 | |
 December 2006 issue withConverge | |
| Editor-in-chief | Albert Mudrian |
|---|---|
| Categories | Music |
| Frequency | Monthly |
| Publisher | Alex Mulcahy |
| First issue | October 2004 (2004-10) |
| Company | Red Flag Media Inc. |
| Country | United States |
| Based in | Philadelphia,Pennsylvania |
| Language | English |
| Website | decibelmagazine |
| ISSN | 1557-2137 |
Decibel is a monthlyheavy metal magazine published by thePhiladelphia-based Red Flag Media since September 2004. It is currently the only monthly metal music magazine published in North America.[1][2] Its sections include Upfront, Features, Reviews, Guest Columns and the Decibel Hall of Fame. The magazine's tag-line is currently "Extremely Extreme" (previously "The New Noise"); the editor-in-chief is Albert Mudrian.[3]
Decibel was first conceived in late 2003 by journalist Albert Mudrian (born 1975),[4] around the time he was finishing his bookChoosing Death: The Improbable History of Death Metal & Grindcore (2004).[5] Mudrian had previously written in a number of magazines published by thePhiladelphia-based Red Flag Media, who he joined in 1997,[6] and felt that there was "a market in the United States for a metal magazine that covered extreme music the way that magazines likeSpin used to cover pop music and culture".[5] He brainstormed some ideas for the magazine, including its name, with formerTerrorizer editor Nick Terry (who Mudrian first contacted in 2002 to write the foreword forChoosing Death).[5] The magazine's original title wasPowertrip (afterMonster Magnet'ssong and album); Terry pushed for naming itSabotage (after theBeastie Boyssong), though his idea was scrapped in light of theSeptember 11 attacks.[5] Mudrian and writer Nick Green citedTerrorizer as an influence onDecibel's content and editorial style, although Mudrian felt that overall it drew more from his previous publications for Red Flag Media.[7] Terry also felt thatAlternative Press was "a possible deep-background influence" on the magazine and some of its writers.[7]
Decibel was officially launched in July 2004, with its initial lineup of journalists including Terry, Aaron Burgess, Iann Robinson and Kevin Stewart-Panko.[8] The magazine's first issue, featuringThe Dillinger Escape Plan on the cover, was published on September 4, 2004,[9] with an initial circulation of 30,000 copies.[8] In December, the Dillinger Escape Plan's second albumMiss Machine was crowned "Album of the Year" for 2004 in the magazine's first ever critics' poll.[10]
On August 31, 2024, Decibel will hold a 20th Anniversary Show at theBrooklyn Bowl in Philadelphia, featuringAutopsy,Horrendous,Immolation,Krieg, Rid of Me, Deathevokation, Ecdysis and Crypt Sermon.[2]
Each issue ofDecibel features an article dubbed the Hall of Fame which pays tribute to a significant album in the history of heavy metal music. All contributing band members to the specific album must be alive at the time of interviewing.[11]
In 2009, 25 of the Hall of Fame entries were used as the basis for the bookPrecious Metal: Decibel Presents the Stories Behind 25 Extreme Metal Masterpieces released throughDa Capo Press.[11] The book also includes previously unreleased interview questions that were left out of the magazine articles, and a full piece onDarkthrone'sTransilvanian Hunger that was never published in a magazine due to its length.[12]
In November 2010, the magazine announced the launch of the monthlyDecibel Flexi Series. Beginning with the January 2011 issue (#75), the magazine now includes a limited vinylflexi disc bound into the magazine each month available exclusively to its subscribers.[13]
Beginning in 2012,Decibel has put on an annual tour in the US and Canada. According to metal blogNo Clean Singing, typically the tour is headlined by a seasoneddeath metal orblack metal band and includes three supporting acts: a "hard-touring band with a dependable legion of fans"; a "critical darling band in search of a wider audience, one thatDecibel Magazine has put a lot of page space into supporting"; and a "pit-friendly band with connections to the metal underground, one early in their career and sporting a charismatic frontman". Some dates of the tour also include local openers.[14]
Decibel Tour 2012
-Behemoth-Watain- The Devils Blood-In Solitude
Decibel Tour 2013
-Cannibal Corpse-Napalm Death-Immolation
Rotating Openers-Magrudergrind- Cretin-Beyond Creation
Decibel Tour 2014
-Carcass-The Black Dahlia Murder-Gorguts- Noisem
Decibel 2015
-At The Gates-Converge-Pallbearer-Vallenfyre
Decibel Tour 2016
-Abbath-High On Fire-Skeletonwitch-Tribulation
Decibel Tour 2017
-Kreator-Obituary-Midnight-Horrendous
Decibel Tour 2018
-Enslaved-Wolves In The Throne Room-Myrkur-Khemmis
Decibel Tour 2019
-Cannibal Corpse (Feb 17-Mar 7)-Morbid Angel-Immolation (Mar 8-Mar 14)- Necrot-Blood Incantation
Decibel Tour 2020 (CANCELED DUE TO COVID-19)
-Mayhem-Abbath-Gatecreeper-Idle Hands
Decibel Tour 2022
-Obituary-Municipal Waste-Gatecreeper-Enforced- Spirit World
Decibel Tour 2023
-Dark Funeral-Cattle Decapitation- 200 Stab Wounds-Blackbraid
Decibel Tour 2024
-Hulder- Devil Master-Worm- Necrofier
Decibel Tour 2025
-Mayhem-Mortiis-Imperial Triumphant- New Skeletal Faces
