I was 8 years old when my single mom dropped what I’m sure was then comparable to a month’s rent on an Atari 2600. For an only child with little friends and even less ambitions to make more, those gigantic pixels and that single-button joystick soon became my most trusted companions. At least for a few years, until the Nintendo Entertainment System descended from the heavens and blew the minds of every fifth grader in North America. For me, that seismic change spawned countless solitary Contra, R.B.I. Baseball and Double Dragon marathons all the way through elementary school.
By the time my early education gave way to high school, priorities shifted. Most of which required me to get my fat ass out of my room, leaving my third-gen video game console to gather dust around neglected Garbage Pail Kids and dozens of 1987 Topps Mark McGwires.
Decibel art director Mike Wohlberg and ad sales director James Lewis, however, have remained resolute in their commitment to chronic eye strain. Both have been playing video games through multiple generations of consoles and platforms, nearly all of which are completely alien to a guy like me who put down his NES controller 30-plus years ago.
Last November, their lifelong nerdom culminated with the Decibel online debut of their co-authored video game column Kill Screen. Unlike other metal-leaning gaming columns, Kill Screen doesn’t review new or classic games, but instead interviews metal musicians about their video game experiences. It’s created some of the most passionate and engaging—and surprisingly emotional—content we’ve ever run on the site. As of this writing, Mike and James have published over a dozen, and we’ll press start on some Kill Screen video content sometime after you read this.
This, of course, inspired me to download (with significant assistance from Mike) an NES emulator. Now I’m revisiting lost classics like Blaster Master, discovering awesome games like Shatter Hand that I initially missed and studying Metroid maps so I can actually get the fuck around Zebes. But it’s all secondary to my 8-year-old son thoroughly beating my ass in Tecmo NBA Basketball, despite yours truly selecting the 1991-’92 Chicago Bulls. Mike and James, watch your backs!
albert mudrian, Editor-in-ChiefPUBLISHER Alex Mulcahy alex@redflagmedia.com
EDITOR-IN-CHIEF Albert Mudrian albert@decibelmagazine.com
AD SALES James Lewis james@decibelmagazine.com
DIRECTOR OF Aaron Salsbury
MARKETING aaron@decibelmagazine.com
AND SALES
ART DIRECTOR Michael Wohlberg michael@decibelmagazine.com
CUSTOMER Patty Moran
SERVICE patty@decibelmagazine.com
COPY EDITOR Andrew Bonazelli
BOOKCREEPER Tim Mulcahy tim@redflagmedia.com
CONTRIBUTING Chuck BB, Ed Luce
ARTISTS Mark Rudolph
Online
DECIBEL Albert Mudrian
WEB EDITOR albert@decibelmagazine.com
DECIBEL James Lewis
WEB AD SALES james@decibelmagazine.com
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Tell us about Taylorville, Illinois. We searched for it on Facebook, and the first results were advertisements for Golden Corral and Hooters.
Taylorville is a small town in central Illinois with a population of 10,000. Not a lot to see here, really—just corn and bean fields. There once was a Golden Corral here, but it closed down in 2003. There is a Hooters and Golden Corral 25 miles away in Springfield, though. So, not that far to get a delicious, overpriced buffet meal should I ever have a craving for it.
Based on your order history, we suspect you’re a pretty big fan of the Decibel Flexi Series. Approximately how many of those little pieces of floppy magic do you own, and which one is your favorite?
I have 79 Decibel flexis. I think I have a couple other flexis around as well. As far as favorites go, I would have to say dB26.5, Pig Destroyer live EP [given free to all Decibel 100th Issue Show attendees]. I was not in the vinyl market when this was released. I bought it secondhand on Discogs. I really hate to just say one is my favorite. Honorable mentions: Trappist “Growler in the Yard,” Agoraphobic Nosebleed “Merry Chrystmeth” (I have the green and white version of this one) and Nails “Among the Arches of Intolerance/In Pain.”
We know you’re a big fan of Pig Destroyer’s beer collaborations with 3 Floyds. What are your other fave breweries that may or may not collaborate with grindcore legends? Yes, I do love 3 Floyds. A LOT. They are by far my
favorite brewery. Central Illinois did not see distribution of 3 Floyds until 2020. Prior to that, I used to drive over to Indiana to get it. Still waiting on that collaboration beer with Cattle Decapitation. Anyway, I love Surly Brewing as well. Anything from their year-round list is a good choice. I did not get a chance to try the 1349 collaboration beer, but I did have the King Diamond beer and it was pretty great. I do some beer-trading sometimes and was sent a few from Pizza Port Brewing out of California. They were awesome.
Mizmor is featured on the cover of this issue. As a longtime reader, are you stoked when we give emerging artists that kind of coverage, or are you just waiting around for our next Metallica cover?
I always love to see upcoming artists featured. It is a great thing you all do. Of course, I love when one of my favorites is on the cover, too! Thanks for doing what you do for the community.
There is a Hooters and Golden Corral 25 miles away in Springfield, though. So, not that far to get a delicious, overpriced buffet meal should I ever have a craving for it.
Tell us a little about yourself.
I am a Muslim of Lebanese ancestry. So, family (and food) are very important to me! More seriously, I also have a love of learning passed on to me by my parents and my grandparents. I enjoy learning through books (thanks, mom!), through nature (thank you, dad!), through relationships with living beings (from my grandparents): canine, feline, avian and even humans! I especially love and admire trees. My children have also been very important in my lifelong journey to becoming a better person.
Alia is an accomplished flutist. Did you ever imagine that she would utilize the instrument in a heavy metal context?
Well, while I did not envision her as a flutewielding frontwoman in a metal band, she was subjected to many hours of Jethro Tull. So…
Your daughter holds a PhD in ethnomusicology. Where did her interest in academia stem from?
Alia was always deeply curious and “scholarly.”
She was very active in science fairs as a child, and won a silver medal at Canada’s national science fair when she was 14. In true mad scientist fashion, one of her experiments ended (unintentionally) with a pressure cooker exploding in our kitchen, leaving a massive hole in the ceiling!
Wonder what Decibel world HQ has been rocking for the past month? Well, here are the records that we spun most when we weren’t over-explaining all the deep-cut NES references to our kids during The Super Mario Bros. Movie
Albert Mudrian : editor in chief
Blackbraid, Blackbraid II
Mizmor, Prosaic
Dead Heat, Endless Torment
Will Haven, VII
Graf Orlock, End Credits
Patty Moran : customer service
Melvins, Houdini
OFF!, Free LSD
G.B.H., City Baby’s Revenge
Die Spitz, Teeth
Poison Idea, Pick Your King
James Lewis : ad sales
Blackbraid, Blackbraid II
Thra, Forged in Chaotic Spew
Khanate, To Be Cruel
Outer Heaven, Infinite Psychic Depths
Graf Orlock, End Credits
Mike Wohlberg : art director
Graf Orlock, End Credits
Mizmor, Prosaic
Outer Heaven, Infinite Psychic Depths
Do you share your daughter’s curiosity about the occult?
I have always been deeply spiritual and fascinated by the “unseen,” from the writings of Sufi Muslim saints and mystics to quantum and astrophysics. It is all so compelling!
What are your impressions of Alia performing live with Blood Ceremony?
I feel so grateful to have seen Blood Ceremony perform several times: Milan, Toronto, Calgary and Vancouver! I’m always blown away by her energy. However (forgive me Alia), whenever I see her perform, I am always brought back to her first public performance. When Alia was 4 she participated in the Kiwanis Festival for the Performing Arts. She recited a poem, “The Muddy Puddle,” for which she won a prize! She delivered the poem with a sassy attitude that definitely foreshadowed her BC stage persona!
Tell us something about Alia that most people would never suspect.
Upon graduating from high school, Alia was offered an engineering scholarship on the basis of her science grades. She turned it down, and the rest—as they say—is history.
—ANDREW BONAZELLI
Blackbraid, Blackbraid II
Drain, Living Proof
Aaron Salsbury : marketing and sales
Pupil Slicer, Blossom
Armamento Fatal, Armamento Fatal 7-inch
Prince Midnight, Dispirited Kingdom
Ben Folds, What Matters Most
Scrotum Grinder/ CombatWoundedVeteran, Split 7-inch
Sherwood Webber :
Frozen Soul, Glacial Domination
200 Stab Wounds,
Hypocrisy, Hypocrisy
Destroys
Wacken
Carpenter
Brut, Leather Terror
Kublai Khan, Boomslang
Because not all of us were spawned in the darkest recesses of hell