Tuesday, November 13, 2012

Virus #7 (2011)




Virus #7 (2011)

52pg, A4, xerox, English

Interview
Insulters, Deathroner, Anal Vomit, Sekhmet, *Iron Skull, Witching Hour, Thorns Of Hate, Battlestorm, Sakrilege, Lobotomy, Saktism, Nocturnal, Torture Throne

Bio
Hellstorm, Atomicdeath

"The 7th Black Magic", the title for this seventh issue. Fauzi have stopped using blue inked stamp which is sad new for me. It's already Virus 'zine tradition that reader will expect in every issue. I'm also not fond of using different color paper other than white for a xerox zine for the front cover. Black & white is the only way for zine. Layout-wise, pretty much the like the previous issue with border/frame artwork with some pages are made in cut n' paste style. The xerox or photocopy are OK but not at excellent quality. I don't understand why some drawings/artwork are censored but anyway, must be a good reason for that for example avoiding 'interrogation' with the lady at the photocopy shop (the only one reason I can think off hehe).

This issue also features a tribute, this time for SLAYER. Now you can see the relation with the "The 7th Black Magic". Doing the Slayer tribute on 'landscape' layout is not a good idea in my opinion. It is better made it all in 'portrait' like the rest of the content but then the number of pages might increase another 10 page. Anyway the content is what matter the most, right? I guess if you have lot of time surfing the internet, you can read all of them but for me, reading this in a printed zine like this suit me just fine. Too many to be read here since the fonts have been reduced to much smaller size than usual you read in A5 size zine. They can torture your eyes. The editor also compiled what 'metal celebrities' (that's my term hehe. In other words, well-known metalhead in the scene) opinions on Slayer.

Other contents in this issue beside the usual interviews (Battlestorm gave the great answers! I like the demo and split tape issued by Deathrash Armageddon) and reviews (in audio section the tapes & CDs are not separated between the format and not rated and not arranged in alphabetical order. The fanzine reviews also not rated).

There is one gig report here; Impiety in Kota Kinabalu. It seems like now bands with the status like Impiety are having KK in their tour list, not just KL anymore. That's good new for East Malaysian scene. Great scene you have there!


Beside the usual contents, the editor made "In Memorium Grave"; review of old Malaysian releases. Also includes info on the line-up for the recording. Great feature! A flash back for me. Those tapes are long gone from my collection.
Some copies of the zine might be available for sales. For metalhead from Malaysia, also ask about his distro lists that include some good fanzines.

*interview contributed by Perantaraan Zine

Contact
c/o Fauzi
virus_zine@yahoo.com

Morbid Noise #9 (2003)




Morbid Noise #9 (2003)
48 pg, pro-print, Indonesian

Interview
Fermento, Brodequin, Wicked Innocence, Cephalic Carnage, Spinecast, Damnable, Psychoroptic

I did mentioned somewhere in this website (or blog, whatever you want to call it) that I don't review every issue of a publication released on monthly basis. I think I can make some exception if there is something new to talk about. This time around the magazine is more 'open-minded' (no more censoring pictures that shows nudity which I didn't mention in the previous review).

There are some changes on the layout. They removed the line between the columns and reduced the font size. It looks better now especially the new font size.

I notice there is a Metal Crossword and Morbid Letter in this issue which I think you can guess what they are. No need for me to explain that here. Other 'morbid' content are similar like in the previous issue. The 'Morbid Angel' section this time features Lena Soraya Watulingas.

This issue come with free sticker & Six Feet Under poster. I don't have the CD sampler. It is mentioned in the previous issue but I'm not sure whether it was release at all since I got this from a trade. Anyway, the magazine is much more important.

At the moment, I still have these 2 issues. Interested to trade? Drop me an email.