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Starting out as a printed zine ourselves, we're keen to raise ale-horms aloft and hail our most notable compadres... that is, those zines and zine writers who've battered away for years on end through sheer love of the genre... and with so much bland, po-faced crud on the go, the following represent the very best of those mags which impress through their knowledge, ideas, humour and uniqueness. |
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'Kentucky Fried Afterbirth' |
 Great mag put together by that big fat bastard Grey. This was one of the first zines I ever read, having purchased one off him at a Deicide gig in The Astoria aeons ago, so that he could fit another pint into his belly. And I figured, well if that useless bastard can put together a decent rag, then I should be able to do likewise. KFA sticks strictly to the UK underground (though he has wandered into Ireland on occassion), and this perhaps hampers the zine sales-wise... which'd be a shame, as it's hugely informative and entertaining. Irreverence and intelligence (no matter how hard he tries to mask it) and a true-fan's attitude to Metal. No posturing or oneupmanship with KFA. Throw in all manner of oddball-excess, including the ongoing 'Tales from the Grey Side' and his romance with his fictional bird, and hours of fun on the throne are guaranteed.
Contact: KFA zine, c/o Grey, 141 Montague road, Leytonstone, London, E11 3EW, England, U.K. Email: graham.fraser5@virgin.net |
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'Canadian Assault' |
 One of those zines were you just KNOW that the editor lives, sleeps and eats Metal. A5 in size, its stomach bursts with a myriad of ripe goodies. Mostly Death/ Thrash Metal, there's a discerning amount of quality control here... no commercial crap, but instead the likes of Slaughter, Nunslaughter etc, with klassik retrospective reviews and collages of klaasik gig flyers etc. Excellent standard of writing by both Dale and Jeff throughout... hail, lads! One hugely entertaining aspect of this zine is its regular interviews with porn stars... when's the Sylvia Saint issue then? Yup, it is based in the US, but that's only coz he had to move there. It's not his fault.
Contact: Canadian Assault zine, c/o Dale Roy, Apt #1, 6318 Bingham Street, Philadelphia, PA 19111, USA. Email: metaldale@hotmail.com |
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'Leather'n'Spikes' |
 I really like this zine... editor 'Nuklear' Cath eschews the advantages wrought by desktop publishing, preferring the cut'n'paste approach of yore... this gives it a deep sense of the underground. Sure, some of the inetrviewees are of dubious idealisms, but so what... the interview openers and questions are a joy, full of character and charm. Throw in excellent retrospective of key bands (say, Dissection and... YES.... VOIVOD) and ye've got yerselve a winner. Cath has been fairly keen to smatter some issues with rather fetching topless leather'n'spikes photos of herself, so I have a sneaking suspicion that 'she' could in fact turn out to be Big Bubba in some Canadian High Security institution somwehere.
Contact: 'Leather'n'Spikes' zine, c/o Cath, 35 Brousseau, Loretteville QC, G2A 2R2, Canada. Email: clac@globetrotter.net |
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'Metal Rules!' |
 With a tag line of 'Where the Underground meets the Playground', Jeff Rappaport's zine provides many moments of laugh-out-loud mirth. Sample from issue 9.. interviewing Rob Halford... Rob: "You should try jumping the fence a couple of times then. You never know what you like until you try it"... Jeff: 'Is this an offer?'... Rob: "Oh it could be. It depends on how cute you are". Yes, it all sounds very remedial, but as Kenny Everett's 'Cupid Stunt' may have said, it's all done in the best possible taste. Despite my grayscale image, the zine actually has a lovely full-colour cover.
Contact: Metal Rules!, 2116 Sandra Road, Voorhees, NJ 08043, USA. Email: metaljeff@home.com |
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