What’s up, Maelstrom readers,

In all the hubbub of a worrisome, growing strain of tardy issues, we forgot to tell you that I, Roberto, have turned the corner out of my twenties. So far, it rules.

We were all psyched to get this issue out on time. We teetered on the brink. But then I went to LA and postponed it. It’s cool, though, because we squeezed in some extra reviews of some killer albums.

Longtime readers should know that we rate stingily. So it’s a testament to this issue of how many great albums we have to tell you about this month. Pagan’s Mind, the Atheist re-issues, Nordvargr, Helloween, Swallow the Sun, Frameshift, and Irepress, to name but a few.

No more tardiness, at least not this month. We’ve got 61 album reviews, and two super technical discussions about guitars and drums, with Justin Broadrick (Jesu, ex-Godflesh) and Tony Laureano (ex-Nile, ex-Angel Corpse, Insidious Disease) respectively.

Our staff of killer writers keeps growing with the inclusion of Larissa Glasser. We seem to work well with women named Larissa, but this one is especially great as she’s going to be largely taking over the black metal duties. She’s got a pretty killer resume, too, what with being the guitarist in a blasphemous, blistering band AND being a soft spoken librarian. Insane *and* bookish. Sounds like the recipe for evil.

We've got another whopper contest for you this month, as we're giving away copies of the double CD album Keepers of the Seven Keys - The Legacy by power metal giants HELLOWEEN.

And this won't be any pushover question, either. Here it is:

How many studio drummers has Helloween had, and who are they?

good luck!

----Original Message Follows----
From: "Jordan Knoll" <death_aflame@hotmail.com>
To: roma@maelstrom.nu
Subject: Re: Lykathea Aflame
Date: Tue, 25 Oct 2005 10:24:21 -0400

Hello, great webzine you have got there. The review of Elvenefris and the the interview with Ptoe are especially great, which leads me to my topic. As you probably know Lykathea Aflame seem to have disappeared off the face of the earth, however Elevenefris was such a mind blowing album I still hope that they might pop out a follow-up to blow me away again. For curiosity's sake do you have any concrete idea of what happened to the band? and when did you do that interview? any help would be appreciated, thanks and stay metal \m/

Hi, Jordan,

Thanks for writing. Glad you enjoy the zine. Lykathea Aflame have indeed disappeared off the face of the Earth. I can't remember when I did that interview. It must have been at least three years ago. I think I'll see if my email contact to the band still works. In the meantime, why not contact Curby at Obscene Records to find out?

bye,

Roberto Martinelli
Maelstrom Zine (http://www.maelstrom.nu)
1573 Dolores St.
San Francisco, CA 94110 USA