The modern landscape of metal journalism is largely ad driven wilderness, plagued by frantic promotional cycles, PR sprees, and clickbait algorithms. Although there are few exceptions, but currently world turns into this where music is frequently getting treated as other products rather than a calling. And with the invasion of social media and era of quick fire things to make instant impressions which only helps in rapid forgetting, very few venture into the cryptic world of creating metal zine, like one can found in the vaults of seminal Death Metal Underground (DMU) site or in Press of Darkness! the archive of Metal and Industrial fanzines. Yet, hardnosed to resolute souls are always lurking and running wild behindhand, to keep remind us of what was the essence! And demonstrate defiance as a monument against this contemporary burnout. This can be vowed about the maiden issue of ‘The Metal Grimoire’ zine I have received recently. Been restarted and circulated as a passion project by editor Sascha its operating from Renchen, the small historic town in Baden-Württemberg, Germany. After leaving from his primary involvement in Ancient Spirit Magazine back in 2009 and then being slowly walking away from the industry due to clinical exhaustion, Sascha’s return to the printing press represents his unwavering attitude and pure underground idealism which indisputably burns deep inside. Operating on a strict philosophy of zero commercialism, this zine of massive 161 pages features absolutely no advertising, harbors no desire for self-promotion, and rejects profit entirely. Instead of pocketing proceeds, all financial support is redirected to Metality e.V., a non-profit association uniting heavy metal with social commitment, which instantly solidifying the publication’s integrity and community solidarity.
Rather than chasing trending bands, this maiden issue of The Metal Grimoire functions wonderfully as a historical archive, heavily favoring massive, retrospective deep dives into monumental milestones of extreme music. The content strategy is meticulously planned and organized, capturing the magic of classic Death, Thrash, and dark underground niches. Visually, textually and overall layout wise, it retains an authentic and unpolished fanzine charm; even leaving occasional artist responses in their native tongue such as, Linus’s organic German response which highlights its raw human curation. Based on the details of the publication, this issue features a tempting layout contains interviews, historical scene retrospectives, reviews, and extensive underground features,
- Major Retrospectives & Anniversary Interviews of Edge of Sanity: A massive 30th anniversary celebration of their landmark 1996 progressive Death Metal album, ‘Crimson’, featuring an in depth conversation with mastermind Dan Swanö.
- And, on the Thrash metal legend Paradox, an extensive, career spanning historical interview celebrating the band’s 40th anniversary with frontman Charly Steinhauer, complete with analytical reviews of every single one of their studio albums.
- And, on A Canorous Quintet: 30th anniversary, with looking back at their melodic Death Metal milestone, ‘Silence of the World Beyond’.
- Also, the impressive and most appealing part of the historical features part is the ‘The Hellenic Black Metal Special (1987–1995). This massive, dedicated history special tracing the golden era of the Greek black metal underground, with features includes detailed historical background articles on the scene’s development, and exclusive commentary and insights from Nornagest (Enthroned) and Raymond Dillard Heflin (ex-Absu). Also, exclusive, dedicated interviews with Hellenic veterans Yoth Iria and Varathron.
Apart from that, the issue features dedicated Band interviews & features with explorative discussions with a curated selection of extreme metal acts ranging from Death, Black, and Thrash Metal as in Jungle Rot (US Death Metal), Xorsist (Swedish Death Metal), Lömsk (Black metal), Nazghor (Swedish Black Metal), Antrisch (Atmospheric Black Metal) and Belialed (Death/Black Metal). Also, the zine closing comes with an interesting ‘Album of the Issue’ feature and then falls onto 22 heavy loaded pages of reviews, where comprehensive and critical reviews of contemporary and historical releases embedded within the articles to provide a complete context of the featured bands’ discographies.
Now, as a reader when I started from the very beginning, what I found impressive, and the strength of this debut issue is that it rests on exhaustive, literate, and unfiltered conversations that read like late night bar sessions between scene veterans rather than standard interviews. The near comparisons of the style can be said about the intriguing Bardo Methodology magazine by Niklas Göransson, revered for its indepth written conversations about music, mysticism, philosophy, and history. The journey intensifies with a 30th anniversary exploration into Edge of Sanity landmark album ‘Crimson’, where mastermind Dan Swanö reveals the fascinating behind the scenes mechanics of composing the forty minute epic. Swanö candidly admits he was looking for an “easy way out” to fulfill a label contract without writing ten separate hooks, humorously notes he “stole” the continuous single track album concept from Opeth’s Mikael Åkerfeldt, and breaks down the specific baritone guitar tunings used to build that legendary wall of sound. Turning the pages, you encounter Linus and Fredrik of A Canorous Quintet celebrating the 30th anniversary of ‘Silence of the World Beyond’. They offer a brilliant and unglorified look into the 90s Swedish scene, dispelling the romanticized myths of the “Gothenburg sound” hype, detailing the severe internal friction and financial abandonment by No Fashion Records that ultimately killed the band, and frankly critiquing their own historical re-recordings for losing their original and primal punch.
The emotional and historical anchor of the zine, however, is a massive 40-year retrospective interview with Charly Steinhauer of legendary German thrasher Paradox. Steinhauer delivers a masterclass in brutal honesty, recounting how the band was screwed over by early Roadrunner contracts and detailing his horrific health battles, including being clinically dead three times and undergoing open chest surgery on Christmas Eve. He also aggressively defends his use of programmed drums on ‘Mysterium’ against elite scene purists, proving his deep technical background as a true multi instrumentalist and assuredly, one uncompressing force to reckon and admire.
Moving forward into the shadows, the zine navigates a meticulous Osmose Productions label special, a multi part Hellenic black metal feature exploring the likes of Varathron and Enthroned, and intimate discussions with underground acts like Lömsk, Nazghor, and Anthrisch. While it celebrates the nostalgia of the 80s and 90s tape trading eras, it never been away from exposing the shady business practices and petty infighting of the “good old days”. Special praises needed to be mentioned about the feature of ‘Hellenic Black Metal Special (1987–1995)’ in this debut issue. It’s a comprehensive and retrospective focusing on the formative years of the legendary Greek black metal scene. Rather than just a simple collection of reviews, this feature interestingly structured as a historical and analytical archive providing a detailed look at what made this regional movement so unique, which will not only make the veteran followers grin, also have it all to lure the new souls unaware of this legendary scene and its unique take on Black Metal. This special consists of three core components, as first take on the ‘The Roots of the Sound’. It’s charts the evolution of the Greek sound during its golden era (1987–1995) and analyzes how Hellenic bands distinctively separated themselves from the cold, tremolo picked, and blast beat heavy Scandinavian black metal formula. Instead, the articles delve into how the Greek scene pioneered a warm, midtempo, atmospheric style driven by heavy metal infused riffing, occult mystique, and early drum machine/synth experimentation.
It also provides some outsider and current perspectives with broader context of how the Hellenic sound resonated outside of Greece during the tape trading era; the feature includes exclusive analytical commentary from prominent figures of the global 90s underground scene. As Nornagest of Enthroned, shares his perspective on the impact of the early Greek releases and how their distinct, ritualistic atmosphere influenced the wider European Black Metal landscape. And, also by Raymond Dillard Heflin (ex-Absu / Proscriptor McGovern), who offers insight from an international standpoint, highlighting the connection between the mythological and occult themes of the Hellenic scene and his own historical concepts during the early 90s. Furthermore, rather than focusing solely on archival history, the zine features exclusive, extensive interviews with the artists who built and continue to carry the legacy of the scene. As from Varathron, and how they are a ‘classic pioneer of the sound’. The interview explores the early days of landmark releases like ‘His Majesty at the Swamp’, detailing the tape trading network, the struggles of recording in rudimentary Greek studios, and maintaining their signature dark, occult atmosphere over decades. Also, from Yoth Iria, featuring Jim Mutilator (cofounder of Rotting Christ and Varathron), this discussion bridges the gap between the ancient foundation of Hellenic Black Metal and its modern spiritual continuation. It dives deep into the esoteric ideologies, occult concepts, and musical evolution that fueled the inception of the movement.
And on the closer, the series of 22 pages full of many interesting to shall-not-be-ignored releases reviews, should hook the mind of any explorative one, who feels the most of excitements and thrill with finding quality release out of nowhere.
The total experience summarizes that while the age of cheaply xeroxed flyers is behind us, zine productions like The Metal Grimoire keep the force and hope alive in a style and format that replaces modern media click centric styles with absolute passion and profound hindsight. After finishing this thick stack of pages, you will wonder where Sascha finds the energy and time to compile such exhaustive historiography. It is an essential antidote to the modern music press and an inspiration on many levels. Choose your own way to experience this journey and download Issue #1 to explore an archive encapsulated in true underground devotion. And confidently this may lead to remember the announcements on their last page, ‘The second issue of The Metal Grimoire is set for release in autumn 2026, featuring interviews with bands like Gates of Ishtar and Endseeker, along with a special feature on the Colombian Ultra Metal scene.
