RIP Metal Maniacs, Metal Edge

Metal Maniacs and Metal Edge are shutting their doors. Details are scarce, but evidently Zenbu Media, the publisher of the sister publications, found them insufficiently profitable. (See story here.) The loss of these magazines is profound. Prior to their demise, the range of American metal magazines, from mainstream to underground, went like this: Revolver, Metal Edge, Decibel, Metal Maniacs, and smaller publications like Pit and Oaken Throne. (The recent passing of Adrian Bromley (RIP) felled Unrestrained!, leaving Brave Words & Bloody Knuckles as Canada’s main metal magazine.)

Metal Maniacs was a tireless champion of the underground. Given the economy, it is unlikely that a substitute will arise. In recent years, Metal Edge transformed from a hairspray-fest, voting Britny Fox and Firehouse best new band of 1988 and 1991, respectively, to a real metal magazine; editor Phil Freeman and his writers were to credit. When MetalSucks reported on this story, one commenter pointed out that websites like it (and perhaps this one as well) are helping kill print. Let’s hope that’s not true. Digital media and print each have different advantages. Amazon’s Kindle won’t kill books anytime soon.