Zine Review: Uncut Reality #1
66 pages of grindcore and noisecore madness in this new fanzine from Serbia
Another brand new publication proves to the DIY punk community that it’s not just about the music… it can also be totally anti‑music!
The first issue of Uncut Reality is a 66‑page zine from Serbia dedicated to the international noisecore, gore, and grindcore scene. The author, Žarko, says he used to make another zine called Metempsychosis. A resurgence of DIY printed publications from all over the world inspired him to start a new fanzine focusing on scenes so underground that you hardly get any information about these kinds of bands and genres.
Featured interviews include both long‑time veterans and newer artists in the international noise‑not‑music scene: CSMD (Holland), Dahmer (Quebec, Canada), Denak (Spain), Harsh Supplement (Ottawa, Canada), Atrofia Cerebral / Audicion Irritable (Peru), Modorra (Sweden), Nihilist Commando / Noise Waste (Finland), and a big one with Tumor (Germany).
There’s also an interview with Ivan from Fuck Yoga Records in Macedonia. This was especially interesting to read, as I know the guy and he is fucking ridiculously productive. Currently Ivan plays in Goli Deca, Transhunter, Can Dance, and Vkozuren, in addition to releasing obscure underground music and touring three times (2010, 2012, and 2018) with Japanese freaks Sete Star Sept.
As well as the band interviews, there are band and label biographies with their respective discographies and contact information. It’s really like old‑school photocopied zines! I also enjoyed the festival reports from Grindmare (an annual DIY grindcore/noisecore festival in Thessaloniki, Greece) and Optimalinija Kaos Panonia (a grind/noise festival in Novi Sad, Serbia). I love reading festival reviews in fanzines; if I hadn’t read them, I wouldn’t have been able to go to different DIY festivals in many countries. I’d like to see more festival reports in the next issues and in other zines in general.
The last few pages of the zine are filled with a shitload of reviews: grindcore, noisecore, harsh noise, experimental, and a bit of crust & d‑beat. To be honest, I knew only a few of the bands reviewed here.
On the creative side of things, there’s not much going on. It’s just plain digital text with pixelated photos and band logos. I guess the band interviews were copied and pasted without any editing. There’s a different formatting style and a lot of typos all over the place—but I don’t think anyone cares about that anyway.
Contact Žarko at bloody_psychotic_disease@ yahoo .com if you want a copy of his zine. This is a real underground fanzine covering some of the most extreme, and filthy, terrible noise out there.
