Out of curiosity I had to check our highly valuable search engine on here, when we had the last time a review on a magazine. Yep, you read it right, this one is a real magazine with an additional audio CDR, whose creator, Daniel Cors Alonso hails out of Burgos, Spain. It is high-glossy and printed in black/white in DIN A4 format, which sets the status above a usual fanzine. It concentrates with this first issue to introduce rather unknown acts out of the EBM/Dark Electro/Industrial genre through interview in Spanish (...which I am unfortunately unable to read...) and English language.
Best known acts presented in this issue are Germany’s AMNISTIA (recently out with second full-length album on Scanner, watch our interview with them on here...), STRAFTANZ (as Dependent stopped all business activities, they too switched to Scanner...), the Rupal Records-recording act LA MAGRA, the Belgium-based IC 434 (recently signed to Infacted Recordings...), the Spanish act GRADUAL HATE (debut album out on Hypervoxx) or the Swedish side-project of SEVERE ILLUSION, INSTANS (signed to Advoxya-Records). Other names some or another fan has maybe heard of, like both French acts REMAIN SILENT and ZAUBER or the US-based INDEX AI (right on, the follow-up project of Eric Chamberlain/INDEX, COP International...), while others are representing the newcomer section with NEOSTATE, BLACKCENTR, OSCURA or FILTHY DEFEX. So the musically content discovers rather EBM/Dark Electro music, which for the most part avoids the Hellectro genre. Quite interesting stuff to discover, since all web resources and links are included, for sure a good point. As a flaw I have to mention that the interview questions are a bit too much following the standard paths and here I don’t argue about the weakness of the English language of the author. This of course counts only for the English-written interviews, since all interviews in Spanish seem to offer more details.
Talking on the audio content of the CDR, it introduces the works of a long-out-of-business German EBM/Electro band named INTOXICATION. This trio has been active in the early 90ies and can look back on a 14 track-tape named "Braindamage", as well as a self-produced MCD "From The Source". This German band can be musically sorted into a mixture of old LEAETHERSTRIP combined with THE PSYCHIC FORCE to get a possible hint for a comparison. Since also this special band introduction is written in Spanish, I rather have to check back my own collection and knowledge on them, since I own both their releases. This attached CDR has received the title "Dahmer Syndrom", but I am quite unsure, if this are seriously unreleased recordings, since I discovered several tracks taken in the same version from the INTOXICATION tape "Brain Damage", only sorted with a new track list (strange to see that the editors have avoided to include a track list of the audio material... this rather confirms my suspicion, that no one in the scene shall recognize that this is the same recording of a long-out-of-print and 17-years old audio tape simply copied on CDR. The number of the track (14) and the "real underground" sound quality speak for a 1:1 copy process of tape to PC...) . I also don’t know if the copyright situation of this action is permitted, but however, it’s a quite useful initiative to introduce a totally underrated act to the Hellectro-influenced kiddies of the present.
Maybe every single word of criticism is a totally fail, because what this magazine needs the most is neverending SUPPORT!!! Support for the courageous idea to publish a print-magazine in a time where online communities grow extraordinary and receive uncontrollable influence. I hope that Daniel will find the muse, ideas, help and financial support to continue with his vision of a print-magazine, which doesn’t need to snuggle with some Goth-/Metal-/Alternative-bullshit-acts to receive attention and needed bucks to pay the print offices. Good luck to Daniel and his team for this – I’ll guess you’ll need it!

Darklife is one of Europe's longest running fanzines and although it takes them a while to put their issues together (but as an ex-paper publisher I know what that's like and fully sympathize with them) they always do so with quality over quantity in mind... Issue X comes 8 years after their first issue and comes to you in the form of a professionally printed A5 glossy-paper b/w fanzine with (and this is news!) an enclosed CD compilation (which is something these guys have always wanted to do, and again, having released a few of them myselft, with the paper version of Chain D.L.K., I perfectly understand why it wasn't easy to do so), released in collaboration with this new Geneva-based association called Interstice, founded to promote "dark" music and lifestyle. In other words Darklife seems to have new life juice in it, we'll see how that plays out in the future and if there is going to be an issue XI. Their site says that they don't know yet and that they definitely can use help, so if you feel inspired, contact them and see what you can do for Darklife. For now, be content with a great fully packed issue featuring interviews with The Legendary Pink Dots, Venus Fly Trap, Skeletal Family, Mila Mar, Nebelhexe, Jack Or Jive, Irfan, Siderartica, The Last Dance, Flintology, Inertia, Ain Soph, Inner Glory, Scream Silence, the Belgian-American music-activists The Weathermen, KK Null, an interview with Prikosnovenie records founder, specials on Hermann Hendrich and on the indie market in Russia, concert reviews and of course tons of news and music reviews also. The CD features The Weathermen vs WRLC, Neon Electronics, BAK XIII, Grand Chaos, Herr Liebe, Mimetic Fake, Moulinet, S-tanTale, Flintology, Macadam Pale Horses, Armode vs Mark Pistel, Zodiac Project vs Opak, Floating Mind, Melodie, Diffuse, Music for the Space, KK Null and Zeni Geva (mostly Swiss artists, which is great and true to the purposes of Interstice; but also some Belgian, French, Japanese and American).
Support these guys as much as you can and get your copy of Darklife X - I am confused now: is this Darklife Panther or Darklife Tiger?

Pretty much the only dinosaur still walking and breathing among the extinct species of printed industrial music magazines, Industrial Nation greets the summer with another issue packed with features (and a Skinny Puppy pull-out poster!). With the main feature being Skinny Puppy's extensive interview, you can't ever go wrong, especially if your name is Industrial Nation. More interviews include: Ayria, the Azoic, Winterkalte, Wilt, Client, Scrape.DX, the italians XP8, historical The Residents and the eccentric Mortiis, Iris, Naviconn Torture Technologies, Projekt owner's Black Tape for a Blue Girl, Flesh Field, C-Drone-Defect, Interlace and finally mind.in.a.box. To complete the picture we have an Edmonton (Canada) scene report, a report about the famous Wave Gotik Treffen in Leipzig, Germany, an interesting article about the fair use of movie sampling in industrial music. Of course hundreds of reviews will make sure you absolutely know what to buy at any given moment of the day. All of this on thick paper, half of the pages in full colour, for your visual enjoyment, as well as your reading enjoyment. Glad to see they are still around!

Bob Smith is the editor of Chaotic Order and sent me the latest issue of his magazine. Chaotic Order isn't striclty a music magazine as it covers alternative media and culture in general. In fact in this issue Bob and his collaborators offer us interviews conducted with fresh approach and in this way you're able to read something new about people like Siouxie Sioux which has been interviewed thousand of times over all the years of her activity. The menu brings us interviews with Porn director Mike John, serial killer specialist Sondra (she talks also about her books "Ture vampires" and "Killer fiction"), the fore mentioned Siouxie Sioux, neo folk band Naevus and Dan 138 from the musical project One Thirty Eight. There are also a couple of articles about Avant Garde movies and William Black's exploration in the mondo movies world. The last 13 pages are filled with books, CD and DVD reviews. Get your copy for £2.00 / 4€ or 5$.

Pretty much left on his own, the untiring young noman that goes by the nickname of Gianfri, has managed, between moving from Switzerland to Berling and all the other every day shit of life, to put out a new exciting issue of Darklife 'zine with little or no help (it's sad to see how little help deserving fellow publishers/writers like Gianfranco Sciacca get). This nineth A5-sized professionally printed issue comes on heavy and shiny glossy paper and features interviews with Das Praeparat, Scream Silence, Matt Howden (of Sieben and Sol Invictus fame), Spiritual Front, F242, Bak XIII, Francesco Banchini's G.O.R. and Louisa John Krol and Keltia (three pagan/celtic/mediterranean/world music artists that have been touring together), Y-Luk-O, Collection D'Arnell-Andrea, Lady Morphia, Ex-Nihilo, Alien Sex Fiend, EXPERIMENT NnORD, The Soil Bleeds Black, Libitina, Synthetic. What I like about these interviews is that they have been done on location, after/before the artist's shows, by people who attend and support these shows (again, mostly Gianfri). You can feel the vibe and the excitment, coming from the presence at the gig, and of course the interviews benefit from that beause they are direct and develop like a dialogue. Of course the same concert-goers also wrote many reviews of live shows all around Germany/Belgium/Switzerland/Scandinavia, including reviews of festivals, reviews of the shows by the interviewed bands and of other band's live sets, such as Death In June, Anne Clark, The Mission etc. The 66 pages also make room for a russian dark scene report, a dark fashion special, the Swiss Underground column (these last two resumed in place of the suppressed Fanzine Focus column). And abviously reviews of CDs, compilations, fanzines and lots of news take up about a third of the 'zine's contents. Darklife is a great publication, and I say that because I have published Chain D.L.K. on paper for 8 years and I know how hard and expensive it is to do something like that. There might be some big changes/news/improvements in the air, hopefully Gianfri will keep us posted...