Hello, readers and welcome to the latest installment of Maelstrom, the Underground Music Zine. This issue sees Maelstrom moving more firmly into covering other genres of non-mainstream music. While we love metal, we have been commited since the beginning to promote other genres in the underground. Look out for reviews of various ambient, experimental, goth and other genres in this and future issues. Already in the issue you have before your eyes you will find interviews with black ambient project Kerovnian and goth rockers Entwine.

If issue #5 saw more activity from Maelstrom's staff, this current issue is a virtual party. I'm very happy to welcome three new contributors to the Maelstrom family. From England come Jeremy "Jez" Andrews, who contributed the excellent photos of the Marduk live show at Dorenreich in issue #3, and the man known only as ~Eternus~. From the West Coast of the United States, we are proud to feature the work of Laurent Martini. We would also like to thank Cassie Walker for her assistance in this new issue. Thank you all and I hope writing for Maelstrom will be as fun for you as it is for me.Our staff will be growing even more with next issue, as we have recruited the services of the mysterious Condor.

We are indeed proud to offer to you a fine lineup of artists in our interview section. This is headed up by black metal legends Marduk. Our own ~Vargscarr~ may be the biggest Marduk fan in existence, so he was the perfect choice to speak to Legion, the band's vocalist. ~Vargscarr~ also contributes another in depth interview with American black metal project Krieg. US power metal virtuosos Jag Panzer and cult Finnish black metal band Azaghal round out our rounded menu.

In our live review pages you will be able to read about the God Dethroned/Night in Gales/ Mistletein show that went through Northern England, as well as a review of the Godspeed You Black Emperor!/ Califone/ Telefon Tel Aviv tour. This is of course in addition to our album reviews and From the Vault sections.

Get reading!

- Roberto Martinelli