Issue 06

B LACK ON TH E BACK WHAT IS BLACK METAL?

Written by Gavin Baddeley (author of Lucifer Rising) Black Metal is, as these genre labels almost always are, something of a misnomer. Most rockers have always worn black, and more than one outsider has seriously wondered whether the term refers to some kind of afro-Caribbean rock sub-genre (a little ironic considering the genre's reputation for fascist overtones). The other alternative to using the term however, where special pleading by bands leaves you with as many genres as acts - Vampire Metal, Occult Metal, Hate Metal, and whatever the hell else is an even more confusing situation. I guess Black Metal as a term is then, appropriately, something of a necessary evil. And if you think about it, even the term Heavy Metal itself is hardly descriptive of the genre, but it's stuck for want of anything else. Eighties boozy Satanic Thrash pioneers Venom have the best claim to having coined the Black Metal moniker, and even they have distanced themselves from it to an extent. Thankfully, subsequent bands have appeared who have taken the term - and ironically Venom's back catalogue more seriously than Venom ever did. Most serious fans also concede that Black Metal predates Venom by decades. Indeed many contend that Black Sabbath's eponymous 1970 debut was the first Black Metal album, and in my opinion the first true Heavy Metal recording. But rock act Black Widow predated Sabbath's Satanic imagery by some months - so are they Black Metal? I'd say yes, in as much as the lyrical content was better researched than Sabbath's, though they never pioneered an ominous new sound in the way Ozzy's outfit did. This perhaps is significant. I think one component to

Black Metal is demonic imagery and lyrics, but the other is a musical approach as daring or innovative as the visuals and ideas. These tend to go together organically. People attracted to the extreme concepts and aesthetics of the Devil tend to enjoy and express themselves in a similarly outrageous and passionate fashion. That this has been almost exclusively in rather monotone terms of anger and aggression among Metal musicians has alienated many Satanists, who also perceive subtlety and seduction in their chosen archetype. Demonic music, they argue, is not just older than Venom, or indeed Black Sabbath. It is far, far older than that, in which grand context either band represent little more than fascinating ripples in a profoundly dark ocean. Ultimately, this has driven something of a wedge between the established Satanic community, who dismiss Metal as adolescent angst, and Black Metal fans who see such Satanists as tedious old bores. This is a shame - but I'm optimistic that the best of both groups are finding some common ground. More authentic Satanists (as opposed to shock-horror poseurs) are appearing with a grounding in the darker fringes of rock, and more reputable Black Metal musicians (as opposed to band-wagon jumping wannabes) are launching increasingly brave and interesting projects that draw on influences which go back not just decades but centuries. While I wouldn't claim demonic musicians of the distant past like Mussorgsky or Tartini were composing Black Metal, if they were around today they might very well be…














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SLAUGHTERAMA NZ’S MOSTISSUEINTERACTIVE METALZINE SIX - APRIL 2005 - FREE

PLUS : INTERVIEWS WITH Talks to Oscar Dronjak FROM

AND MORE!!!
















DUNGEON KEY

1 CONTENTS DUNGEON KEY 2 EDITORIAL 3-4 IN DEPTH WITH LAKE OF TEARS 5-7 HAMMERFALL INTERVIEW 8 SONATA MINI POSTER ARCTICA 9 ALBUM AUTOPSY 10-11INTERVIEW TRIAL BY FIRE 12 IMOVIE MORGUE DRINK YOUR BLOOD 13 LIVE UNDEAD WARD 10 14-16 INTERVIEW LENG TCH'E 17 MAILBOX 18 ADVERTISING 19 BLACK ON THE BACK WHAT IS BLACK METAL? Editor: Brendon Williams Layout Designer: Kim Crosland Snr Columnist: Max Thrasher Zine Production: John Richardson Distribution: Brendon Williams (AKL), Josh Slee (CHCH), Rioter (AUS), Paul Martin (HAM) www.houseofnoizz.com (ONLINE) Contributors: Alex Brown, Stine©, Maebhe & Britney

All material contained in this publication is protected by copyright of the respective contributors. No material is to be reproduced under any circumstances without the permission of SLAUGHTERAMA and the author that the writing pertains to.

MOST OF THE RELEASES TALKED ABOUT IN THIS ZINE ARE AVAILABLE OFF THE SHELF OR CAN BE ORDERED AT REAL GROOVY RECORDS AUCKLAND - 438 Queen St, Auckland Central (09) 302-3940 Hours: 9am-7pm Saturday to Wednesday, 9am-9pm Thursday and Friday Go to www.realgroovy.co.nz for a full list of stores and hours in your area, with an online ordering service available.














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ADVERTISING HOW TO HAVE YOUR SAY IN THE ZINE Concert Reviews & Interviews - 400 word limit (1 pager) or 800 word limit (2 pager) Album Reviews - 100 word limit, Comments - Short and to the point. Your contributions are needed and wanted to keep this zine alive, so please write us. E-mail to: [email protected] Post to SLAUGHTERAMA, P.O. Box 12-978, Penrose, Auckland.

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NZ WEBSITES WORTH CHECKING OUT: www.graymalkin.nzmetal.com www.aphelon.co.nz www.cacophony.co.nz www.chaosnetwork.net.nz www.lycanthropicfervour.co.nz www.humanmetal.orcon.net.nz www.justonefix.orcon.net.nz www.blackplague.4mg.com www.nzmetal.com www.bloodshed.cjb.net www.legionshorde.tk www.finaleve.tk

www.houseofNoizz.com The voice of metal resistance

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MAIL BOX

Hi there, We had the good luck to get our hands on the February issue of your Slaughterama Metalzine and loved it; it is great to see Metal getting a voice in NZ. My name is Paul Wilson and I run an underground production company called “Jadam Productions,” we are a small group who promote underground music of the rock / Metal / punk genre. We are non-profit and work toward getting bands out from the practice rooms and garages and onto the stage. We also try to get bands a fair deal when it comes to being paid for gigs… because many Christchurch Bars and clubs won't pay bands for their time and talents. We are really interested in hooking up with Metal bands to do gigs in Christchurch. We have had MeatYard play at Jadam (the name of our gig), and we have 8Foot playing at one of

our gigs on the 26th of March and they are being supported by 3 local metal bands (yeah we missed out on getting this into your next issue, but we enjoyed Brendon Williams' interview with them in Feb's issue). Jadam also has gained sponsorship through D.B. to set up a “Battle of the Bands” type gig (called “Underground SouNZ Band-Face-Off”) where bands battle it out on stage for $1000 cash (and a whole swag of beer). I guess we just wanted to say "hi" from Christchurch, and to let you know we support what you are doing with your Metalzine, and we are interested in hooking up with some Metal bands who may be interested in playing some of our gigs. Our web-site is www.jadam.co.nz if any bands want to touch bases with us, and Jadam looks forward to the next issue of Slaughterama. Cheers, Jadam Productions (reviving the underground)

Send your comments to:

[email protected] You can also send your comments to Slaughterama, P.O. Box 12-978 Penrose, Auckland, New Zealand.














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ED I TORIAL Hey everyone! March sure was a weird month; it started when I found out that legendary journalist Hunter S. Thompson shot himself dead in late February. R.I.P. Hunter; thanks for changing the face of journalism, and inspiring myself and millions of others. So here we are at April; this month's issue contains a decent selection of Metal, which is great. We are aware, however, that some genres (particularly Death Metal), are often under-represented in the zine. I think that sucks, considering that we have so many world class local Death Metal acts. So we're doing something about bringing more Death Metal into the zine as of next month. Feel free to let us know if you think this is a good or bad thing (as well as what else you think we're doing wrong or right) by dropping us an e-mail at [email protected]. Your opinions and suggestions will not go unread. Oh, and on a closing note, here's some great news! The date for Noizzfest has been confirmed. It's happening on Saturday August 6th at the King's Arms Tavern in Newton, Auckland. Make sure you mark it down in your calendar, as it's sure to be one of the highlights of the year. Stay tuned for more information, including the all important line-up announcement.

Until then… STAY TRUE!!!!!! Brendon Williams EDITOR














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Written by Max Thrasher It was the beginning of the 90's and Europe was devoured by Doom Metal. Although the idea itself wasn’t exactly new, this European Doom was darker, slower and somehow more sinister than old Candlemass or Trouble. The first signs of the style surfaced with Paradise Lost’s ‘Gothic,’ followed by My Dying Bride, Anathema and Tiamat. The latter, with their album ‘Clouds’ (1992) had such an impact that Doom became a trend within months. At this time Swedish guitarist and vocalist Daniel Brennare decided to advance and founded a new project, appropriately named ‘Lake Of Tears.’ The band explored the very same sound as their more successful colleagues - slow and heavy Doom Metal. Brennare, accompanied by bassist Mikael Larsson, drummer Johan Oudhuis and the second guitarist Jonas Eriksson, came up with a bunch of songs in the vein of early Tiamat and started looking for a record deal. Finally Black Mark Records expressed interest, signing the band for five albums. Although the material of the debut album ‘Greater Art’ (1993) was under-produced, unoriginal and in

places simply boring, the record managed to sell reasonably well in Europe, and the wheels started to turn for the band. Lake Of Tears went on the road, and in 1995 launched their second product, ‘Headstones.’ The new songs were a big step forward: all of a sudden the Death Metal growl disappeared, the production got much better, and the music started to lean towards old Black Sabbath and Metallica. From yet another Doom Metal band, Lake Of Tears turned into one of the most promising newcomers. However, it was the third album, ‘A Crimson Cosmos’ (1997) that actually became the breakthrough. The psychedelic cover gave a hint of what to expect, but the actual music was something extraordinary. From the first chords of ‘Boogie Bubble’ to the last notes of the self-titled ballad, ‘A Crimson Cosmos’ contained the crossover between Doom, 70's hard rock, blues, and multiple references to Pink Floyd and Uriah Heep. The sound of the album was so fresh and at the same time so familiar, that Lake Of Tears immediately became one of Black Mark’s main exports. Yet not everything was well inside the band. The guitarist Jonas Eriksson took off and a line of replacements followed. The label pushed Brennare to make more live appearances and release another album, but Daniel had other plans. The next record, slow and semi-acoustic ‘Forever Autumn’ (1999) was another














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What is the strangest thing you have seen while playing a show? Our guitarist Mini-G stopping to play his guitar in the middle of a song so he could french-kiss with a girl in the audience!!! What was the best show you have played? I don't know which was our best show… When I've been running around like a maniac and falling on my face all the time I had lots of fun and those were the best shows for me. Every time we play at Wermelskirchen the audience gets crazy so it's great to play there! And I also remember that at the Maryland Deathfest I had so much adrenaline pumping through my veins that I went mad and the Americans were pretty surprised to see a ninja flying over the barricades haha! And in Portugal I was running around on the stage again and suddenly fell off the 1 meter high stage and could have broken my neck so that turned out to be pretty funny. But at most of our shows, when I put on my ninja suit I'm going insane and I'm having a lot of fun hehe. What is the song "All Hippies Are Dropouts" about? That's a song dedicated to all the people who stay true to their ideals. There's a lot of people that have so many goals when they're young, but growing up they get embittered or something and drop all their ideals. They don't believe in the same things as when they were young anymore.

As students they were fighting for something but once they go to work they just pick up their role in society, marry a girl, buy a house, get children and let

Photo by Amanda Wooldridge

themselves be brainwashed by stupid tv programmes every evening. That's not the path I wanna go (down). When I die I want to be able to say that I have done something with my life; that I had fun doing the things I like and that I have reached something that I wanted to reach. So the song "All hippies are dropouts" is basically saying that all those weedsmoking peace-lovers changed into the yuppies they hated so much and are now deciding over who gets money and who's gonna start a war. They don't wanna be reminded of their past when they were students anymore and so those fake hippies don't deserve my respect. Cheers Issac, thanks for your time.














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Then Rizzo left us and now Jan took over his place. What bands influenced you to play Grind? I've come a pretty long way to Grindcore… During my teens I was discovering hard rock with Guns N' Roses being my favourite band! And I have to admit, I still love them! They rock!!! Then I moved onto some harder stuff like Rage Against The Machine, Nirvana and Sepultura. Then some guy at school told me I had to check out Death Metal and he gave me some names like Morbid Angel, Cannibal Corpse and Carcass. I was totally blown away by this stuff! I discovered that one of my neighbours was also into this kind of music and he lent me cds from Deicide, Gorefest, Napalm Death, Cannibal Corpse etc. Getting more and more into this

extreme stuff, I wanted to try my chances and sing in a Death Metal band. Like this I met Sven and Aborted who were searching for a second singer at that time. He introduced me in the real Grindcore and underground scene and got me in touch with bands like Dead Infection, Hemdale, Exhumed, Sanitys Dawn, Mindflair, Suppository, Sublime Cadaveric Decomposition and many many more. Soon we became good friends and we wanted to start another Grindcore band where he would play the drums and I would sing. So we formed Sick Psycho, re-formed Ex-Noisea, started playing with Anal Torture and finally ended up with Leng Tch'e! Now I think most influences come from Grindcore, Death Metal, Hardcore, Power Violence and Stoner Rock.














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unpredicted step. The title reflected the atmosphere of the CD, with cellos and accordion emphasizing the melancholy and depression of the album. Songs like ‘So Fell Autumn Rain,’ ‘The Homecoming’ and ‘To Blossom Blue’ were closer to Pink Floyd rather than Black Sabbath, leaving many Heavy Metal trademarks behind. Meanwhile, the rumours about Lake Of Tears breaking up started circulating in the press. Brennare did his best to confirm them, giving confusing interviews, where he stated that ‘Lake Of Tears broke up a long time ago.’ However the band still owed Black Mark another album and trying to get out of the deal, entered the studio again. The farewell album with strange title ‘The Neonai’ hit the shelves in 2002. The new material couldn’t be further from the somber mood of ‘Forever Autumn.’ Songs like ‘Return of Ravens,’ ‘The Shadowshires’ and ‘Can Die No More’ turned from acoustic folk to dynamic electronic drumbeats, magical lyrics and the general feeling of a carnival. Even though the fans expected a ‘forced’ album, ‘The Neonai’ turned out to be one of the band’s strongest records. The contract was now fulfilled and the group officially disbanded, but the fans didn’t want to give up. It seems like the amount of fan mail touched Daniel Brennare, and another year later, at the end of 2003, Lake Of Tears were back together. The band signed with Noise Records and released the new album ‘Black Brick Road’ in the end of August 2004.

The record proved that Lake Of Tears still have a lot of potential. From the opening tracks ‘The Greymen’ and ‘Making Evenings’ to the aggressive ‘Crazyman,’ ‘Black Brick Road’ combined all the distinguishing signs of the Swedes. The album is a symbolic comeback to the times of ‘Crimson Cosmos,’ with its heavy guitars, Hammond organ and 70's psychedelic mood. The fans obviously weren’t disappointed either, as ‘Black Brick Road’ immediately skyrocketed into the national charts all over Europe. The band is on the road right now, playing sold out venues, and finally not talking about breaking up anymore. I must add that although Lake Of Tears went through incredible changes, they managed to preserve their personality and remain one of the most original and multisided acts. Every album of the band has its own incomparable feel, and even just because of that deserves the attention of Metal fans. Check them out if you like: Hard rock, Doom Metal, Black Sabbath, Pink Floyd. Highly Recommended: “Black Brick Road”(2004;Sanctuary) Website:www.lakeoftears.net














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As the new album of HammerFall, ‘Chapter V: Unbent’ Unbowed, Unbroken’ is in stores now, we got in touch with Oscar Dronjak, the guitarist and the main driving force behind the Swedish Heavy Metal band. Interview conducted by Max Thrasher and Brendon Williams The new album of HammerFall is out now. What are your thoughts on ‘Chapter V’? Well, we’re all very happy about it. In my opinion the ideal way of making an album is not 5 fast songs and a couple of other songs, like we had in the beginning of our career. The first albums of HammerFall weren’t very varied, and that’s what we were trying to avoid this time around - to really use the power of Heavy Metal, the techniques and make the album not repetitive in any way. You’ve also done a music video for ‘Blood Bound.’ Tell us about this experience. This video has been done in same way as the one for ‘Hearts on Fire.’ We done everything in front of the green screen and put the band playing into the computer-generated graphics. We shot every band member separately and later somebody in the editing room put this footage together. For us it’s not so hard making a music video. It was about a day of shooting, because the budget we had wasn’t extremely big, so we couldn’t be on several different locations, as that’d eat up a lot of money. We shot everything on one location and most of the money went into the post-production, effects and stuff. Very interesting character on HammerFall covers. Who is the warrior? His name is actually Hector. For the ‘Crimson

Thunder’ album we had a contest where the fans could name the warrior. He’s like the sixth member of HammerFall and he’s also a link between the band and the fans. In a way I think he epitomizes the band. So we let the fans come up with the name for this character and the guy who came up with ‘Hector’ was invited to the studio. He’s singing some backing vocals on some songs on ‘Crimson Thunder’. Lucky bastard! So, who comes up with the concepts for the HammerFall album covers? Usually it’s Joacim (Cans, the vocalist) and myself. This time around we were inspired by the movie ‘The Day After Tomorrow,’ that’s why the warrior is frozen on the cover. Plus we were thinking about doing a winter theme for a while. Being from the northern part of Europe it’s something very natural for us, and we think it’s quite cool. Winter is a very powerful force there are not many things that can stand in the blizzard’s way. But also we wanted to put this














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You may have heard of Leng Tch'e, the blasting Grind act from Belgium. I got Isaac "Kissaakske" to ask a few questions; Editor's note: This interview was conducted before the departure of Isaac from the ranks of Leng Tch'e. The new vocalist is Boris from the grindcore act "Suppository." Written By Alex Brown How did you get started in Leng Tch'e? I was in the band from the start. We had just stopped our previous band Anal Torture coz we wanted to do something more serious. One guitarist had just left AT and the four remaining members decided to start up a new band which turned out to be Leng Tch'e. I hear Nicholas, Leng Tch'e's previous bass player left the band to live in New Zealand. Do you know why this is? Yeah, coz he loved the "Lord of the Rings" movies! His initial plan was to go to New Zealand, search for a job, get a full-time visa or something like that, visit the whole country and maybe stay there for the rest of his life. But due to problems with getting that full-time visa he could only stay for three months. So then he decided to visit the whole country with the money he had. In the meantime, our drummer Sven was in contact with another bassist but this guy said that he also wanted to leave Belgium so we didn't ask him to play

with us. Then Nicolas told us that he was thinking about coming back to Belgium coz he had met a girl here just before he left, he had problems getting that visa and he also missed playing in the band. And when we arranged to go on a mini-tour in the USA he said he'd definitely come back and join us again. So we just played for 3 months without a bass player and now Nicolas has joined our ranks again! Is there anything new that's happening with the band at the present? Well, we're getting ready to go in the studio next week to record our next fulllength "The Process of Elimination" and some songs for a split7" with Pig Destroyer. We're still negotiating with some labels to release the full-length. And of course, since "ManMadePredator" we also had some line-up changes which will have their effect on the music. We had Nicolas taking over the bass, Rizzo and later also Geert joining us on guitars.














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LI VE UNDEAD WARD 10 AT LINCOLN GREEN, HENDERSON INTERGALACTIC LIVE, THURSDAY 3 MARCH 2005. Written by Maebhe & Britney Another helping of live bands at the Lincoln Green dished up by the hardworking Intergalactic Live team, with the night’s lineup promising to be an alternativemetal-pop-thrashpunk smorgasboard. Nonchalont kicked off proceedings with some original rock tunes and although nothing really leapt out and grabbed me aurally, they played a solid set. Schlonglongfong took the stage next and delivered some heavy-thrash-punk with reckless energy and abandon, coercing the crowd into busting some moves. More originals in the set and less covers would’ve pleased me further. Ward 10, what can I say? They’re certainly a breath of fresh air in the metal scene. The drummer has no tongue, while the Gimp in the middle barely keeps inside his mask. Over the past year or so I’ve watched this three man band meld and develop into what is a powerful and catchy display of talents. Matt and Dave on guitar blend their riffs, and rhythms together, yet each flare of their fingers is distinguishable from the other. The man behind the mask, Ant, manages to put on both a visual and an aural display I’ve never seen nor heard before, providing the vocals, and the bass lines, on both bass guitar and an amplified cello. To a moderate crowd, Ward 10 performed a great

set, albeit with some technical difficulties, where the fuse blew and thus cut power to the entire stage. While the fuse was being located, Dave took the opportunity to visit the bar for a refill. The fuse was located and the power was reset (so was the drummer!) and Ward 10 was back in session. Although in the middle of their set, they smoothly picked up where the power left off, until a song or two later the fuse blew again, demanding another round of drinks. There were calls from the crowd to continue acoustically on the cello but Gimpy subdued them with a smidge of nipple rubbing. Once again the fuse, power and drummer were all up and running again. Lights, phone cameras, and Ward 10 action. Their set completed without further mishaps. Ward 10… if you haven’t seen them yet, they are definitely worth a look and a listen. These guys have a good thing going. As the evening closed with the pop-punk sounds of Troy the Snail I made my exit with all senses satisfied, albeit a slight ringing in the ears. Thanks to Intergalactic Live and thanks to all the bands for a night of good live sounds.

www.ward10.co.nz www.schlonglongfong.com www.troythesnail.com














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character in an environment he’s never been in before. How would you describe the style of HammerFall? Heavy Metal. You know, back when we started people thought Heavy Metal was for guys who didn’t understand anything that was hip at the time. Heavy Metal was really laughed at and I hated this attitude. If I said to someone ‘I’m in a band and we’re playing Heavy Metal’ they were like ‘What? Are you kidding me?’ They didn’t know this music was still around. So I made a point out of referring to HammerFall as a Heavy Metal band, because I knew that the people would think I’m crazy. In those days it was just grunge, Black Metal and Death Metal, Machine Head and those bands. And in my opinion they have nothing to do with Heavy Metal. They can be any types of Metal, but they’re not Heavy

Metal. That was why I wanted to call the music of HammerFall 'Heavy Metal.' If you weren’t a musician, what regular job would you do? I’d probably be a teacher. I’d teach history or something. A couple of years before HammerFall released the first album I was studying and kind of going in that direction. But if you ask me what would I do when HammerFall is no longer, I’d at least consider being a journalist of some sort. What’s your opinion on nu-metal, pop punk and bands like this. Did you ever feel out of place surrounded by these kinds of bands? No. The pop-punk bands are huge in Sweden and you can’t really compete with those, but the nu-metal bands don’t do much better than Heavy Metal bands in Sweden. Iron Maiden is playing this summer at the biggest arena in














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Sweden and they sold this place out in three hours. So Heavy Metal is definitely very strong over here. The HammerFall concerts are usually very spectacular. Do you think the stage show is important for the band? Very. You know, in the 90's there was nothing on offer that I was looking for, when it came to live shows. All those bands looked like they just got out of bed in the morning and went right on stage. They weren’t having fun; they stood still there, looking at their shoes. And I hated it! Being on stage is a privilege! It’s fun and you should feel it! I still get an adrenaline rush before every show. So I wanted to have something for people to look at. Not just band, but pyros and stage props and that kind of thing. I think over the past years we’ve built a reputation of a band that always delivers live. When you’re buying a HammerFall concert ticket, you know you’re going to get more than just five people playing. You’re gonna get the show as well. Where do you think Heavy Metal is heading? Can it develop further without repeating itself? I think there’s endless room for that if you do it right. Look at bands like Edguy for example, or the bands that’ve been around for a while, like Manowar or Iron Maiden. I would classify all

those bands as Heavy Metal in one way or another, but they’re all very different from each other. As long as people continue playing music as individuals and as long as we don’t have this corporate thinking we had at the end of the 80's when labels put bands together based on their looks, Metal will be fine. You know, I just read that the new single of Judas Priest was decided by their record label. And I can’t understand how anybody could give this power to the label that’s something I’d never do. Of course we listen to our record company, but at the end of the day it’s always the band’s decision. And that’s how I think it should be to avoid losing your personality. Are we ever going to hear a different HammerFall? Will the band ever change drastically? I don’t think so. We are changing slower than many bands are and we’ll never do the ninety degree turn that some bands do. You can call it a gradual progression. We’re never gonna change from being Heavy Metal. That’s where we started and that’s where we want to be. I definitely think we’ll have more to offer, more ways to go, more areas to explore. Heavy Metal is a very wide term and you can do so many different things.














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MOVIE MORGUE

I Drink Your Blood (1970)

STARRING: Bhaskar, Jadine Wong, Rhonda Fultz, George Patterson. DIRECTOR: David E. Durston. SUMMARY by Josh Pasnak A band of satanist hippies roll into a town and begin terrorizing the local folk. They rape a local girl and her grandpa goes after them. He fails and is given LSD. This bothers his grandson and he gets back at the hippies by feeding them meat pies infected with blood from a rabid dog. They turn into crazed lunatics and begin killing and/or infecting everything in their path. REVIEW By Brendon Williams One of the titles from a series of classic, previously hard-to-find horror releases by Umbrella Entertainment, the cover promised many great things. Here are some of the tag-lines from the DVD cover: • "Previously banned now released uncut!" • "One of the most truly horrific thrillers ever produced!!" • "Satanic hippies on a holiday to hell!" • "The first U.S. film to receive an "X" rating for its graphic, depraved violence" For a 1970's movie, this "Z-grade trash exploitation" is really quite a good watch. Not as gory as you'd think, but the storyline is actually good enough to keep you interested in what's going on. Obviously, this release isn't for people

who like Hollywood style movies… if your definition of a horror movie is thrillers like "Scream" or even B-grade slashers flicks like the "Friday The 13th" series, you may be disappointed in the quality of this film. But if you're the type who appreciates the charm and atmosphere of movies made on shoestring budgets, with too many sub-par techniques to mention, then this may be a movie for you to add to your "must watch" list. DID YOU KNOW: The scary, ugly face seen on the movie posters for this film was originally part of the poster art for the US/British monster film, "It!" (1966).














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TRIAL BY FIRE 6. "ROSS MCGUIRE" AND "TRIAL BY FIRE" RHYME. WAS THAT INTENTIONAL, OR A FLUKE?

Hahaha, I’d never actually noticed that 'til now. Purely a coincidence I assure you. 7. WHAT'S THE BIGGEST LESSON YOU HAVE LEARNT FROM THE WORLD OF MUSIC SO FAR?

A distorted E5 chord! The compulsive desire to headbang to a killer song! A Halford or Dickenson scream! The cover to Somewhere In Time! 12. WHAT'S THE TRIAL BY FIRE SONG YOU LIKE PLAYING THE MOST?

Success only comes to those who work for it! Nothing comes for free but if you work hard, it will come.

I love to play all the songs, because each of them has something unique to them that I enjoy, but definitely the song ‘Trial By Fire’ is a particular favourite, because it was the first song I wrote for the band.

8. WHO WOULD TRIAL BY FIRE TOUR WITH IF GIVEN THE OPPORTUNITY TO TOUR WITH ANY 3 BANDS IN THE WORLD?

13. HOW OFTEN WILL TRIAL BY FIRE BE GIGGING THIS YEAR? ARE THERE PLANS TO GIG OUTSIDE AUCKLAND?

Honestly, I would love to tour with any of the Metal bands we have currently played with. They have all been so awesome. There’s been more than three, so you know who you are.

We’ll be playing as often as we can around Auckland, and yes we plan this year to travel around the country to play.

9. IF THERE HAD TO BE ONE MESSAGE YOU WANTED PEOPLE TO TAKE AWAY WITH THEM WHEN GOING TO A TRIAL BY FIRE SHOW, WHAT WOULD THAT MESSAGE BE?

To give generously when the collector calls! Lol. Nah, probably that what you have just witnessed was an amazing Metal show, and that they were kiwi. 10. WHAT IS TRIAL BY FIRE DOING DIFFERENTLY FROM OTHER BANDS OUT THERE

Well for a start we got a banner! I think if anything we have worked on more of an image than other bands. Image isn’t everything, but you need something to pull a crowd. 11. WHAT DO YOU LIKE THE MOST ABOUT METAL?

The sound of a double kick drum miked up!

14. WHERE SHOULD PEOPLE GO TO FIND OUT INFORMATION ON WHERE AND WHEN TRIAL BY FIRE ARE PLAYING?

Until our website is up and running, hopefully soon, check out the forum at houseofnoizz.com, or nzmetal.com. And for those without internet access, music stores like the Rock Shop and record stores like Real Groovy. 15. WHAT DO YOU WANT THE BAND TO HAVE ACCOMPLISHED BY THIS TIME NEXT YEAR

This time next year we will have an EP out for sure, but apart from that, hopefully we play a few high profile gigs, play a few different cities and have a larger fan base, which already is steadily growing. Thank you for doing these 15 questions for us. Thank you.














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PG 8

Mini Poster #3

SLAUGHTERAMA

ALB U M AUTOPSY The Wicked ‘

Wicked SeNsatioN

Sonic Scriptures of The End Times/Songs to Have Your Nightmares With

Exceptional

Label: Spikefarm Release Date: 2005 Probably the album of the month for me. Close your eyes and imagine: Finntroll and Ministry meet Immortal and decide to record a soundtrack to ‘The Ring’’ but get stoned somewhere along the way. Fucking brilliant! Another crazy Finnish band, The Wicked are totally out of control, full of horror melodies, Finnish traditional Humppa, Black Metal, industrial, creepy sounds and dialogues from movies (including ‘Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas’), orchestral movements and all sorts of unexpected musical ideas. If you like late Arcturus‘ you’re gonna love this bastard! One of those things you just can’t stop listening to. Highly recommended on drugs!

Label: SPV Release Date: 2004 Really good hard rock. Wicked Sensation take their roots in classic stuff like MSG, House of Lords, Dokken, Lynch Mob, Whitesnake and so on. There are quite a few really explosive tracks here and some very well written mid-tempo songs. There’s nothing extremely new here, but I don’t think ‘new’ is the point of this music. The point is writing catchy, memorable songs that would please those who miss the above-mentioned House of Lords and Lynch Mob. ‘Shining Light’ and ‘Back to My Bed’ are two songs here that are guaranteed to be stuck in your head for a while. Altogether, very nice.

Review by: Max Thrasher Review by: Max Thrasher

Vreid Kraft

Kreator Enemy of God Label: SPV Release Date: 2005 Very nice, solid album from the German Thrash Metal veterans. After the ‘softer’ sound of last two records Kreator migrate back to the traditional Thrash grounds. The album is somewhere between ‘Violent Revolution’ and ‘Coma of Souls’’ sometimes reminiscent of Slayer, but the trademark of Kreator is certainly there. Although the first three tracks seem to be the most impressive, the rest of the material is sure to satisfy the fans. At the end of the day, you didn't really expect a bad album from Kreator, did you?

Review by: Max Thrasher

Label: Tabu Recordings Release Date: 2004 And so the story goes… Windir, the founder of the Norwegian Black Metal band also titled Windir passed away in a snowy blizzard… and so, from the frosty remains comes Vreid. An eclectic mix of rocky Black Metal of the classic kind is more than welcomed on the majority of this album; 'Kraft.' With tracks thus named 'Songen At Fangen,' 'Wrath Of Mine' and 'Raped By Light,' it has an overall bouncy up-tempo feeling amidst the black. Other tracks, for example 'Empty,' seep with touches of inspired Nordic folk, adding a tint of a more (dare I say it) mellow, almost pop/gothic tinted vocal influence, Opeth / Katatonia-ish even maybe, and 'Helvete' (Euronymous anyone?) has just a wicked winding electronic starter that draws you in for the anticipated, much nastier ending. Still a 'True' Black Metal album; check out 'Unholy Water' and 'Evig Pine' for proof, but with a taste of something quite inspiring and refreshing.

Review by: Stine© 2005














PG 9

TRIAL BY FIRE

15 Questions with Ross McGuire from Trial By Fire Written by Brendon Williams 1. GIVE US A GENERAL RUN-DOWN ON WHAT TRIAL BY FIRE IS ALL ABOUT… YOUR SOUND, YOUR OUTLOOK, ETC.

Trial By Fire is true pure Metal. Heavy, fast, and loud! We are about making heavy uncompromising music for the legions of people out there, the whole band and myself included, who are sick of the crap that passes for music these days. 2. HOW DIFFICULT WAS IT TO FIND THE LINE-UP YOU HAVE?

Initially it was hard. I encountered musicians who weren’t committed and that was a hindrance, but the lineup now is the strongest yet. Warren (guitars) and Christian (bass) are terrific songwriters and musicians, and with the recent inclusion of Cameron (drums), (he) has breathed new life into our older songs, and added a new energy to the band. 3. AS A NEW BAND TO EMERGE ON THE AUCKLAND LIVE SCENE, HOW HAVE YOU FOUND THE RESPONSE FROM THE PUBLIC SO FAR?

The response has been tremendous. At our second gig we had the bar owner playing air guitar on top of the bar. People have a hunger for true Heavy Metal. Before playing with our friends in Warbeast and Just One Fix, I hadn’t heard another band play any Motorhead, Maiden or Priest covers lately, and the reaction from the crowds was insane.

4. WHAT ARTISTS HAVE INSPIRED YOU TO MAKE MUSIC?

We all grew up on the greats. Iron Maiden, The Thrash Big 4, Judas Priest, Ozzy and Sabbath, Motorhead. Each of us also have our own individual influences we bring to the band, like Cradle of Filth, Slayer, Queensryche, Misfits, Anthrax, Vai and Satch, NWOBHM, etc. 5. WHAT ARE SOME OF THE TOPICS YOU HAVE COVERED WITH YOUR SONGS SO FAR?

I like lyrics that tell a story rather than the pain of losing your girlfriend. The song ‘Trial By Fire’ is about witch trials. Warren's approach is more poetic, as he’s a huge Cradle fan, his songs 'Enchantress Of Pain,' 'Ablaze His Lustful Fire,' and 'Raised On Infinity' are a different style to my writing, but work well together. Christian made his writing debut with ‘Her Veil’ about the exhumation of a loved one. Movies are a huge influence; ‘The Hunters Moon’ and a song we’ve almost finished entitled ‘The Fog’ are based around two movies.














PG 10