Outburn Print Magazine

Check out the new issue with Rob Zombie on the cover. It also features interviews The Word Alive, Black Cobra, Rotting Christ, Hope for the Dying, Amon Amarth, Walls of Jericho, Hands Like Houses, Incite, Church of Misery, The Last Vegas, Face to Face, Myrath, Fleshdgod Apocalypse, Adept, and Graves at Sea. If you want the single issue you need to get it on the newsstand or direct from Outburn's website. The subscription starts with Outburn #84 which won't be out until June.

If you enjoy looking at pictures of guys wearing eyeliner and listening to music that blows, then Outburn is the magazine for you. I'd imagine lots of tweens who cut themselves are really into this magazine. Look at the picture I posted with this review and if it doesn't bother you, then go ahead and get a subscription. But the pic should really bother you. Like a lot. That is who likes Outburn.

Of all the music orientated magazines that I subscribe, Outburn is my personal favorite. This is the only magazine that caters to my favorite music...techno, goth, and industrial music. Rolling Stone stopped being relevant 10 years ago. Spin magazine is a joke. Alternative Press is also a joke and has stopped being relevant many, many moons ago. I discovered Outburn when I saw an article on one of my personal favorite bands of all time, VNV Nation. Rolling Stone, Spin, and AP wouldn't touch VNV Nation with a ten foot pole because it isn't popular with the brainwashed masses. That was last year. Since then, I have been a loyal reader as well as a loyal subscriber to the quarterly magazine. What appeals to me the most about Outburn is that the magazine covers more than just goth and industrial music but also lesser known metal bands like Lacuna Coil and Opeth. I'm not a metal fan by a long shot but it is refreshing to read a magazine in which heavy metal bands are the [pooh] that MTV and Clear Channel, er, radio plays non-stop (i.e Korn, Deftones, Limp Bizkit). Outburn covers lesser known metal bands that MTV wouldn't dare play except maybe on the new incarnation of "Headbanger's Ball". I also enjoy the original questions the writers throws at the artists and bands they interview. They also don't sound patronizing or condescending one bit. And unlike Spin magazine which has now become a forum for video games and fashion as opposed to music, Outburn sticks to what it knows best which is music. Although Marilyn Manson is on the cover of the new issue of Outburn, at least I can be grateful that the editors didn't throw Good Charlotte on the cover. Another thing I love about Outburn is the free cd offer for subscribers. Nothing beats like a free cd and for less than ten dollars. One of the problems I have with Outburn is that it is a quarterly magazine, not a monthly magazine. I wish that rags like AP, Spin, and RS were quarterly magazines. I also wish that they covered less death metal and punk bands nad cover more synthpop/EBM acts like they did a few years when I first started reading the magazine (thanks to the VNV Nation article). I really don't want to see Outburn turn into something wretched like "Alternative Press" did over the years with the pseudo punk movement. Outburn is now endanger of becoming like AP but instead with death metal bands. I am lucky to even read one lousy article about an artist/band that is geared towards my taste (synthpop, EBM, industrial, goth, darkwave). I like reading the record reviews but even they are starting to look stale like the rest of the magazine.

I recently picked up, and decided to subscribe to OutBurn Magazine after being completely blown away by the content. Each page contains in depth coverage of multiple bands. One issue of OutBurn magazine will usually cover dozens of bands with exclusive interviews in regards to upcoming events for each band mentioned within the multiple articles.The articles are very well written, and truly allow the musical fans to get a better understanding of their favorite artists/groups. With content including album reviews (usually over 100 reviews per issue) the magazine is sure to please music fans of modern music. The album reviews allow readers to discover new bands and albums that they might not have otherwise checked out on their own, due to the fact that OutBurn makes sure to fully display what genres each album falls into (in many cases multiple genres). This allows a reader to locate albums based upon favorite genres, and give the band a listen and discover whether they like the band or not.OutBurn is extremely informative, and truly beneficial in getting to know more about bands and albums, and music in general. The magazine covers multiple genres, from: Black Metal, Death Metal, Deathcore, Grind, Metalcore, Nu Metal, Industrial, Power Metal, Symphonic Metal, Melodic/Gothenburg Metal, and even Alternative bands. The variety is well distributed, and the massive amount of album reviews is truly beneficial in lending a hand in the process of discovering new music based upon pre-existing musical tastes. The subscription comes with a free CD, based upon the available albums currently up for selection at the time of the subscription process. Overall, I am very pleased with this magazine, and I look forward to future issues to add to the ones I already own.

I used to love Outburn magazine. I first discovered it when I came across the mag at a local mainstream bookstore chain. The first thing I saw on the cover was VNV Nation. I bought that issue and soon after that I ordered a subscription. What I loved about Outburn at the time was that the magazine covered artists and bands that aren't covered in the mainstream music magazines, namely those in the goth, EBM, synthpop, and industrial scene. Unfortunately within the next year and a half, the magazine started covering less of those types of bands and more death metal bands and hardcore punk bands, two genres I don't give a rat's behind about. I don't know WTF happened at the magazine but they stopped covering anything goth and industrial related and started covering more music I would much rather have my ears ripped off by pliers than listen to (death metal and emo). Just like Alternative Press, Outburn started out as a cool mag but now they have become a joke and more about following than setting trends.