Depraved Literature part V – Compilation of Death zine #2

Depraved Literature part V – Compilation of Death zine #2

Author: Gabriel "The Exhumator" Gatica, Joseph Curwen, Daryl Kahan, Nathaniel Colas plus collaborators

Origin: Chile

Release date: 2012

Interviews: Extensive IMMOLATION Special (with old and in depth new interview), PUTREFEST/ TIRANT SIN/LEVIATHAN/MAYHEMESIS/CARNAL DISSECTION, MALFEITOR, Perra Karlsson from ALTAR/SUFFER/NOMINON, GOREAPHOBIA, INCANTATION, MERCILESS DEATH, Alan Moses BUTTFACE'zine/Glorious Time Book, NECROS CHRISTOS, AFFLICTION GATES, MACHETAZO, ENCOFFINATION, VERMINOUS, AFTER DEATH, UNDERGANG, THRONEUM, STENCH OF DECAY, plus old interviews with: SEPTICEMIA, THERION (HAMMER OF DAMNATION'ZINE), PESTILENCE (BLACKTHORN Nº5), MORTA SKULD (MUTILATED 'ZINE ... Nº2), AUTOPSY (METAL MELTDOWN Nº9), CADAVER, BOLT THROWER (SADISTIC NOISE'ZINE Nº2), HADES, MESTEMA (UNDER METAL Nº1), etc, etc...

I must admit that I was very thrilled and amazed, when I have finished reading of this second issue of Chilean Compilation of Death zine. Already the first issue was something unique and better than 99% of fanzines, which I’ve read in my life… I liked the whole idea of dealing with death metal only, but introducing not just new bands and new interviews, but also reprinting some very old interviews from the zines, which were published 20 years ago. Ha, than idea was simple, but so effective – with the exception that few of the interviews, which the guys behind Compilation of Death zine chose to reprint were dull and short like those with Suffocation or Merciless. But all in all the first issue was just killer and I was really looking forward to read the second one. And here it is. First of all I must say that the amount of reading here is enough for a couple of weeks and the Chilean maniacs have gathered so much material that they had to split the whole thing into two volumes, as there is 225 pages in total!!!! (Both volumes are sold together, not separate, which is important!). Professional printing, cool layout, posters and 100% death metal. This is Compilation of Death zine! Man, I can promise you that it is the best portion of reading you can ever witness and one, which I dare to say is not a fanzine anymore, but rather a book. So, let’s take a look what the Chileans offer here.

This second issue is dedicated to Immolation and this band takes the huge amount of space in volume 1. We go back to the late 80’s, when the band was formed, go through their history and read an extensive interviews with each band member, plus you can also read opinions, experiences and memories of other musicians about Immolation (f.e. Sharon Bascovsky, Richard Cabeza, Chris Weber and many others). Then there’re reprints of old chats from Mega Mag #2, Voices From the Darkside #5 (1994), Putrefaction #3 (1990)… So, basically you go through the whole history of Immolation. A lot of attention was obviously putted on the demo

days, as well as Rigor Mortis, then the first album, split up with Roadracer, etc. Each interview brings something interesting. There are short chats with ex drummers of the band, with Bill Taylor, current guitarist, which is very, very interesting, as it deals with not just Immolation, but also with other bands, which Taylor played with: Laceration, Acheron, Angel Corpse and obviously also Xenomorph (which is really killer band, highly recommended!!!). From the other hand very funny is the interview with… Ross Dolan’s mom, Edna!! Yeah, Laurent from Peardrop zine did this interview back in the early 90’s while staying at Ross’ house and decided to ask his mother few questions about what does she think about this music and that her son plays something so loud and brutal. Killer idea, if you ask me hehe! So, you can see that Immolation is really a great hero of this issue of Compilation of Death zine. If there’s something you don’t know about the band, you’ll find it here. Personally I find the whole idea of making something like a tribute to certain band as something unique and very interesting, enjoyed it so much that now I can’t wait to read similar feature in the next issue, which is going to be dedicated to Sadistic Intent!!!

Ha, but Compilation of Death zine goes further and further through next 200 pages with more material to read. We’re not even half way through the first volume yet! So, right when you finish with Immolation you’ll read the interviews with Affliction Gate, Carnal Dissection (great interview again, deals with the whole story of this shortliving band, as well as other bands, which Dennis John Glinski played, like Putrefest and Tirant Sin – which if you don’t know, featured Cannibal Corpse members, back in the mid 80!), Coffin Texts (some interesting facts there)… Another retrospective interview, this time with Derketa’s Sharon Bascovsky – I enjoyed it very, very much. Again you can read many stories from the past and will get to know basically everything about Derketa. Pity that this interview is quite outdated, so there’s absolutely nothing the new CD from this band, “In Death We Meet”, which was recently released. I haven’t listened to it yet, but I’m hoping to be pleasantly surprised. Encoffination / Father Befouled’s Ghoat is the next hero of volume one and this interview disappointed me slightly, but mainly because of short and not always on the subject answers from Ghoat. It’s a pity, as I really worship both these bands, but from the other hand it is quite rare to read any publications about them both, so no major complain here.

A short break for beer and let’s carry on. Next one in line is Gene Palubicki. Sounds familiar? Yeah, this is the man behind Angel Corpse riffs. This long interview

tells about all his bands, like Perdition Temple, Apocalypse Command, Blasphemic Cruelty. Ha, again reading this book titled Compilation of Death zine gave me many information I needed. But there’s no time to waste and next two are Goreaphobia and Incantation – two US East Coast representatives of old school death metal cult. Man, to see such high profile names in the zine are enough to make me jealous and cut the veins in delight. I especially enjoyed that Goreaphobia interview as it seems pretty rare to read anything about them, but also Incantation’s chat was brilliant, as it is with Kyle Severs, the drummer, who speaks about himself, the past bands he played with and how he joined the Incantation squadron plus also about his favourite Incantation records. Well, it is very good interview indeed! I guess one would have enough, but we’re not even half way through Compilation of Death #2 and more interviews are coming. I did like the chat with Polish Kingdom, although it is quite short, but good. I must say though that I have a feeling like the Chilean maniacs have weird impression of what Poland is like. I mean the communist regime is long gone, it’s pretty much free country since 23 years and despite the strong hold of cathollicism there’s no really something like repression, as they call it in the interview. Poland is not more or less a normal European country, only some people are stack in the Middle Ages with the religious blindness and there’s also this never ending Polish martyrdom and pessimism, which is well rooted in the

people – something I hate really! It’s sometimes funny to read opinions about the country, which are quite far from the actual truth, you know? Another Polish band in this volume is cult Merciless Death and it’s really cool to see that they (as well as the whole old Polish death metal scene) are so respected, also in Chile.

Next one is Malfeitor from USA. I didn’t know this band before, but I must admit that when reading this interview it really interested me, also because Gabriel Gatica recommends their only 1987 demo “Diabolic Youth” as one of the best demos he’s ever heard. He found the guy, Phil Trickovic, from this long time inactive band, on facebook and asked him 52 questions (!! Yeah, most of those interviews are that long!) about his old band. It was fun to read, especially as Phil had nothing to do with metal for 20 years, and all of a sudden there’s this Chilean maniac, who remembers his old band and questions him about it. Great stuff! Next interviews are with more present bands – first of all there’s Necrochristos and then there’s a fuckin loooonnnngggg (78 questions!!!!!!!!!!) and kiiillllleeeerrrr chat with Perra Karlsson from Nominon. It’s not only about Nominon, but also about the whole metal history of Perra, including some other his old bands like Suffer and In Aeternum, as well as about his Mould zine. One of the highlights of volume one for me personally is another long chat, with Pentacle’s Wannes Gubbels. OK, there are actually two interviews with him, but both are really long. Man, this man gave some very, very long and interesting answers and the result is just amazingly good, I really did enjoy reading this interview a lot. It’s great to know that such a person as Wannes is so dedicated to this music and all the real values of the metal underground. Respect! Finally Volume 1 is finished with the interviews with… Thanatos (!!!!!!!), Verminous (!!!!!!!! Yeah!!!!!!!!!!) and Putrid. Ufff, each is really good, especially the one with Thanatos – even if the answers from Stephan are much shorter than the ones from Wannes, but hey! There are 71 questions!!!!! I really admire the dedication of Compilation of Death zine editors, for making such long and exhausting, so detailed interviews! Killer work!

But that’s not everything, as the volume number two begins! So, moving quickly forward I start reading it and again I am very impressed, even if I can say that I liked volume one more, as there were more killer bands, while this second volume is divided between some old bands and some fanzines. Anyway, it is still very good and while reading it I have a

feeling like I was really reading a book about good old times of the scene, supplemented with some stuff from today’s scene. Anyway, the second volume starts with the interview with Tom Stevens. A really long chat once more… I didn’t know this guy before, but it turns out he played in some unknown to me bands like Savage Death (they did two demos in the mid 80’s) and Nokturnel, as well as he played in Incantation and Morpheus Descends. The interview is really, really informative and will take you almost 30 years back. It was a great pleasure to read it. Then we have some interviews with present bands – they (these interviews) are fine, but not as good as those recollections of old times. Anyway, you’ll find here killer bands: Stench of Decay, Throneum, Undergang and a chat with the Detest Records boss (killer label it was). It all is followed by one of the highlights of the second volume, a long chat with Mike Browning. It’s about all his bands, but mainly about Nocturnus and After Death plus Incubus. Fantastic stuff, really, which will give you a lot of information about Mike. After that we have a lengthy report about the old Spanish death metal scene – again a good one. It drops off some more well known bands like Avulsed, but covers many good and often completely unknown acts like Necrophiliac (great band), Unbounded Terror (same!), Elbereth, Mysthical, Sacrophobia plus some old fanzines, labels and compilations. Great portion of reading. Another journey into the past and this time we accompany Alan Moses, who’s been an editor of Buttface zine back in the old days, as well as he’s been a merchandiser of Morbid Angel. A lot of stories have been told in this very, very long interview (51 questions) and I can only say that it’s a great pleasure to read such great chats, really. Next up is Metal Meltdown, another old fanzine, for which its editor gives a small introduction to and then you’ll find a reprint of cool, old chat with Autopsy from this zine. Another two reprints are Crucifer (from Funeral zine#2) and Electrocution (from Pulverize zine). Ha, ever since I’ve found scans of old fanzines on such websites like Send Back My Stamps I really do enjoy reading all those old fanzines and interviews, so it is cool that Compilation of Death included something like this. In the previous issue some of their reprints were a bit dodgy, honestly, with very bad interviews, which I think were not really worth being exhumed, but here the choice is better, luckily. OK, another old fanzine editor is reminded next and this time it is Morten Nissen from Trechoma zine, from which you’ll later read an old chat with Immolation (who else hehe!!!!). More recollections of the old times come with Peruvian Under Metal zine, with the article about it and two old interviews (with Hadez and Mastema – both with quite average content)… Finally you’ll read about Unholy Terror zine and Sadistic Noise zine (from the later there are two excellent old interviews from 1992 – with Bolt Thrower and Cadaver). Just as in the first issue Compilation of Death delivers a bunch of reprints of the old interviews from old fanzines and after those, which I already mentioned there are Afflicted and Vader (both from Polish Dethroner zine – plus some reviews from it), Morstice (from Beyond Death #3), Pestilence (from Blackthorn zine), Therion and Septicemia (from Hammer of Damnation) and fantastic interview with

Morta Skuld (Mutilated zine #2). I mentioned that some of such reprints from the previous issue of Compilation of Death were not so good, as the interviews were just bad… Here the choice was perfect and they have found some excellent old interviews, which were definitely 666% worth being exhumed. Cool! The last two interviews of the issue 2 are done in section called RAM Metal, run by Laurent from decibel of Death zine / Snakepit zine. He will introduce some very old, unknown demo bands – and here he chose NYC Mayhem and Dark Legion / Holocaust. Both bands were active way back in the mid 80’s, both just released some unknown demos… and both have very long interview, very in depth and informative about the stories of bands and those old times. But since I have never heard of the three and actually am not so interested in these bands I must admit that I didn’t read it with too much pleasure, especially as often it deals with some hardcore or punk scenes or whatever, which I am completely not interested in. But maybe someone else will… I skipped many questions from those interviews, especially as they are so damn long.

And that’s basically all what you can find in Compilation of Death zine #2. OK, there are some reviews to finish it… but WOW, big fuckin WOW – the content of this second issue is just beyond my imagination and I can sincerely say that this is the BEST zine I have ever read and it is more a book rather than a fanzine. Excellent stuff, really, so I deeply recommend you getting it. It is not cheap, as there are two volumes and the costs may be high, but it is WORTH it. I was lucky to buy my copy from Tom from Throneum and thanks you man for that!! Arrghhhhhh! So, when will the issue 3 be out???!!!!

Final rate: 666/100