Zine Review: Strig:Oi! #1

Hailing from the Greater Wallachia region in Romania, Strig:Oi! is a new publication born from the ashes of the long-running No Bollox, Just Oi! fanzine. I remember being in contact with its author Cezar and getting copies of his old zine around 15 years ago (MySpace times) when the Romanian scene was really unknown to most people and there were only a handful of local bands playing abroad.

Fast forward to today, it’s great to see Cezar still putting out quality stuff. The name of the zine comes from the Romanian word strigoi, which is the base for all those Transylvanian ghost and vampire stories. Covering a wide range of Oi!/punk and metal bands, there are some excellent interviews on this first issue. I can see some classic names like Dutch legends Hardsell, Romanian streetpunk pioneers Scandal, Lithuania’s Toro Bravo, and more.

Cezar also chatted with Karloff from Lower Saxony in Germany, black metal punx Plakkaggio and horror-Oi! The Unborn from Italy, Czech skins Napoi!ka, new punk band Erőszakszervezet from Hungary, French post-punk/Oi! dwellers Collision (this band is so good, thanks to Strig:Oi! for reminding me about them!), along with more Romanian artists, promoters and bands to check out. Among the highlights is also the interview with the busiest Oi! label Mendeku Diskak from the Basque Country, who celebrated five years recently and when I interviewed Eduard for DIY Conspiracy last year, he said he is answering to 5-6 other interviews at the same time. It’s nice to see Mendeku featured here as well. 

There are no big scene names from the States or the UK, but I actually like it that way. I’m tired and bored of seeing the same hyped American bands interviewed all over again. The interviews in Strig:Oi! are well crafted and delve into more personal issues and politics, among others. Each interview has a very different feel, which is largely thanks to the author being a fan and knowing stuff about the people he’s talking to. So Cezar has done a great job in finding the right balance between introducing some interesting Romanian bands to the readers while also focusing on the international scene, without being repetitive in his questions. It’s a really nice concept to make a zine about the metal, punk and Oi! underground, mixed with Romanian folk horror. The artwork is also great thanks to the Wallachian artist Missrhyne and the zine comes along with a beautiful A3 poster, expanding on the squatting strigoi’s artwork from the front cover. 70 pages in English, except for the poem in Romanian on the back cover.

Source: diyconspiracy.net