Decibel 2011

Decibel by Azzaro
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6.6 / 10 77 Ratings
A perfume by Azzaro for men, released in 2011. The scent is spicy-sweet. It was last marketed by Clarins.
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Main accords

Spicy
Sweet
Synthetic
Smoky
Woody

Fragrance Pyramid

Top Notes Top Notes
Green mandarin orangeGreen mandarin orange AldehydesAldehydes
Heart Notes Heart Notes
FrankincenseFrankincense LiquoriceLiquorice VioletViolet
Base Notes Base Notes
Tonka beanTonka bean Haitian vetiverHaitian vetiver VanillaVanilla SandalwoodSandalwood

Perfumer

Ratings
Scent
6.677 Ratings
Longevity
7.362 Ratings
Sillage
6.064 Ratings
Bottle
6.175 Ratings
Submitted by Dannyboy, last update on 19.07.2023.

Reviews

5 in-depth fragrance descriptions
6
Bottle
7
Sillage
8
Longevity
9
Scent
ShaunBaker

66 Reviews
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ShaunBaker
ShaunBaker
3  
Not a difficult scent....
...when you understand him.
Decibel screams straight away, as if you want to listen to chilly music in a quiet moment, but the stereo suddenly thunders off with hard rock at 3/4 of its volume.

In short: Decibel is already hard when sprayed on and especially unusual if you don't know it yet. The scent is special and I think it's one of the kind you like or not, there's not much in between. Probably not much would be missing for a controversial evaluation.

Personally I like him very much, but for me he is a candidate that I can rarely wear, and yes, if really only in autumn and winter, actually funny because he seems very fresh when sprayed on because of the contained green mandarin. However, the smell changes quickly, licorice and incense now come to wear, and not without...

In the base one can now still perceive something woody that seems to come from sandalwood, vanilla and tonka probably give it the necessary sweetness, I don't perceive vetiver with the best will in the world, perhaps quite well so.

If I had to describe the scent as a whole I would describe it as a special incense scent where you can subliminally perceive liquorice. As I find the mandarin comes up every now and then in the Sillage. Where we would be already with the next topic.

I imagine the Sillage in the first 15min. very violently, even room-filling. The durability for my nose is about 6 hours. But during this time you radiate well, I think, in any case db is always in your olfactory organ.

For me a pleasant fragrance that is a surprise in the mainstream fragrance world. I never saw him in the perfumery, he was probably too abstract for that, and I'm not talking about the ugly bottle. Azzaro shows us nowadays that it can get even worse ; )

3 Comments
7.5
Bottle
5
Sillage
7.5
Longevity
5
Scent
Miaw2

339 Reviews
Miaw2
Miaw2
3  
Great one!
That was a good surprise.

Dark and spicy, opens with a citric burst then develops to a sweet incense (maybe licorice or tonka?) smell that lingers for a couple of hours.

Definetely a must have: good price, good sillage, fair projection and smells great.

Updated January 2014
0 Comments
10
Bottle
6
Sillage
7
Longevity
10
Scent
Elysium

816 Reviews
Elysium
Elysium
4  
Fatty, Soapy, and Incensy Liquorice
Azzaro Decibel was on my laundry list for a while, but it was only a few days ago that I came across a small bottle unexpectedly for a ridiculous price, and it was love at first sight. The notes intrigued me, and the polarized reviews only furthered my interest. I finally spent 15 euro and purchased it. I'm glad I did as this is such a unique and lovely fragrance. I've never smelled anything like it, nor I have anything similar in my vast collection. First of all, the small bottle does not have the popular microphone shape, it is more similar to a pen, yet it's opaque dark gray glass, and you can see through it.

Decibel belongs to the oriental family with the balsamic, spicy, sweet, powdery, and smoky accords, provocative and miles away from Azzaro pour Homme. It opens up bright and citrus with a clean and soapy note. The clean I'm talking about is more conceptual. It's pure luminescence, or light turned somehow into scent, thanks to the aldehydes, overdosed aldehydes. Both audacious and unique in fragrances for men, which are like the fizz of champagne, having the power to make the cologne truly sparkle and effervesce. Soapy, soapy, soapy, the aldehydes shine in all their glory! I am pretty sure that aldehyde C11 is the one used in the Decibel's formula, the soapiness is all too tangible. The citrus accord comes from the sharp pungency of the Green Italian Tangerine. As soon as the aldehydes tone down, a remarkable and intriguing licorice accord takes off, with its bitterness, darkness, somehow akin to anise. The taste of licorice, which I get quite a lot, is very polarizing. It's noticeable at the start but plays along quietly in the background.

After some time, the fragrance finally loses that pungent soap accord, the scent turns darker, and it transitions to the heart notes. There is an enormous amount of olibanum, a real church incense you could smell while entering a sanctuary after a function. The cologne drifts into the mysterious and addictive mists of incense. Then it cuts with the slightly powdery and devilishly peculiar violet leaves. This marvelous aroma melts magically with the licorice accord. The waxy citrus is still quietly present, but not soapy like in the opening. The black licorice and incense continue to play well together with the licorice being much more noticeable. The black licorice does not smell candy, edible, or gourmand at all. It's the scent of black licorice without the sweetness. The violet note smooths the transition from citrus soap to a clean softness, and it is not extremely powdery as I steer clear from anything listed as dusty. The very soft powdery violet note and black licorice complement each other while the incense continues to be the backbone of this fragrance.

As the dry down comes, it is like night falls, when the lights go out. It's soft, clean, creamy, and sweet. The licorice is still present but ever so soft, the vanilla and tonka combo offer a creamy sweetness, and the incense lastly starts to bow out softly. There's a smooth and slight cinnamon accord, which I believe is due to the vanilla, tonka, and licorice. I think most people don't wait till the dry down, which takes a good couple of hours or so, to see how high Decibel is. If I ever smelled the dry down on another person, I would want to snuggle my head and nestle in the sweet base notes of Decibel. I can't help but inhale deeply every time I wear this when the dry down appears. Vetiver comes onto the stage and enchants with its sensual, virile, and shadowy charms, not overwhelming nor dominating the scene. The base notes provide a warming contrast to the rest of the scent with vetiver, vanilla, and tonka bean.

The cologne is long-lasting to survive through my most active days and has a moderate sillage to tempt without being overwhelming. I see this cologne perfect for office, to be worn in colder seasons, late Fall or best in Winter, yet accurate for spending a night out on the town. It is a compliments getter, and to me, Azzaro Decibel is an underrated jewel perhaps neglected for its quite ugly bottle. It is a delightful yet pungent aromatic fragrance. It's mostly all incense, black licorice, and slight spicy-creamy sweetness from vanilla + tonka combo. It doesn't deserve the hate and irreverence people show towards it all. It's much more original than a lot of the designer frags you see on most department store counters.

Side note: aldehydes are a family of ingredients, and they can be metallic, starchy, citrusy, waxy. Most widely used aldehydes in perfumery are C7 (heptanal, naturally occurring in clary sage and possessing a herbal green odor), C8 (octanal, orange-like), C9 (nonanal, smelling of roses), C10 (decanal, powerfully evocative of orange rind; Citral, a more complicated 10-carbon aldehyde, has the odor of lemons), C11 (undecanal, "clean" aldehydic, naturally present in coriander leaf oil~also used is unsaturated C11 undecen-1-al), C12 (Lauryl aldehyde evocative of lilacs or violets), C13 (waxy, with grapefruit tone)and the infamous C14 peach-skin note of Mitsouko: technically not an aldehyde, but a lactone ~gamma undecalactone.

-Elysium
1 Comment
2.5
Bottle
7.5
Sillage
7.5
Longevity
6
Scent
GothicHeart

86 Reviews
GothicHeart
GothicHeart
3  
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.
0 Comments
Hitchslap

104 Reviews
Hitchslap
Hitchslap
1  
sweet & fresh
This has been compared to Rocawear's Evolution, because of the inclusion of incense, fair, but this is way sweeter.

Licorice gives it a distinct aroma that you don't expect to find mingling with aldehydes but they get along okay.

Azzaro has released some classics that easily overshadow this one, you can find this dirt cheap on ebay, which says a lot about its failure to impress the general public.

If you're just getting started in collecting fragrances this will not hurt your budget and makes for an interesting addition to your collection for autumn or spring.

If you're an experienced frag-head you might be fine without and keep looking for the next "hidden gem".
0 Comments

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