Sarawak Metal Force #6

Sarawak Metal Force #6

32 pg, A5, xerox, English

Interviews

Shamanic Rites, Beastial, Eventide Horizon, Argon, Sputum, Violator, Skull Skid, Necrotic Chaos, Kaos Maggots

Gig Report

Plenty including Sarawak Metal Force Part 5

Even better layout and xerox quality. 2 columns per page with nice spacing. Some in cut n paste style.

This issue now features non-Sarawak/East Malaysian scene. Also includes music reviews that are not rated and not alphabetically arranged.

This issue is thicker. Looks like a lot to read? Yes, they are. But the editor can reduce a bit the pages if it is well-arrange and using the right font size and layout.

SMF is getting better in every issue. The next issue is the best one to-date.

Sarawak Metal Force #5

Sarawak Metal Force #5

20 pg, A5, xerox, Malay

Interviews

Vormit, Jarmara, Death and Disorder, Rob-Blitz, Mantak, Seven Signs, Ungodly Death

Gig Report

Kuching Youth Music Festival

Article

A Bloody Century Predicted

Got 2 old issues from Grundar sales. Finally got some old issues to compare. Read my review on the latest issue elsewhere in this blog.

The seventh issue that I featured earlier was done by Mad3Sign. Editor for this issue was the late Noor Azam of Unitheism. He was the creator of this newsletter. This project is showcasing primarily on Sarawak metal scene, as the name suggested. Great effort on promoting their local scene. 

The newer one layout is much better. This issue is OK too with 2 or 3 column per page and using page border. There are also 4 columns but is a bit weird when the separator/spacing is 1 cm long. Shorter will look nicer I think. Xerox quality can always be improved.

Sarawak Metal Force #7 (Dec 2011)

Sarawak Metal Force #7 (Dec 2011)

24pg, A5, xerox, English

Interview
Ungodly Death

Bio
Unholy Sin, Deadshot, Vermean, Kambing Sakti, Kherow, Rottuary, Foxhole, Keruntuk, Sebayan, Kremation

This is a good effort in promoting Sarawak (a state in East Malaysia) metal scene. I wish every state can have their own publication like this. Few things I am unsure the frequency of this newsletter being released or whether it is released whenever Sarawak Metal Force gig is scheduled. I also don’t quite understand why it is stated 'published with permission from Sarawak Metal Force'.

In this issue you can read some info or history of this newsletter which last issue (#6) was released in 2003. The aim, as stated by them, is to encourage bands to write their own material and produce quality songs. Why long delay in releasing this issue and was the previous one not made by Mad3Sign? I also have no clue on this.

This can be your introduction to the present Sarawak Metal scene. Interview is only with one band. But you can read the news on Shadow, Unholy Sin, Saktism, Voltan, Shamanic Rites, Demon War, Immolate, Chakwan Syndrome, Line Haul, Dark Throttle, Kherow, Curse Of Gods beside bio of bands listed above. There are also ads at the bottom of the page (from distro to studio).

Layout is good, not your conventional MS Word or cut n paste. This newsletter show you the right way of using black/dark background and the text is still readable in both black and white font color. If it is printed in laser printer, it will be a lot better (print them this way for the next issue please!).

This issue comes with free CD-R sampler. I found some old issues at some local distro. Hope can get a copy of those as well.

Web
sarawakmetalforce.blogspot.com

E-mail
mad3sign at gmail dot com