Helheim Sword Mag - Issue 5 (1997)

I hadn't acquired a zine in quite some time so when my friend up in San Francisco posted this with a bunch of others over a month ago and stated they were for sale, I took one look at this one and decided I had to buy it. PayPal was being a gigantic pain in the ass so I just decided to go down the 90s route and send him cash along with a note in an envelope in exchange for the zine. As if what's featured in this post wasn't already regressive and old-fashioned enough, hahaha.

This is the 5th issue (dating from 1997) of Portugal's Sword Mag and the first issue with that name. Prior to this it was entitled Rotting and this was the zine of Celtic Dance founder & frontman Conqueror. I became aware of this maniac from my friend The Grand Owl of Ghosts of the Gas Chambers and Vampyric Corridors a few years ago and I immediately learned about his great label & distro Sword Productions which I've purchased from before as well as Conqueror's other zine from more recent years entitled Ghost Kommand. I never ended up buying any issues of that mag (although I really should one of these days) but when I saw this one in a friend's collection, I had a gut feeling that Conqueror may have been the editor which turned out to be the case!

I know I made a smart purchase with this one. This is an awesome publication from the past and I've always loved collecting and reading these types of mags. Everything about it is great - The interviews, articles, reviews, advertisements, etc. I never get sick of it. The man behind this publication is an underground lifer and he's true to the core. Support what he does for this scene!