Fear, Emptiness, Decibel: A Tribute to Dave Brockie
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…
Some people were looking forward to another willfully obnoxious appearance on FOX News at four in the morning. Most were enthused about getting coated in fake blood and jizz at some random parking lot this summer. I just wanted to read his thoughts on Eagles malcontent DeSean Jackson improbably defecting to his Washington Redskins in the next “Unnecessary Roughness” column. Dave Brockie was a lot of things to a lot of people, a pretty impressive accomplishment for a 50-year-old whose band was often dismissed as novelty by both the world at large and extreme music subculture.
Of course, that’s all bullshit. Oderus Urungus and GWAR were triumphs of subversive outsider art, and that’s what we wanted to underscore in the June issue of Decibel. Most exceptional artists are complicated individuals (that’s a kind way of putting it), and in our compendium of essays and eulogies, it’s clear that Brockie could be a complete asshole, demented visionary and selfless friend in equal measure. Bandmates, tourmates, close friends and journalists offer alternately heartfelt and hilarious reminiscences of a man who built and led one of extreme music’s most unique communities simply by following his own bizarre muse. Dave may no longer be with us, but his renegade spirit will continue to influence generations of envelope-pushing metalheads.
We also only just learned that June’s flexi—the only physical version of Iron Reagan’s 13-track Spoiled Identity EP—contains a song that frontman Tony Foresta wrote about Brockie. It’s weird how shit comes together. One last time, R.I.P. Dave.
The June 2014 issue of Decibel also features Goatwhore, Floor, and Devil You Know, and can be purchased here… but those who don’t just get a full subscription risk incurring the wrath of the ghost of Oderus. You’ve been warned.
