by Jimmy Hubbard, a New York-based photographer, director, producer and photo editor specializing in music, editorial and advertising.

[blockquote cite=”Todd Jones”]We believe this video not only stands out as far as quality and expression, but represents us in the best possible way that a music video could. It conveys the emotions that you might experience from us if you come to one of our shows. This video shows what we are, doing what we do in this band. No pretense, no overblown image, no bullshit, no gimmicks, no artificial/cheap attention grab. This video is Nails. Fucking period.[/blockquote]

During the last twosome years, there are fewer publications regarding the musical scene that still seizes my awareness, and older publications somehow appear to have dissipated their driven force and became approximately more relevant to commercial trends other than exploring the dark side of heavy metal, for instance. As for you, is it monthly printed publications that still make part of your purchases? If so, which ones do you read the most and why? How do you see printed publications versus digital publications nowadays?