The Book Zine #8

Interviews Reviews Shows

http://thebookzine.blogspot.com

Editorial

Index

That's it, folks. After a long absence, Interview ­ Obskure ­ 03 a seemingly endless night, here we are again with The Book Zine, Reviews ­ 06 something I supposed I would never Interview ­ Endimion ­ 10 do again.

Sure, the times are others and a different approach should be used to Shows ­ 12 survive these new times. Evolve or RPG 4 Free ­ 14 die, I suppose.

And how would be such a different Ideas ­ 15 approach? Simply making available on the Internet the whole zine's material as as blog, and from time to time (at first I will try doing it in a monthly basis) make the fanzine in the classic format for distribution in shows and events.

This fanzine in the classic format will also be available for download in the blog (http://thebookzine.blogspot.com), so you can download it, print it, copy it and distribute it in events of your local scene, if you live somewhere Send your material for reviewing and promoting! Demos, CDs, fanzines, far away where I would not be able to books, RPGs, everything will be reach in person (hello, Russian welcome and will have the due readers!) attention! The address for submission, And so we'll go on! Encouraged by contacts, questions, feedback and the force and the EXCELLENT suggestions is: heder.osny@gmail.com feedback you gave us with the site in less than one month, always searching for new, quality material for our readers!

Fun and respect for everyone!

http://thebookzine.blogspot.com

Obskure

Interview: Obskure (Brazil) Hey, guys! Here we are again, for a great start in this new stage of The Book Zine with a traditional and solid band in the Brazilian northeastern scene, about to release their new album. For you, Obskure, from Ceará!!

Which influences are present in the band's sound?

Amaudson Ximenes – Death metal, heavy metal, grind core, marginal literature, daily life, etc.

There is a pretty noticeable style evolution since Overcasting to the more First of all, the basics: When recent songs that are in the band's Obskure was formed and what is its Myspace. Can we expect this more current line­up? aggressive characteristic for the next

Amaudson Ximenes – The band was conceived in May 1989, in the neighborhood of Parque Araxá, a traditional rock music hub in the city of Fortaleza. Currently, the band is made up by: Amaudson Ximenes (guitar), Daniel Boyadjian (solo guitar), Jolson Ximenes (bass), Wilker D’ângelo (drums), Fábio Barros (keys) and Germano Monteiro (vocal). The first four members are in the band since its first CD, “Overcasting”. Fábio joined us in 2003, and Germano in 2006.

With this line­up, we recorded our new album, “Dense Shades of Mankind”, that as now is in the factory for printing.

album?

Amaudson Ximenes – The new album is much more extreme than “Overcasting”. It has some technical, intense, extreme songs, that range from atmospheric death to grind core. There are brand new songs and a rerecording of our first Demo­tape “Uterus and Grave”, from 1990. The new album had its release delayed several times due to unstability in the line­up. With our line­up stable since 2006, we finally managed to finish songs, records them and give shape to them.

Keeping with the album issue, are there plans or forecast for relaunching Overcasting?

Amaudson Ximenes – Not at the moment, we are concerned with the promotion of our new work, “Dense Shades of Mankind”. We intend to promote it to the maximum, playing in the more different venues in Brazil and abroad.

Regardless the band's time of existence, you have not played too much here (São Paulo) to the moment. Are there plans or possibilities to pass here to promote the new album?

Amaudson Ximenes – As we said before, if we have the opportunity, we'll be playing again in the city of São Paulo. The last time we have been around was in 2008, for the Metal Battle's selective. The gig was in July 2008, at Manifesto Bar.

The Brazilian Northern region always had a very healthy and fertile scene, though much of what is doe there do not reach the rest of the country. What, in your opinion, is missing to have a better promotion of local scenes throughout the country?

Amaudson Ximenes – I believe you meant to say the Northeaster n region.

Actually, the disclosure of Northeaster n groups have even improved with the advent of social networks and the internet.

What is missing, in my opinion, are more events in both regions in which the groups may interact more. I know that Brazil is a country of continental proportions, and it makes many of these project unfeasable due to distance, precarious access and high costs for displacement, both by land or air. However, I believe that someday we'll be able to overcome these hardships.

Is there a good mobilization among the local underground bands? Or things end up being each based on their own forces?

Amaudson Ximenes – In Ceará's case, there are several collective experiences that

An issue that cannot be set aside: what is your opinion regarding christianism and christian metal? Do you believe it is possible for a band to be sincere regarding both metal and its religious beliefs?

Amaudson Ximenes – We know that there is a lot of opportunism by churches that use this mechanism to draw their "clients". A gargantuan structure of churches and lots of money injected. Music, particularly metal and its variations, is an efficient manner to seize musicians and the audience. I do not aggree with this practice, however, this is not something that can be fought against with physical strenght, with intimidation, as I see happening usually. This kind of pracitce is Festivals such as BNB do Rock Cordel, promoted by Banco do Nordeste network of fought with intelligence, with a well­based criticism. I know some musicians that claim to Culture Centers, is also another successful experience. There are more than 150 groups feel happy in playing and taking their christian per edition, the festival is free, always in the messages for the faithful. Just like there is the option of satanists for worshipping satan, month of January. Several rock genres are covered, from the alternative to heavy metal christians chose to worship God. In the end, it is fanaticism, its religion just the same. The and extreme metal. music, the metal, is made a vehicle for worship, for earning the faithful, for the And how about interaction different scenes? It occurs smoothly, or are there is formation of small groups, of fanaticism, attrition between metal and hardcore, for actual conservative mills. example?

Amaudson Ximenes – In the state of Ceará, Thanks for your colaboration and for your answers, Amaudson. Be at ease to give this kind of attrition, of difference, is not a your message to the readers. hindrance between the groups. Among the Amaudson Ximenes – Thanks for the space, audience, in some moments there is some we expect to soon be rewarding everybody discomfort when the styles are too much mixed up, but among the bands it is unusual, with the new album “Dense Shades of Mankind”, that regardless the more than three at least with people related to ACR, that is years delay, should be out still this year. where I give more of my attention. People usually respect each other, get along Best regards for you, Heder, and all the together, drink together, etc. There is calm readers. environment. Respect is essential in these moments, as we have a greater enemy, that Contacts: is the prejudice of the so called common http://obskure.zip.net/ sense, the large­sized media and conservatives. If we fight and struggle among http://www.myspace.com/obskuredeath metal ourselves, nothing will remain and we will play by the system's rules. contributed a lot for the underground scene's growth. Here in our city there is the Ceará Cultural Rock Society (ACR, in Portuguese), of which we are one of the founding groups, and which has been achieving to open several doors, specially with public authorities. Ther is ForCaos, a traditional festival responsible for the exchange of groups of several regions in the country (www.youtube.com/forcaostv). The event exists for 14 years, and several bands have played there: Taurus, Krisiun, Stress, Vulcano, Decomposed God, Headhunter D.C, Violator, Funeratus, among several others in the genre.

Reviews Aggelos ­ Mantos Purpúreos This is the first full­ lenght by this christian Colombian gothic metal band.

The style, overall, resembles a mix of Theatre of Tragedy, The 3rd and The Mortal and a bit of, emphasizing the lighter elements of the aforementioned bands, which in the end generates some expectations that are not met. Don't get me misunderstood, the band is cohesive and tight, but the element of heaviness is too great an absence to be ignored. Growling vocals are used somewhat sparingly (though the lyrical vocals are indeed first grade) and there is a lack of crunchiness in the guitar distortion. It doesn't come to be disappointing, far from this, but I really nurtured an expectation different from what was presented. In other words, the problem was more with the listener than with the band, actually. Appreciators of the mentioned bands will have no problem with this album, but if you are after something heavier or closer to doom metal, you may need to search some more. Highlight tracks: Cruel Silence, Muriendo and Labu Reatum.

classic album Brasil. Indeed, the Brazilian band is the reference that comes up more frequently in these 16 tracks, thanks to the "grating" guitar distortion, typical of the classic hardcore of the eighties. The main difference seen here to the mentioned RDP is the vocal style, more clear and comprehensible, but not even a bit less aggressive. If the style of the referred bands pleases you, take some minutes to hear this play, it will be just a few of them (around 25, actually), and it will be a time VERY well invested. http://www.myspace.com/nacaocorrompida

Rest Eternal ­ Rest Eternal I enjoy knowing stuff that deviate from the common sense. They force my perception and understanding of the art presented and at the end of the listening I have developed a better sense of acceptance of the different. The lack of this acceptance is the cause of so many wars and violence in this world. But I digress, lets go to the review. Rest Eternal is a project

by Dave L., from Grave Abandoned, Wretched Humanity and Departing Dusk. There is a man that likes to keep himself busy. The sound http://www.myspace.com/aggelosband presented is a kind of funeral doom with PLENTY of emphasis on the keyboard.

Nação Corrompida ­ Sem chapas de Indeed, it even sounds as if the keyboard was campanha being used in the place of a guitar, for all the Greetings! Here we leads and rhythms, followed by discrete have the EP by Pernambuco's Nação accoustic guitar passages, kind of inverting Corrompida, distilling the classical concept of a heavy doom band with discrete keyboard passages. The result a loud and fast is, as I made clear, out of usual, valuing more hardcore crossover the dark atmosphere than the heavyness, with with very tight instrumentation, in the a remark for the track 7, Cold Winter, that deviates a bit from the funeral doom vein of DRI, SOD, and even RDP in their

presented throughout the album and appears EP download link as an unlikely mix between Hellhammer and http://www.mediafire.com/?eerxlnjf8x19ekp Joy Division with an organ instead of the guitar. That's right, you got to listen to believe Sistema Sangria ­ Brasileiro de verdade it. A nice album, but it suffers a bit for the não tem medo, não voice sounding a bit distant in the mix.

And once again we Nothing that cannot be solved in future works. have here Sistema Sangria. This is their http://www.myspace.com/resteternalmetal 2005 EP, released via Hardcaos Senandioma ­ Order and Progress... Lies Discos, and it and Death presents an obvious This EP's cover evolution compared brings somewhat to the previous demo. Here, the sound kept conflicting and improved the best of its characteristics. impressions at first What used to be a fast hardcore with punk sight. The cartoonish influences became a crust with grind style with a political influences, recalling, at times, Extreme Noise theme makes us Terror, and other times Dorsal Atlântica on think about a their Straight era. So, gone are the sing­ hardcore band, while along parts and the Agnostic Front the logo suggests a traditional death metal influences, replaced by a drum work that at band. And when we spin the disc, what do we times borders death metal, as in the opening hear? An excellent 100% Brazilian thrash title track, and a doubled fierceness in the metal, recalling to Schizophrenia­era vocal. Unsurprisingly, I liked this second work Sepultura, Searching for the Light­era Dorsal much more than the first one. The perfect Atlântica and Brasil­era Ratos de Porão. example of what the word "evolution" Technical guitars, pounding bass, monstrous REALLY means when applied to a heavy backing vocals and drums with a very precise music band! rhythm, making a party for those who enjoy the eighties' sound, but never sounding http://www.myspace.com/sistemasangria/ outdated. I would attribute this to the great, http://www.reverbnation.com/sistemasangria crystalline production, that makes clear that we are hearing a product of the 21st century, Semblant ­ Behind the Mask not a forced nostalgia from the eighties.

Here we have the EP by Curitiba's Semblant, Cheers for the band for resisting to the released online on temptation of making something that would the day 11/11/11, be the musical equivalent of sensationalist leveraging a date media. After all, an EP that worths each that was already second of hearing and will make the day of causing a pretty the card­carrier thrashers. Go now and buzz in the virtual download yours, that is made fully available networks. A nice by the band itself! Outstanding tracks: trick. So, what do we Democrashit, Be Stupid and Die and Death have here? Four Comes to Everyone. tracks of a modern gothic metal, allying death growls with female http://www.myspace.com/senandioma vocals, at times lyrical and other times more http://www.reverbnation.com/senandioma natural. Initially, come to mind influences from the Dutch school of metal, more

specifically After Forever, bit a more attentive medieval Europe listening reveals a bit less melodic approach (such as flutes, by these Brazilians. There is a desirable level bagpipes, viola da of technique, but nothing to become an gamba, and so on). exhibitionist show­off. They are really The result achieved musicians putting their skill at the music's and is quite interesting, not their ego's service. And they are bold to, in the sense that in a style traditionally ruled by extremely there is not an melodic bands, invest more in the attempt to force the aggressivity, as is greatly shown in the last use of the more brutal approach to metal. track, 11:11. Great band, I look forward for Actually, the medieval instruments are what their full­lenght! build the music, and the set guitar/drums/bass is seen on the www.myspace.com/semblant background, as well as the growling vocals, www.semblant.com.br that come up only in given parts and leaves the lead to a male, clean and low vocal. It is Sistema Sangria ­ Alienação not effectively folk as Eluveitie, Ensiferum or This is Sistema Sangria's 2002 demo, with a Moonsorrow, actually, it even manages to punk­influenced hardcore, with liberal sound kind of "urban", but urban in the sense amounts of of a XIV century city, for instance, an agressiveness. approach quite similar to that of old Dark There is a healthy Reality. After all, a cool single, straight to the Ratos de Porão point. This is not something too extreme, influence, specially thus, it is a good entry way for those who are on the vocals, not used to the genre and is willing to know besides something something different. And just to clarify a that I can't put my question that I had about the band: They are finger at, but that not actually a Christian band, as some have made me think about Agnostic Front. The thought, but they simply follow the thematic demo follows a steady pace until its last two of putting medieval Polish poetry to music, tracks, where we start to see some more and in the medieval times, like you or not, art inventivity: La­la­la, with its lyrics and sing­ and religion went hand in hand. So here is along nature, and Manipulação, with some the warning, both for the Christians that more elaborate guitar work that even comes refuse to listen to secular bands and to the to be surprising. It is not something like non­Christian that walks away from anything Megadeth, and obviously it would not be Christian. needed. They make these little experiments, but never fall away from the band's main idea Links: of style. It was certainly a right to the point demo, in the right measure for the fans of a http://pospolite.ruszenie.pl/home.html furious, non holds barred hardcore. http://www.myspace.com/pospoliteruszenie http://www.myspace.com/sistemasangria/ http://www.reverbnation.com/sistemasangria

Ódio Social ­ Na derrocada Violence. The only word to define this play with this delicate cover. Here are 7 songs Pospolite Ruszenie ­ Świebodność clocking around 10 minutes, with an Here we have an interesting band, coming awesome, straight to the point crust/grind, from Poland, with a sound mixing heavy, but that while managing to recall something from not so fast metal with typical instrumenst from Extreme Noise Terror in Holocaust in your

head (by the auspices of the bass and specially the vocal), still keeps the awareness of being in the 21st century, and doesn't try to copy styles from the eighties. A great point for the band, that makes a captivating sound, without weird inventions, but avoiding that feeling of rehashed ideas. Very good and recommended, specially for the tracks Muito Obrigado and Ditados do Kaos. http://www.odiosocial.com/ https://www.reverbnation.com/odiosocial666 http://www.myspace.com/odiosocial666 Hawthorn 足 Thorns and Blood Hi, people! Today we have here the debut album by Hawthorn, from Curitiba, that comes spitting fire right from the start, with a no足frills symphonic black metal. More similar to the style practiced by Emperor and Limbonic Art billions of years ago than with the Dimmu Borgir clones all around. Thus, we have a brutal and fierce sound, with a nicely made play of voice alternance, predominance of keyboards and drums in the (great) mix, a martial, perhaps wagnerian influence, and objectivity.

ABOUNDING objectivity. The album, as a whole, lasts around 35 minutes (the version I have, released by the American label Sullen Records, includes the Dawn of Blood EP, extending the duration to little more than 49 minutes). It is kind of hard to list best or worst tracks, they are all levelled by the top, but Thorns, Master of Lies and Eternal Lord kind of stand out. I fully recomend it for those that enjoy the style of the bands mentioned. Quality, aggressiveness, dark atmosphere, everything in the right dose. The only point that may be a hindrance to some is the fact that they are a Christian band. If this is not something to disturb you, so go at it.

Endimion 足 Canci坦n desde la voz primera And here we are with a high quality material rising out of the Chilean doom scene.

Endimion is already a quite experient band, and this album proves to have arrived in the right moment. The teamwork among instruments is evident, even with a rhythm session more aggressive than what I used to see in other Chilean bands, as Poema Arcanvs and Mar de Grises, and this gives the band a quite interesting personality. The more aggressive sections, as those in Lady of my dreams or Naked in the sun, are effortlessly mixed with guitar arrangements as those in We are the sky, that has an atmosphere kind of similar to that in Rotting Christ's more gothic days, and once again, not losing the bass and drum's aggressive aspects. An interesting effect, indeed! Moreover, there is the fact that the songs are not exaggerately long (at least for doom metal standards), resulting in an album that manages to be simultaneously straight to the point and well worked. A sure shot for doom metal fans and a good entry for people more used to styles such as death and black that are not too familiar with doom.

Endimion

Hello, Matias! First of all, can you introduce the band to our readers?

Well, Endimion is a Doom Death band from Chile, born in 2005. Our music can be seen in the Old Doom Death, as the Peaceville trio in the beginning, but with many influences from the most current Black, Death and Doom Metal, and some rock ... it is a convergence of many things!

What are the band's main influences?

Mmmmh, it is hard to answer ... Like I said, there is much influence by what was My Dying Bride and Anathema in the beginning, our first songs (those that appear in the album) are markedly influenced by those bands, those songs have more than 5 years each! But we are currently exploring other sounds; extracting elements of punk, progressive metal, without losing the essence Death Doom that led us to create Endimion, this will be reflected in an upcoming job.

The band is now launching its first full­ lenght, Cancion desde la voz primera. Tell us a little about the album. Are there plans to tour with the album? Maybe even playing in Brazil?

That's right; our first album is kind of a closure process, which we wanted to capture the

songs that gave rise to the band, which are like hymns that vibrate 5 or 6 years ago, when recently dreamed to play some concert…once.

About a tour with this album, I see it difficult; we planned a couple of concerts in our city (Concepción) and a few in Santiago. We do not even have the means to leave the country to promote our material. If someone wants to help us come to Brazil we have no problem! Just let us know, jejejeje.

Chile seems to have a pretty healthy metal scene, specially regarding doom metal.

How do you see it compared with neighbor countries like Brazil, Argentina, Peru, etc?

I think Doom Metal scene in Latin America is gaining more and more force, however, the countries that are causing this movement are Chile, Peru and Brazil; these three countries have a very powerful scene! In other countries there are other strong as metal, Argentina does not have much Doom, nor Venezuela, Bolivia, etc.

I do not know how they work in Brazil, but in Peru the doom metal community is very organized, and here in Chile there are also organizations making doom metal festivals that may become reference for South America, we are fortunate to have many bands of the genre in this country, some of them internationally renowned as Mar de Grises, Poema Arcanus, Lapsus Dei‌amongst many others.

How the Chilean scene works? Is there a sense of union among bands or they are each on their own?

Like I said, we are slightly organized, making mid­sized concerts, where we can expose new bands and enjoy classic bands. There is communication between many bands, with several of them are friends, there is also a Chilean community of doom metal, where we have a very complete cadaster for national doom metal scene, it is housed in www.doomdeathanddarkness.tk momentarily .... Visit it!!

You also used to have a poetry project, Gruntode. Is this still active?

Yes, Gruntode still active, just resting a while, soon a new collection of poetry and tune acoustic grunts (perhaps not so acoustic) will see the light. It will surprise the few people who know the project ...

What do you see as the main difficulty here in South America for us to have a stronger and more participative scene?

I think the main difficulty is the geographical distance between one country and another ... and even within countries, the distance between cities. These factors can generate a movement like that of Europe, where every country is like a city on a Latin American country, so it is very easy to make an international recital. For example, if Endimion would like to play in Brazil, traveling by land

would be more than 36 hours! And to do it by plane, it would be horribly expensive!

I think the first thing is to strengthen local scenes, making each country have its own circuit, and after that, start to expand, together. If there is no organized local scene, there will hardly be a United Latin American scene.

Can you give us your opinions about christianism and christian metal? Do you see it as possible to a band to be sincere both about metal and its faith?

Personally I have nothing against Christianity

although I do not share their beliefs, each person is free to follow that which satisfies. As for the Christian metal, I do think that a band can express their faith through the metal, I think the music, whatever it is, is the best way to express a thought, an ideology or feelings.

And if there is a satanic metal, it also assumes that there is a Christian metal.

Well, Matias, thanks for your time and attention, feel free to leave some words for our readers!

Ok! Thanks for your time, and readers of The Book Zine, best regards and hope you enjoy our music. Doom On! www.myspace.com/endimionband www.endimion.tk

Live Reviews Test, Cyco Pit, Brain Dead and Nação Corrompida ­ November 15, 2011

there(specifically, one or another song that surprised with breakdowns typical to modern metalcore), never sounding forced or inadequate.

In a nutshell, very cool gig, that would have been better if the place was not so dark that... Well, the pics speak for themselves. Another negative point was the people that left the place en masse after Braindead, instead of staying to prestige the band that made the longest way for the gig, well, patience. Someday people will learn to respect the work of

That was a rainy afternoon at Sattva Bordô, that soon was upgraded to rainy night. Right when I entered the venue, Test was already playing their experimental death/grind/crust, ensuring a sure fire start for the night. After a small break, we had Cyco Pit on stage, playing a right to the point and very pleasant new school hardcore. Do not fix what ain't broken, as some say.Next, we had the begginers of Braindead, that also made a sound founded in the new school hardcore, but something seemed out of place, maybe it is just a matter of time until the band let the energy flow more naturally, as potential is something not missing here. Finally, we had Pernambuco's Nação Corrompida, finishing their pocket tour through the southeastern region. Nice to see that the band brought their own CD, other partner bands' stuff, t­shirts... They even had demo TAPES! I can't remember the last time I saw one of these! Regarding their performance, they made a skilled crossover visibly inspired by the classic 80's bands (such as Ratos de Porão, English Dogs, DRI, Slayer), with blazing guitars shamelesly flirting with metal, but with some more modern touches here and

those who struggle for the scene.

Leather Faces ­ November 12, 2011 Last Saturday, November 12th, I had the great opportunity of seeing the band Leather Face playing for free under the MASP museum, and ended having a experience beyond the expected! I was very surprised to see the quality of the almost makeshift outsdoors sound set­up made by the band! Two guitars with distinct effects and easy to distinct among each other, a clear and audible vocal, not muffled by the electrical instruments, and a drum kit that did not "lose" its sound, though we were in an open place! I don't see this quality in most of the shows in

closed environments (i.e., controlled environment)! The band scored high here!

And, of course, nothing of that would be a great thing if the sound were not par, right? But it was. The band started without delay with its first two songs, the extremely energetic Face and Stand up and Rise (with a chorus for the crowd to scream together). The band's sound is a very traditional metal, like Saxon/Judas Priest, with a foot in the 80's power metal (a bit of Accept, Rage...). The highlight goes to the sensation of seeing a metal show that managed to recover a bit of the sensation of an underground sound, for the outcasts, as besides the lots of headbangers watching, there was lots of homeless, who obviously were not metal fans, but it was clear in their faces and their reactions, their happinness in participating of an event without being shooed away. That's it... A show in an open location, gathering a small crowd and with great sound

quality. And some still say that Brazilian metal is dying...

Test, Sistema Sangria and Pés Sujus ­ November 02, 2011 A holiday in the middle of the week. It comes to be difficult to think about something cool to do when you know that in the next day you go back to your daily life. Fortunately, I already had scheduled myself for this concert with Test, Sistema Sangria and Pés Sujus (the band Derci

Gonçalves, from Pará, was also booked, but they had problems with their trip and were not able to come up). The gig started with the duo Test, that made a violent death/grind/crust with some brief experimental passages, bringing to mind a bit of Are You God?, Cause for Effect and (just a bit) VoiVod. The bar where was the gig had nothing to eat (ONLY fries) and I came to the gig without a lunch, so I hitted the streets hunting for food, and failing at that (it was a holiday, after all), and when I returned the second band, Sistema Sangria, had already started to make their nois. AND WHAT A NOISE, ladies and gentlemen! A pleasant mix of crust with New York hardcore, alternating fast parts with others more groovy, all of them, with no exception, filled with heaviness and aggression!

To end this afternoon, we had Pé Sujus (they really took a long time to start playing), performing a nice traditional punk rock with dashes of hardcore.

After all, a very worthy day, new friendships, heavy music, a burning mosh pit, knowing a new venue, meeting again some old friends... This is what the underground is made of, after all!

RPG 4 Free

Greetings, dear readers! After an extended silence, here we are again, this time introducing a free gaming system. A brief explanation is in order: RPG 4 Free is also the name of my other RPG blog that was started in a moment during the silence of The Book Zine's activities, aimed at promoting free RPG systems. With the return of The Book Zine, it is just natural that RPG 4 Free becomes a part of it, at the same time keeping its own identity.

mythology setting!).

Well, after this explanation, what we present here is Swords and Wizardry, a game that follows the retroclone trend, in other words, new games trying to relive the mechanics and the style of D&D's classic versions, adding their own personal touch. Things suchas as the update of rules here and there, sorting of content for easier consultantion, or even more dramatic changes (I'll always have in mind Mazes and Minotaurs, the game that reimagines RPG with a Greek

As is being done usually in the products that follow this trend, this one also has a great support structure for the game's basic set. In the developer's site we see several support materials, such as new character classes, NPC generators and several kinds of additional content, ensuring a great durability for the system.

Finally, another positive note: there is a version translated into Brazilian Portuguese and with a great lay­out around the web! The person in charge for this authentic gift to the Brazilian gaming community responds to the name Gilvan Gouvêa, and I am really sorry for not being able to find any link or mention to a site, blog, e­mail, anything, for a contact, this guy truly deserves all our respects for contribution to the cause of free RPG among Portuguese speakers!

Since I have not found any official address of the translator, there is the download link at 4shared, obtained through the blog Dragão Banguela, and lets expect for more people to adopt this initiative!

Download: http://www.4shared.com/document/nXyXruI_/Swords_and_Wizardry_3ed_Traduo.html Article at Dragão Banguela: http://dragaobanguela.blogspot.com/2010/07/downloads­swords­wizardry­3­edicao.html And, on the other hand, for those of you interested in the original material in English and all the support material, here is the link of the developers, Mythmere Games:

http://www.swordsandwizardry.com/

Ideia: Opening doors

Hi, guys! Here we are with our first column of ideas. Feel at ease to give your opinions so that we may have a pretty open discussion, no one owns the truth here, ok?

And in today's post follows this mindset: the matter of respecting the other's space. As you may know, or may have at least suspected, I am a Christian, and I try my best to give equal space to both Christian and non­Christian bands in the zine and I always do what is at my reach for this equality of space to be extended to other factors of the underground culture. And I must say that, if on the one hand I'm happy to see Christian bands being able to make a parte of the underground scenario's venues, on the other hand I regret to see that there is lack of reciprocity by them; whenever I hear about Christian bands playing with non­Christian bands, it ends up being by the initiative of the latter, that open the venues where they use to play, but there is not a return by the Christian bands opening the doors of their churches for non­ Christian bands to play. This is outright wrong! The force of the scene is made from the concept that each one has something to add to the other. Christian bands need to stop trying to live a separated scene, only playing sheltered in their ghettos, hindering the access of those who do not share their faith.

In an overview, this is the idea: there is no use in Christian bands willing that the underground scene overall open its doors to them, if they are not themselves willing to open their doors for this same scene. We have to respect to be respected and share what we have with those who share with us.

Do you agree? Disagree? Have I said anything wrong? Is there something missing? Please comment, and lets discuss!

Release: Maua

[maua] is a thrash/technical death metal band formed in Aracaju/SE­Brazil by Erico Groman (vocals), André Cabral (guitar), Maha Feitosa (guitar), Jess Webb (bass), Diego Gonçalves (drums).

In mid­2009 the EP entitled "Conscience" was released, bringing 5 heavy tracks merged with rhythmic/grooved sound. Since then, the band have been playing many local gigs and also around the northeast of Brazil having a very good reception in the rock/metal scene. Now [maua] is working on a new full length album which has no release date yet, but planning on the end of 2011 or beginning of 2012, so stay tuned. http://www.myspace.com/mauabr Contact: André Cabral andmaua@msn.com

The fanzine “meus amigos bebem muito café” is putting together a compilation completely in the old do it yourself spirit.

Bands interested in participating, send your material (up to 2 songs in mp3 format, release, band photos, Myspace and contact), and we will selecting them. The CD will be made available in digital format in the blogs COFFEEBOY (http://coffeeboylivinginacup.blogspot.com/), here in tumblr and partner sites, besides being distributed in alternative events together with the fanzine at symbolic prices, aiming for no actual profit margin, only the promotion of the bands, the scene, the real music, made with real feeling, and not for the "MARKET".

Likewise many other underground initiatives, such as compilations by blogs, independent labels and so many other fanzines, we came with our cry of support to the underground scene and independent artis. Besides bands, if you are an artist, makes street art, draws, send your material for the zine's cover art and cd inlay. For your illustrations you can use the fanzine's name as a subject. You don't need to be a badass designer or a new Da Vinci, just use your creativity.

If you got curious about the fanzine, the new edition is just out. As any good old fanzine, it is photocopied, but you can see it on­line, save it to your PC and print it later. This is available at http://coffeealot.blogspot.com/.

To submit your material, the contact is blackflagladoleste@gmail.com , att luis “coffee” Follow on Twitter: http://twitter.com/@coffeeboyxxx

Gambiarra Blog, a blog of cinema, games, comics, RPG and overall pop culture! Visit the blog, read the articles and take some time to participate in the draft for the book "A batalha do Apocalipse", by Eduardo Spohr! How? Access the blog's fanpage on Facebook and click on "like". After completing 100 "likes", the book will be drafted among the participants! Don't miss it! A great opportunity to get to know the work of one of the more fertile Brazilian fantasy literature today!

Blog: http://gambiarrablog.blogspot.com/ Fanpage: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Gambi arras­Blog/294182563928958