If I can reiterate a point from my writeups of the last two issues of the Italian ‘zine Vincebus Eruptum (here and here), I have a tremendous amount of respect for the publication and the people behind it. Editor and writer Davide “Davidew” Pansolin is among the foremost voices when it comes to continental European heaviness, and I put a lot of stock in his opinion. Aside from being laudatory for being a print pub in the age of digital media, each page of Vincebus Eruptum practically oozes love of the fuzz and heavy psych it covers.

Pansolin, as always, handles a lot of the writing himself. His interviews with countrymen heavy rockers Black Rainbows, as well as The Freeks, Wight, The Grand Astoria are highlights, as are reviews of Summer Bacchanalia, Bomb the Sun, Wicked Minds and numerous others on which I’d love to spend the money to import if I had it. Also interviewed in issue #12 are Lee Dorrian, who talks about the development of Rise Above Records, Zippo, Gentlemans Pistols and Joe Hasselvander, who might be the best Q&A included. He’s someone I’ve wanted to get on the phone more or less for three years now, and his take on the modern doom scene as well as his contributions to Pentagram makes for a fascinating read.

Making issue #12 that much sweeter is the limited inclusion (500 only) of Vincebus Eruptum‘s first-ever CD compilation, Acid Sounds Vol. 1. Kicking off with a noisy rarity from defunct rockers Core, the comp wastes no time before celebrating two of Italy’s brightest: OJM (whose “Har(d)ucks,” in case you missed it, was included in this month’s podcast) and That’s all Folks!, veterans of Beard of Stars Records, whose Giorgio Pagnacco was the original label manager of VE Records. Tracks from Ruben Romano of Nebula‘s outfit The Freeks and garaged-out Sulatron rockers Vibravoid add some diversity, and the whole thing wraps appropriately with the Electric Moon‘s heavy jam “Trip Trip Trip” from their split with Glowsun (review here); close to nine minutes of improvised heavy.

Acid Sounds Vol. 1 excellently captures the personality and spirit of Vincebus Eruptum. That’s all Folks! have long since broken up, but between their inclusion and those of Colt.38 and E.X.P. — whose albums were originally released on VE Records during the ‘zine’s first run — bands like Zippo and The Freeks get context aside from that which their interviews in the issue provide. With new direct American distribution through the good folks at The Soda Shop, it seems Vincebus Eruptum is stronger than ever in a scene that knows the value of going analog from time to time. Right on. Hit up their website for more info.

Tags: Italy, Vincebus Eruptum

This entry was posted on Monday, February 13th, 2012 at 1:15 pm and is filed under Reviews. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.