Oi! you, from the Greater Wallachia region in Romania, all the way to Aztec land, I received the StrgOI fanzine. It is hard for me to write an objective review as I’ve known Cezar for a long time, back in the days when we were exchanging lists of music on ODC and having MySpace, but I will try to write something honest. The name Strigoi refers to a type of supernatural creature or undead being, often associated with vampirism or revenants. The concept of Strigoi varies in different regions of Romania, but generally, they are believed to be souls of the dead who have returned from the grave, possessing some form of malevolent intent. Cezar is also known for his old fanzine: No Bollox Just Oi! and Strigoi brings the same Oi, Punk, and metal music back into the center of attention.
The package came with the first 2 issues, both of them with hard covers and nice black and white prints. Both issues have some beautiful A3 posters made by Cristina (MissRhyne). The first issue has 70 pages and features interviews with: Karloff (punk and black metal from Oldenburg, Lower Saxony), Plakkaggio (punk and black metal from Italy), Hardsell (streetpunk/oi, hc from Austin), Coro from Axa Valaha (booking and underground promoter from Romania), Scandal (streetpunk/oi from Romania/UK), NapOI!ka (streetpunk from Czech Republic), Rotheads (death metal Romania), The Unborn (horrorpunk oi from Italy), Mendeku Diskas (distro and mailorder from Basque Country), Collision (postpunk oi from France), Sasha from Wrong Turn (hc/punk band tattoo artist from Romania), Toro Bravo (oi from Lithuania), Leather Brigade (fast metal from Romania), and Eroszakszervezet (punk from Hungary).
It also includes a short history of Iulia Hasdeu Castle in Campina, Romania, and an amazing artwork for the back cover made by Cristina and a nice poem. Number 2 came out this year and has 90 pages with a hard cover B5 format. It features interviews with: Live By The Sword (oi/metal USA), Trespasser (black metal Sweden), Grinder (thrash metal from Romania), FC St. Pauli (interview with the firm), The Dead Ceausescus (punk from Romania), Real Enemy (skinhead fanzine from Slovakia), The Uncouth (oi from USA), Terror Art (post-punk legends from Romania – interview in Romanian and English).
There’s also a nice article about How To Live With Death in the Wallachian style and another article about Romanian venues (Bucharest part 1). The fanzine also has some nice artworks by the same MissRhyne: The Adventures of Strigoi and Friends, and another kick-ass back cover artwork with a poem.
Both issues have the interview written in English as well as the articles. Cezar did a great job with the questions, really personal some of them, covering political issues and football among other cool subjects. Being myself a huge collector of fanzines (both printed and digital), I must give kudos for the huge work that they did, as both of the fanzines are looking professional and of nice quality print. I like the A3 poster for the second issue so much that I ordered a frame to have it on display in my office. I also love that both issues have a nice layout with 2 columns and nice photos; all interviews have different feels and like I said, really crafted questions.
As a small critic, I must say that 2 interviews were a bit hard to read as the background artwork with the black text didn’t go well together, but all in all, this is something to have for any fanzine lover out there. Please do check them out and order directly from them this amazing zine.
mpty zine 