[ H O M E ] [ A B O U T ] [ F O R U M ] [ S T A F F ]

All great and adventurous acts hover between the opposite poles of animalism and idealism. In the former case, all that is convenient and sociable triumphs over any other values, and in the latter, the thinking human designs an existence based on a sensible interpretation of the patterning to external reality itself. In the case of underground metal, most specifically extreme death and black metal, the idealism brought the music to a new minimalism and ferocity, but this also encouraged many to "join" the community who saw nothing but the animalism.

Heidenlärm is an "E-Zine Against Time" in that it espouses all that is forward-moving and of the ability to make valuations and judgments in metal and related philosophies of idealism, naturalism and romanticism. Our goal is not to be popular, but to be recognized for the segment of the population who do not succumb to animalism, as it is our belief (and knowledge through experience) that it is these and not the vociferous but musically- and artistically-undistinguished popularity contest winners that will determine the next generation of metal.

(We are not a web-zine, but an e-zine; this means we distribute through electronic text only and do it not for the purpose of being seen on the too popular world wide web, but for the grace of avoiding tree death, pollution, unnecessary capitalism and the limited audience that comes with the tedium of exchanging physical tokens. For more information about ezines and the culture that produced us, see the undiscovered country and textfiles.com.)

Already the populist explosion of metal has caused it to sag in decline as hardcore music did nearly twenty years ago, because of the fanbase, almost 90% have their own zines, bands and labels which are indistinguishable from one another and, because of their genericism, promote mediocrity in order to justify their own existence. This massive flood of nearly indistinguishable product has adulterated the fanbase, their appreciation of the music, and has given rise to an adage: the type of music a genre produces defines who will be its fanbase.

This like all other things is cyclic, however, and soon the cycle will revert to its previous state of stagnation when it becomes clear to those looking for an "easy path" to social importance that metal is not their course. Heidenlärm, once a zine for the pure process of getting material out to the world, has evolved with the metal community to the point of once again working against the grain, a grinding incentive for change. And once again, our goal is to bring the halves of metal - the animal and the ideal - together in a form that will be enjoyed by those who are qualified by capability to read it.