Dear readers,

Here we are again this month, some of us having weathered disaster or war to come through for the love of promoting music. You may know that some of our staff are Israeli nationals, one of whom happens to be in the army, yet still maintains his usual sunny and positive demeanor. We’re all hoping for an end to the war that’s affecting so many lives in Lebanon and Israel. Meanwhile, storms hit the Midwest and Matt Smith was temporarily homeless, marking the first time in five years that a Maelstrom issue will be without his contributions.

In spite of all that, here’s our 47th issue, featuring a discussion with Enslaved, 89 album reviews, and a couple picks from the Vault.

It’s been a heavy month, and not in a good way. We received the saddening news of the passing of one of my personally favorite artists, Eric Friesen, to diabetes. Any words of condolences to his family can be passed on through the address in the letters section.

If wealth were measured in the amount of people named Larissa who were on your writing staff, then we’d be rolling in it. Larissa Parson joined our team some years ago as our indie expert, then was on hiatus for some time. Now, she’s back, contributing her insightful commentary alongside our other dear Larissa, Larissa Glasser, reigning queen of spikes and bullet belts.

Also returning, and hopefully for good, is the Sewer Goddess herself, Kristina White, known and loved far and wide on the internet for her crusading music hubbery.

We had a contest, but we misplaced it. Not to fear, for we can always dip into our reserves of grab bagness, which this month will yield a copy of the latest Bludgeon, the latest Deadstar Assembly, the latest Hourcast, the latest Sigh, the album by the artist 3, and promos of the latest Rage, Witchery, Luca Turilli’s Dreamquest, Herod, Yngwie Malmsteen and Kataklysm. Write in, ask us nicely for which one you want, give some backups, and one of them is yours.

Take care,

Roberto Martinelli
1573 Dolores St
San Francisco, CA 94110
USA

----Original Message Follows----
From: Linnaea3@aol.com
To: roma@maelstrom.nu
Subject: Issue 2
Date: Mon, 17 Jul 2006 19:47:29 EDT

Hi Roberto,

I'm writing to thank you for your extensive interview of Eric Friesen in Issue 2 of Maelstrom. Could you tell me the date of the interview or of the issue? I'm his 'stepmom' and I'm writing for his father...the one who "played just kinda folky, strummin', kinda finger pickin' style. A little bit of twelve string."

It especially means a lot to us now since Eric died two weeks ago from diabetes complications. His dad is in the other room playing Eric's Ovation right now...great sound...some Stevie Rae Vaughn...beyond 'finger pickin' now...in addition to the piece he taught him to play at that school talent show and some Arlo Guthrie... I'm also giving you the link to Eric's "My Page". Feel free to write to us. I'm glad to see that the Maelstrom Ezine is still going strong. We'll be finding out how his CD's will be distributed when things have settled down. We're all extemely saddened by his sudden death. Here's the link and thanks again. Patty Friesen (http://www.myspace.com/friesenberg)

Dear Patti,

I was so happy to hear from you. My first thought in the initial lines was, "cool! I'll ask if they have any other of those classical piece albums Eric did!" I still cherish those Friesenberg Concertos, as have many I have shared them with, and was always hoping for more.

But the news has hit me like a ton of bricks. Of course, I certainly can't even begin to compare my feeling to yours. But I am shocked and honestly deeply saddened by Eric's passing. I have always been a fan of your son's work, and would think of him and Leland every few months, hoping that they would continue their careers in Windham Hell as well as solo projects. Looking back, I think that Eric's work and indeed, the aura about his work has inspired in me some of the most endearing feelings of just about anyone's. Not only his rare level of proficiency of his instrument, but the whole theme of rural Washington and the mystical aspects that some romantically ascribe to it, his nearly aggressive attempts to be as unknown as he could be, and his charmingly offbeat, humorous and quirky nature that belied high intelligence made him a fascinating subject.

People refer to people like Eric and Leland as being "cult," in the sense that so few know about them, but those who do love them so much to make up for all those who don't know. In the themes outlined above, Eric was like that.

The interview you read was conducted sometime in 2001. The issue was posted in April, so I'm guessing March was when I talked to him. I still have the tape. I'd be happy to dub it for you to CDR if this means anything.

My grandmother died last month. It wasn't a big blow to me, as I wasn't close to her at all, but I knew it was a big deal for my parents, and did my best to be there for them. I imagine losing a child would be even harder. I hope you cope well. I hope that whatever words I can offer will help you and your husband. The event will be painful and bewildering until it stops being so. No doubt Eric's memory will grow even more fond and vivid as time passes, until you soon find that the very best of his person remains. I know you will cherish that.

I generally post letters to the editor in the zine. I'd like to post yours, but as it's sensitive, I'd like to get your permission first. I am more than ever eager to hear Eric's work that was never fittingly distributed. If I could somehow hear these, it would be my privilege to tell all our readers about them.

sincerely,

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

From: "Siggeir Hrimthurs" <anewpaganage@hotmail.com>
To: litacore@att.net
Subject: hrimthurs
Date: Sun, 16 Jul 2006 03:10:00 +0000

A very fond greeting to you Larissa from Siggeir Hrimthurs of the south...

Kind of a futile mail this one- however I just thought I'd take the time to thank you for your encouraging review on War of the Ages in issue 39 ...although I have received equal or greater praise in other zines over the past year and a half or so - but circumstance has led me to reading your review once again after a few months and at this time of doubt in Hrimthurs' career it has furthered and actually finalised my year long decision of whether to continue the project or not -due to much promise and little follow through from the industry.

Thanks to you I have come to the conclusion that regardless of how much of my own money I lose it is more than worth it to release albums just for the minority of people out there such as yourself - afterall I made a promise to myself that even if I touched one person in the world with my music I will proceed and that that is my purpose with this project - and I have touched many (regardless of all the puritans and Australia haters in the scene)..haha this e-mail may be alittle wierd from your point of view (and I know you were only doing your job)but given the timing of it all and such wonderful insite on your part - I must take the time and give you great thanks , you have reminded me why I started Hrimthurs in the first place and as of today I shall pick up from where I left off andembark on my second release- and hopefully that all of this praise from around the world will actually lead to something and forward my career..(I openly admit though Hrimthurs takes an acquired , rare and maximum understanding to be digested properly so good for you for being one of the few people in the scene with a brain)

Sorry for the burdening e-mail and all the best - your review is my favourite because you tell it like it is and actually have something intelligent and a little deeper to say than most - good on you my friend all heils ...

SIGGEIR HRIMTHURS

P.S.If you want you want to keep updated or have any advice or further interest to do with Hrimthurs or the current BM scene I am more than happy to hear from you.

----Original Message Follows----
From: "Ignas Warsza" <ignas.warsza@gmail.com>
To: giorgio75@hotmail.com
Subject: Great site!
Date: Thu, 27 Jul 2006 20:18:06 +0200

Great site, but i have one complaint. If you add the maelstrom site into the mozilla firefox bookmarks toolbar, the icon will be the ebay icon. Why not make a custom maelstrom icon?

Dear Ignas,

We're looking into that one.

Roberto