''Screamer Magazine'', which billed itself "The Loudest Mag on The Planet", was an American

rock music Rock music is a broad genre of popular music that originated as " rock and roll" in the United States in the late 1940s and early 1950s, developing into a range of different styles in the mid-1960s and later, particularly in the United States an ...

magazine. It was created by David F. Castagno in October 1987. The publication started out as a vehicle in which to promote local

rock band A rock band or pop band is a small musical ensemble that performs rock music, pop music, or a related genre. A four-piece band is the most common configuration in rock and pop music. In the early years, the configuration was typically two guita ...

s in the

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...

area. By early 1988 ''Screamer'' conducted interviews with

Guns N' Roses Guns N' Roses is an American hard rock band from Los Angeles, California, formed in 1985. When they signed to Geffen Records in 1986, the band comprised vocalist Axl Rose, lead guitarist Slash, rhythm guitarist Izzy Stradlin, bassist Duff McKa ...

Metallica Metallica is an American heavy metal band. The band was formed in 1981 in Los Angeles by vocalist/guitarist James Hetfield and drummer Lars Ulrich, and has been based in San Francisco for most of its career. The band's fast tempos, instrume ...

Ozzy Osbourne John Michael "Ozzy" Osbourne (born 3 December 1948) is an English singer, songwriter, and television personality. He rose to prominence during the 1970s as the lead vocalist of the heavy metal band Black Sabbath, during which period he adop ...

and others. In 1992 Castagno sold a

controlling interest A controlling interest is an ownership interest in a corporation with enough voting stock shares to prevail in any stockholders' motion. A majority of voting shares (over 50%) is always a controlling interest. When a party holds less than the majo ...

in the magazine to McMullen & Yee Publishing, which was eventually acquired by

Primedia Primedia is a South African media group, headquartered in Sandton, Johannesburg. History Primedia was established in 1994 and its listing on the JSE Securities Exchange was completed in April 1995. Primedia remained listed on the JSE until 1 ...

. In 1994 Castagno parted ways with his new publishing company, but was given the magazine to continue publishing on his own. However, the musical landscape had changed so much he decided to close it in May 1994. In the spring of 2011 Castagno decided to digitize his archive of vintage magazines and re-launch an online version of ''Screamer Magazine.''Screamer Magazine
/ref>

References

Music magazines published in the United States Defunct magazines published in the United States Magazines established in 1987 Magazines disestablished in 1994 Magazines published in Los Angeles {{music-mag-stub