Dear Maelstrom readers,

It’s time for another landmark. The poet William Blake said “bring out weight and measure in a year of dearth,” and we agree, but seeing how we’ve all been scraping along the past 365 days, we felt it was ok to declare that Maelstrom Zine has reviewed more than 5,000 albums since its inception (5,121, to be exact). So, hooray for that.

More immediately, there’s a new issue. #67, featuring 111 album reviews, and a couple interviews, with Atheist spin-off Gnostic, and up-and-coming atmospheric hardcore band Izah.

See you next year!

Roberto Martinelli
1573 Dolores St
San Francisco, CA 94110

We love mail, even if it’s hate mail.

From: skowron.gabriel@gmail.com
To: giorgio75@hotmail.com
Subject: http://www.maelstrom.nu/
Date: Thu, 2 Jul 2009 18:57:15 +0200

Hi
Finally, I read your review of GLAUKOM SYNOD - Ogre
If you had the "courage" to listen to a little bit of each song, instead of stopping at the half of the first track (lol), you could have noticed it's a BIT more than what you heard...
Clean vocals, funky loops and things like that last only for few minutes and weren't used in a first degree manner (!!!)...
But if you think it's funny.......................................
G

Hi

If it's so terrible as to have to abort the listening experience, that says something. And considering the last album also didn't get a favorable mention (by someone else), that was enough.

- Roberto Martinelli

From: srose57@verizon.net
To: giorgio75@hotmail.com
Subject: within the ruins
Date: Wed, 26 Aug 2009 12:02:25 -0400

RE: Review of Within the Ruins Creature

I know every member of the band and was at the studio while they recorded "Creature". Get your facts straight before you start rambling on about a band you know nothing about. A comparison to Meshuggah is insanely off, they sound nothing like Meshuggah in any way. If any band they sound similar to would be Veil of Maya, or August burns red, those band being their biggest influences. The drummer of the band is Kevin Mcguill and he must be flattered you thought it was a drum machine because i watched him lay the tracks down myself. Check out youtube for videos of him shredding, he has more talent in one finger then you have in your entire body. These kids are 21 and younger and have a lot of time to make themselves even better in the future. Basically what I'm trying to say is your review was poorly put together. It's one thing to have an opinion of a band you're not interested in, but to be soooooo off in review of what this band is, is absurd.

Sandra,

Bless you for being such a devoted girlfriend. The world needs women like you.

- Roberto Martinelli