Saturday, December 12, 2015

Zine Review: HEADBANGER #11

HEADBANGER Issue #11
Headbanger Zine from Peru is well written and well printed and covers an extensive amount of extreme music. Issue 11 came out in 2012 and starts with an editorial explaining a long delay that preceded its release. Editor Rafael Iturrino Ubidia wrote that he does a great deal of traveling to support brutal music (he leaves his home country four times each year) and prefers to cover all the material as opposed to giving some of it to staff writers. The photo and bands listed on the front cover let you know what to expect inside. The title of this zine is fitting if there ever was a fitting title. It’s simple and tells all you need to know about it. I’d joke that you know a zine is purely underground when you check out the interviews can’t make out any of the band logos. But I can’t fault him for his dedication and the material featured is consistent. From the printing and layout, as well as the tone of the articles, I gather this is the kind of zine that would have been getting a big response from several countries in the 90s. This goes to show what I’ve heard from interviewees I contacted for AEA: there is still an audience for print zines and likely always will be no matter how many ezines and webzines there are. The bands interviewed in this issue are Ars Macabra, Bloodarv, Chaska, Devasted, Devilish, Kristenn Corpse, Malkavian, Marthyrium, Paganus Doctrina, Tengwar, Troops Of Terror, War Ancestry and Xerbeth. You get information about these bands and the underground scenes in their respective countries. Which is why it’s always good to feature bands from different parts of the world, especially now in the age of social media. Each interview is preceded by a paragraph or two providing background information so you get to know the bands before reading. Plus eleven pages of CD reviews, a host of advertisements of independent and fan run labels and various pieces of artwork complete a worthwhile issue. -Dave Wolff

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