Moment of Truth fanzine - Issue #1

In my head, "Moment of Truth" is a song by Madball (off the Look My Way album), and now it is also a new hardcore fanzine ran by Ricky of Backtrack. I figured since Backtrack is pretty awesome, it would be a good idea to get my hands on this zine, so I didn't hesitate to buy it when I saw it advertised by WAK (our local Greek HC/punk distro).

So this small zine (A5 size, 36 pages, full color, glossy paper) falls in the category of "true" hardcore zines -- yup, just the type we like! There are many crust and hardcore/punk zines of the leftist category which is fine by me, but then again it's also pretty awesome to have some hardcore zines that are just about the 'core, the mosh and the good times. And that's exactly what Moment of Truth is about.

In this first issue, there are interviews with Terror axeman Jordan Posner, Take Offense, Xibalba, Freddy Madball explaining lyrics to a couple of Madball songs, King Nine and a small tour report written by Surburban Scum's Karebear. Awesome shit! Even though the interviews are kinda short and don't really go in depth, I am sure this is something that can be covered on the next issue. I have to say that I thoroughly enjoyed Karebear's tour report, which is full of stories about moshing, partying, fattening food and general mischief. That's the way to go people! It totally put me in the right mood for living and appreciating this hardcore lifestyle.

Yeah.. I totally recommend this zine to fans of tough, no-frills hardcore and the bands mentioned above. We need to support moves like this coming from this particular scene, cause otherwise the zines won't be made and PC punks everywhere will still blame hardcore kids for being... "bullheads", even though that might be the case. Now bust!

http://momentoftruthzine.bigcartel.com/

NOW HERE ZINE #01 Review

If there was a prize for 2011's best new punk zine, then NowHere would surely win it! This is as punk as zines get these days, but at the same time there is something trashpop about it, which sets it apart from the heap of punk zines in your local distro zine box! Apparently making this zine took Lydia (the girl who puts it all together) a good two years, but it is definitely worth the wait now that this 94 (wow!)  page zine is out.

This zine is neatly put together and balances between music, art and punk politix. There are band interviews, cartoon strips, illustrations, opinion articles, record reviews, zine reviews, poems, slogans, ads created by Lydia herself, plus more stuff to keep your punk ass busy for hours on end! At least it got me staying up till 3am last night reading! NowHere covers a wide range of music, from dirty punk to hardcore to lo-fi to garage stuff and it's a good, interesting mix which escapes the hardcore/punk monotony.

I also can't pretend I'm not stoked about the fact that the band I play guitar for (My Turn) is interviewed in this zine, as well as for the fact that I've contributed a small article. It is just great to share a space with  a bunch of punx who have their own, personal, great style of writing. Lydia herself definitely owns it, I mean the lady should (and probably will) be an author someday. She uses the rarest. weirdest, coolest words out there so thumbs up!

You can reach NowHere at: info [at] nemesisknox.com, and check this site: www.nemesisknox.com

It's Still OK Not To Drink - Issue #1

The shit is getting rad! It's Still OK Not to Drink zine comes all the way from Australia ("Clayton Straight Edge"!) and it is one of the best first issues I've had the pleasure of reading during the 7 years I've been researching and reading DIY hardcore zines. There is a thing with new zines, when you can sense the enthusiasm, the effort put in by the maker, and all the freshness about it all!

So this straight edge zine from Melbourne contains interviews with the following bands: Foundation, The Effort, Purification (the re-united Italian vegan sXe legends), Persist, Warbrain, and Flawless Victory (a truly exceptional band, Russian straight edge, unfortunately just broke up). All of the interviews are interesting, and that's mainly because of the questions, which are very well-put and make for good and lengthy answers. The people in the bands seem to be really cool people, in a way the interviewer manages to bring out their character and that's really something if you ask me.

The format is A4, and the zine is done in a typical cut and paste style, which for me is perfect as I also do Take Your Shot cut and paste. There is room for improvement on the layout, but it's still fun and very old-school, and after all it's the first issue as we said. You can find these Australian Straight Edge kids and order this awesome zine here. You won't regret it!

OUTSPOKEN zine #0 year 1

Let's review some hardcore zines! I've had the chance to read some truly great new zines in the past few months, just proper print zines about hardcore. Most of these zines arrive to Greece by way of WAK records & distro, but copies are limited so, get in touch & see what you can do!

One of the zines that stood out for me is Outspoken, a zine that has been going for like 12 years written in Portuguese, but this is the first issue written in English. The exact story about this zine is that it's done by Glauce, a Brazilian vegan straight edge hardcore girl, who now lives in Ireland and runs Hurry Up Records. Her writing in english is perfect, and the same goes for the contents of this zine. There are interviews with: Rise And Fall, John Joseph (Cro-Mags) about his latest book Meat is for Pussies, Chris Wrenn (owner of Bridge 9 Records), Famine (Irish hardcore band), an awesome Q & A with Chad Gilbert of New Found Glory, plus an Irish hardcore scene report.

This cute zine is on A5 format, with a very clean layout, good interviews, color cover and ads, and costs 2 euros. You can get it directly from the Hurry Up! Records Shop: http://www.hurryuphc.com/product/685

Keep It Real issue 9 out now!

So... after a short break (Easter holidays in Greece), we're back with some more newz from the the world of the Hardcore Underground. So, let's not waste any time! 

This time we're proud to present a fanzine from our very own Greek Hardcore scene. In fact, Keep It Real is a fanzine with quite a long history behind it, so it's nice to see it active after something like 2 years. This, issue 9, is the most professional effort I've seen so far by Keep It Real, with professional printing and quality paper. It's filled with interviews, record reviews and professional band shots from all over hardcore, but with a special love for the straight edge scene!

Brought to you by the WAK guys who do so many other stuff, Keep It Real *9 raises the standard for Greek fanzines, and that's not only hardcore & even music fanzines. All you arty fuckers out there doing zines better beware, because the Hardcore scene is coming at you with quality!

Keep It Real represents a positive attitude, but this time I can say the writer(s) are a bit more pissed off than usual, even venomous at times. Considering it's hardcore we're talking about, this could be a turn on for the reader! It's up to you to choose and you better pick this zine up so you can check out for yourself. 

p.s.: Personal favorite: the piece on Krishna-core. Keeping that positive and spiritual vibe!