Brought to life by the thunder and lightning of metal’s rifftastic splendor and fed by the fuelsome fires of metal’s flaming desires, Legendary Kingdoms is the continuation of Ace Warloch’s passion for the sounds and fury of the world’s greatest musical innovations. This metal mania originally manifested in a paper ‘zine called Leather Knights. The first issue of which came out in the spring of ‘97 and the last issue in the spring of 2000. All together there were four regular issues, one special issue (Ambush the World) and numerous free newsletters.
The first and second crusade of Leather Knights were praised in Metal Maniacs as well as in dozens of other ‘zines worldwide - much to my surprise.
It was the endless hours stapling 'zines together for the 2nd crusade that prompted me to use the Small Publishers Coop for the third and fourth crusades. Those issues received rave reviews in the underground press as well.
Looking back on it, even after moving up to a professional printer there is much I find quite embarrassing in the design, writing and even some of the statements that I recklessly made. Of course when I started Leather Knights I didn’t have a computer (let alone know how to use one), a college education (now have an A.S. degree) or any kind of experience in anything related to writing or publishing. I was just disgusted with mainstream music media and determined to do something about it. And considering the amazing amount of letters I received in response to Leather Knights, many of them pages long, I knew I was on to something despite all the regretful shortcomings involved in producing, writing and publishing it.
After five issues of Leather Knights, events unpredictable forced me to take a break from publishing. However, I was able to carry on my passion for metal by producing a radio show for KRPR (89.9 FM) called the Metal Storm. The Metal Storm aired from 2000 to 2002, starting out only one hour per week and quickly moving up to four hours per week. For a short time I also produced another radio show called Aggressively Progressive that focused on progressive bands such as Shadow Gallery, Dream Theater, and Balance of Power.
At the same time I was producing the radio shows I was also writing album reviews and doing interviews for the Echo (RCTC newspaper). Interviews included: Lance King, Primal Fear, Jag Panzer, and Iced Earth. However, to make a long story short, I was forced to drop out of college after $20,000 of water damage to my house (which my lame insurance company, American Family, weasled their way out of most of) slammed me into bankruptcy before I could get the business loan I needed to realize my metal dreams. On top of this the band I was in, Arcane Lore, fell apart after playing only three open jams (covering Iced Earth and Hammerfall tho’) for reasons I’m not going explain here or anywhere.
Between then and now I also tried going the cover band route but opted out as I’m far more passionate about doing original material despite the fact I was in a band with Zakk Wylde’s doctor. Once again, we never got any farther than playing open jams using other bands drummers.
To this day I still get asked about putting out a ‘zine again. Unfortunately, I can’t afford to publish a paper ‘zine right now. Not to mention there is a plethora of great music mags out now that didn’t exist or weren’t widely available in the U.S. when I was publishing Leather Knights. My favorites are Classic Rock (which contains plenty of metal new and old) and Brave Words and Bloody Knuckles. Also, Metal Hammer seem to have pulled their heads out of their asses and have been putting out a fairly decent mag in recent times, though the best and most knowledgeable writers (by far) reside at Classic Rock. These mags can be picked up at Barnes and Noble. If your B&N doesn’t carry it, ask them to order it for you - that’s what I did and that is why you can find these mags at the Apache Mall B&N in Rochester MN. The mags I just mentioned often come with CD’s and are well worth the import price.
As for U.S. based mags, Metal Maniacs remains the best.
"Men, we are surrounded by the enemy, We have the greatest opportunity ever presented to any army. We can attack in any direction." - Brig. Gen. Anthony McAuliffe Battle of the Bulge WWII
