Remember that kid in shop class who wore his Metallica “Master Of Puppets” shirt everyday, had a moustache and wore a leather jacket? And whenever he drove his jeep home from school all you could hear was AC/DC coming out of the speakers? Well, for better or for worse, Metal Rules harks back to those glorious days. Publisher and author of a large portion of each magazine, Jeff Rappaport, knows metal. In issue number six, the first sixty of nearly one hundred pages are dedicated to CD and zine reviews. Featured interviews include talks with King Diamond, Ratt, Godsmack and Anthrax and random scene reports from around the States. Issue number seven finds the review section (thankfully) whittled down and interviews with Sebastian Bach, Impaled, Manowar, and Bruce Dickenson. With all these great names in metal (I was particularly looking forward to the Bruce Dickenson interview) one would hope that a big metal fan would offer some insight into the bands. Unfortunately, the interviews translate into something akin to rabid fan conversations with polite bands. Often they have a feel of inside jokes and “had-to-be-there” moments. From the scene reports to the show/record/zine reviews, it is clear everyone involved in this magazine loves metal it is just too bad their own enthusiasm can’t be related to the reader. (KJ)
magazine, #6&7, 97&99 pages, $4.95, Jeff Rappaport and Joe Kucharski, 2116 Sandra Road, Voorhees, NJ, 08043, [email protected]