When I first got my hands on this latest issue of Norway’s IMHOTEP, I was kinda worried that editor Roy might have turned the magazine into a rather mainstream direction over the years (it’s been ages that I last saw a copy of it…) as the featured bands are not necessarily what I would consider "underground" these days. And the whole visual side of it furthermore seemed to back up my thoughts, as IMHOTEP # 9 not only comes up with a full colored, high glossy cover (OPETH / KATATONIA), but also with several colored pages inside and a rather clean and pro-looking major magazine type layout. But I was so wrong! The real quality of this magazine can be found in the way of how Roy and his helping hands are doing their interviews and reviews. Unlike the majority of publications these days (be it on the web or in the old printed matter), the entire IMHOTEP staff comes up with very intelligent and really interesting interview questions, that are lifting all the features to another, higher level, no matter if you like or dislike the particular artist. You will easily notice that these guys really have a very strong interest in each particular band they present in their magazine, that they listened to their material very carefully and don’t give a fuck about the credibility the bands might or might not have in narrowminded underground circles. The perfect examples here are probably DIMMU BORGIR (which Roy met at their rehearsal place) and CRADLE OF FILTH. It’s not a question of you like or dislike their music here, both interviews are just totally great – period! The same goes for other more obscure acts, such as ABORYM, SHINING (which you will find on our website as well now) or SECRETS OF THE MOON. IMHOTEP is by no means a one dimensional publication, as next to the Black and Death Metal also Heavy / Power Metal (like KAMELOT for instance) get a bigger platform in here. The review section features a whole lot of very critical written reviews, also with a pretty scary detailed knowledge about each particular record (I really wonder how they find the time for it!). So, in the end I simply couldn’t stop reading this entire issue from start to finish as it is certainly one of the last remaining, really honest magazines around, not following any rules in order to be considered cool or whatever. Support them! Issue #9 sells for $6 / 6 Euro / 45NKR at the following address: Imhotep, R.K., Hauketovn 5B, 1266 Oslo, Norway, email: imhotep@chello.no, website: www.imhotepzine.com