The first physical edition of Black Ivory Tower will be available in July 2014. In this zine, subtitled "Interbellum", we expand the approach familiar from our website, offering in-depth reviews, articles and analyses (all in English) that clarify our view on music and help you view certain bands and releases in entirely new ways. Food for the mind, nourishment for the soul, gentle on the wallet.
Printed professionally in A4 format, this magazine contains 60 pages (including front and back covers) of high-quality material, complete with a carefully selected set of both colour and black-and-white pictures referencing history, nature and culture.
This magazine is different from most other underground zines in two ways: firstly, we focus on reviews over interviews. To clarify: this first edition contains NO interviews whatsoever. Secondly, the design is somewhat more 'tame' and 'colourful' than the traditional metal fanzine. I hate horror movies, I hate comic books, I hate exploitation, I hate collage fonts, so none of that will be found in the magazine.
Still want it? Costs will be €6 + shipping and 50 cents PayPal fee. Orders from Holland and Ukraine can also be paid through regular bank transfer.
I will only start accepting orders by the end of July. Keep an eye on this website or our Facebook page for updates.
Zhaoze is a band that proves to have mastered the art of carving these fantastical journeys into the minds of its audience. The four Chinese men operating under this moniker are commonly said to be playing post-rock, yet this deno­ mination is still too limited to capture the characteristic sound of the ensemble, which finds its nourishment in the vast source of Chinese musical tradition, with a hint of Western classical music. Though the presence of the conventional rock trio of guitar, bass and drums combined with the drawn-out, complex song structures lay a post-rock foun­ dation, the presence of the traditional guqin instrument de­ fines the sound. This ancient instrument stands firmly at the basis of Chinese culture: even Confucius is said to have been a master of the guqin. Its creation is ascribed to the Three Sovereigns and Five Emperors, the rulers who form the basis of the glorious Chinese civilisation. (Among them is also Fu Xi, who was already discussed last year by Poswicht in his review of the band that goes by the same name.) Floating mysteriously between mythology and historical reality as it is defined today, the guqin is sub­ sequently provided with a myth­ ical origin; a gift bestowed upon us from gods of long ago. It is thus no surprise that Zhaoze's music, too, would possess this same mystical quality, emerging from the mist of legend, directed by deities from an endless past.
"Through its deep and clear production, as well as the album's post-rock influences – its presence still subtle in this phase of the band's existence – Blood in our wells proves an instantly appealing, even accessible re­lease. In their coverage of the album, several reviewers even picked up on the cinematic angle, if only through its literal manifestation in the form of fragments from the film Mamay (2003) that comprise the intro and usher in each subsequent song. The album's other references, most prominently their decision to dedicate respectively the final song and the album in its entirety to the Ukrainian Insurgent Army and Stepan Bandera received a fair amount of attention, though often in the form of attempts to push the band into the 'NS' corner, an especially tragic example of misinformation when you realise the album's very title was lifted from a poet who was killed by the Nazis.