FEAR, EMPTINESS, DECIBEL: TESTAMENT GRACE THE COVER OF THE SEPTEMBER ISSUE!

Before there were blogs there were these things called magazines, and the only metal magazine we still get excited about reading every month is Decibel. Here’s managing editor Andrew Bonazelli…

It’s only once in a great while that my visionary insight is required for conceiving a Decibel cover (“Uh, why don’t you have them all, like, wearing black T-shirts and standing around?”). Usually somebody just drops a copy on my desk to proofread and that’s that. So, not being super intensely into Testament’s back story (false alarm goes off for millionth time), I saw what you’re looking at above and my honest initial reaction was the time-honored “the fuck is this” laugh. I mean, we put a lot of blood and guts on the covers; headdresses, not so much.

Reading Kevin-Stewart Panko’s cover story, whether you’re uninitiated or a super fan, everything falls into place. Chuck Billy goes into great, emotional detail not only about lyrics inspired by his Pomo Native American heritage, but how he overcame a cancerous germ cell seminoma tumor—on the john. I also like how these guys come off so human and honest in understanding that they’ll never supplant anyone in the Big Four, but they (rightly) feel like they’ve earned the right to be ranked alongside those titans.

Axl already gave you the soundtrack to your assigned reading. Go get your Roots done.

-AB

The September issue of Decibel also features Testament, Gojira, Ghost, an Isis Hall of Fame, and awesome Coffins flexi disc, and can be ordered here. But Chief Chuck Billy says you should just get a full subscription to ensure that you never miss an issue!