Chronicles of Chaos (webzine)

Chronicles of Chaos
Web address chroniclesofchaos.com
Commercial? No
Type of site
 Music webzine
Registration No
Owner Gino Filicetti
Created by Gino Filicetti and Adrian Bromley
Launched August 1995
Alexa rank
 negative increase 3,601,933 (April 2014)[1]
Current status Active

Chronicles of Chaos (shortened as CoC) is an extreme metal webzine. It focuses on artists that are generally outside the metal mainstream, and occasionally covers other forms of extreme music as well.[2] Online since August 1995,[3] Chronicles of Chaos was one of the first webzines in the world for that genre of music.[4][5] It has been a nonprofit publication since its inception.[6] In addition to visiting the website, Chronicles of Chaos readers can also benefit from a monthly e-mail digest, an RSS feed and WAP access.

History

Chronicles of Chaos was founded by Canadians Gino Filicetti and Adrian Bromley in 1995,[4] and started out in the shape of a monthly e-mail digest.

In its early years, CoC was one of the few to publish reviews and interviews on the Internet featuring bands such as Eyehategod, Nevermore, Strapping Young Lad and Dimmu Borgir before they were well known, as well as numerous other bands that were popular in the mid-1990s metal underground, including At the Gates, Fear Factory, Dismember, Dissection, Brutal Truth, Napalm Death, Sepultura, Hypocrisy, My Dying Bride, Type O Negative, Cannibal Corpse, Edge of Sanity, Paradise Lost, Amorphis, Morbid Angel, In Flames, Sentenced, Therion, Emperor, Vader, Bolt Thrower, Opeth and Slayer, among others. CoC also interviewed the leaders of labels such as Earache Records, Peaceville and The End Records, and to date continues to review and talk to current bands.

1995–2002

Initially composed of four contributors from Canada and the USA in 1995, the staff eventually reached a stable set of nine writers in 1997, including the first European contributor. Near the year 2000, the European contingent was expanded by three new writers, with representatives from the Asian and African continents joining shortly after. This led to a core staff of twelve writers in 2002.

In this period, founder Filicetti retired from his role as contributor, while co-founder Bromley moved on to form his own print publication, Unrestrained!, with fellow CoC contributor Adam Wasylyk.[4] Meanwhile, various other writers departed or became part-time contributors due to other engagements. Some of Chronicles of Chaos' writing staff became contributors to magazines like Metal Hammer, Terrorizer, Unrestrained! and more. As a result, the e-mail issues became less regular, with as much as three month gaps.

Between October 2002 and March 2003 the publication went on an unofficial hiatus for the only time in its history so far. Until 2003, the Chronicles of Chaos website served only as a static repository of plain text back issues, with the latest digest available for hypertext navigation.

2003–present

From 2003 onwards, the publication adopted a database-driven website.[7] Older articles previously found only inside plain text files became immediately accessible, and the new system also allowed articles to be published more frequently and directly to the website. The e-mail digest returned to its original monthly schedule, gathering up the articles published on the website during that month.

The staff was gradually augmented between 2003 and 2008 with the addition of new European, American and Australian writers. This led to a current total of around twenty writers, although several of those are only sporadic part-time contributors who were previously an integral part of the publication pre-2003. In keeping with its international tradition, over a dozen different nationalities are currently represented in the staff.[8] The Chronicles of Chaos archive currently contains over 6,000 reviews, interviews and opinion articles. More than 100 issues of the e-mail digest have been published to date, containing over 20 megabytes of text.

In 2007, Chronicles of Chaos was mentioned by sociologist Keith Kahn-Harris in his book on extreme metal.[9]

On December 7, 2008, Chronicles of Chaos co-founder Adrian Bromley died due to pneumonia, in his sleep, aged 37.[4][10][11] His passing prompted numerous tributes within the music industry.[12][13][14]

References

  1. ↑ "Chroniclesofchaos.com Site Info". Alexa Internet. Retrieved 2014-04-01.
  2. ↑ Leininger, Merrie (May 19, 2006). "In Flames plays unpretentious metal", Reno Gazette-Journal, p. H16.
  3. ↑ "First issue of CoC". ChroniclesOfChaos.com. Retrieved 2009-01-03.
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 4.3 Albert, Jaclyn; O'Connor, Laura (January 31, 2009). "Adrian Bromley", Billboard 121 (4): 18.
  5. ↑ (December 9, 2008). "Adrian Bromley RIP", Antimusic News. Retrieved January 21, 2013.
  6. ↑ "CoC's 12th anniversary editorial". ChroniclesOfChaos.com. Retrieved 2009-01-03.
  7. ↑ "CoC's 2003 reactivation editorial". ChroniclesOfChaos.com. Retrieved 2009-01-03.
  8. ↑ "CoC staff page". ChroniclesOfChaos.com. Retrieved 2009-01-03.
  9. ↑ Kahn-Harris, Keith (2007), Extreme Metal: Music and Culture on the Edge, Berg, ISBN 1-84520-399-2
  10. ↑ "Key Toronto Metal Figure Adrian 'The Energizer' Bromley Passes". BraveWords.com. Retrieved 2009-01-03.
  11. ↑ "CoC's Adrian Bromley editorial". ChroniclesOfChaos.com. Retrieved 2009-01-03.
  12. ↑ "Adrian Bromley Memorial Show in Toronto". BraveWords.com. Retrieved 2009-01-03.
  13. ↑ "R.I.P. Adrian Bromley, 1971-2008". The End Records. Retrieved 2009-01-03.
  14. ↑ "Adrian Bromley Passes Away". Candlelight Records USA. Retrieved 2009-01-03.

External links