Chronicles of Chaos #1 featured: 8 reviews of albums that were donated to the magazine by a friend in the business; 3 demo reviews; 1 re-used Fear Factory interview written by Adrian; 1 interview with a local band; and 1 concert review. It was originally sent to a mere 80 readers, but in a short time the number of subscribers grew to over 1000. While the number of readers and subscribers may have
multiplied several times over the years however, Chronicles of Chaos has not lost sight of its roots. The magazine is still completely devoid of all advertising, freely available to anyone on the Internet, and lacking any obtrusive graphics or animation. From day one, the emphasis has always been on top notch writing and unbiased opinions. The Chronicles of Chaos staff was first made up of four Canadian and North American contributors. Two years after its inception, the staff had grown to nine and included Pedro Azevedo, the first European contributor. Three more writers joined the European contingent between 1999 and 2000. Following these additions, it was Asia and Africa's turn to become represented in the staff, with a stable total of twelve contributors by 2002. Meanwhile, Gino stopped contributing articles and Adrian went on to form a print publication of his own, Unrestrained!, with CoC colleague Adam Wasylyk. Due to a number of writers leaving the staff or reducing the frequency of their contributions significantly, CoC slowed down to a grinding halt between late 2002 and early 2003. Following this six month period of silence however, CoC came back stronger than ever. Year 2003 brought the third version and first major reconstruction of the Chronicles of Chaos website, a result of the combined efforts of by then co-editors Pedro Azevedo and Gino Filicetti and the scripting and CSS talents of Chris Flaaten. While the first two iterations of the website were made of static HTML and aimed only to present the webzine online for the benefit of readers, this third version was an entirely different beast. Dynamically generated pages, fed by a database that contained the full Chronicles of Chaos archive, and an integrated submit / proofread / publish cycle allowed Chronicles of Chaos to enter a new age in its history. No longer did the readers have to endure lengthy periods of silence between each issue; articles were now published on an almost daily basis, and a digest regularly sent out to the subscribers by e-mail. Near its tenth anniversary, in the early stages of 2005, Chronicles of Chaos was given a revamped look, leaving behind some of the vast greyness of old. Although considerable care was put into presenting a more aesthetically pleasing website to our readers, new features were also added -- including a ubiquitous quick search, an RSS feed, and mobile access. Meanwhile, the staff gained an Australian representative as well as other European and North American additions, with Jackie Smit, Pedro Azevedo, Todd DePalma and Quentin Kalis becoming the publication's core group of writers in 2006. By 2008 Todd had left, but the staff list had grown to an unusual size by incorporating no less than four female writers in one year. It would not be long before that extended group of writers was severely reduced. Near the end of 2010, Quentin Kalis and Jackie Smit -- two of the most prolific contributors in the history of CoC -- decided to retire simultaneously. This prompted a decision to regroup the remaining writers with increased focus and commitment, and as a result several other contributors past and present also left the roster. The resulting group is a mix of experienced veterans from the early days, reliable mid-era contributors, and exciting new talent that continues to be added whenever the right person comes along. After all these years, the history of Chronicles of Chaos is still being written every day, and the determination of those involved does not falter.
The pioneer and longest running extreme music webzine Chronicles of Chaos' strength is in its writing.
