interview with ancient death web-zine,..done by patrick

interview w/john editor of ancient death web-zine.and host/d.j of descent into acheron radio show {brutal existence radio} done by patrick



1.Hello John how is your week so far? Please tell the readers a little about yourself.


Hey Patrick, my week has gone well so far man. Thanks for asking!

A little about myself...Well I'm 31, from Pittsburgh, PA, married and I love metal. I also try to draw when I can, and am interested in history. I'm always reading or watching documentaries on things like Native Americans, Vikings, War (mostly WWI & WWII, Vietnam & Civil War) and Warfare.



2.At">2.At what age did you discover metal? Who were some of the first bands you listened to?


I discovered metal at a young age, around the second grade I guess so I was around 7 years old. My cousin introduced me to Motley Crue back then and I had a couple friends in school that got me into Guns N Roses, Metallica and Megadeth as well. I had to keep everything hidden really though, even up through high school.

My father was a Baptist preacher for awhile when I was young and he was pretty strict on what went on, especially with music. I had to get copies of cassettes from friends and keep them unmarked so he wouldnt know what they were and break them. He eased up a great deal though and ended up getting me into bands like Led Zeppelin, Lynyrd Skynyrd, Black Sabbath, etc. I still didn't get to be open about some of the heavier bands I listened to because he still had a line you couldn't cross but I could never hate him for it. He's one of my best friends nowadays.


3.Was it long until you discovered the underground scene? Who were some of the first underground bands you got into? Who are some of your "current" favorite bands?


I didn't get into underground metal until my first year of high school so around the age of 13. Up until then I had only really heard mostly mainstream metal except for some bands like Testament and Prong. I had a screenprinting class and would see all of this cool artwork some other kids used earlier in the day for their death metal band. Turned out the artwork was by Mark Riddick and that's when I got into both underground metal and the artwork that goes with it.

The bands I started listening to back then were bands like Carcass, Immolation, Sodom, Dark Angel, Slayer, Kreator, Morbid Angel and Incantation. I listened to mostly death metal bands back then. The early 90's had some killer stuff coming out. Pittsburgh had a lot of great bands back then too that you would hear about here and there like Sathanas/Bathym, Hideous Mangleus, Chaotic Plague, Rottrevore, Derketa and Exit-13. I didn't get to see a lot of these bands back then but I had copies of tapes from some of them.

My current favorite bands right now would be Generichrist, Sathanas, Deceased, Shackles, Throne of Ahaz, Darkthrone, Sacrificial Blood, Revenge (Greece), Witchtrap, Wastelander, Necrodeath, Korgull the Exterminator, Profanal, Abhorer, and Im sure there's many more but I will be here all day haha


4.When did you get the idea to create Ancient Death web-zine? How do you come up with the name of the zine?



I started out wanting to print a zine about two years ago and back then it was going to be called Anhedonia. I didn't have the money to really get into it so I started kicking around the idea of a webzine since I had all of these interviews and reviews already done. I was, and still am, a big fan of Pentacle and got the name Ancient Death from their EP. I just always liked it and was really surprised noone had used it. A good friend of mine, Tony Anderson is the vocalist for Generichrist and he offered to help me out with it and put it up on his webspace he has for his band.



5.Have you ever written for or done any other fan/web-zines before Ancient Death?


Just little shit here and there, nothing much though.



6.How many hours a day would you say you work on the zine {mail,reviews,etc} Are you the only one who works on the zine or do you have other "writers" that help out?


I try to put at least a couple hours in each day. It doesn't always work out that way and some days I can't seem to get anything done haha. The only other person I have working on the zine is Tony from Generichrist. He writes the horror interviews for the site when he has time and does some of the music interviews as well. He wrote for Rivot Rag Magazine before so he knows what he's doing and does it pretty well. I can get behind sometimes with as many albums as I get in for reviewing but it doesn't take me long to catch up.


7.If any bands or labels are reading this what styles of metal do you support and review?


I listen to many different styles of metal, thrash/black/death/doom metal are the ones I prefer to review but will review others styles like power metal without a problem. I'm not a huge fan of ambient black metal but don't mind it at times. I don't like reviewing deathcore & nu-metal and the more mainstream styles of metal because they don't appeal to me at all.


8.In">8.In your opinion what is the best and worst thing about the underground today? And what does the term "underground metal" mean to you?


Well, I think the real underground days are over. I do believe the idea of it, the music and the spirit behind it are still alive but when I think of the underground I think of the 80s on up to the mid 90s I guess. It was still hard to find out about bands back then and it wasn't anywhere near as popular to listen to the music as it seems to be today. I just think that anything that is as accessible as turning on your computer and typing in a bands name and hitting enter isn't very underground. You used to have to write letters by hand, you read actual printed magazines, and you had to wait to hear the albums that you paid for. If it was a bad album, you lost out on the money you spent for it. Kind of hit or miss really at times, but that was some of the fun.



9.Coming back to the zine for a moment you have done some really good interviews with various metal bands.who have been some of your favorite bands to interview?


Thanks for the compliment man! Deceased, Master, Nunslaughter, Sathanas, Pentacle were all ones I really liked because I've been a fan of them for years. Generichrist was too because that's the only one I've done that wasn't through email, Tony's a great friend and they're a killer band. Nechochwen was another very cool one because I have an interest in Native American history and Aaron Carey is a phenomenal musician.


10.If you had the chance to interview any band/label {past or present} who are some you would love to interview/talk with?


Wow, I'm not sure haha. Jeff Becerra would be cool, Mayhem, Dartkthrone, Sodom, Kreator, Necrodeath, that's about all I can think of right now.


11. I know besides the zine you recently started working with Brutal Existence Radio. Your new show is "Descent to Acheron. How did you come into contact with Brutal Existence?


One night I decided to check it out and thought it was cool. Went in the chatroom and listened to the radio show and liked what they were doing. Mentioned to the co-owner Fowler one day that it would interest me to do a show if he needed DJs, which he is still looking for more of them, and he said cool and got me setup with a show.


12.For any bands or labels interested what styles will you be playing and promoting on the show? Where can they send promos?


A mix of black metal & blackened death and thrash. They can get in touch with me at:
john@brutalexistenceradio.com or on myspace at www.myspace.com/descenttoacheron

I put all of the shows playlists up on the myspace site so if you want to see what I've been playing you can check them out there.


13.When not working on the zine or radio show. What do you enjoy doing in your spare time? Any hobbies etc.


I mostly hang out with my wife and read, or watch movies. I also spend quite a bit of time in the Brutal Existence Radio chatroom haha. I've been thinking about taking up a hobby or two, like carving and scrimshawing. I also draw when I can.


14.Well brother thanks for taking the time out of your busy schedule to fill this out. Do you have any final comments for the readers?


Thanks Patrick! Great interview man. The only comment I have is to make sure to support the bands, labels, zines and radio stations out there. They all work hard to get metal out to the fans so show them you appreciate it once in awhile. Support all of Patrick's zines as well, he's a true metalhead and deserves it!

contact ancient death zine at
http://www.myspace.com/mathiasbloodaxe

ancient death web-zine {official site/zine}
http://www.ancienteath.com

descent into acheron {john's raido show on brutal existence radio!!!}
http://www.myspace.com/descenttoacheron