Burst

#176 - EDITORIAL

In October 1993, with Sepultura on the cover and At The Gates and Dismember on the inside, Terrorizer #1 came hurtling off the printing press. Fifteen years on, we’re proud to say not much has changed. Okay, so the “ropey layout” has been replaced with our super-designer Darrell’s Midas touch, but at the heart we’re still a magazine run by extreme metal fans. And yep, ATG, Dismember and modern-day Sepultura incarnation Cavalera Conspiracy have all been seen within our pages this year – we didn’t even plan it that way…

Some may say that after fifteen years, and 176 issues, to still cover the bands that spurred on the birth of the World’s only extreme metal magazine is a form of stagnation, but no not us, to us it’s almost religious fervour. Getting the new Darkthrone album is as exciting as being able to champion bands like Red Mist, winners of our most recent Fear Candy Unsigned competition. Just as in 1993 we’re as fanatical about the new blood as we are the bands who have, since issue #1, become ‘the masters’.

So it’s fitting that Enslaved, who we first interviewed way back in 1994, should get their first Terrorizer cover to coincide with our anniversary. Throughout their career, much like Terrorizer, they’ve adopted their own ‘no boundaries’ ethos and new album ‘Vertebrae’ is another jaw-dropping installment in their epic sonic journey. In the breathtaking and familiar surroundings of Bergen – for both the band who call it home, and Terrorizer, thanks to its long-lasting affiliation with the Hole In The Sky festival – photographer Steve Brown captured their very essence, while Stavros Pamballis got the honour of being told he’d just given the band the best interview they’d had in years.

Plus there is part two of our special where Ross Hoon delves into black metal’s dabblings with traditional folk music, and Burst, Toxic Holocaust, Swallow The Sun, Destruction and Omnium Gatherum are put under the spotlight.

In our 100th issue, at a brief look back at Terrorizer’s early days, Ian Glasper described that first outing as a “smorgasbord of brutality”. I think it’s safe to say, fifteen years on those words still ring true.



Louise Brown, Assistant Editor