This is the website of Russell Garwood, writer for Zero Tolerance Magazine and former editor of Ultimatemetal.com. You can find news below and more details using the links above.
19/02/2012
A new issue of ZT has appeared - this issue has news and an interview with Psycroptic from myself in it. It was also due to have an interview with David Gold, who sadly passed away before our interview was completed. In its place is a two page feature looking back over our last seven year's worth of interviews. More info at the link below:
Zero Tolerance Issue 045, Feb/Mar 2012.
Buy it. Read it. Spread dissent.
02/01/2012
Happy new year! A new issue of ZT has hit the shelves - November and December were, as usual, rather hectic at work, so only news in this issue from me. Do check it out!
Zero Tolerance Issue 044, Dec 2011/Jan 2012.
Buy it. Read it. Spread dissent.
In other (science-based) journalism news, an article I recently wrote with colleague Alan Spencer graces the cover of this month's Deposits Magazine. The article provides an introduction to early terrestrial life.
02/11/2011
Autumn has hit, and a new issue of ZT is out - my contributions include a reviews, including the new NecroDeathmort, a feature with The Browning, and the news. Please do check it out!
Zero Tolerance Issue 043, Oct/Nov 2011.
Buy it. Read it. Spread dissent.
21/08/2011
Another issue of Zero Tolerance is out; no cover story from me this time around, in fact, this time it's just the news. It's great issue though, check it out, and more from me next time round:
Wolves In The Throne Room…REALLY?!
That’s right folks, this issue we were fully intent on busting the vegetables out of these young Americans and their nature metal – but walked away with a smack in the mouth! Staff Writer Will Pinfold confronted drummer Aaron Weaver to examine one of modern black metal’s most disputed bands. Thoughtful? Evocative? Or just a load of pseudo-intellectual trash – you decide.
Screaming from the pages of Issue #42 come the likes of Polish legends Decapitated, USBM cultists Nightbringer, Israeli psych-patients Sonne Adam – and that’s not all! Glorior Belli, Sol Invictus, Midnight, Evile, Serpentcult, The Living Fields, Toxic Holocaust and Malefice also receive thorough, feature-length interrogations.
For those with more obscure tastes – our regular UGBM, Power Lines and Anger Burning sections are alive with must-hear music – all handpicked from the hidden worlds of underground black metal, power electronics and crust.
As ever, we bring you the most authentic and extensive coverage of extreme music in print history! Discover record labels, artists, industry insiders and new talent in this, the latest issue of Zero Tolerance Magazine.
We are also pleased to announce that former Deputy Editor Nathan T. Birk is now officially installed as the magazine’s Editor. After stepping in and increasing his responsibilities after last year’s editorial changes, Nathan’s work over the past 6 or so issues has been that of a virtual Editor and we think that it’s high time his title reflected the influence, blood, sweat and tears he’s poured over the pages of ZT during that time. Vision, integrity, professionalism and downright hardwork is what it takes to make a magazine stand out from the crowd and Nathan possesses all of these attributes and more (including a sense of humour when he finds the time for it!) and we’re confident that the editorial reins couldn’t be gripped by safer hands. Here’s to the future!
Zero Tolerance Issue 042, Aug/Sep 2011.
Buy it. Read it. Spread dissent.
01/06/2011
Another update, and a new issue of Zero Tolerance has hit the shelves:
In addition to my normal news feature, I contributed an interview with While Heaven Wept who have a new album. I am also responsible for the cover story with Ulver - interviewed at their London show last month regaring their new album, history and future. Please check it out. More details:
Over the hill at 41? Not bloody likely: Zero Tolerance Magazine is just hitting its stride!
More than seven years into our existence and now 41 issues strong, we’re still the loudest, ugliest publication you’ll find in extreme metal – and extreme MUSIC in general – but we like to flip the script from time to time…after all, isn’t that ‘extreme’? To put our money where our mouth is, we’re presenting Ulver as our latest cover story. A band that should be no stranger to any self-respecting punter, over their varied (and stratifying) career, this Norwegian vanguard have evolved from extreme metal to extreme music, perhaps charting the evolution of many of their fans’ music tastes: growing up can be bitch, eh? Russell Garwood dives headlong into this subject with all members of Ulver, roundtable-style, delivering the most thought-provoking (and philosophical!) piece you’re likely to read on the band this year. But fear not, ye of sturdier constitution: we’re more committed than ever to unearthing the most obscure and underground action around, and our regular UGBM, Power Lines, and Anger Burning sections prove this in spades! Elsewhere, we explore the catacombs with reunited legends Autopsy and Hell, the majestic Tyr and While Heaven Wept, the always divisive Morbid Angel and Anaal Nathrakh, and plucky upstarts Portrait and In Solitude. Oh, and did we mention our unmatched Rapid Fire section? More underground action for ya. And if truth be told, our reviews section is second to none in both quality and quantity, breadth and depth. Nope, we’re not entering the grave anytime soon – far from it!
All this and more will bludgeon your ears, rot your eyes and corrupt your sickly souls until all is consumed by the kingdom of noise. Louder, faster, heavier...than ever before. Issue #41 out now from all decent newsagents. Check out stockists here or check out our shop where you can buy single issues and subscriptions.
Zero Tolerance Issue 041, Jun/Jul 2011.
Buy it. Read it. Spread dissent.
19/04/2011
Since the last update I have completed my PhD, but due to time contraints have unfortunately had to step aside as editor of Ultimatemetal.com. I am still writing for Zero Tolerance Magazine, however, and several issues have appeared since last time:
Issue 39 features news and an interview with To Cast A Shadow from myself, and Issue 40 has news, and interviews with Woods of Ypres and Nader Sadek. I have also updated the website - all the above sections are now current, and I have added a research section outlining my scientific work. Please do take a look around the newly updated site, and the next issue of ZT will surface mid-May.
14/11/2010
It has been several months since last updating this website, largely because over the summer I was involved with fieldwork in Sardinia, the conferences in London and China, and finally writing up and submitting my PhD. In this time several issues of ZT have appeared:
Both have news from me in, and another issues hits the shelves this week. Things at UM ground to a halt recently due to workload. This has eased now the PhD is done however, and we are looking for writers to help try and clear the backlog. If you're interested please get in touch. In the meantime we have posted more reviews and interviews with Paul Kuhr of November's Doom fame and Alestorm. Do check them out.
18/05/2010
A new Issue of ZT is out, details below. The magazine also has a new website check it out!
Zero Tolerance
Issue 035 - May/Jun 2010
"I will use the word God a lot of times in this interview." - Watain's Erik Danielsson
As the frontman of spiritual Satanists Watain, Erik Danielsson's is not the most obvious person in black metal to express a belief in God, but he does just that in the new issue of Zero Tolerance Magazine. Talking for a specially extended feature to ZT's Alex de Moller about aspects of faith and spirituality and how they relate to his satanic beliefs, Danielsson says, "I would say like most teenagers who are into metal I was fascinated by the devil at a very early age, fascinated by the symbols surrounding this mythological figure. Religious Satanism is born when the spirit is able to absorb these symbols and understand the essence behind them. It is one thing being fascinated with the dark side, it's one thing being tempted by satanic symbols because they have an inherent temptation, but it's when the spirit itself begins to feel a natural bond with the symbols and names that you're confronted with. That's when I would say that fascination stops and religion takes over. That is a constantly ongoing process because Satanism is about transformation... I will use the word God a lot of times in this interview and by God I mean the creator whose intention was to put man on earth and to have him uphold a state of order and perfection." When asked if this means that he believes in God, Danielsson says, "In that sense, definitely."
Talking ahead of the release of Watain's new album Lawless Darkness, Danielsson leads a discussion on how matters of faith and spirituality are relevant to extreme music. Also sharing their thoughts on the matter are 1349, who discuss the significance of occultism and ritual, Grand Magus and Sabbath Assembly.
Editor Calum Harvie commented, "Too often discussions about religion in the context of extreme music get bogged down in pro / anti-Christian rants, which means that genuinely spiritual aspects of some underground music are over looked. But as you'd expect when we're talking to the likes of Watain and 1349, this isn't your typical Sunday School 'Kum Ba Yah' fare."
Elsewhere in the issue we have interviews with Nachtmystium's Blake Judd, Nevermore's Jeff Loomis, we've a bit of a thrash attack in the form of a co-operative of interviews with Annihilator, Exodus, Dew-Scented and young guns Enforcer. Underground black metal, experimental noise and, in our constant quest for enlightenment, features on some of the more obscure artists in extreme music are in abundance throughout - but that goes without saying, right?
Zero Tolerance Issue 035, May/Jun 2010. Onsale from 15th May.
Zero Tolerance Magazine
Representing The Sonically Unacceptable
Buy It. Read It. Spread Dissent.
As ever, much of my time has been spent on PhD work - I've recently had a new paper out, and the latest news on that front is up here.
Finally a new UM interview - Autumns Eyes - Within the Ominous Tone, courtesy of new writer Jason Wick, has also been posted. Check it out!
01/04/2010
Things here are as busy as ever, however, some journalism is still happening. You can find a new interviews with Anaal Nathrakh and Whourkrup at UM, as well as a feature on video nasties written by myself. Another two issues of ZT have also surfaced, the latest being:
Zero Tolerance
Issue 034 - Mar/Apr 2010
"I don't really know what doom metal is these days" - Lee Dorrian, Cathedral.
How extreme music and its musicians continually reinvent themselves forms the theme of the new issue of Zero Tolerance Magazine. Joining Lee Dorrian to offer their own take on reinvention are Tom Warrior - a man who has arguably made a career out of reinventing himself - Varg Vikernes, Fenriz from Darkthrone, Robert Vigna of Immolation and Killing Joke's Jaz Coleman.
Calum Harvie, editor of Zero Tolerance Magazine, said: "Although we are often taken aback when a band changes direction or image, there's no escaping that musicians are pretty much always reinventing themselves to some extent. The changes might not always be dramatic may take years to become obvious, but nevertheless they are, as we discovered when putting together this issue, always there."
Elsewhere in the issue we have interviews with The Vision Bleak, Alcest, Armored Saint, Ludicra, Barren Earth, The Dillinger Escape Plan, Brazilian black metal nutters Goatpenis, power electronics legends Con-Dom, the visual artist / ordained Church Of Satan priest Coop and a lot more - including a FREE 18-track cd with new material from many of this issue's interviewees...
Zero Tolerance Issue 034, Mar/Apr 2010. Onsale from 15th March.
Zero Tolerance Magazine
Representing The Sonically Unacceptable
Buy It. Read It. Spread Dissent.
Lots more going on, so until next time, have fun.
14/01/2010
The last few months of 2009 turned out to be very busy, hence the silence. Nevertheless, UM is being updated constantly, and a new issue of ZT has hit the shelves, featuring news and a Katatonia interview from myself:
Zero Tolerance
Issue 031 - Nov/Dec 2009
Karl Sanders: "This is music, does it really matter?"
Well known for his fascination with all things ancient and Egyptian, Nile frontman Karl Sanders talks to Zero Tolerance Magazine about the extent to which his interest in the past has shaped his music. Addressing the accusations of historical inaccuracy and anachronism which are sometimes thrown in Nile's direction, he says, "I think that music, death metal or any other kind functions as entertainment...The Mummy movies for example, depart greatly from established historical fact. They really abuse history, so much that when that movie was out for the first couple of years I really hated it. I was actively against Hollywood movies about Egypt but then, a funny thing happened. My son, who was nine-years-old at the time, started watching it every day. He must have played that goddamned Mummy movie 50 fucking times and after having to watch it with him... it finally clicked. This is how young minds are inspired! This is what gives people the drive to actually go to school and learn some history, archaeology and go out digging in the desert! In a similar way I can't look at Nile as being utterly factual because we're playing death metal songs and we lean towards those aspects of history and Egyptology. We're not presenting a fair and balanced perspective of Ancient Egypt, we're finding all the brutal stuff because it makes good death metal songs! There was this German guy, an ethno-musicologist who was very upset that we were using various Middle-Eastern cultures. "How can you play a Turkish Baglama Saz in a song about Egypt?!' This is music, does it really matter?"
Whether it does really matter is taken up elsewhere in the current issue of Zero Tolerance Magazine in which the importance of the past - both real and imagined - to extreme music is investigated. Sharing their perspectives, along with Nile, are Melechesh, Wraiths, Scythian, Allerseelen and more. Calum Harvie, editor of Zero Tolerance Magazine, comments: "The past has always been important to musicians, and the extreme music underground is no different. What has been eye-opening, though, is the sheer variety of ways in which history exerts an influence, whether it's simply providing an image or something deeper and, dare I say, more profound."
Zero Tolerance Issue 032, Nov/Dec 2009. Onsale from 18th November.
Zero Tolerance Magazine
Representing The Sonically Unacceptable
Buy It. Read It. Spread Dissent.
My PhD work has been busy, and in addition to winning the Presidents Awards at the PalAss Conference 2009 for best talk, a new paperhas surfaced. Please do email me if you'd like a copy! Until next time...
11/10/2009
Autumn seems to have come round again, and as well as continuous UM updates, a new issue of ZT has hit the shelves:
Zero Tolerance
Issue 031 - Sept/Oct 2009
Marduk's Morgan Håkansson: "I really don't care what people think..."
Marduk's founding guitarist Morgan Steinmeyer Håkansson recently spoke to Zero Tolerance Magazine about the band's new album Wormwood and also his hobby of collecting militaria. When asked if he worried that his collection might lead some into making incorrect assumptions about his politics, Håkansson said: "But I really don't care what people think - I don't give a flying fuck. I have my interests and I don't care what other people think about it. That's their problem." Of his collection, the guitarist said it comprised "mostly WWII militaria, but I've got some older things, as well, more related to Swedish history. I've met people over the years who have the strangest things you could ever imagine when it comes to collecting militaria; it's always fascinating to see what people have in their collection. Mine is quite modest, but I collect things I like - uniforms, medals, daggers, bayonets, things like that."
Turning his attention to Marduk's new album Wormwood and his writing partnership with vocalist Mortuus, Håkansson commented, "We share a lot of views and ideas, so we very much throw ideas at each other and work on the songs together. It's not like one guy writes it all; we share a lot of ideas and we really build it as a band. Also, I don't know if it's been my band - I formed the band, but it's always very much been a group that works together... What I like is that when you get a new member in a band, you want him to participate, to become a part of the unit and work together. That's why you have a band; otherwise, you would have a solo project. It's very much a band, even more than ever before, on this album everybody participates - even our new drummer has actually written music for this album. I'd say we're more of a unit on this album than we've ever been before."
Marduk grace the cover of issue 031 of Zero Tolerance Magazine, which hits the shelves on Friday September 18th. Joining the Swedes are Immortal, gladly proclaiming that all shall fail, Secrets Of The Moon, The Gates Of Slumber, A Storm Of Light, Megadeth, Evile, Horna, Ethnic Acid, HERR and much, much more from across the extreme music underground and beyond. It also marks a milestone in the history of Zero Tolerance Magazine, marking the extreme music publication's fifth anniversary. Commented Calum Harvie, editor of Zero Tolerance: "It's hard to believe that five years have passed already! Ever since our first issue, we have uniquely committed to covering extreme music as a whole, reflecting that, as fans, we don't meekly adhere to the ridiculous notion that musical tastes have to be categorised and thus ghettoised. We absolutely thrive on celebrating the diversity of the extreme music underground, which is why everything from grind, punk, black, death and trad metal through to noise, industrial, power electronics and neofolk find a warm welcome in our pages."
Zero Tolerance Issue 031, Sept/Oct 2009. Onsale from 18th September.
Zero Tolerance Magazine
Representing The Sonically Unacceptable
Buy It. Read It. Spread Dissent.
That's it for now, but there's loads happening, so hopefully I'll be able to post more soon.
09/08/2009
Following a short holiday I'm back and catching up on both PhD and journalism work. There is news from both - I recently had a paper published in the journal Biology Letters. If you are interested in the research you can find out more on NERC's Planet Earth and the BBC news website. You can find the paper here. On the journalism side, a new issue of ZT has hit the shelves, more details below. There have been the usual continuous updates on UM. That's it for now, but more news on both fronts soon.
Zero Tolerance
Issue 030 - Jul/Aug 2009
"I have no respect for politicians and presidents. They're such backward-thinking human beings." Nergal, Behemoth.
Behemoth frontman Adam 'Nergal' Darski speaks in the latest issue of Zero Tolerance Magazine about the conclusion of his recent defamation case against Polish politician Ryszard Nowak, head of the Committee For Defence Against Sects which, similarly to the PMRC in the '80s, has attempted to have various rock and metal artists - Behemoth included - proscribed in Poland. "In a 20-minute interview, he [Nowak] called me a criminal several times because of what I did," Nergal relates, referring to a Behemoth show in Poland where he was filmed tearing a bible. "But the fact is that I didn't do anything that he could consider criminal because I wasn't sentenced or convicted. It was lawless to call me that. I didn't feel offended, of course, but I played that I did and I went to court. It was a small YouTube channel and maybe 15,000 people who saw it. I thought, 'You know what? Maybe this guy, maybe someone's gotta fucking put him in his place,'... So I'm gonna do it. I invested some money, I brought him to court, and I won everything. He's got to pay for this homeless dogs' asylum, pay all the costs in the case, and apologise in the biggest Polish newspaper. I think it's a fair deal. We have free speech, but y'know, we also have a genetic condition...I don't know what to say - I have no respect for politicians and presidents. They're such backward-thinking human beings."
Turning his attention to Behemoth's new album Evangelion, Nergal reveals that an epic three-year tour is planned to promote the offering: "I love touring, and I love staying at home. I've been at home for months; it feels like forever, and y'know, I'm loving it. I have my regime, my discipline, my training, my work, my home and my hobbies. At the same time, I can't wait to get my ass on the road and wake up in a different place every day. I'd never change a single thing in my life because this is a good place for me to be - talking about my new record. It gives sense to my life; it defines me as a human being."
Behemoth aren't the only Poles to feature in the new issue of Zero Tolerance - this issue also sees the return of the legendary Vader, who talk about the changes extreme music in Poland has undergone during the quarter-century-plus they have been active. And proving that Vader aren't the only 'veterans' with plenty to offer, Suffocation, Obituary and Current 93 all join in the fun, along with Shining, Municipal Waste, Slough Feg, God Dethroned, Anaal Nathrakh, Job For A Cowboy, Man Must Die, Asphyx, Grunt, Death Pact International, Diocletian, Tetianblood and many more!
Zero Tolerance Issue 030, Jul/Aug 2009. Onsale from 15 July.
Zero Tolerance Magazine
Representing The Sonically Unacceptable
Buy It. Read It. Spread Dissent.
14/06/2009
My PhD seems to be taking up an increasing proportion of my time in recent months, hence the silence. As a result I'm also doing less for ZT. You can, however, still find news from me in the latest issue, in addition to an interview with power electronics project Dirt Como. Full details:
Zero Tolerance
Issue 029 - May/Jun 2009
"Black metal is not something you can invent: it is natural. Either you got it or you don't." Ravn, 1349.
As Norwegian black metallers 1349 prepare to release their new album, Revelations Of The Black Flame, frontman / vocalist Ravn has been sharing his thoughts on black metal's visual aesthetics. Speaking to the UK's Zero Tolerance Magazine, he said, "Well, there is corpsepaint and then there's wannabe corpsepaint... Some metal people seem to think that if they put on corpsepaint, the music turns into black metal when it is performed. For us it is kind of the other way around. We first and foremost make black metal and then the corpsepaint is the ritual added to the whole package so to speak, so when you see 1349 live you will hear the music and see the performance. Of course it all has to make sense and for us the only way that it makes sense is to use corpsepaint. It is a ritual to put it on and so you get into the mood and everything, of course you can say that it's a lot of hassle and everything - put on the corpsepaint, put on the spikes. But it's all a ritual before the concert that makes you get into the mood. When it's all on, you're ready to go on and you look in the mirror and it's kind of the inside coming out. At least that's how it feels for us. I definitely see the point of it. People see it as a cliché, but it's only because it has been used and overused by so many people that totally misunderstand it. And of course posers you get in every scene and genre. It's an easy trap to fall into, 'We made music which is like black metal. Oh fuck, we need to get some corpsepaint to put on, oh yeah, that would be great', and then they just smear something on. It needs to be right and needs to come from inside and black metal is about the feeling of the music and black metal is not something you can invent: it is natural. Either you got it or you don't, that's the way I see it."
1349 are joined by a host of black metal luminaries in the new issue of Zero Tolerance Magazine, each sharing their thoughts on the aesthetics of black metal. As well as lengthy contribution from Nuclear Holocausto of the returning Finnish BM cult legends Beherit, the likes of Impiety, Old Man's Child, Altar Of Plagues and Absentia Lunae also enter the debate. Zero Tolerance editor, Calum Harvie, commented, "What makes black metal so compelling, to me at least, is that it's a heavily stratified genre: take two bands like 1349 and Beherit and you'll find as many differences as you will similarities. So what is it that makes something 'black metal'? That's the question we put to the bands featured in this final instalment of our Sounds & Visionaries series, as black metal's grim aesthetics are laid bare."
Zero Tolerance Issue 029, May/Jun 2009. Onsale from 15 May.
Zero Tolerance Magazine
Representing The Sonically Unacceptable
Buy It. Read It. Spread Dissent.
Despite a lack of announcement, new interviews have been posted on UM as well, including London's Razor Of Occam and Finnish virtuoso Stratovarious. New reviewsare also going up regularly. I'm hoping to get some new photos up soon, but until then, have fun!
29/03/2009
Thanks to term time and associated teaching the last few months have been a bit quiet. Thankfully term is now over, however, and things are happening. First, finally, there is a new UM announcement:
Doing what little one can to increase the general stock of knowledge is as respectable an object of life, as one can in any likelihood pursue.
Charles Darwin was born 250 years ago last month, so now would seem an apt time to steal some of his words of wisdom. He once said "A man who dares to waste one hour of time has not discovered the value of life." We agree, and while things have seemingly been quiet at UM HQ lately, we certainly haven't been wasting our time - just lacking some spare to post what's been going on! New interviewshave been posted with Scottish pirate-metallers Alestorm, the recently revived Pestilence, US deathcore troupe All Shall Perish , Swedes Thyrfing, and Greg Anderson of Sunn O))) and Southern Lord Records. As ever you can find lots more new stuff in our reviews, live reviewsand non-metal reviews sections, as well as all the latest metal news. That's it for now, so until next time, have fun, and I'll leave you with a couple more snippets from the renowned naturalist:
"Ignorance more frequently begets confidence than does knowledge: it is those who know little, and not those who know much, who so positively assert that this or that problem will never be solved by science."
"A man's friendships are one of the best measures of his worth"
There is also a new issue of ZT out. Due to streamlining at the magazine, and PhD commitments, the amount I'm doing each issue has been cut down, but the latest still has my news and some reviews in there:
Zero Tolerance
Issue 028 - Mar/Apr 2009
My Dying Bride: "I don't think the songs that we write are particularly blasphemous, but other people really do."
The conflict between alleged blasphemy and freedom of speech is common place within the context of extreme music, but for English doomsters My Dying Bride it has led to some unexpected attention, namely from the Syrian government. Speaking to the UK's Zero Tolerance Magazine on the cusp of the release of new album For Lies I Sire, guitarist Andy Craighan said: "We were offered some gigs out there [Syria] and we got a list of lyrics we wouldn't be able to sing because of their religious content. It basically made a mockery of our songs... it was like the CIA blacklisting all of our words. We realised that we were quite anti-religious and it was a bit of an eye opener when the government came back saying, 'This band can't play in our country because of their forthright anti-religious stance.' It was mainly songs like 'The Cry Of Mankind' that upset them. We usually play it because it's a favourite of ours. Once they'd latched onto that and a couple of others, we didn't have a show to play! I don't think the songs that we write are particularly blasphemous, but other people really do. I can reel this stuff off without even knowing it, but for some people it's horrifying! I don't even realise I'm doing it!" Turning to the tendency within Western extreme music to target Christianity specifically, Andy comments: "With Christianity we can attack all religions by using it as the pinnacle but all of them are effectively the same. Everybody knows it...We don't genuinely mean any harm, we just want to rattle the cage a bit and say, 'Look, [religion] isn't everything you think it is.' The idea of blowing yourself up just so you can be with 12 people who've never had a shag sounds ridiculous to me! I'm gonna get 12 virgins? They're the worst shag ever! You want someone filthy!"
The role of religious imagery - blasphemous or otherwise - in extreme music forms the core theme of the current issue of Zero Tolerance Magazine. Blut Aus Nord and Hellsaw discuss the differing ways in which black metal embraces blasphemy, while Candlemass' Leif Edling opines on the appropriation of Christian imagery by classic doom metal bands, his own included. Calum Harvie, editor of Zero Tolerance Magazine said: "If we take blasphemy to mean the deliberate crossing of the divide between what a society considers to be sacred and profane, then it's no wonder that it is commonly expressed within extreme music which, likewise, tests and challenges the boundaries of what is considered by others to be sonically unacceptable. And even though blasphemy is technically no longer illegal in the UK, it doesn't take a great deal of awareness of current affairs to realise that mocking or parodying a religion isn't without its risks. That's why this issue of Zero Tolerance hones in on the fine art of blasphemy, seeking to examine the extent to which it is embraced in extreme music, as well as the implications it has for freedom of speech."
Zero Tolerance Issue 028, Mar/Apr 2009. Onsale from 15 March.
Zero Tolerance Magazine
Representing The Sonically Unacceptable
Buy It. Read It. Spread Dissent.
So, lots happening, and no doubt more soon. Until then, have fun!
05/02/2009
We have finally posted new interviews at UM, one with Greg Anderson of Sun 0))) and Southern Records fame, and one with Thyrfing. A Proper announcement coming soon. Issue 27 has also hit the stores, featuring the usal from me (news, lives, reviews and crossword), plus an interview with the ever impressive Ephel Duath. More details below.
Zero Tolerance
Issue 027 - Jan/Feb 2009
"There's a lot of problems in the world, and death metal just isn't one of them.
Alex Webster, Cannibal Corpse.
Censorship and extreme music have clashed on many occasions, and more than once death metal's Cannibal Corpse have been the catalyst for conflict. Speaking in the new issue of the UK's Zero Tolerance Magazine, Corpse bassist and founding member Alex Webster reflects upon his band's run-ins with censors over the years. "There's a lot of problems in the world, and death metal just isn't one of them... Listening to a band that sings about crazy, fucked-up things or watching a violent movie isn't going to inspire people the way they might think it would. Censors take it for granted that others are easily influenced, and I don't think that's necessarily true. I think that people definitely know the difference between a crazy, blood-soaked fantasy going on in a movie and reality." And turning to the decision by German censors to ban some Cannibal Corpse material in the early '90s, Webster says, "Some German version of the PMRC that had originally started to crack down on neo-fascist type music decided to just crack down on anything they didn't like, anything questionable. I have a feeling they were using laws that had been made to monitor political hate speech for just anything, though I could be wrong... I'd say that just being successful is a good way of getting back at people who've tried to stop you...I think [censorship] made our band bigger. It was really a failure on the part of anyone who took us on - nobody was stopped. We're lucky enough to have the freedom of speech, and it wound up winning in our case. Censorship is probably seen as a waste of effort by a lot of people because we're still here.
Censorship is the subject of a special investigation in the new issue of Zero Tolerance Magazine, in which Napalm Death, Behemoth and Sepultura relate their own thoughts and experiences. Behemoth's Nergal discusses how the actions of one would-be censor in Poland have ended up in court, while Barney Greenway of Napalm Death explains why he thinks freedom of speech should be protected at all costs.
Calum Harvie, editor of Zero Tolerance, said, "Although it might raise a smile or two when a self-appointed 'moral guardian' is shocked by the imagery and lyrics frequently employed in extreme music, it's less easy to brush their indignation aside if they then go on to try and have an artist or a piece of music banned. But as the musicians featured in this special show, there are no easy answers. Are there no-go areas in terms of lyrics and imagery? Or should extreme music exist to challenge taboos no matter what? That's what we've been looking at this issue.
Zero Tolerance Issue 027, Jan/Feb 2009. Onsale from 21st January.
Zero Tolerance Magazine
Representing The Sonically Unacceptable
Buy It. Read It. Spread Dissent.
More news soon, in the meantime, have fun!
29/12/2008
It's been a few months, and issue 26 of ZT is now out - full details below.
Zero Tolerance
Issue 026 - Nov/Dec 2008
Tom G Warrior Interviews Giger For Zero Tolerance Magazine
In a rare interview, Tom Gabriel Warrior, once of Celtic Frost and now heading up Triptykon, speaks to Swiss surrealist visual artist HR Giger for issue 026 of the UK's Zero Tolerance Magazine. The interview, conducted by Warrior over two sessions at Giger's Zurich home, is an intimate and revealing look at the artist's life and work, which has included Oscar-winning designs for the film Alien, not to mention numerous paintings and sculptures, many of which have graced album covers such as Celtic Frost's To Mega Therion and Heartwork by Carcass. During the interview, Giger reveals to Warrior just how he feels about the use of his art on album covers, and much more.
Warrior's interview with Giger is the inaugural feature in the first of an all-encompassing two-part special on the relationship between extreme music and visual art. Among those sharing their thoughts on Giger and beyond are Jello Biafra, Cradle Of Filth, Darkthrone and Satyricon. The story continues in issue 027 when the murky world of censorship is laid bare.
Elsewhere, Jarboe tells us about the art of collaboration, her latest release Mahakali sees the coming together of such prolific artists as Phil Anselmo and Attila Csihar, while Six Feet Under, Psycroptic, Hammers Of Misfortune, Thyrfing, Agathocles and many others all join the action.
Issue 026 also marks the first of many contributions from Alan Averill (aka Primordial's Nemtheanga). In his first View From The Bunker column, Alan's feeling thoughtful about the rise to popularity of bands such as Nightwish: "When did metal become so fucking safe, so emasculated and so fucking dull and danger free? Where is the livewire energy, the danger, the rebellion, because this is one very small step from Eurovision. Even after two minutes of this I feel like I need to rinse my mouth out, it's peeling the enamel off my teeth. I'm being force spooned treacle. This is the anti-metal, the antithesis of what shaped metal back in the late '70s and '80s and that a grown man can see himself in this and not hate it with every ounce of his soul confuses the hell out of me."
Zero Tolerance Issue 026, Nov/Dec 2008. Onsale from 15 November
Zero Tolerance Magazine
Representing The Sonically Unacceptable
Buy It. Read It. Spread Dissent.
This has slightly less than usual from me due to a number of deadlines, but features news and crossword, as well as a few reviews. Work is well under way on the Issue 27, which is looking to have several features from myself, as well as the full compliment of my usual contributions again; the magazine will hit the shelves January 15th, more details nearer the time. While things are a little quiet at UM due to the workload during term times when many of the core staff are teaching/working, we have sorted out top ten lists for 2008. Mine are as follows:
Bardoseneticcube + Noises Of Russia – New Orthodox Line
Between The Buried And Me – Colors*
Bloodbath – The Fathomless Mastery
Falconer – Among Beggars And Thieves
Opeth – Watershed
Sigh – Hangman’s Hymn*
The Berzerker – The Reawakening
The Sin: Decay – Rehabilitation
Whourkr – Concrete
Woods of Ypres – Woods III
Honourable mention:
Herrschaft – Tesla
*Technically late 2007, but I only picked them up this year… The full lists will be posted on the site in the next few days.
So that's it for now, but there should be another update when the next issue of ZT is out, and some news on the UM front, as the next few months are looking less busy than the previous three. Until then, happy new year, and best wishes for 2009.
05/10/2008
Issue 25 of ZT has hit the shelves, full details below. It has the usual from myself (news interview is with Necrophagia this time around, and agony aunt with Dragonforce), and it also features an interview with London's De Profundis. I've just completed a major project for my PhD, so am hopeful I'll get the chance - after finishing work on ZT26 - to get some more content on UM. The the mean time, here are full details for the next ZT:
Zero Tolerance
Issue 025 - Sept / Oct 2008
Gojira's Joe Duplantier: "We are citizens of earth... we have to protect what we have."
Marking the release of Gojira's new album The Way Of All Flesh, vocalist / guitarist Joe Duplantier speaks in the new issue of Zero Tolerance Magazine about his hopes and fears for the future of the planet. “I feel... terrified and very sad about what's happening on earth right now,” he says. “I feel deeply - and I'm not the only one, a lot of people and everyone in the band agrees - I really mean it, it's not to be trendy or whatever, because it's true. We are destroying a lot of things, we are killing endangered species - we are killing sharks, we are killing whales and that's an aberration to me. I cannot help it, when I get in the practice room and we play this music that is so powerful and stuff, I start screaming about it, I cannot help it. We truly feel concerned and we hope that if the band gets bigger we can do more concrete things, raise money for a cause - we already give money to Greenpeace, but that's a personal thing. We try to do our best not to waste water or gas or electricity, we try to be more conscious of what's happening on earth. We are concerned, that's a fact. Even if the main message of the band is more about the soul or the mysteries of life in general or what happens in the afterlife or our inner fears - to know ourselves better - that's the message of the band. But we are citizens of earth, so we have to talk about that in our songs. I don't want to sound clichéd, but we have to protect what we have. It's more than important, it's crucial."
Of the new album, Duplantier says that expectations to surpass 2005's From Mars To Sirius came from within, rather than outside, the band. “The pressure from outside the band is not as big as this pressure that we already have spontaneously or naturally. We're very happy to be on the cover of magazines and to have good reviews, it's very rewarding. But we don't pay too much attention to it - we have been a band since 1996, it's a long time, 12 years, that we're a 'new' band! People still think that we're a new band, but we worked a lot and toured a lot in bad conditions and didn't get paid for years and years, so being on the cover of a magazine is nothing compared to how hard it is to stay strong as a band and as human beings, to stay together all the time and overcome the tensions inside a band. So when there is a cover or something it's more like joy and something very positive, not pressure.”
Gojira lead the way in issue 025 of Zero Tolerance magazine which examines the relationship between extreme music and ecological / environmental concerns. Joining the discussion are Enslaved, The Triple Tree, Kampfar, Green Army Fraction and more. Elsewhere, Cynic tell us about their decision to create a successor to their near-legendary album Focus, while Amon Amarth, Albert Witchfinder, David E Williams, Warning, Bloodbath, Benediction, Lord Belial, Horna and many others all join the action.
Issue 025 also marks the fourth anniversary of Zero Tolerance Magazine. It comes in at an extended 148 pages, each issue accompanied by a free double CD. Since its inception in 2004, Zero Tolerance has set the agenda for extreme music, representing the sonically unacceptable without compromise, exposing the darkest, most obscure recesses of the musical imagination and celebrating its diversity. From black, death and folk metal through to industrial, noise, power electronics and neofolk, Zero Tolerance has consistently covered the music that other publications simply don't even know about - and while they play catch-up, ZT remains several steps ahead.
Zero Tolerance Issue 025, Sept/Oct 2008. Onsale from 15 September
Zero Tolerance Magazine
Representing The Sonically Unacceptable
Buy It. Read It. Spread Dissent.
16/07/2008
Due to some fieldwork and lots of PhD stuff, this is a very long overdue update. Two issues of ZT have hit the shelves since the last update, with #24 arriving in stores yesterday. This has loads of cool stuff, including from myself an agony aunt with ArnoCorps, interviews with Gojira and Berzerker, news, tourdates, sponsored tours, crossword, and a few CD reviews. Work on the next issue has already begun. Things have also been happening at UM - a new update:
We are all in the gutter, but some of us are looking at the stars.
So said Oscar Wilde. He was also responsible for words of wisdom such as "The aim of life is self-development. To realize one's nature perfectly - that is what each of us is here for" and "Know Thyself was written over the portal of the antique world. Over the portal of the new world, Be Thyself shall be written." To be yourself, you have to know yourself, and to know yourself it can't hurt to know your contemporaries. Which is where this somewhat tortuous route is leading, as UM has recently posted We Who Are as Others - The Metal Lifestyle Mapped. This is a summary of Andreas Rana's culture sociology bachelors thesis on what it means to be a metalhead. If you want to see how you fit into the spectrum of metal fans, or know more about the 'average' metalhead look no further. UM's Ryan Starr also recently caught up with ICS Vortex. You can read the interview here. As ever we've regularly been posting new reviews, non-metal reviews, metal newsand lots of live reviews. Finally, if you're interested in helping UM clear our promo backlog by writing for us, check out this thread. So that's it for now, but I'll leave you with more Oscar Wilde, and until the next UM update, have fun!
"Selfishness is not living as one wishes to live, it is asking others to live as one wishes to live."
"Always forgive your enemies; nothing annoys them so much."
"I think that God in creating Man somewhat overestimated his ability."
I think that's all the news for now, so have a good summer and hopefully another update will be online before too long!
14/04/2008
A not so long overdue update. We're currently working hard on Issue #23 of ZT, which will have all the normal stuff from me. It hits the shops on the 15th of May. In the meantime, a new update from UM is posted below:
I went to a bookstore and asked the saleswoman, "Where's the self-help section?" She said if she told me, it would defeat the purpose.
"People who say they don't care what people think are usually desperate to have people think they don't care what people think." George Carlin is sometimes bang on the money. "There are nights when the wolves are silent and only the moon howls." And again. Although the wolves I'm talking about are Norway's Ulver. After two years of silence the lycanthropes have returned with Shadows Of The Sun, and last May I caught up with frontman Krisstopher Rygg to discuss the record, the band's future and struggles of life as a musician. . UM has teamed up with Zero Tolerance Magazine to bring you the interview - check it out. In further updates, UM's Jack Deming recently caught up with doomy Scandinavians Sahg. Their conversation, covering topics such as the band's new album and history, can be found here. As ever since the last announcement our reviewsforum has been updated almost daily, and additions include some initial impressions of the new Opethalbum. There's more new coverage in the live reviewsand media reviews forums as well. That's it for now, but I'll leave you with some more observations from George Carlin:
"Have you ever noticed that anybody driving slower than you is an idiot, and anyone going faster than you is a maniac?"
"The main reason Santa is so jolly is because he knows where all the bad girls live"
"'I am' is reportedly the shortest sentence in the English language. Could it be that 'I do' is the longest sentence?"
Until next time, have fun!
In other news, two of my photos have been used for cover art by UK progressive metallers Blackfire Well, shown below:
The album is currently being submitted to labels, but in the meantime, you can hear the songs on their myspace. That's it for now, but more soon.
25/03/2008
A long overdue update. Since last time two issues of Zero Tolerance have hit the shelves, the latest being Issue #22, with Meshuggah on the cover. It features news, crossword, and all the usual stuff from me, including an Agony Aunt with To-Mera, and interviews with Dark Suns and Nucleus Torn. It's in shops throughout the UK, Europe, Aus, NZ and the US now. A new UM update has also been posted:
It's one thing to want someone out of your life, but it's another thing to serve them a wake-up cup full of liquid drainer.
"I like it. It's got that what-a-cruel-world-let's-toss-ourselves-in-the-abyss type ambience." So said the shady JD in that bizarre slice of '80s black comedy Heathers. I'm sure you'll be relieved to hear (yeah, right), that there's been none of that here in the three months since the last update. In fact, despite the silence, all at UMHQ have been busier than ever with the site. We've posted new interviews with Týrand Eluveitieas part of continuing coverage of the Paganfest US Tour, and another is up with the always entertaining Impaled Nazarene. As ever, we've posted more reviews(2700 and counting), non-metal reviews, and all the latest metal news. Also up is coverage of several tours, including live reviews of Wolves In The Throne Room, The Dillinger Escape Plan, Between The Buried And Me, Dark Tranquillity, Omnium Gatherum, Sonata Arctica, and Myopia. More coming soon. That, however, is it from us for now. Until next time have fun, and I'll leave you with some more quotes from the darker side of '80s high-school life.
Principal: Now I've seen a lot of bulls**t... Angel Dust, switchblades, sexually perverse photography involving tennis rackets...
Veronica Sawyer: If you were happy every day of your life you wouldn't be a human being. You'd be a game-show host.
Veronica Sawyer: All we want is to be treated like human beings, not to be experimented on like guinea pigs or patronized like bunny rabbits.
Veronica's Mum: When teenagers complain that they want to be treated like human beings, it's usually because they are being treated like human beings.
Veronica's Dad: I don't patronize bunny rabbits.
01/01/2008
Over the christmas break I have finally had the chance to sort out some of my photographs from the last two years. These include a few taken for an album cover of a friend's project, Blackfire Well, and many others from around London and from travels. Some favourites are posted below, and the rest can be seen in the completely redone Photography section of the website. The Journalism, About, Music and Links pages have also been given a long overdue update.
A new UM update has also been posted:
End of year lists from UM.com and, of course, happy new year!
W.H. Auden said "The only way to spend New Year's Eve is either quietly with friends or in a brothel. Otherwise when the evening ends and people pair off, someone is bound to be left in tears." The latter's not my style, so I'm about to do the former. But first I felt I should draw attention to UM's end of year lists. Another piece of Auden's wisdom was that "music is the best means we have of digesting time" - if this is the case it's second only to making lists of music, so why not come and join in the fun? If you liked a lot of stuff in 2007, or disliked everything you heard, post in the thread and share your opinion! While researching for the end of year lists it has also become apparent that the fine doom metal band Middian are in trouble and need the metal community's assistance. If you have a moment to spare please check out their website and see if you're able to help.
I'll leave you with another of the Anglo-American writer's sayings: "A poet can write about a man slaying a dragon, but not about a man pushing a button that releases a bomb." Let's hope there won't be any need for poets to deal with the latter next year - here's to a peaceful 2008. Happy new year!
Work on Issue 21 of ZT is also complete. The magazine will be in shops on the 13th, a week later in the US, NZ & Aus. It features the usual from myself, an update will be posted when the magazine its on the newsstands. But first, as promised, some of my favourite new photos:
23/11/2007
Another two months has passed, and another issue of Zero Tolerance is in the stores. This time around Gallhammer are on the cover, and my work includes the news, featuring an interview with Mikael Akerfeldt, tourdates/sponsored tours, a feature on France's Hangman's Chair, an Agony Aunt with Hank from Turbonegro, and the normal reviews, as well as a film column on Lucio Fulci. Work is just starting on Issue 21. A new UM announcement has also been posted:
No bird soars too high if he soars with his own wings.
Not that I need much excuse, but the fact that William Blake was born 250 years ago - almost to the day - seems like a fine reason to quote the fine gentleman. He was an excellent poet (and writer) in his time, and once said "Love seeketh not itself to please, nor for itself hath any care, but for another gives its ease, and builds a Heaven in Hell's despair." Things have changed in the last 200 years, but good writers still have a place, and if you think you are one such talented individual, maybe yours is UM. We're currently looking for new staff writers to help us cope with an ever-increasing promo backlog and innumerous interview requests, so if you know a lot about metal and want your voice to be heard, then please get in touch, there's no better way!
It's been a long while since the last UM zine update, during which time interviews have been posted with Immolation, Blut Aus Nord, Circus Maximus and Gorefest. As ever, new reviewsare posted daily, including a roundup of recent Peaceville reissues in our latest instalment of just browsing. New non-metal reviews have also been posted, along with all (and I mean, all!) the latest metal news. Finally, new live reviewsare now up, in the form of Job for a Cowboy / Behemoth / Gojira / Beneath the Massacre and Stolen Babies/ Creature Feature/ School Yard Heroes/ Try Cognition. Enjoy all of that, and until next time, have fun. I'll leave you with a few more Blakeisms, because that guy was a cool, if slightly odd, dude!
"To see a world in a Grain of Sand, And a Heaven in a Wild Flower, Hold Infinity in the palm of your hand, And eternity in an hour."
"Innocence dwells with Wisdom, but never with Ignorance."
"Thy friendship oft has made my heart to ache; do be my enemy - for friendship's sake"
"He who binds to himself a joy Does the winged life destroy; But he who kisses the joy as it flies Lives in eternity's sun rise."
In other news, I'm working on some new photography for a friend's album cover, which will be posted in due time everything allowing, along with some more of the photos I've taken in the last year but not had time to upload. Lots is going on, I hope to be able to report some more news soon!
09/09/2007
The summer has been busy as ever: Issue 19 of ZT is now available in the shops. This has Ihsahn on the cover, while my contributions include interviews with Awake and Alestorm, Type O and Awake live reviews, news, tourdates, an agony aunt with Screamin Daemon, music / DVD reviews and a film column. A lot has also been going on with UM, here is our new announcement:
Wacken Reports Posted
The astronomer Carl Sagan once said of the Earth: "The aggregate of all our joys and sufferings, thousands of confident religions, ideologies and economic doctrines, every hunter and forager, every hero and coward, every creator and destroyer of civilizations, every king and peasant, every young couple in love, every hopeful child, every mother and father, every inventor and explorer, every teacher of morals, every corrupt politician, every superstar, every supreme leader, every saint and sinner in the history of our species, lived here - on a mote of dust suspended in a sunbeam." I pretty much only used this quote because I like it, but to tenuously link it to our latest update: This mote of dust is also home to innumerous metal fans, 70,000 of whom recently congregated for a celebration of all things metallic - Wacken Open Air 2007. UM sent along a team of writers, whose reports of this auspicious event have just been posted. You can learn all about the highs and lows of the festival in Jason Koszowski's report, and the good, the bad, and the ugly aspects of the festival in thisaccount from Greg Hasbrouck. A series of interviews from Wacken will be coming in the next weeks. Also posted since last time are interviews with Evile, 1349and Nachtmystium. As ever new reviewsand non-metal reviews. But, on that note, I'm going on a week's holiday, so I'll leave you with some more cool quotes from Carl Sagan:
"Imagination will often carry us to worlds that never were. But without it we go nowhere."
"Who are we? We find that we live on an insignificant planet of a humdrum star lost in a galaxy tucked away in some forgotten corner of a universe in which there are far more galaxies than people."
Until next time, have fun!
Thus - despite the silence - lots has been going on. I'm just taking a little time off prior to starting my PhD, but I'm hoping to get some new photos up before starting, along with more journalism.