Answers by - Chris O'Brien.
Q-Why does this webzine exist?
A-It exists for a few reasons. One is because everyone who writes here loves HEAVY METAL MUSIC,but that's obvious. It also exists because we have fun doing the fucking thing. If you don't enjoy what you do,you shouldn't do it,right? The fact is that we all have a passion for heavy metal music.
Another reason is because I hate buying magazines to find maybe two articles/interviews I give a shit about. Why should I buy a magazine for five dollars and be disappionted because they don't cover bands I like or am interested in? I'm sure you have all felt the same way...you buy a mag because they mention a band you like on the cover,and then it turns out to be a half-page article while ten pages are devoted to a band you hate. This zine is FREE (even if you don't have a computer,go to your local library and use their computer. If you are a high-school or college student,I'm sure that the school has a computer with internet access that you can use for research papers and things like that.),so if you don't like what you are reading,you can go someplace else in the zine or on the internet that might intrest you for absolutley nothing.
The last reason is because we can. The internet and the fine people at ANGELFIRE (no matter HOW MUCH I BITCH ABOUT THEM) have given us this oppurtunity thanks to free web space. Like I said a long time ago on the old site,I'm shocked that an idiot like myself can make a webpage and actually have people read the damn thing without sending me death threats or something else that isn't good for me or my computer. The fact that people actually enjoy the page still blows my mind,and we hope to keep it going for years to come.
Q-How long has "Unstoppable Force" been polluting the internet? Why is the zine called "Ustoppable Force"?
A-The page started a little more than a year ago...March of the year 2000 to be exact. It started after the March Metal Meltdown,and I wanted my own forum to post my own opinions about the event as well as the metal scene in general. Originally,it was just me (Chris) writing the page. I told Anthony about the page and he loved it. He said he wanted to do one of his own,so I told him about the original host service of Unstoppable Force (FriendPages),and he created his own page known as "Metal Shadows" which was more or less the same as my original "Unstoppable Force" page.
Eventually,we decided that two people would be better than one in running a page,so we decided to combine the pages and keep the name "Unstoppable Force". From there,we decided to start doing interviews and things like that...so that was the true birth of "Unstoppable Force".
The name "Unstoppable Force" is something I didn't give alot of thought to at the time...I just thought it sounded really fucking cool. The way I look at it now,it kind of sums up the underground as a whole. Think about it,in America at least,Heavy Metal music doesn't really get a whole lot of exposure...but fans of metal and those who are true to metal still support bands and labels and keep metal going world-wide. It is the perfect statement for the underground...no matter what kind of metal you happen to enjoy (except for Nu-Metal...which is Poison and Quiet Riot with down-tuned guitars and shouting replacing singing.). The last reason is because I listened to alot of Agent Steel at the time (one of the truly great bands period.) and I love the record.
Q-How did you find the other people who complete the UNSTOPPABLE FORCE webzine staff?
A-It was rather easy to tell you the truth. Anthony and I have been friends for a long time now (around six or seven years) and the fact that we live a street apart from each other is even better. Erik was a friend of mine from the America On-Line service. We are both HUGE fans of the N.W.O.B.H.M. and we became fast friends over the internet chat rooms. When I asked him if he wanted to help with the old page,he said "yeah" and started doing some reviews and things like that. Will is a friend of Erik's (who no longer writes for us anymore...Will, where are you??),Matias is a friend of Anthony's, and Shannon is Anthony's girlfriend...so it is all cool between the group of us.
Q-Who are your influences as far as zines go?
A-There are a few...mainly Metal Core because Chris Forbes does GREAT interviews with the bands and people he covers. Snakepit Magazine is also a huge influence upon me personally because they are easily the best zine in the underground scene today. Their interviews are staggering,and I hope that most of ours seem to be as epic as theirs are. Other zines which had an impact on the site were Sentinel Steel, Promethian Crusade,and a few others.
Q-How do you decide who to interview and how are the interviews done? Who was the first interview you guys ever did?
A-That is what is great about the internet...WE MAKE OUR OWN FUCKING RULES UP AS WE GO ALONG. Personally,I like to interview bands which I am truly interested in musically. I am a very big DECEASED fan,so I decided to get in contact with their guitar player Mike Smith over the internet. I asked him if he wanted to do an interview and he said "yes".
Anthony is a huge fan of VICIOUS RUMORS,so he got in contact with Geoff Thorpe and sent him the questions. The interview with Si from ANIHILATED came about because he dis-agreed with an album of his which I reviewed. That is what is great about running a webzine...we have nobody from a label breathing down our necks about interviews with their bands in return for promo albums and things like that.
All of our interviews are done over the Internet,through e-mail. The one time we did try to do a tape interview,my tape machine ate the tape and then burned out,so I had a grabled mess on my hands,which was supposed to be an interview,and a dead tape recorder. From that point,I said "fuck this...there has to be a better way."...and we started doing things through e-mail. When I get a better tape player,some will be done that way,but most will still be done through the internet...mainly because if I called Si from ANIHIALETD,I would have a huge phone bill,and I don't make a load of money to be calling England.
The first interview we ever did was with RAVEN. I e-mailed their webmaster about getting an interview with the band,and John Gallagher replied to my e-mail saying that he would love to do it. We met him outside of the club where the band was playing (with UDO),rolled tape,and we spoke for about forty-five minutes (probably more) while the tape player rolled on. Well,the above paragraph describes what happened to the damn tape,so obviously we had no interview to type up. The first E-mail interview we did was with Denis Gulbey of SENTINEL STEEL Records because he is a local guy,we wanted to try and help him out,and because he is nice guy who lives for HEAVY METAL. It was great.
Q-How do you get the albums you review?
A-We buy them...simple as that. Some albums I have reviewed are albums I have had for a long,long time. Alot of my reviews are of older albums because that is the metal that really appeals to me. Alot of the newer bands are great,don't get me wrong,but I have always been a huge fan of the older, more obscure metal bands. I am looking for alot of albums because alot of the bands I like released their albums when I was just a kid with no money,so I am greatful to alot of the companies that are re-releasing older albums. The only person who sent me a promo album was Phil of Malevolent Creation. He sent me a copy of "Envenomed" as well as a CD by a band named Brutal Mastication,and I have reviewed the Malevolent Creation album because Phil was kind enough to send it out to me for a review. Thank you Phil!
Also,no record companies are terribly interested in helping us out as far as promos and shit like that goes. I have e-mailed the larger record companies in the metal scene,and none of them ever got back to me...but they send me their damn news promoting their bands. That is cool though,and for people like Bart Gabriel of Dragonight Productions I am happy to help them in any way. I add the Relapse Records updates because they seem to be the only company willing to even send me a newsletter through e-mail,so I will post their stuff up. Phil from Malevolent Creation has his record label,and because he cared enough about the zine to send us two cd's,I am more than happy to help out The Arctic Music Group with whatever they want to do as far as banner ads,label news,and other things like that are concerned.
It isn't that we want promos just for the sake of getting promos,because I feel that people who take them and don't run zines or do anything to help out the worldwide metal scene are nothing but scum who feed off of a record companies stupidity. We would review everything we got as long as it fit in with the kind of metal we cover in this webzine.
Q-Why don't you guys cover more Death and Black metal bands?
A-I am a fan of older death metal releases and bands (Ask Anthony,I am a HUGE Morbid Angel and Napalm Death fan),but the problem with death metal is that too many bands got signed to quickly,and too many of the bands sounded alike. Now,it is hard to figure out who is merley ripping off Cannibal Corpse and who is trying something original in the scene. Considering that I don't make alot of money,I tend to buy albums by bands in genres I support the most (maily Power Metal and Re-Releases of bands I wanted to check out and missed the first time).
Black Metal just bores me to death. Some guy wearing stupid greasepaint on his face blathering nonsense about being evil and shit behind a blastbeat. Thats what is "extreme" now at days? It just doesn't do anything for me as a metal fan...sorry to all you black metal fans out there.
Q-What advice would you give to people who want to start a print zine or a web zine?
A-Being the former webmaster here,I won't give advice because I shouldn't. I'm just an idiot who figured out "cut and paste",found a few "free graphics" sites,and made a webzine...and that is what I discovered AFTER starting the Angelfire version of this zine.
But...as far as webzines go,I guess just try to do something no-one else is doing. It is almost impossible to write something today without ripping someone off (idea-wise...not plagurism),but just be creative I guess. I mean,this zine came from just an idea and the access to a free website...not because I wanted to set the metal world on fire with my excellent writing skills (which,by my own admission,suck a dick.). Write about bands you know a lot about or really care about. Thats probably the only thing I can realy say without sounding cliched.
Q-Do you hope to make the zine into something bigger one day like a record label or a distro?
A-While it would be nice to do something like that,it is WAY to early to say yes or no. While I would love to run a label and release music I strongly believe in,I just don't have funds or time to do something like that. Maybe some day in the future it will happen,but not right now.
Q-Why is the site updated once a week? Why not once a month or twice a month?
A-Well...because we can and we will.
Ocassionally,something will happen and we can't update,but usually I have enough stuff to add weekly as far as record reviews and news and other shit like that goes. Plus,we are usually asking bands about interviews,so when we get those back they are put up right away. Also,the other guys here work very hard on their material,and I don't want it to build up too much because that isn't right to them. Plus, I work damn hard here...and I want people who see the site to know that. We aren't going to die off...so if you hate the zine,don't read it or don't visit it.
Q-Why are your interviews so similar question-wise?
A-Like I said earlier,we do everything through the internet so it is hard to find new ways to ask questions like "How did you form the band". Also,when we interview bands and others who support the true metal scene world-wide,we want to get as much info as possible. That is why there are so many interviews that begin with "How did the band form"...we want the reader to know alot after reading the interviews,or else I feel that we haven't done our jobs as interviewers. Alot of research usually goes into our interviews (when we can get info), and others we just kind of wing it and hope everything turns out well. Reguardless of how an interview turns out,we will have it up here on the page.
Q-How come there are so many mispellings and typos on this site? Are you illiterate?
A-Well,usually it is because I type stuff up too fast and I don't go back to correct it. I type it correctly,but my keyboard sometimes "sticks" and it will either add a letter or leave one out. I also have fat,stubby fingers...so that contributes to mistakes as well. Sorry.
