The 2025 Decibel Magazine Tour
It’s late March 2025, and the Decibel Magazine tour presently rages forth across North America. This annual tour has been going for over a decade, featuring notable metal heavy hitters such as Cannibal Corpse, Kreator, Obituary, Carcass, Morbid Angel, and Immolation. This year’s edition is headlined by black metal forefathers Mayhem, with support from Mortiis, Imperial Triumphant, and New Skeletal Faces. I headed to House of Blues Chicago on March 20th to catch this stylistically varied and imposing lineup for an evening of sonic pandemonium.
New Skeletal Faces
First on the bill was San Diego’s New Skeletal Faces, recently signed to Peaceville Records. Musically their style is pretty firmly rooted in deathrock with some goth influence, while the shrieking vocal delivery pushes the sound a bit more toward black metal. Fans of projects like Fields of the Nephilim and Alien Sex Fiend who want something more metallic should check out New Skeletal Faces. They played a thirty-ish minute set consisting of catchy and straightforward song structures, and did an adept job of warming up a crowd of metalheads eager to see Mayhem.
Imperial Triumphant
Second to hit the stage was New York City’s Imperial Triumphant. Cloaked, masked, and gilded, the band played their brand of black metal: an avant-garde, abstract, jazzy concoction thematically centered around New York City as the embodiment of full-tilt capitalism. Along with bands like Oranssi Pazuzu, they’ve been a breath of fresh air in the metal world. The crowd stayed very engaged for the duration of their set, glued to the Eyes Wide Shut-like imagery and seasick rhythms. Imperial Triumphant also just released their latest album, Goldstar, which has been received with immediate acclaim.
Mortiis
The third act was Norwegian dark electronics purveyor Mortiis. The inclusion of Mortiis was a different approach for a metal tour; rather than bludgeoning the crowd with another death or black metal act, this set added a cinematic flourish to the evening. Donning his trademark goblin mask, Mortiis and his accompanying drummer played the early 90s output, including tracks from Født Til Å Herske and Ånden Som Gjorde Opprør, steeping the venue in synths that brought to mind enchanted forests and medieval magic, and providing some time to brace for what would come…
Mayhem
Storied black metal pioneers Mayhem were this year’s tour headliner, and played what may be their most pulverizing set ever. The band’s 40th anniversary U.S. tour in 2024 had to be canceled due to medical emergency, so the evening’s audience got to experience a massive set that spanned their entire catalog. The band jumped right in with 2019 tracks Malum and Bad Blood, not relinquishing their grip on the crowd as they ventured backward through past songs, playing at inhuman speeds. If there is a common theme among the tour’s bands, it’s that each delivers its own brand of theatrics – projected visuals filled a large backdrop and frontman Attila Csihar put on attire for each era of the band as the night progressed. After what seemed like an evening of total annihilation, the percussive sounds of Silvester Anfang commenced, letting the audience know that there would be no slowing down whatsoever. Deathcrush and Chainsaw Gutsfuck soon followed, bringing the crowd to a frenzy. This is not a tour to miss – Mayhem proved once again that they are the eminent black metal band.
