Necroscope Zine #18 & #19 reviews

NECROSCOPE Zine #18 & #19 (Poland)
2007/2008
144 pages A5 (x2) – English written
Arrrghhhh! You read it well, I review 2 issues of NECROSCOPE Zine at the same time. I haven’t released my 4th yet and Adam has still released 2 issues and the #20 is on the way to kick our lazy asses and shows us what a metallic dedication is! I’m still impressed by Adam’s dedication and about his incredible amount of work. Here is a kind of synthesis of both zines dedicated mostly to thrash, black and death metal. Adam digs the most obscure, deepest and filthiest part of the underground to bring you interviews with the most infamous, unknown and rawest bands worldwide: VARATHRON, MERCILESS CRUCIFIXION, CACODAEMON, DEPHTS OF DEPRAVITY, NOCTURNAL VOMIT, MARTYRVORE, ENSHADOWED, PEK, DEMONIC RAGE, HELLSPIRIT, BESTIAL HOLOCAUST, RIDDLE OF MEANDER, GOAT TYRANT, etc and all have been done by snail mails. When I see all the troubles I have to get inties back even though I use mostly emails I am amazed for sure. Probably I waste time with bands that have lost a certain underground spirit or that are more pleased with their Myspace account and their ten millions virtual friends. Anyway the questions are detailed and ask the interviewed dudes to be a bit talkative and to be able to elevate the debate and not to only prove they’re evil dudes.
The reviews section shares the same exotic particularity with dozens of CD, demos, EP, live stuff, promo, zines, live reports or whatever musical support. All this is due the large amount of contacts of Adam within tape/CDR trading. He covers everything from new releases to hard-to-find-ultra-limited-to-50-copies-demo from the most improbable country. Everything is divided in distinguished two parts: Polish Hell and Wordly attack/assault.
Two articles that appear on each new issue: “Tape-traders, the forgotten race” shows up a discussion with one of the many friends with whom Adam used to trade, talk about the actual underground. The second article called “Pearls from the abyss” is about old and really unknown extreme stuff from around the 90’s. Adam also uses to release a compilation CDR of that stuff so expect archaeological releases and very old stuff from more established bands. Really impressive reading.
Well, the main reproach about NECROSCOPE Zine could be the lack of illustration, there are very few of them but that’s a detail. A summary could help as well to not drown into the huge amount of information.
But definitively, NECROSCOPE Zine is among the best underground European zine and could be considered are a metal bible but let’s say an extreme metal encyclopaedia, it’s less insulting. What do you think of this Adam?
Contact: Adam STASIAK – Ul Zakopiańska 42/3 – 80139 GDANSK – POLAND