Revolver Scaling Back to Bimonthly

It was announced in their just-out October issue and also during the Metal Insider-sponsored CMJ metal panels that following the December 2009 issue, esteemed metal magazine Revolver will be switching to a bimonthly schedule, publishing six times a year.

“Times are tough for everyone, and there’s been no government bailout for hard-rock magazines,” Revolver Editor in Chief Brandon Geist says. “Metal Maniacs and Metal Edge shut down last year, while we at Revolver had to cut some pages and our poster. Eventually we just decided that we needed to refocus on making the greatest magazine we could 6 times a year, instead of putting out an increasingly skinny, good magazine 12 times a year. I think anyone who picks up the new “Hottest Chicks in Metal of All Time” issue, which I’m personally very proud of, will see what I mean, and agree that we’re giving our readers a lot more bang for their buck. Going bimonthly also allows us to focus more time and effort on throwing mega-events like last year’s Golden Gods, the first ever metal awards show in the U.S. , which we plan to not only put on again in 2010 but also make even bigger and badasser.”

Subscribers will get the remaining number of issues of their subsrciption, meaning if they’d subscribed for one year in October, they’ll get nine more issues, which would last them until June of 2011 by our admittedly shoddy math. It’s sad to see such a solid metal magazine cut back, but unlike Metal Edge and Metal Maniacs, the magazine still exists. And another plus is that the magazines will be thicker and have more pages, making each one more of an event.

And speaking of events, they do have the Golden Gods awards, and while Aaron Turner might not be a huge fan, hopefully the festival will get past its first-year jitters, because a metal awards show seems like a great idea, at least in concept. And the more successful the awards show is, the more money they’ll potentially have to sink back into the magazine.

Metal Maniacs Relaunches Online Today

While we reported that Metal Maniacs was relaunching as an online-only entity in September, they’ve gone online a day early. The site, taken over by the owner of digital metal distributor metalhit.com, doesn’t feature any of the original Maniacs writers, but it is a good read. There are interviews with James Malone from Arsis, Frank Watkins from Obituary and Gorgoroth, and Katon D. Pena from Hirax, as well as a free 24-track download featuring plenty of new music. There’s always room for one more metal blog, especially if it’s keeping the Metal Maniacs name alive.

Metal Maniacs To Return, Sort Of

The metal community was sucker-punched back in February when long-running metal magazines Metal Maniacs and Metal Edge were shuttered by their relatively new owner, Zenbu Media. In addition to the history and talented writers that each mag had, both had a distinct point of view.

Now comes word via their website that Maniacs will be returning in September – as a Web Site only. Until then, the teaser site has an MP3 store set up selling underground metal. The closing of the two mags in February were another symptom of the long, slow decline in print journalism, and while sad for everyone involved, couldn’t have come as a total surprise. It’s heartening to know that the brand will live on, even if it’s in blog form only. We’re looking forward to adding the new site to our RSS feed come September.

UPDATE: Headbangers Ball To Relaunch in 2010, SiriusXM’s Jose Mangin New Host?

In Metal Injection’s latest podcast, SiriusXM Satellite Radio metal programmer/personality Jose Mangin revealed that he will continue working with MTV on a series of “Headbangers Ball”-branded specials this year.

On first listen, it sounds like Mangin has also been named the first full-time host of the 24 year-old franchise since Jamey Jasta ended his tenure in 2007, along with a full re-launch of the show in 2010. It’s actually not so clear-cut. The discussion starts at 11 minutes in:

We are re-launching it a new style…nothing will happen on a week to week basis until next year. Some shows will have no host, some host, some bands. It’s going to be in a flux… When there is a host, it will be me.

Metal Insider checked in with Mangin, and he denies any official full-time launch of the show or his place in it. The quote above is in reference to his role as the occasional host when the specials air without a band host or no host at all. He does promise that some plans are in the works for “Headbangers Ball” in 2010, in some incarnation.

Keep checking Metal Insider for updates on this as it develops as well as an exclusive interview with Jose.

UPDATE: Metal Injection extracted and pieced together all the Headbangers Ball discussion in their podcast. It all makes a lot more sense when you hear it at once.