A "new kid" in town... VM-Underground. Old school D.I.Y. Fanzine attitude with 1990s layout combined with new technology...or to keep it simple, a fanzine with the well-known illustrations, and non-objective articles (mostly underground) which were common in the 1990s, but this time available for everybody (free of charge) as it can be downloaded as PDF-file.

I know, I know...not really the real underground spirit or committing to the "only paper is real" vision, but for us this was the perfect solution to start up a fanzine again (VM-Underground is the "continuation" of Vampire Magazine (1997-2008, two Xeroxed issues, transformed into a webzine and at the end contained approx. 15.000 articles (metal only)).

The first issue is available for download at our homepage and contains interviews with Obscure Infinity, Under The Church, Trenchrot, Bleeding Gods, Goat Torment, Mortillery, Gravecrusher, Gama Bomb, Decomposed, Funeral Whore, Necrot, Evil Invaders and Borkr. As said...mostly underground. And of course album and demo reviews.

Cool

Nice. Will the second issue be printed?

Very awesome I am looking at the site now. Me and my sister do a show together called assault and bathory that plays all old school death metal. And we do monthly specials of a country and showcase the bands from that country. The first month we did all Dutch death metal. We played old bands like eternal solice. Ceremony. Gorefest. Alter. And god dethroned. We also played new bands like I Chaos. Funeral whore. Icons of brutality. Nox. And Massive Assault. We are located outside of Philadelphia and I got to say WOW. The Dutch death metal scene is massive. Many GREAT and overlooked bands.

Would there be enough orders for this?

Probably not. We wanted to do a good old fanzine and not a webzine, but there aren't as many distros who are selling zines (or have up-to-date zines) and we aren't "in that place" anymore to go 3 times a week to the post office to send zines all over the world. The crewmembers are between 30-40 years old. We are not students anymore. Having a family, responsible dayjobs, playing in more than 1 band etc. are one of those reasons not to deal with the "distribution" side of a printed fanzine. So we thought that publishing a free fanzine as PDF is the next best thing. Not only because it's also easy to read on a tablet or smart-phone. And if you want it printed...you can printed it yourself. It will only cost you some ink. Also the advertising for bands/labels are free of charge. After we released our first issue, we had 201 downloads within 48 hours. That kind of results are not possible with a printed fanzine, if you ask me. So we still think we made the right decision.

I get many questions about the printed-thing, but nobody is negative when I say "sorry mate, only PDF-file".


Thanks for your kind words about our Death Metal scene. For a small country like The Netherlands, it's a "miracle" we have quite some quality bands. Unfortunately, as I've point out in my Sinister review in our first issue, the Dutch are always bitchin' about their own bands. Something I despise about my fellow Dutchmen...why not being proud once in a while...

If you are into Massacre's "From Beyond" and Death's "Spiritual Healing", try Burial's "Relinquished Souls" (released in 1993). A very nice album.

I heard that album. A classic. Are you that same guy who put on that death tribute show years ago. I think it was God Dethtoned and a bunch of other bands. And they did all songs from Death's first two albums. When I get home on a real computer I will send the link for the website of our show. Two of the best Dutch albums I heard are, and you may be surprised that I know these, Soulburn feeding on angels, and ceremony tyranny from above.

No, I'm not that guy. I used to know who organised that gig, but that was a couple of beers ago...


I really...really like the Soulburn album. Great riffs by, if you ask me, one of the best guitarists of our country: Eric Daniels. Not that strange as I am a huge Asphyx fan as well. "Tyranny from Above" is indeed a nice album, but I do think we have released better ones.

The christhunt from God Dethtoned is excellent as well. Also what about that band pentacle

I like God Dethroned as well, almost all their albums. But "The Christhunt" is indeed a fine piece of Old School Death Metal. Pentacle...absolutely. "The Fifth Moon" EP and "...Rides the Moonstorm" had quite some spins in my house. The vokills of Wannes are an advantage in my book. Also a great person to interview.

Try Bleeding Gods, if you are into straightforward thrashy Death Metal. We interviewed them in our first issue.

Some promotion of the bands we have interviewed in our first issue....

Borkr - Earthfast (of the album "Amber")
"Yeah I guess you can even say it’ s a Drudkh copycat and I won’ t mind at all. I may already displayed so many Drudkh elements here and I didn’ t mean to hide them from the beginning"


Gravecrusher - Deranged Massacre (of the demo "Mutilation Ritual")
"The funny thing that nobody says that they would feel any Unleashed influence in our songs, but that was the biggest influence for us..."


Bleeding Gods - Bloody Symphony Promo
"I think it' s hard to label it, and we don' t really want to. As long as it is - and stays - groovy, heavy and ' headbangable' . And a bit catchy maybe..."

Some promotion of the bands we have interviewed in our first issue....

Obscure Infinity - Collecting A Disastrous Sun (of the album "Putrefying Illusions")
". . . “Soulside Journey” is the best Darkthrone album in my opinion."


Funeral Whore - Step into Damnation (of the album "Step Into Damnation")
"On our album for example, there are rarely mid tempo tracks. On the next asskicker there will be much more diversity, without losing the typical Funeral Whore aggression"



Working hard on issue #2 which will be released in February 2014.

We are working hard on our issue # 2, which will be published in February. Lot of (underground) reviews, interesting chats and articles...and of course the well-known 1990s Fanzine artwork/illustrations!

In the meantime, feel free to listen to two bands who will be featured in our second issue:

Vampire


Icons of Brutality

In the good old tradition of fanzines...our second issue...we have a delay. On the other hand will there be more interviews than we first expected.

Here are two bands we have interviewed:

Infinity


Undead Creep


Reviews you can expect in the second issue of VM-Underground: Darkestrah, Morrigan, Rotten, Convulse, Himonas, Facebreaker, Mordbrand, Carcass, Bodyfarm, Pyre / Entrapment split, Broken Hope, Avulsed 7", Istengoat, Blood Mortized, Pestilence, Decomposed, Eternal Rot, Graveyard Ghoul, Nominon / Morbosidad split, Casket / Sewercide split, Putrefact 7", Sartegos, Torture Throne, Sargeist, Verminous, Necrorite, Skelethal / Inisans split...and many more.

Out Now! Issue # 2
90 pages
PDF Format, 1990s Fanzine Layout

Interviews with: Austerymn, Disinterred, Faal, Guilty as Charged, Himonas, Icons of Brutality, Incarceration, Infinity, Sentience, Undead Creep, Vampire and Villainy

Articles about: At The Gates, Cancer, Fleshcrawl's "Descend into the Absurd" and Darkified.

Tons of (Demo-)reviews.

Download it for free at http://www.vm-underground.com

*bump*

And already some interviews confirmed for Issue # 3....more info will follow shortly.....

Working hard on Issue # 3, along with new contributors....

But there are still many pages to fill and so much good underground releases to review... Would you like to write an article or two and "understand" the charm of 1990s Fanzines with illustrations and supporting the underground?

Visit VM-Underground to check out our work, drop a line ( info @ vm-underground.com ) and maybe we can work something out!

Issue # 3 coming soon!
Interviews with: Nailgun Massacre, Worship Death, Obscure Burial, Ancient Rites, Carach Angren, Putrid Offal, Carnal Tomb, Bones and more...
Lots of reviews

And we can still use new writers....

Out Now! Issue # 3
101 pages
PDF Format, 1990s Fanzine Layout

Interviews with: Soulburn, Ancient Rites, Eternal Solstice, Putrid Offal, The Eliminati, Nailgun Massacre, Bones, Kaeck, Carach Angren, Obscure Burial, Worship Death, Carnal Tomb and Repulsive.

Articles about: Goddefied and Wombbath

Tons of (Demo-)reviews.

Download it for free at http://www.vm-underground.com

*bump*

Here's a youtube introduction I did for VM zine

https://youtu.be/LL4tcs8vRVA

Feel free to click and click.

OUT NOW!
Issue # 4
107 pages
PDF Format, 1990s Fanzine Layout

Interviews with: The Fog, Fleshcrawl, Nachtwraak, Gravebomb, Nox Vorago, Helleruin, Terror, Dementia 13, Nil Miserans and two retro-interviews with Pestilence
Tons of reviews!

Download it for free at http://www.vm-underground.com

Missed this up till now but have just downloaded all 4 issues and had a flick through them. Love the retro layout and excellent review sections. Look forward to thoroughly reading them on my tablet. Thanks for your efforts to keep the underground spirit alive which I find sadly lacking in most modern mainstream metal.

Thank you very much for your kind words on our work! Really appreciate your post!

New reviews of the last couple of days:

Ensepulcher – No Sanctity in Death [Demo]
Valgrind – Seal of Phobos [EP]
Beastiality – Worshippers of Unearthly Perversions
Malakhim – Demo I [Demo]
Obscure Burial – Obscure Burial
Gevlerkt – De Grote Sterfte

New interview online

Druid Lord

New reviews
Druid Lord - Grotesque Offerings
Corpsehammer – Posesión [EP]
Black Blood Invocation - Black Blood Invocation [Demo]
Svart Crown – Abreaction
Watain - Trident Wolf Eclipse
Hell's Coronation - Antichrist Devotion [EP]
The Lurking Fear - Out of the Voiceless Grave

www.vm-underground.com
New reviews

Power from Hell - Blood`N`Spikes [EP]
Graceless - Shadowlands
The Spirit – Sounds from the Vortex
Disembowel [CHL] - Plagues and Ancient Rites
Thy Sepulchral Moon - Indignant Force OF Great Malevolence
Purgatorium - Still in Search
Vorus – Chamber of Laments [Demo]
Blood of Seklusion – Servants of Chaos
Into The Arcane – Het Verlangen der Geest [EP]
Ashcloud – Kingdom of the Damned
Sacrilegious Rite - Summoned from Beyond
Hereza - I Become Death
Faceless Burial - Grotesque Miscreation
Jumpin’ Jesus – The Art of Crucifying [Re-release]
Cult of the Horns - Chapter I: Domination
I I / Lihhamon - Miasmal Coronation [Split]
Vargrav [FIN] - Netherstorm
Hellish God - The Evil Emanations

www.vm-underground.com
New reviews

Ataraxy - Where All Hope Fades
Demonomancy [ITA] - Poisoned Atonement
Excoriate [CHL] - ..Of The Ghastly Stench [Demo]
Satanic Warmaster - We Are the Worms That Crawl on the Broken Wings of an Angel (A Compendium of Past Crimes)
Degial - Predator Reign
Deathmarch – Dismember [EP]
Macrofago - Back to the Abyss [Demo]
Ziggurat - Ritual Miasma [EP]
Tribulation - Down Below
Isgärde - Ölandsvinter II [EP]
Wederganger / Urfaust - Wederganger / Urfaust [Split]
Formicarius - Black Mass Ritual
Dr. Living Dead! - Cosmic Conqueror
Aislación - Minor Chants [Demo]
Grave Spirit - The Beast Unburdened By Flesh [EP]
Blackevil - The Ceremonial Fire
Mal Du Siècle - Dark Ceremonies under A Cursed Moon [Demo]
Neocaesar - 11:11
Entrench - Through the Walls of Flesh
Aposento – Bleed to Death

www.vm-underground.com
New reviews

Ectoplasma - Cavern Of Foul Unbeings
Discreation - End of days
Necrofulgurate – Putrid Veil [EP]
Gravdal - Kadaverin
Havok - Conformicide
Sierpes - Visiones Caóticas
Bunker 66 – Chained Down in Dirt
Disorder [SLV] - Fuego Negro
Vehementer - Replenishment Circle (The Black Spectrumfest) [EP]
Auroch - From Forgotten Worlds [Re-release]
Putrid Offal – Anatomy [EP]
Dekapited - Sin Misericordia [EP]
Dyscarnate - With All Their Might
Decaying - To Cross the Line
Lihhamon - Doctrine [Re-release]
Faal – Desolate Grief
Reactor [CHE] - The Tribunal Above

www.vm-underground.com
New reviews

Nigredo - Flesh Torn-Spirit Pierced
Goath - II-Opposition
Bloodhunter – The End of Faith
Balmog - Vacvvm
Revel in Flesh - Relics of the Deathkult
Sortilegia - Sulphurous Temple
Aynsophar - Abysmal Secrets Of Unknown [EP]
Requiem [CHE] - Global Resistance Rising
Dreadful Fate - The Sin of Sodom [Demo]
Zurvan – Gorge of Blood
Eruption - Cloaks of Oblivion
Anatomia - Cranial Obsession
Vrag – Remete
Sombre Croisade - Balancier des âmes
Rapture [GRE] – Paroxysm of Hatred
Cryostasium - Starbound [EP]
Nasty Surgeons - Exhumation Requiem
Concrete [BLG] - Domain of Untold Horrors
Chaos Invocation - Reaping Season, Bloodshed Beyond

Well...in the mean time...so many reviews online.....
http://www.vm-underground.com

Playlist of albums/tracks we have reviewed in week 13 and 14. If our reviews aren't persuasive enough...you can check it out before you buy the CD, Cassette or Vinyl version.

Playlist Week 13
Playlist Week 14

Oh...so many updates since the last time....covering a lot of (underground) Extreme Metal you might find interesting.

We have covered new material of Cemetery Urn, Eroded, Ritual Genocide, Marduk, Shed the Skin, Filii Nigrantium Infernalium, Taphos, Skeletal Remains, Rites of Thy Degringolade and many more. +1100 Reviews at the moment.

And we have published interviews with Arallu and The True Plague.

Just take a stroll through VM-Underground

The updates are a bit slow...but hey, summer holidays...it seems we are human after all. Still, we have some nice reviews on the latest Drawn and Quartered, Ungfell, Vanhelga, Uuntar, Abstracter, Invocation [Chile], Necrodeath, Cist, Siege Column and many more.

Check out VM-Underground

If you are interested to write about the latest releases within the world of (underground) Black / Death / Doom / Thrash Metal....feel free to contact me (PM on this board, email via Contact on the VM-Underground site or via FBook)

I consider passion as more important than full knowledge of the English language and grammar....but fuck it, you probably already thought that after reading the reviews...

Many new reviews of albums and EPs (Baneful Storm, Gitrog, Corpsessed, Dødsferd, Ysengrin/StarGazer split, Undersave, Voivod...and many more) as well as a shitload on demos (Sepsis, Archaic Tomb, Bladeforce, Valaraukar...and again, many more).

Also published and interview or 2, one of them with Maligner, a great Death/Thrash band from Sweden released by Blood Harvest records.
All can be read at VM-Underground

Oh yeah, and this is still valid!

And we keep on reviewing....we have given our opinion on the latest musical efforts of Witch King, Medieval Demon, Daagh, Atomic Fear, Ruin, Wretched Fate, Moenen of Xezbeth, Mörk Gryning, Echoes of Death, Sulphur Aeon, Barshasketh, Mournful Congregation, Into the Cave, Afvallige, Organic and many more...

All can be read at VM-Underground

Oh yeah, and this is still valid!

Before VM-Underground, there was a fanzine called Vampire Magazine (1997-2008) which transformed into Archaic Magazine (2008-2011). Both websites went offline along with the 15.000 articles. Fortunately I'm able to retrieve some old articles and decided to re-publish them on VM-Underground. The ones who are interested in old reviews and interviews, can check it here.

First articles:

Behexen (1 interview, 1 album review)
Totalselfhatred (1 album review)
Krypts (1 demo review)
Watain (2 interviews, 1 demo review, 3 album reviews)

We have new reviews of Satan my Master, Extremity, Binah, Deathwards, Adversvm, Sarinvomit, Sönambula, Musmahhu, Rodent Epoch, Devouror, Ectovoid and Horrisonous among others

And we have added old reviews/interviews:
Forest Silence (2 album reviews)
Lie in Ruins (1 demo review, 1 interview)
Murder Corporation (1 album review)
Abhorrence [BRA] (1 album review)
Grabnebelfürsten (2 album reviews)
Mr. Death (1 album review)
Torturium (1 album review)
Armagedda (5 album reviews)
Excoriate [GER] (1 album review)
Sorgeldom (1 album review)
Ares Kingdom (1 album review)
Drawn and Quartered (1 interview, 3 album reviews)
Fluisterwoud (1 album review)
Katafalk (1 interview, 1 demo review, 1 album review)
Maniac Butcher (1 album review)
Deathevokation (1 demo review, 1 album review)


http://www.vm-underground.com/articles-from-the-vault-1997-2011/

A lot of new reviews (Gods Forsaken, Necrosleezer, Incinerator, Pestilength, Deathswarm and Curse Upon a Prayer among others)....

Old Articles? Certainly! We have re-published articles of Sammath, Lucifugum, Mortem, Barbatos, Murder Squad, Aguynguerran, Azarath, Bestial Mockery, Throneaeon, Haatstrijd, Vargsang, Windir, Malevolent Creation, Skyforger, Nominon and many more...

Feel free to click around at VM-Underground