Depraved literature part I – Black Stream zine #1

Depraved literature part I – Black Stream zine #1

Author: Aleksander Sobkowiak.

Origin: Zielona Góra, Poland

Release date: 1993

Interviews: Hazael, Stigma, Dead Infection, Vehement Thrower, Gutted Corpse, Sacriversum, Pandemonium

Well, this fanzine comes from 1993, so it is very old zine, but one which certainly deserves to be exhumed here, even if the quality of the materials from this first issue was quite mediocre.  But it is worthy anyway, as it had quite many bands presented in this issue, many of which are almost completely unknown and forgotten nowadays and also this fanzine will give you a good impression of what the Polish scene from the early 90’s was like. The whole issue#1 had only seven interviews: with Hazael, Stigma, Dead Infection, Vehement Thrower, Gutted Corpse, Sacriversum, Pandemonium – not so many then and they’re very typical for this period of time, so they’re rather short with very standard and basic, almost boring questions… maybe nothing too interesting, but it is always cool to read some old chats with the likes of Hazael and Pandemonium, besides the interview with Greek Stigma was a real highlight of this issue, as this old death metal group is so unknown nowadays (and it is cool to read lines like: “some newcoming Greek bands are Rotting Christ…” hehe!). Besides, Black Stream had many biographies – and here you’ll find quite few completely unknown bands, but also some, which later turned into some of the very well knows acts of the 90’s metal scene: like Moonspell (just terribly translated bio!), Nightfall, Necromantia, Mortuary Drape… But I was more interested in reading some words about Cenotaph, Mutilation, Aberration or Crucifer. Finally, the zine had a short review section, with some decent reviews of the early 90’s demos. So, the portion of reading was quite decent, but the quality was not always the best and in total Black Stream zine wasn’t able to match the excellence of other Polish fanzines from the early 90’s.

The layout of Black Stream#1 was also quite poor… the Xerox was rather bad so sometimes it is difficult to read the words and there were no graphics at all, only some logos and very few photographs, nothing very exciting then…

Quotes of the issue:

“Q: What do you think about our scene? A: Can I skip the answer for this question?” (from interview with Vehement Thrower)

“Q: Is there anything what surprises you in the Polish underground? A: Yes, the law of the jungle. Every band tells shit about another!” (from interview with Gutted Corpse)