Fear, Emptiness, Decibel: Stream the New Cathedral Flexi Disc!

Before there were blogs there were these things called magazines, and the only metal magazine we still get excited about reading every month is Decibel. Here’s managing editor Andrew Bonazelli…

See this fucking thing? We’ve already debated this way too much internally and otherwise, but it’s for sure the worst Decibel cover of all time. Now, I’m here to hype our shit, not methodically pick us to death (that’s your job), so I’m not gonna go over everything that’s wrong with it (i.e., literally everything). But those of you who own this gem can always ignore the cover and find some keepers—no, I don’t mean whatever that Bleeding Through feature is, with the hilarious pull quote. I’m talking about Cathedral’s Hall of Fame for Forest of Equilibrium.

J. Bennett wrote up the Coventry doom institution’s 1991 breakthrough, asking about everything from the iconic flute intro to the obvious aesthetic contrasts to Lee Dorrian’s prior kinda-sorta-important engagement, Napalm Death. Long story short, we’ve been Cathedral junkies since the beginning, and upon the news of their imminent retirement this spring via The Last Spire, we had to get our claws in the corpse first. Hence, we bring you the first new Cathedral jam in three years, via our Flexi Series!

Not sure if “Vengeance of the Blind Dead” is a nod to the cult Amando de Ossorio film series we profiled in the print edition, but the song—which will not appear on The Last Spire—is the recording debut of Repulsion veteran Scott Carlson on bass. “Vengeance of the Blind Dead” is served cold, metallic gold on black, and is available in extremely limited quantities right here. Bundle up in your horrifically backpatched jeans jacket and take a listen here.

The March 2013 issue of Decibel also features Mike Patton, Voivod, Soilwork, and a Slayer Hall of Fame, and can be ordered here. But why not just get a full subscription to ensure that you never miss an issue?