Fear, Emptiness, Decibel: Agnostic Front’s Induction Into the Hall of Fame is No Cause for Alarm
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…
There’s a full-page picture of Roger Miret that leads off our Hall of Fame feature for Agnostic Front’s Cause for Alarm. He’s brandishing an automatic weapon in front of a graffiti-strewn wall, rocking a leather vest, jeans and a studded belt, feathered curls swept back. He looks like a dead ringer for Swan from The Warriors—I like to think after that candid was taken, he strolled down the block and kicked the living shit out of some passing Baseball Furies. Just because, you know, fuck them, they were on his turf.
The thing is, when you read this HOF, you’ll see that Agnostic Front kind of were the Warriors, in a way. For god’s sake, the piece launches with an anecdote about guitarist Vinnie Stigma trying to deflect bullets with a garbage can lid. Go mid-’80s Lower East Side—you are missed! And much like Coney Island’s greatest street gang of all time, Agnostic Front did not give a flying fuck what you thought about them. Cause for Alarm may be regarded as a crucial crossover record today, but back then the band caught plenty of shit from kids who were less than enthused about their unique admixture of metal and hardcore. Yet Miret, Stigma, guitarist Alex Kinon, bassist Rob Kabula and drummer Louie Beato—who famously perceived themselves as “leaders, not followers”—shrugged off the criticism entirely and just kept ruling.
Read all about Cause for Alarm’s genesis and massive impact in the Behemoth issue. The late, great Peter Steele of Type O Negative and Carnivore fame had a major hand in its creation, and we only wish he were still around to provide special guest insight on this unassailable hxc classic.
The March 2014 issue of Decibel also features Arch Enemy, Agnostic Front, and Thou, and can be purchased here. But why not just get a full subscription to ensure that you never miss an issue?
