ZT Mag Archived Issue

ISSUE 45 | FEB/MAR, 2012

Editorial Message

Ok, time to show my age (or maybe lack of it)... I distinctly remember my first exposure to Napalm Death. Their lovely moniker was in an ad for Bolt Thrower's just-released Realm Of Chaos ...in White Dwarf magazine. Yes, yes: quite embarrassing — or so it would appear, if any of you folks are (un)hip to wargaming. Anyway, I was getting all hot for this Bolt Thrower album — death metal having taken complete control of me by 1989, thrash on its way out as my main musical regimen — as I was frankly mindblown that someone, anyone, was combining DM and Warhammer 40,000 (my other foremost occupation in '89), but that moniker and logo continued to gnaw at me. Someday, this 'Napalm Death' would be mine...at least I hoped.

And alas, that day would come when an import copy (on cassette!) of Harmony Corruption would arrive at a local record store. Now, retroactively there's been some contention that this was Napalm Death's bid for Tampa trendiness — and who knows? maybe it was — but back then... damn. That record was a fucking monster. I listened to that tape nonstop on my Walkman, ingraining every single nuance into my very being, committing every lyric to memory, even poring over the frankly-fucking-massive thanks-list for tips on elusive, unheard bands. Over the coming decade, admittedly, I'd have on-again/off-again relationship with the band's records — Fear, Emptiness, Despair and Diabtribes were successful experiments; Inside The Torn Apart and Words From The Exit Wound were not — but I'll forever savour their place in my youth. Which is ironic that, age-wise, they're quite far from their own 'youth' and yet their latest Utilitarian storms with the wild abandon of kids a third of their age. Their cover selection is well earned.

Oh, and while I have your ear — go look at the review section, RIGHT NOW! Fucking epic, innit. We literally scour every last single crevice of the underground to bring the first (and finest) word on what's hot and what's not, and we plan on continuing that trajectory in the issues to come. Hopefully, that sounds good to all of you. Write us and let us know.

Nathan T. Birk , Editor
nathan@www.ztmag.com