Dear Maelstrom readers,

We’re fucking insane. We just keep getting bigger and more unconventional. It’s out of control. This, our 13th issue, is our biggest yet, with more than 150 reviews and 17 interviews with all sorts of wacky and cool bands.

We’re off our rockers for sure. In how many zines can you find reviews of Malaysian goregrind next to American alt-country? Yeah, we’ve got all that. Why? Because we like it. Do we expect you to get it? No. The fact remains we’re as wholeheartedly into Woodtemple as we are into Sixteen Horsepower.

To help us out with our visions of appreciation of musical diversity, we’ve gone out and recruited four super writers who are pretty cool people, too. (Not to mention completely nuts.) Please welcome Dave McGonigle, who despite being a research scientist, seems to know everything about everything that’s not metal; and Jason Thornberry, a grizzled zine mercenary whose appreciation for Marduk and funk exemplifies what Maelstrom stands for. The testosterone levels around the Maelstrom camp were getting a little out of control, so we went out and found Larissa Parson, a living dictionary of indie rock; and Samaki Dorsey, whose thirst for live shows is frankly cause for concern; Look out for these certifiable individuals’ work in our pages.

Of course we’ve still got our core of writers bringing you the best the underground has to offer that we can get our hard-working hands on. We’re sad to announce the departure of ~Vargscarr~, who had been with us from the beginning. We’ll miss his poignant and entertaining commentary. However, we’re extremely excited to say that Steppenvvolf, Maelstrom’s co-founder, has returned to the fold! And Maelstrom without Steppenvvolf is just not Maelstrom.

Speaking of excitement, our man Abhishek Chatterjee, whose lust for musical brutality even worries us, is all worked up about his new “top three picks of the issue” idea. We’ve decided to let him run with it. So, here they are:

1. Alienation Mental - Ball Spouter
2. Disgorge - Necrholocaust
3. Scent of Death - Entangled in Hate

Despite undertaking the lunatic journey of backpacking through India for two months on a whim, Tom Orgad still managed to provide us with some stuff, as well as a hilarious travel diary. It seems that Tom is still recuperating.

And as pumped up as we are about issue #13, issue #14 will have even more goodies, like a chat with Helloween, Cradle of Filth, Oxbow, Solefald and so, so much more. We can hardly wait.

Before you go off to read, please take a look at two letters that our readers submitted, showing that both rational thought and tolerance, but also the opposites, exist in the metal world.

- Roberto Martinelli

from: Karen Kay (paganwish@hotmail.com)

I’m writing this article not knowing really where to start from as much as there is to tell the masses about metal music and Satanism. Actually, what really incites me to write this is the controversy around this issue that many talk-shows have been dealing with lately and sadly with a lot of prejudice. So basically, this is not going to be one of those objective articles that smoothes both edges and gets nowhere.

I am not a Satanist; I try to be as Christian as can be, but I don’t claim to be an authority on the matter of religions either. I’m just a person who has spent the past decade listening to metal music in all its kinds and styles and appreciating the extraordinary, not-so-common subjects dealt with far away from the so-cliché, superficial themes tackled by the other styles.

To claim that all metal heads are Satanists is far-fetched, but unfortunately most of the alleged authorities discussing this issue fall into the pit of generalization, forgetting that there is a whole lot of metal bands who have nothing to do with Satanism, and these are the ones - the only ones, mind you - that any real metal head in my place would try to vindicate. We also forget that music is a form of art, just like writing or sculpting or dancing. We have horror novels; we have horror movies, why is it forbidden to have horror music? How come we have never heard anyone banning the works of Edgar Alan Poe, the master of horror, death, blood and murder? Why should we complain about lyrics which express the feelings of sorrow, emptiness and doom? In reality metal music is just like poetry, and it only takes sensible and romantic characters to appreciate the beauty of, for horror and death and pain are a concrete part of life. To deny this and pretend that the world is only love and peace and happiness would only be a fettered illusion. Metal music just delves into the realms of the id, and dares to reveal the parts in ourselves that we keep buried. Its themes romanticize death and bereavement; that only the weaker minds might consider this messages from the so-called Devil. It is an outlet, a pipe of release to all those negative feelings of pain and grief one goes through, that only an artist can handle deftly.

And still people go on to believe that metal music leads to suicide, which is only close to ridicule. If this was true, then I would have been just a soul damned to hell by now. I can state hundreds of examples of cases of suicide, where the victims don’t even know what metal music is. That’s all to say that it’s the psychological state of the person, regardless of the kind of music he/she listens to, which brings them to the state of depression, which might eventually lead to suicide. It is not because some people have taken their own lives by listening to metal music that such music should be condemned, but we should be as far-sighted as to realize that these people should have been treated at psychologists and psychiatrists for misinterpreting reality. If millions of people die from car crashes every year, we don’t go and ban cars, but we just learn what driving is about and drive more slowly.

As to the matter of clothing, it really strikes me as being utterly absurd. How can we forget that music isn’t a matter of putting notes and tunes together but a matter of style as well? A metal head isn’t a person you meet every day or anytime or any place. It’s a person with an original, sensible and sensitive character. The dark look is just that of someone who tends to be different and not essentially negatively different. Besides most bands, whether metal or not, seek to find a certain commercial image and communicate it to their audience, why should we go and pick on superficial accessories pertaining only to a certain style of dress? I wear black most of the time, I wear dark make-up all the time, and I am really into spikes and tattoos. Does that make me a Satanist? Absolutely not, for I teach at a Catholic school, I pray to God Almighty every morning and night, and I lead a very peaceful life. And still this doesn’t stop me from having my proper style of dress and my own original look. Actually, the way this image is communicated by the media relating this style of dress to Satanism is being done very randomly. It just condemns innocent people to the stake and beholds them with a lot of unnecessary prejudice. It’s high time we got over some appearances.

It might seem to some that my article is in favor of Satanism, but it is only in favor of the art of metal music. I’m just trying to explain what most people either fail to see or just know nothing about: it’s not whenever we hear a growl or heavy guitars that some work of evil is being done, it is not whenever someone wears black and gets pierced that he/she follows the Church of Satan, and definitely it is not whenever someone commits suicide that he/she’s done it because of listening to loud music. Enough of narrow-mindedness and prejudice! It takes a lot of research and studying before tackling such a sensitive subject. Condemnations aren’t to be done so arbitrarily, or it would only make it another of those middle-ages witchcraft hunts redeemed only after hundreds of years.

Dear Karen,

Thank you for your eloquent and thoughtful letter. You certainly bring up some excellent points.
- Roberto Martinelli

from: “GBK Hordes” (sperm_of_the_antichrist@hotmail.com)

We find it interesting that of all of the Maelstrom’s experienced contributors (10 years listening to Metallica, wow!) an Israeli Jew is chosen to review Arghoslent’s Incorrigible Bigotry. We are guessing that the editors of the Maelstrom felt that an Israeli Jew who apparently has been overwhelmed by creations of bands as Lux Occulta (?) Yes (?) Gentle Giant (??) is the ideal candidate to provide unbiased and informative reviews of militant metal output?.

We are not quite sure what Orgad means by “old-fashioned harmonized two-note-chord based death metal phrases,” though that phrase sure contains a lot of hyphens. Most likely, the meaning of this phrase, like the validity of this review, exists solely in Orgad?s oriental mind. His criticisms of Arghoslent’s “output” are, in fact, lies. A side by side comparison with any similar (there are few) metal album would prove this to even the dullest listener. Since Arghoslent makes music for militant metal hordes and not Jewish philosophers (like Marx?) it simply must go over Orgad’s head. In an attempt to cover his utter unworthiness as a reviewer, Orgad resorts to defamation. He defames Arghoslent because he hates us, he hates us because he fears us. This is where the truth of the matter is revealed to him; he should fear and hate Arghoslent because Arghoslent is a complete rejection of him and what he stands for.

Where Orgad errs is in making his feelings public.

Orgad represents the epitome of Jewishness. He is a meddler, one who goes stirring trouble, judging what he can never create, a muckraker, a liar, vicious, defensive. He is the “clever weakling” hiding behind his computer screen and poisoned pen. His intellect, of which he is so obviously proud, is not exceptional by any means. A quick scan of Webster’s Dictionary indicates that “folky” and “contrapunct” are used in quite imaginative ways. In fact “contrapunct” doesn’t seem to be listed at all, perhaps Orgad
meant “contrapuntal.” It’s amazing that in this day and age, people still feel that by throwing together run-on sentences with multi-syllable words and referring to moderately obscure (yet absolutely overrated) supposed “cutting edge” music that they demonstrate intelligence. On the contrary, these palaverous (go ahead, look it up! It’s ok! Use it in your next review!) ejaculations only prove that Orgad is a little boy hiding behind his big words. This way, he never has to say anything. We suggest that Orgad read some Hemingway or Julius Caeser so he learns how to communicate eloquently without resorting to verbal diarrhea. Secondly, Arghoslent suggests that the Maelstrom convert their zine to an Israeli-Jewish, pseudo-intellectual, semi-progressive rock, self-indulgent music forum if they insist on keeping the likes of Orgad around. Finally, we suggest Orgad remain in Tel-Aviv. Though he may be under the constant threat of suicide bombers and scud missile attacks, he is far safer than if he ever dares to darken the grassy plains of Virginia.

The Maelstrom does its audience a grave disservice by having Israeli Jews review the likes of Arghoslent.

Dear GBK,

Thanks for your letter. I can agree with you when you say that Tom put way too much thought into that review, certainly much more thought than was necessary for something as re-hashed and unoriginal as (your band) Arghoslent’s Incorrigible Bigotry. The fact that Tom decides to not be offended by your rampant hate toward his people is something we find pretty remarkable, as a matter of fact. Too bad you can't put yours aside. But that’s fine, because Maelstrom isn’t for you. Goodbye. - Roberto Martinelli