Decibel
Azzaro (2011)

Azzaro tries to do Lempicka.

Decibel smells like you've been drinking Italian liqueurs at church. The incense note is the same cheap and soggy type you'll find in equally affordable moderns like Dunhill Custom; it's not bad, per se, but you get what you pay for, certainly. The lemon is sweet, and is an unexpectedly lovely partner for the licorice, reminding me of the time I confounded a bartender by asking for one part Sambuca, one part vanilla vodka, and three parts sour mix over ice (which tastes oddly like a cupcake).

This is an affable fragrance if you like them sweet and don't mind a little powder. Fans of Ted by Ted Lapidus and Apparition Homme and the like will find in this a familiar sweet fuzziness. Mercifully, the violet heart tones down the sugar after a while, but the base seems vague, as though it was watercolor bleeding through paper rather than bold pen lines. A very ephemeral, ethereal sort of gourmand, I suppose.

I would have preferred more aldehydes and less vanilla myself, but Azzaro never thought to ask me.

In summation, this is a licorice gourmand for those who felt that the Lempicka line was too overbearing and the Ungaro too thin.

Hush...

Exactly Azzaro! Decibel. Without an "s". Which means singular. Which means one. Which means nearly imperceptible and impossible to be heard. Which means that perhaps the tacky microphone bottle was inevitable in order to make the fragrance audible and amplify its voice, by prompting people to have some fun pretending they are singing in their bathrooms while holding it. Because if you were relying solely on the scent's substance, presence and quality for sales, well, I don't think so...
If volume, performance and bigger than life personae is what you're looking for, don't bother with the backing vocals. Go for the frontmans instead. And erstwhile deafening Azzaro was never in short supply of them till music and perfumery became, for crying out loud, the halfhearted whimpers they are today.

A sweet but still masculine synthetic fragrance. Perfect for clubbing only. I'm surprised it hasn't a great success compared to other much worst stuffs like Le Male, Invictus, one million.

Not bad 6/10

This is like a super loud, sweet candy bomb. It's not what I normally like....but there's something about it. For me is super sweet and citrusy at the opening and it really doesn't change much on me. I've only had the opportunity to wear it two times. I have a small sample vial. Unfortunately it has given me a headache both times. If you try it go easy on the trigger.

Blind bought this and was pleasantly surprised. I am really picky with the frags I get attached to, for some reason this just clicked. There were some very pleasant notes in the drydown that I just couldn't put my finger on, finally realised that it shares a few notes with vintage Dior Fahrenheit and the more recent Fahrenheit Absolute. As some have mentioned before similar notes to Dior Homme Intense and A*Men(I thought the A*Men variation with the black bottle) also features. The opening citrus/liquorice I find interesting but the dry down after 15-20mins and thereafter is where the magic comes out.

I think some people may not connect with the branding and bottle(even though it is pretty cool , its probably not a good choice for an aspirational fragrance) but the juice inside is good.

I waited a very long time to review this. I now have been wearing this pretty regularly for almost a year. This is great for going out! I know there has been a LOT of hype AND bad reviews, but for me, this is good stuff. It was my girlfriend's idea to get this, as she's a Strokes fan (and obviously has a thing for Julian), so I figured I would give it a go.

This opens up immediately with the liquorice and citrus. It dries into incense and vanilla. It's a real winner with the ladies.

I wear pretty fancy scents, with Amouage, Creed, Nasomatto, Odori, etc. topping it off for me. They are mostly for me as the compliment factor on those is quite rare. Decibel... well... I seriously get compliments EVERY time I wear it. "You smell awesome!", or "Wow, you smell nice." So what we're looking at is something that smells super, has a decent price, and has a nice stylish look with the goofy microphone (I'm a musician, so this is pretty cool)...

Buy some? I don't know, maybe....
Try some? For sure!
I give this a 7 1/2 out of 10.