Metal Meltdown Zine Issues 1-10 Set (1987 to 1992) In Stock

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Metal Metaldown was an underground metal zine that existed from 1987 to 1992. There were 10 issues in total and I was lucky enough to get several complete sets from the original editor.

(Description fromt he editor)
Here lies a COMPLETE SET of Kluke’s METAL MELTDOWN fanzines released from 1987 to 1992. I’ve been a heavy metal fan since 1979 and immediately got into the THRASH scene when it was started in the early 1980’s. I soon evolved into DEATH METAL when it was created in the mid to late 1980s. I’ve been an UNDERGROUND METAL fan ever since. I’m into just about all the sub-genres of underground metal including thrash, death metal, grind, doom, black metal, etc. Back in ’87, I decided to write to record companies and tell them I was starting a magazine. It’s really a “fanzine” which is just an underground magazine created by a diehard fan of something. To my surprise, they started sending me free stuff to review and METAL MELTDOWN was born. I was lucky enough to snag MEGADETH as my first interview! Before the unschooled say anything derogatory, remember that MEGADETH was in their prime back then and had put out their best two releases. Songs like “Wake Up Dead” stand up to anything. Anyway, this fanzine could have been so much more if I wasn’t a social leper. If I had worked with a few other guys, I think METAL MELTDOWN would have achieved much more. As it was, one person doing almost everything is extremely limiting but I have no regrets and the music I discovered will be with me for life! METAL MELTDOWN, and fanzines like it, were created at a time with NO internet in every household. Information was not always easy to come by…especially in the early days…especially in third world countries. Even though information might have been up to a year old by publishing time, many were grateful for it. We also used to spread the word with thousands of little ads in the mail. When the last time you wrote a letter? Hehe. The best way to find out about METAL shows was to go to one. Stacks of flyers for every upcoming show were passed out to everyone. At least they still do that. I also used to be heavily involved in tape trading…yesterday’s version of sharing music files. The early underground scene was pretty damn cool. You had to network a lot and I encountered very few a-holes. Now when I go to shows, I just hang out and drink Jack & Coke. The scene has changed but many things remain the same. UNDERGROUND METAL is still the music of enlightened youth as far as I’m concerned. Lucky for me there are still bands around today that understand REAL METAL (as I define it). Anyway, I made a master copy of each issue using the cut and paste method. It was primitive. I printed each column, cut it out, and pasted it on a page with rubber cement. I then sent the master copy to New York’s World Printing who also printed the punk / hardcore ‘zine Factsheet Five (or something like that). MM started off very corny and slightly ridiculous because that’s how I was (am). The true vision of MM started coming around by issues #8 and #9 but then other things took over and I was more worried about survival than releasing a fanzine. The final appearance was a half issue I called #9-1/2. Unlike the previous issues, #9-1/2 only had music reviews but no interviews. I’m not sure how many complete sets are left but there are quite a few. These will just give you a glimpse of the early underground scene but it is in NO WAY a complete look! Other fanzines covered much, much more than I ever did. I couldn’t afford to go to every show so I had to pick and choose. I was into the music more than anybody but I wasn’t as into the social aspects of the scene. Like I said, I had to survive and I worked many hours at a lumberyard while trying to finish school. I couldn’t stay up to 3 AM three times a week drinking. Maybe that was another mistake looking back. Haha. Oh well, it’s all history now but I still need to convert the existing stock into cash. I just wanted you to have a little background about KLUKE. There are tons of demo tape and record reviews in this fanzine collection. Many demo tapes were recorded in studios but some were recorded in basements! I even have one demo tape from a local band that only released about 25 copies and each insert was typed by hand with a freakin’ typewriter. I saw another band in a taco restaurant after hours. The restaurant owner was trying to make a few bucks by clearing the tables and setting up a stage. These extreme examples are part of what my friend Paul called the “UNDER-UNDERGROUND”. Some of the pictures used in MM are rare and were obtained directly by the bands themselves. Others are record company promo shots. The fanzines ranged in size from 16 to 48 pages although most were in the 48 range. Will METAL MELTDOWN ever return for the often promised issue #10? I doubt it but you never know. If I could wrap this thing up by talking to the most legendary METAL guys that helped make KLUKE who he is today, I think I would go for it. Otherwise, I just keep listening and watching. I will NEVER forget the great supporters of MM including the one and only guy in the world who has a METAL MELTDOWN logo tatooed on his arm. Now THAT’S devotion! No way I’d do it but I think it’s cool as hell. Haha. To all REAL METAL FANS – PAST AND PRESENT – YOU PEOPLE F’N RULE. You can be one of the scene regulars or just some angry freak that has no friends. It doesn’t matter. It’s about the music. Many of my Metal Meltdown boxes have been sealed for 22 to 27 years. I realize that’s more years than some buyers have been alive. Haha. Wow, that’s depressing. A A A R R R G G G H H H ! ! ! THESE ARE ORIGINALS. METAL MELTDOWN HAS NEVER BEEN REPRINTED. THE MASTER COPIES WERE DESTROYED TO PREVENT THAT FROM HAPPENING. It turns out the master copies would have been no good anyway because the rubber cement turns everything yellow after 20 years. I know that because my original flyers are pretty much trash now. I still have some of them.

ISSUES #1 AND #2
I DREW MY FACE FOR THE COVER OF ISSUE #1. IT WAS STUPID BUT I DID IT.
INTERVIEWS WITH DARK ANGEL, MEGADETH, OVERKILL, NUCLEAR ASSAULT, DEATH ANGEL, WATCHTOWER, FATES WARNING, TROUBLE, SAINT VITUS, BEAST, WILD DOGS, POST MORTEM

ISSUES #3 AND #4
THE PRIME EVIL SHOT WAS MY OWN. I TRAVELED TO NEW YORK AND THEY DID A PRACTICE SESSION JUST SO I COULD TAKE PICTURES. PRIME EVIL WERE GODS. WE WERE ALL FREAKIN’ OUT OVER THE DEATH “SCREAM BLOODY GORE” RELEASE AT THE TIME.
INTERVIEWS WITH PRIME EVIL, WHIPLASH, DEATH, TROUBLE, HALLOWS EVE, HAVE MERCY, SADUS, BLOOD FEAST, NECROPHAGIA

ISSUES #5 AND #6
LOOK AT MAX CAVALERA! THIS WAS BEFORE HIS TRIBAL LOOK BUT HE’S A LEGEND EITHER WAY.
INTERVIEWS WITH SEPULTURA, SINDROME, DARK ANGEL, AGNOSTIC FRONT, WEHRMACHT, METAL CHURCH, HELSTAR, SACRED REICH, EVICTION, HADES, OVERKILL, VIKING

ISSUES #7 AND #8
EPIDEMIC, THE ONLY BAND TO STAY AT MY HOUSE! HAHA. I WISH I WAS MORE INTERESTING BACK THEN. AT LEAST IT WAS A FREE STAY. LIKE PRIME EVIL, EPIDEMIC WERE GODS.
INTERVIEWS WITH EPIDEMIC, OBITUARY, EXMORTIS, VOIVOD, DESTRUCTION, TROUBLE, SHADES OF GREY, AGONY COLUMN, INDESTROY, DESECRATION (MD. – NOT TX.)

ISSUES #9 AND #9-1/2
THE FIRST TWO AUTOPSY RELEASES ARE SOME OF THE BEST DEATH METAL RELEASES OF ALL-TIME. YEAH, THAT’S ME ON THE COVER AGAIN. I WAS LOOKING FOR MY MOTHER-IN-LAW.
INTERVIEWS WITH AUTOPSY, CANNIBAL CORPSE, DEATH, EXODUS, DEATHRAGE