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INDEX
INTERVIEWS
GUESTBOOK
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Because
of its original style, it's total involvement in to Death metal
(very rare at the time!) and a quite uncompromising and passionated, LIQUID
OF LIFE is one of the fanzines that motivated to create NIHILISTIC HOLOCAUST
at the basis (My first issue looked a lot like being stolen from
LIQUID, eh eh!)
If you're totally into Underground Death metal Underground, try
to check out his fanzine (the next issue contains for now 830 reviews!)
you'll discover that please you for sure!
1. I let you introduce LIQUID OF LIFE to our readers.
The vision of the 'Zine appeared to me around 93-94 after a drinking session... (classical, hu?) Nobody was speaking anymore about the real Death metal in France at this atmospheric and gothic, black-bla-bla etc epoch. So I decided to revive THE flame, that wasn't ready to die to the contrary of what some medias wanted to let us know, and this is better this way! The two first issues were released together in June '96 as newsletters, and it was done this way until the 4th issues that included 20 pages of reviews against the 10 pages I printed before. From this point, the 100% Death metal fanzine I was dreaming of could finally see the light of the day.
2. Where does the name LIQUID OF LIFE comes and what does it mean?
It comes before all from an IMMOLATION track entitled "Burial Ground", I still don't very well its meaning in the text but it sounded good when it was growled after a few beers of Death! It was also present un the first MASSACRE (song:"Succubus") and GORGUTS (song:"Hematological Allergy") releases, as a whole: 3 albums that possessed me and will remain cult until Death: "DAWN OF POSSESSION", "FROM BEYOND", "CONSIDERED DEAD".
3. Tell me how you do your reviews, how many time do you spend on these and how many times you listen to a release to be able to exactely the style of a band? How many reviews do you write each day, at the maximum?
The
review, I do it while listening to the stuff, an only time is enough
to extract the main essence; I sometimes visit again the release
to perfect the thing because it's all written in english, we must
keep it in mind!
I'm maybe doing 4 or 5 reviews by day, everythings
depend on the length of the stuff, if it's a CD, MCD, 7''... Or
if the band is really excellent, it of corpse deserves several listenings!
4. According to the incredible amount of reviews you does, are you always able to remain objective and not to fall into a "reviewing for reviewing" delirium, to do this mecanicaly and to loose somekind of a clarity of mind?
It
is never done mecanically, I remain concentrated on each stuff,
my mind always clear and precise, what I'm listening may be good
or bad...
There are some big known magazines around us that
has only a few reviews to offer and it's not always objective, so...
5. Does it happen that you do not review some releases, that you send it back to the band or pass it to another webzine, because it sucks too much or because it has nothing to do with LIQUID OF LIFE?
It happened in the past that I sent back a release to the sender, but I have always reviewed what were sent in my mailbox, the releases you quoted in your question doesn't deserve some large sentences, so I don't waste some paper, some time and space to favor the best ones!
6. You must receive a big amount of promos.
I
seem to misunderstand a cool amount of peoples with the number of
reviews, because I don't receive a lot of promos compared to the
amount of stuffs peoples could think I receive, it's funny!
I
only receive a few things compared to the whole reviews, maybe 10%,
I don't know... Most of the stuffs are bought for my personal collection
or it is given to me by tape trading friends who has got a nose
for it and who exactly know what I need, I'm searching, the smallest
second hand CDs market offers some fabulous treasures, and the festivals
also does! (Hail, F.T.C. 2002!!) I haven't got the time to wait
for the fact some promos would "fall from the sky", I'm
not here for this and if I had to ask each band or label to receive
some things, I would get nothing in the wanted times. It would cost
me a lot in stamps and I would receive a good amount of big shits
(to remain polite!) and I can do without it, royally!
Which underground bands actually releasing demos will, in your opinion, have a bigger place in the underground during the following years? And this because of some originality in their style, some efficiency in their promotion...
This is a good question, my rabbit! ASKALON From Poland who have a CD out and I'm sure it can be good because their promo 98 was monumental! AWFUL from Italy, it's the cream of the extreme , I hope they are still activen the Demo'99 is a pure jewel!! BLASTER PAIN from Brazil of Death will certainly make peoples speak about them after this good demo 2000. CAPHARNAUM from USA are honestly incredible!!!! I don't know when their demo was released, but it's fucking genious, I hope they prepare another dose of Technical Death! DIKTAT from fuckin' France, the Demo 2000 rages, when is the CD going to be released?? EMBALMED SOULS from Brazil of Death again, this is some true obscure and morbid doomy Death Metal, fucking shit! When is the album going to be released?! GOREOPSY from Slovakia are obviously playing some Gore with a drum machine, it sound very well even if I don't agree with the use of a machine, but hu... HEADMEAT from Belgium, the Demo 2001 is some brutal in the American vein, for those who like it... INSISION from Sweden, they have a CD out now. KAAMOS from Sweden again, these are my little favourites, they know what REAL Obscure Death Metal from darkness is, Hail to them!!! KARNARIUM from Sweden again, don't trust the ugly cover of the Demo 2000, the containing is better! MENTAL HORROR from Brazil of Death always, fabulous first album that was released recently, it's some old KRISIUN-"B.F.D.": fast, Extreme, intense & speed!! QUEIRON from Brazil of Death, the Promo 2000 contained only a track, but what a track!! SIKSAKUBUR from Brutal Indonesia, a Tape LP 2000 of fucking deathvastation! SLAUGHTER THOU from Australia, for sure they'll make peoples speak about them, such as ONI. these two bands both includes a member of MARTIRE, can't wait for their album also, Hail to them!! THRONEUM from Poland, ah here's an interesting band, old-school Dark/Death Metal, can't wait for the release of an album after this famous Demo 2000!!
7. Are there some bands in which you put some big hopes that disappointed you a lot? Or at the contrary, are their some other bands you thought were bad and that released something that made you you quite enthusiastic?
There are everydays some good or bad surprises! The names will be revealed only at the time of the release of my issue 7, patience... My biggest disappointment was of corpse DEICIDE...
8. In which way do you think Brutal death will evolve in the next years? In a way, we could say the boundnaries of the extreme brutality, of the hyper technicity and complexity have been crossed, or lead to a point that would be near of its limits. Do you think it's possible to create a style that would be always more extreme while keeping on brutalizing pure brutal death metal without including some new elements?
To the contrary, I think there are no limits, it's possible to keep on creating without including any new elements (I mean non metal elements), some new elements can only weaken the supreme Death metal, it's clear. A few keyboards here and there, if t's well put in the sense of the morbid and of the obscure can enforce the maleficient forces (withtout abusing of it, of corpse!). The folkloric side has nothing to do with metal for exemple, it's beautifull when you listen to it, but that's all. Anyway, I don't like what is beautifull and can be accessed by everybody! If Brutal Death doesn't turn to Hardcore as it's the case with all these politicallized Dying Fetus clones, so there's maybe an hope to cross some new levels on the scale of the extreme, with another state of mind than the one of all the normal human beings. This is a thing ALIENATION MENTAL and INTERVALLE BIZARRE are doing really good in fact!
9. What's your opinion about the Brutal bands that include some Nu metal elements into their musique?
Bah, this is not good, hey! pas-glop pas-glop!! Metal must stay extreme and shouldn't regress, mostly nowadays, we must show the right way to follow for the new millennium! What is all this shit!? We aren't anymore at school! These bullshits must stop!
10. How many promos do you receive each day? After several issues of the zine, do you still send mails to the bands and labels for they send your some stuffs or does it happen naturally?
As I've said before, I may receive a promo in a week, and that's not sure... How many by day? As I'm not the king of this world, the supreme Messiah… I happen to send some letters to bands and labels to increase my chronicles' potential, very often I get no answer, unfortunately, but I always succeed in finding what I want, soon or later, the close friends are here for this reason!!
11. Have you ever been thinking about doing a webzine? What are in your opinion the main differences between the webzine and the more classical paper fanzine, at the level of the repercussions or others? Give us the more positive aspects in the fact of doing a zine, but also the ones that are the more shitty?
The
idea of a webzine has been a bit in my mind by moments, but there
are surely some that are better that what I could offer, so I remain
in my domain of Death! The difference is I prefer to read books
instead of staying for hours in front of my PC, of corpse, the solution
is to print all these "webzines" but the layouts are quite
poor for my tastes, most of the times there are only words, words
and words...boring!
The répercussions
can be the same for both, everythings depends on how much you're
motivated for the thing; doing your own promotion for exempls...
We can think a webzine will be read by a lot more peoples, this
is sure, but it's not the same public than the readers of fanzines.
The
positive sides? But everyone has got his tastes, what I find positive
will surely seem negative for others, we can't claim anything about
a real passion, the shitting aspects are at the end the best ones
for me: to put a lot more at the level of the money, of the time
and of the health, it's a real sacrifice and this is the good point
for motivation: to totally invest yourself for something. If the
simple fact of using 30€ in stamps to send your products in foreign
countries or to answer the mail, and this in a day or in a week,
stops you, this means you're not totally devoted to what you're
doing. I'm sure a lot of peoples stopped their activities because
of it! In everyways, I'll keep on the old-school lore, what may
happen!
12. You doesn't seem to be very much involved into the Internet Death metal scene, even if you've got a little website introducing LIQUID OF LIFE. Why?
I'm
almost not interested in what happens on the web, it can seem crazy
in the eyes of some peoples to say that, but it doesn't get my attention
more than that. I've created a webpage to give some news about my
activities and to do a bit of promo in this scene. One can find
some proofs of existence with Jpeg files of thanks lists taken from
albums, a few links and the listing of all the stuffs that will
be reviewed in the next issue.
I don't see what more I could
do, this is no more than a promo page for the zine, it's here to
say I'm still in existence! www.geocities.com/liquidzine
Don't you think metal on the web looses somekind of an Underground side and becomes a "Fast food" like consumers' product, in which everyone takes only what interests him in every website and doesn't take the time to read the remaining stuffs?
It's
exactly this! The "Fast Food" web for Metal
gluttons-bulimics!!
A lot of guys download some full albums
and burn it on Cds as Jewish bastards, it will kill the small underground
business, guys!
13. If you weren't doing your fanzine, what would you choose: a band, a label, a distro? Or maybe you'd do something totally different such as totally obscure and disjoncted artworks.
I'd
certainly play in a band, or I'd do some artworks because I wans't
bad at doing drawings, Zombeast is the proof of it, hurr… alive? It
was taken from an old comic book, but it was worked back in my way.
I also did my logo, it's 100% of myself and I'm very proud of it
as it looks like no other logo, as a whole I like to create! For
the little history, the logo was created a good amount of time before
the release of the first issue, maybe 2 or 3 years before!
I
ever did a distro (Anticraps, rip), but I stopped it as I hadn't
got the nose for business, I'm a very bad and too much generous
seller, I don't like to rip off peoples... A label? I know nothing
about it but why not, ... only vynil releases so!
What are your motives for LIQUID OF LIFE?
There's no special motive but the Death Metal and my impulse, I can do what I want with it, I take my rime for it with a lot of pleasure, this is the most important, isn't it?
14. Are there any fanzines, webzines or writers that influenced you in your way of writing reviews? Which fanzines motivated you to create yours?
A lot of fanzine inspired me, Voices From The Darkside, Metal-Core, Sounds Of Death, Suffocations, Initium, Horror High… Some dozens (thousands?) All have more or less motivated me to various degrees but my biggest motivation was my discord, and my need to give the fans the need to listen to Death metal again. And at the same time, to kick the arses of trendies that jump from a style to another while betraying their roots, one must stay true to a passion an only one, at all costs!!
15. Which actual paper fanzines would you advice us to check out?
I don't know as I don't buy any, and I don't trade for zines against mine. Most of the zines even doesn't offer a quarter of what I can offer, it's not very fair and it lacks of good sens. Most of the time I'm in discorde with what the others are saying or doing.
16.
Do you play in a band or has you ever been a part of a band?
If
so, do you judge your music with the same uncompromising attitude
than in your zine? It can seem easier to criticize the music of
others than your own productions, and seeing the other side of the
thing can lead to a lot of reflexion and deep self questions, what's
your opinion about it?
It's
totally true at 666%!!!!!! I'm playing the guitar for 10 years now
and the bass guitar since 3-4 years, I've tried to play in a few
bands some years ago but it was without any succes because the motivated
or skillfull musicians were lacking... but there was also a problem
far distances to rehearse... I keep on playing, most of the times
I'm alone, but I play!
I unfortunately can't judge my own music
but it's true I haven't choosed the simplicity, this is not my nature.
All those who listened to me never told me their opinion about my
music, was it by jealousy or by ununderstanding?? Only Satan knows!
In anyway, my reviews about others' works are justified for myself,
when it sucks, it sucks, and when it's good, it's good, final point.
There are few mixed feelings reviews, and if it's the case, I'll
rather encourage than destroy the band, contrary to what peoples
may think.
17. What do you think about the french Underground scene? Where there any bands that catched your attention recently and how do you see the evolution od extreme metal in France?
Damned, yesssssssss!!!!! ADMORTEM, AGRESSOR, ARKHON INFAUSTUS, DEVILIUM, DIKTAT, DISGUST, FATE, GURKKHAS, IMPERIAL SODOMY, INNERFEUDS, KRONOS, MACHIAVELIK, SOUL EROSION, UNFRAGMENT, VORACIOUS GANGRENE, WORSHIP… But were are the veterans of ABYSSALS, fucking bullshit? where!? The scene is in a good health as it's said in the country of our cousins from the "Québec". Some bands are taking birth everywhere, it's the same for the gigs and this is good because it wasn't the case a few years ago at the level of Death metal. I think it can only evolve in a right way now, as we've got a good horde of Legions Of Death and as the bands mentionned before all own a personnal style, this is the more important, Death clones and wimps!!!! Glory to Death!!!!!!!
18. Nowadays, which country seems to be the more fertile at the level of the quality, of the originality and of the amount of Extreme metal bands in your eyes?
Several scenes catch my attention: the Czech repuclic, Slovakia, Holland (the other country of Deathe metal), the damn great Poland, Brazil of Death!!, the australia and hail to the Extreme and Free Québec!!! USA fuckin' rules but Indonesia is near to conquer the world! All these scenes, and I certainly forgett some, all produce an excellent metal and this since centuries, France remains a bit behind but the time for glory isn't too far! I forgot: Brutal Germany dominates!!!!!!!
19. Your last issue shouldn't be released in too many time.
I also hope, but honnestly, I'm unable to tell you when!? So, I say it'll be release when it'll be ready! It doesn't mater if it takes 3 years or 2 months, it'll be released.
How many copies will you do? When is the next issue scheduled?
Since my 5th issue, I'm only doing 200 copies because of the big amount of pages, but it's also in accordance with budget of Death! About the next issue (so, the 8th one donc), even do not think about it! It's impossible to put a date at the moment, it's pure and furious craziness!!!!
20. That's the end, I let you conclude. Have you got something to add?
Bah, I had a good fun answering your interview, it must be the 10th one under my belt and I thank you for this, the questions were well built, these bitches, les salopes, ha, ha, ha!!!
One
last thing, I'd like to receive less mails of which I don't give
a shit, so all of you fucking spammers: delete liquidzine@yahoo.fr from
your adressbooks, thanks, it'll relieve me! Buy the new KADATH,
"Chasing The Devil", it has got good balls, and the album
of MITHRAS "Forever Advancing… Legions", it will make
your hears melt with their MORBID ANGEL/NILE style, until later!!!!
For
the real Death metal passionates who want to get in touch, write
me a mail and send your blank cheks at my address now:
LIQUID
OF LIFE 'Zine
c/o OLIVIER MESCHINE
3 RUE DES 3 MAILLETS
49730
VARENNES
France.
Doomed afterbirth of issue 666:
