Chronicles of Chaos: 20 Years and Done

The metal zine biz has changed a whole hell of a lot in the last twenty years.  (Suggest that to anyone who is still putting glue to paper and self-publishing their own sketches to boot, and you’ll probably receive a shrug or an open-hand slap to the face… people are still out there doing that.)  Frankly, so has the internet.  In one of the earliest instances of combining these two media, the Chronicles of Chaos webzine was born.  Today, that little piece of scene history becomes just that, as Chronicles of Chaos ends publication.

In mid-1995, two young guys started an electronic metal zine designed to be distributed through a mailing list.  Gino Filicetti and Adrian Bromley pushed Chronicles of Chaos from that early mailing list form into the Internet Age as a full-fledged webzine, stacked with album and show reviews as well as interviews and off-the-cuff articles about related topics.  The writers were well informed and well spoken, and the zine evolved into a reliable source of information about interesting albums. 

The site’s editors had the following statement to make about the zine’s demise:

Twenty years after its inception, extreme music webzine Chronicles of Chaos has ceased publication. 

Said Gino Filicetti, founder of the magazine, on their decision, “It is with a heavy heart that we came to this decision, but the timing seemed right given the changing face of metal journalism. Chronicles of Chaos was always dedicated to thoughtful, long form articles that put more emphasis on quality and insight than on scooping everyone else. We have never had any intention on changing our modus operandi despite the waning interest in reading about music when listening to said music is just a Google search away.”

The decision was announced on Chronicles of Chaos’ website along with a series of opinion articles by current and former writers, reflecting on their relationship with the long-standing website and its relevance throughout the

years.  Plans are in place for Chronicles of Chaos to remain online as an archive, continuing to provide free access to over 7,500 articles.  More details and a look at the final articles can be found here.

Get over to the site now to check out the latest and last articles CoC will ever publish, then get a glimpse of the zine’s first issues to put it all in perspective.