"Hello James, Dave, and Andreas,
I am writing to you about the latest issue of LotFP, which I received in the mail a few weeks ago. Our band, Against Nature, was reviewed in that issue. Each of you put so much time into your reviews and your writing that I feel obligated to return something to you in words, even if it's not helpful to you.
When I first removed the zine from its envelope, I felt like I had magically entered 1985 again. This is a good thing, for those years in the mid-80s were heady times for underground metal of all sorts, and I was always so excited to read every zine I could (even if they were harsh on our old band Revelation!). Since receiving LotFP, I've read it front to back several times, not necessarily only for the band information but also for the quality of thought and careful writing that went into it.
Of course I don't agree with everything in the reviews, nor would I even like most of the music (based on those reviews) that was reviewed, but that's irrelevant. There's something compelling about the work the three of you (and whomever else was involved) did to produce this zine. Your collective philosophy comes through clearly, and it is this that I commend you for. Your writing has heart, soul, and courage. Nothing in the zine is offhand or glib--I see only honesty and a striving for something that seems beyond your reach. I don't know what that "something" is, but I feel it in every word.
Something about heavy metal does this to me, too. In a sense, it's just pop music that few will care about in a hundred years. But I also think that heavy music taps into a source that is tragic and joyous, frustrating and satisfying, primal and intellectual, all at the same time. LotFP seems like music, in this second sense, as well. The introductory essays, particularly, are worth careful consideration.
If all music, all art, has been reduced to mere preferences, mere personal taste, then I could just agree or disagree with what you say about the bands in the zine and then move on. But I think that some ideas, some art, also has qualities that are beyond mere opinion. Sometimes, when those higher opinions are expressed, then I can learn something about myself, see things about myself that are false that I once believed were true. The review of the Against Nature 7" by Andreas did this to me. It is a good review in the sense that Andreas likes the music and it says something to him, and that he has given a "positive review." But I think the essence of the review isn't in Andreas's likes and dislikes but in his ability to express, in words, this incredibly personal power of some music to move some people. I don't praise Andreas or his review because he liked Against Nature's music; I praise him for his ability to put his feelings into words in a delightful, artistic manner. I praise him because he, in his review, shows me things about my music and myself that I didn't see before--good and bad things.
If the reviewer had trashed AN's music on the basis only of his personal likes and dislikes, as if those are cast in granite and can never change, then I would view such writing as commonplace. I have read such pedestrian criticism many times. But the reviews in LotFP seem anything but commonplace or pedestrian. Rather, you three seem to have begun with your ears and your hearts and taken things from there. Few write like this these days, fewer still in music. Personal preference always comes into play: we have our loves and hates. But I think LotFP reveals that its authors don't simply love in order to love, or hate in order to hate, but love to listen, feel, and then write about it.
There is a passion in LotFP that reminds me of those mid-80s I mentioned, those times when everything seemed more exciting, when more was at stake. But I think LotFP is much more mature, its producers have obviously seen, heard, and experienced much in the 20 years intervening. And this maturity is what makes LotFP no mere nostalgic trip, no pastiche of past times, no empty "retro" imitation of what the metal underground once was.
Maybe in the future, LotFP will write a review that pans Against Nature's music. I don't care. You don't write to please me as I don't write to please you. But if that panning is done with such consideration as in all the reviews in this issue, then I will be forced to take notice and consider those words as carefully as I would consider my own.
So here I appear to have written a review of a review that is quickly approaching pointless hair-splitting. But in the end, I enjoyed LotFP greatly and I thank you for producing it.
Cheers,
John Brenner"
I am writing to you about the latest issue of LotFP, which I received in the mail a few weeks ago. Our band, Against Nature, was reviewed in that issue. Each of you put so much time into your reviews and your writing that I feel obligated to return something to you in words, even if it's not helpful to you.
When I first removed the zine from its envelope, I felt like I had magically entered 1985 again. This is a good thing, for those years in the mid-80s were heady times for underground metal of all sorts, and I was always so excited to read every zine I could (even if they were harsh on our old band Revelation!). Since receiving LotFP, I've read it front to back several times, not necessarily only for the band information but also for the quality of thought and careful writing that went into it.
Of course I don't agree with everything in the reviews, nor would I even like most of the music (based on those reviews) that was reviewed, but that's irrelevant. There's something compelling about the work the three of you (and whomever else was involved) did to produce this zine. Your collective philosophy comes through clearly, and it is this that I commend you for. Your writing has heart, soul, and courage. Nothing in the zine is offhand or glib--I see only honesty and a striving for something that seems beyond your reach. I don't know what that "something" is, but I feel it in every word.
Something about heavy metal does this to me, too. In a sense, it's just pop music that few will care about in a hundred years. But I also think that heavy music taps into a source that is tragic and joyous, frustrating and satisfying, primal and intellectual, all at the same time. LotFP seems like music, in this second sense, as well. The introductory essays, particularly, are worth careful consideration.
If all music, all art, has been reduced to mere preferences, mere personal taste, then I could just agree or disagree with what you say about the bands in the zine and then move on. But I think that some ideas, some art, also has qualities that are beyond mere opinion. Sometimes, when those higher opinions are expressed, then I can learn something about myself, see things about myself that are false that I once believed were true. The review of the Against Nature 7" by Andreas did this to me. It is a good review in the sense that Andreas likes the music and it says something to him, and that he has given a "positive review." But I think the essence of the review isn't in Andreas's likes and dislikes but in his ability to express, in words, this incredibly personal power of some music to move some people. I don't praise Andreas or his review because he liked Against Nature's music; I praise him for his ability to put his feelings into words in a delightful, artistic manner. I praise him because he, in his review, shows me things about my music and myself that I didn't see before--good and bad things.
If the reviewer had trashed AN's music on the basis only of his personal likes and dislikes, as if those are cast in granite and can never change, then I would view such writing as commonplace. I have read such pedestrian criticism many times. But the reviews in LotFP seem anything but commonplace or pedestrian. Rather, you three seem to have begun with your ears and your hearts and taken things from there. Few write like this these days, fewer still in music. Personal preference always comes into play: we have our loves and hates. But I think LotFP reveals that its authors don't simply love in order to love, or hate in order to hate, but love to listen, feel, and then write about it.
There is a passion in LotFP that reminds me of those mid-80s I mentioned, those times when everything seemed more exciting, when more was at stake. But I think LotFP is much more mature, its producers have obviously seen, heard, and experienced much in the 20 years intervening. And this maturity is what makes LotFP no mere nostalgic trip, no pastiche of past times, no empty "retro" imitation of what the metal underground once was.
Maybe in the future, LotFP will write a review that pans Against Nature's music. I don't care. You don't write to please me as I don't write to please you. But if that panning is done with such consideration as in all the reviews in this issue, then I will be forced to take notice and consider those words as carefully as I would consider my own.
So here I appear to have written a review of a review that is quickly approaching pointless hair-splitting. But in the end, I enjoyed LotFP greatly and I thank you for producing it.
Cheers,
John Brenner"
