| Editor-in-chief | Albert Mudrian |
|---|---|
| Categories | Music |
| Frequency | Monthly |
| Publisher | Alex Mulcahy |
| First issue | October 2004 |
| Company | Red Flag Media Inc. |
| Country | United States |
| Based in | Philadelphia, Pennsylvania |
| Language | English |
| Website | decibelmagazine.com |
| ISSN | 1557-2137 |
Decibel is a monthly heavy metal and extreme music magazine published by the Philadelphia-based Red Flag Media. Since October 2004, Decibel has featured a plethora of extreme metal bands and musicians. Its sections include Upfront, Features, Reviews, Guest Columns and the Decibel Hall of Fame.[1] The magazine's tag-line is currently "Extremely Extreme" (previously "The New Noise").
An excerpt from Decibel Magazine's mission statement reads,
"Decibel Magazine is founded upon a steadfast commitment to quality, cutting-edge coverage of every subgenre under the expanding umbrella of extreme music. Examining the topic from the same professional perspective that Spin and Rolling Stone provide for mainstream rock music, Decibel has assembled the finest professional extreme music journalists in the world. The glossy full-color monthly will rival any of its European counterparts, providing American metal, hardcore and extreme rock fans with insightful interviews, reviews, news, and a myriad of special features they won't find anywhere else."[2]
Contents |
Each issue of Decibel features an article dubbed the Hall of Fame which pays tribute to a significant album in the history of heavy metal music. The feature is usually very lengthy and in depth consisting of interviews, photographs and information. In order to be selected for the Hall of Fame, all contributing band members to the specific album must be alive at the time of interviewing.[3]
In 2009, 25 of the Hall of Fame entries were used as the basis for the book Precious Metal: Decibel Presents the Stories Behind 25 Extreme Metal Masterpieces released through Da Capo Press. The book also includes previously unreleased interview questions that were left out of the magazine articles, and a full piece on Darkthrone's Transilvanian Hunger that was never published in a magazine due to its length.[3][4]
In November 2010, the magazine announced the launch of the monthly Decibel Flexi Series. Beginning with the January 2011 issue (#75), the magazine now includes a limited vinyl flexi disc bound into the magazine each month available exclusively to its subscribers.[5] The content of the discs is said to include "100 percent exclusive songs" recorded by artists that have been previously featured in the magazine.[6]
Contributing writers include J. Bennett (who wrote 14 of the 25 chapters in Precious Metal[7]), Cosmo Lee, Jeanne Fury, Brent Burton, Chris Dick, Shane Mehling, Joe Gross, Zena Tsarfin, Kevin Stewart-Panko, Liz Brenner, Adem Tepedelen, Shawn Macomber, Adrien Begrand, Andrew Parks and Mountain Goats frontman John Darnielle.[8]
Though Decibel is fairly young, its writers are often cited as genre authorities by several media outlets, including National Public Radio,[9] the Boston Globe,[10] and the San Antonio Express-News.[11]