For years, we worked for many many months to gather up an incredible amount of material, so that we could publish it on our birthday. Anniversary issues of yesteryear were incredible behemoths filled to the brim with as many articles as we could muster.

Well, things changed in 2003 when we re-opened the doors on a new and improved CoC. No longer were we bound by the limitations of end-of-month deadlines. No longer would articles sit idly by whilst their newsworthiness dwindled, waiting for the next issue of CoC to be published. And thus, with that transformation the notion of an "anniversary" super-mega-behemoth issue died.

Regardless of that fact, I wanted to write this editorial to tell all of our readers where Chronicles of Chaos is headed as we plunge into our tenth year of existence.

There have been some staff changes recently here at CoC. One of our newest writers, Adrian Magers, has left us to focus 100% of his time on his new band and we wish him the best of luck in all his future endeavors. Also leaving our ranks are two of our oldest staff members: Adrian Bromley and Alain Gaudrault will be officially leaving the staff. As you well know, Adrian was the co-founder of Chronicles of Chaos and Alain joined forces with us on our second issue. You just don't get any older than these old timers. Their contributions to CoC made this magazine what it is today. And although they may not be official staff members any longer, they will always be close friends to all of us.

With this staff revitalization comes new blood, whom I am proud to announce today: Todd DePalma hails from Long Island and comes to us seeking to expand his writing repetoire and break new ground with CoC, and James Slone is a name you may have heard in the past -- his work at previous magazines caught our eye and we are delighted that he's decided to bring his niche expertise to bear on CoC and our readership. Please join me in welcoming our new additions; we hope to see many great things from them in the future.

Those with a keen eye among you will notice a Bathory interview in our archive as of July 16, 2004. This interview is actually a re-print of a rare, early interview with Quorthon back in 1985. Matthias thought it would be a fitting tribute to Quorthon, who passed away unexpectedly in early June. Enjoy the interview and also Matthias' introduction, which gives a lot of insight into the world of early Black Metal at the time this interview was published and Bathory's role in it. Rest in peace, Quorthon.

In closing, I want to thank our readers, as I've done countless times in the past nine years. Without you and your continued interest in Chronicles of Chaos, we would have bitten the dust aeons ago. Instead we've stuck with it since 1995 when the Internet was in its infancy, watched competitors come and go and watched the metal scene completely transformed around us -- on more than one occasion. Through it all the only thing that allowed this magazine to survive and flourish for nine years is its indefatigable staff and its sincere and loyal readership.

Cheers to you all.