So after only a couple of months of having cancelled my Decibel subscription I had to renew it. There was no way around it.
First, I kept on getting these e-mails regarding the upcoming issues and those kinda got me thinking and jonesing. Second, three issues that followed the issue with Electric Wizard on the cover were so great (Chuck Schuldiner, Ghost & Pentagram) I found myself making frequent visits to Barnes & Noble. Considering that the retail price plus the gas consumed adds up to quite a bit more than the per issue price of a subscription should have been enough to rethink my cancellation.
But the most important factor regarding my renewal was the fact that as far as metal writing goes there is no mag that comes even close to Decibel. If there is anything that Decibel has going for it is its editor Albert Mudrian. Period, the man has taste and the pull to gather the most talented staff. Also, as a side note, I am inclined to think that the few shit bands that get included in the mag are part of the price he has to pay to keep the mag afloat. I mean, the latest issue features Chimaira for fuck's sake!
Anyway, I have been reading metal mags since i was about eleven years old. I am hooked. So after I cancelled my subscription I thought I'd be able to replace Decibel with something else. There are a few great fanzines, but those don't come with the regularity of a real mag and would leave too much time in between without learning about underground music. The 'mainstream' (for lack of a better term) options available are not at all enticing; Revolver is for children and people with awful taste, Zero Tolerance comes in tiny size, is printed in eye-irritating colors and minuscule fonts and seems to have been designed by someone with Tourette's and Terrorizer's emphasis on folk and power metal gets on my balls, plus their design is fucking awful as well. And did I mention that Terrorizer and Zero Tolerance being imports cost $10. Fuck, not in this economy. Oh yeah, and then there is Hails & Horns, but please, does anyone read that shit?
First, I kept on getting these e-mails regarding the upcoming issues and those kinda got me thinking and jonesing. Second, three issues that followed the issue with Electric Wizard on the cover were so great (Chuck Schuldiner, Ghost & Pentagram) I found myself making frequent visits to Barnes & Noble. Considering that the retail price plus the gas consumed adds up to quite a bit more than the per issue price of a subscription should have been enough to rethink my cancellation.
But the most important factor regarding my renewal was the fact that as far as metal writing goes there is no mag that comes even close to Decibel. If there is anything that Decibel has going for it is its editor Albert Mudrian. Period, the man has taste and the pull to gather the most talented staff. Also, as a side note, I am inclined to think that the few shit bands that get included in the mag are part of the price he has to pay to keep the mag afloat. I mean, the latest issue features Chimaira for fuck's sake!
Anyway, I have been reading metal mags since i was about eleven years old. I am hooked. So after I cancelled my subscription I thought I'd be able to replace Decibel with something else. There are a few great fanzines, but those don't come with the regularity of a real mag and would leave too much time in between without learning about underground music. The 'mainstream' (for lack of a better term) options available are not at all enticing; Revolver is for children and people with awful taste, Zero Tolerance comes in tiny size, is printed in eye-irritating colors and minuscule fonts and seems to have been designed by someone with Tourette's and Terrorizer's emphasis on folk and power metal gets on my balls, plus their design is fucking awful as well. And did I mention that Terrorizer and Zero Tolerance being imports cost $10. Fuck, not in this economy. Oh yeah, and then there is Hails & Horns, but please, does anyone read that shit?
So Decibel may be far from perfect but still beats out the competition by a longshot. It is not only the writing - the finest I have seen regarding metal in my thirty odd years - but the well-thought out and always entertaining structure of the magazine (some of the regular columns are hit & miss but nothing is perfect) which elevates this periodical and puts it playing by its own standards. So yeah, I capitulate...
2 comments:
I love the magazine. I'm pretty sure the crap bands just keep the mag afloat. I think Albert once said if someone wanted to promote their crappy band in his magazine, he wouldn't say no (with some exceptions of course).
Yeah man, I think fans such as myself always look at a magazine like Decibel and form their own ideal version of it, like 'it would be so much better if they didn't cover these douchebag hardcore bands', or 'if only they'd ban every Nuclear Blast and Century Media band from appearing in Decibel it would be so much better', know what I mean?
Post a Comment