Bear

Killer Clans - A very fine Chor Yuen flick, a director who keeps on climbing on my list of favourite directors. The plot is great, the fights are well-choreographed and fun, the cast is amazing and the drama and intrigue is brilliant. The film offers lots of surprises as well. Might be a bit hard to follow for some, though, but it worked incredibly well for me. Top notch martial arts film.

It Follows - Went to the movie theater's wih my girlfriend and watched this yesterday. There's been a lot of fuzz about this film, and many have made clear they think this is the best horror film of this millenium. I don't agree, but the fuzz is understandable because it was a great film. It's atmospheric, well-acted, directed and written. But the highlight of the film, for me at least, is the soundtrack. It's bloody brilliant, and even if it at times is trying to stress you up as a viewer, it totally works for the film IMO.

Agreed. Burzum up until Filosofem, as well as Belus, are brilliant. Consider Fallen a really good album as well, though a slight disappointment after the fantastic Belus. Really like older At the Gates as well. Everything up until Terminal Spirit Disease are amazing. I enjoy Slaughter of the Soul as well, but it doesn't work as well over period of times. Great album once in a while, but it gets slightly annoying if you play it a lot, unlike their early stuff. I've been playing this masterpiece a lot lately: Timeghoul - 1992-1994 Discography Easily one of the best death metal releases ever. Unique death metal, but if you enjoy Nocturnus, Demilich and Morbid Angel there's a big chance you'll like this as well. But this isn't a copy of anything. Completely unique album unlike every other album out there.

I don't get why this band isn't more popular. Their first EP and two first albums are absolute classics within the realm of vk/japanese rock music IMO. Some of their later stuff is very good as well, though they have never been close to their early outputs in form of quality.

I'll just do like Pretzels and quote myself: I will post my list later, when I find out if I've even checked out three albums for april.

01. Don The Armor 02. Czartacus 03. Lumberjack Match 04. Nightcrawler feat. Method Man 05. World Premier feat. Large Professor 06. The Great (Czar Guitar) 07. Red Alert 08. Junkyard Dogs feat. Juju 09. Sgt. Slaughter 10. When Gods Go Mad feat. GZA/Genius 11. Ka-Bang! feat. MF Doom 12. Deadly Class feat. Meyhem Lauren 13. Escape From Czarkham Asylum 14. Sinister 15. Good Villains Go Last feat. R.A. The Rugged Man 16. Deviatin' Septums Oh man, this is gonna be good. This is gonna be fucking awesome!

Are there no songs out yet?

That is some surprising choice by Adam Wingard. I love both Adam Wingard and Death Note, but I don't see how he's gonna fix this. L and Misa aren't exactly made for live-action films, and I don't get how he's gonna make 'em work. But he's a super talented guy and I am looking forward to see what he'll get out of this. I also think the three japanese live-action films sucks.

Been playing these two masterpieces like madafter creating this thread: Transgressor - Ether for Scapegoat Dark, morbid and doomy death metal at its very best. It's varied, got plenty of character and I'd even go as far as calling this a really unique death metal album. The overall sound is just really morbid and evil. Brilliant album. S.O.B. - Gate of Doom After 10 years playing fast, intense and brutal hardcore and grindcore these guys changed towards a more death metal-influenced sound on their third full-lenght, and while there's still plenty grindcore present, it's got more death and thrash metal than actual grindcore and they've more or less left the hardcore behind on this album. This isn't their best effort, but it's a masterpiece nonetheless.

Today I saw a guy go mental because he missed his bus. He carried lots of bags and a laptop so I assume he was going on a vacation, and his reaction told me he was already late, and missing his bus didn't really help on his day. He went away from the crowd, threw hi bags, and laptop, down on the ground and started jumping on his laptop. The sound of the laptop crushing combined with his overly red face made my day. It was so fucking funny.

Good boy. It's such a good album. Best of the year for me. Been playing it 2-3 times a day since it hit the net, and I am not close to bored of it yet. Just digging the hell out of it. Here's a song not from either of their releases: Cool as fuck.

Not sure if these are mentioned, but Sigh covered a John Coltrane track for their The Curse of Izanagi EP and a Bathory track for a Bathory tribute album: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4VORkdRau0g The Bathory cover is glorious. Sigh made it theirs without losing the feeling of the original. Love it. Gallhammer released a cover demo back in 04, covering one Amebix, one Burzum and one Hellhammer track. Arkha Sva's covered Mütiilation, Belketre, Vlad Tepes and Darkthrone. No surprise about the three first as this band reeks of the mid 90's french black metal and is somewhat an original tribute to the scene. Avsolutized...'s covered Setherial, which comes as no surprise as this band reeks of mid 90's swedish black metal and is somewhat an original tribute to the scene.

The new Peste Noire is up on bandcamp: https://pestenoire.bandcamp.com/album/la-chaise-dyable I've only heard a couple of songs, but they sound great. Looking forward to checking out the full thing later today.

I came to think about a few more good bands: Misogi https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ppdVJfzgCXg Progressive black metal with members from Magane among other bands. A fine mix of traditional and more avant-garde-esque black metal, thrash and japanese folk. The production is a bit odd, and will probably be a turn-off for many, but I like it. Gives it plenty of character, even though the music itself has more thane nough character to begin with. You won't find any other bands like this out there, and this band is really good. 666 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oq6nHCV_eD8 Short-lived crossover band with two demos and a split release ot their name. Catchy as fuck.

Heroes of the East - Classic martial arts flick by Lau Kar Leung, starring Gordon Liu. This is Chinese kung fu VS Japanese martial arts, and for its time it's unique in its portrayal of the japanese martial arts experts. They're not portraied as villains, but both the characters and their skills is treated with respect. It portrays the chinese techniques as superior, but that's expected from a chinese martial arts film from 78. It's got a diverse cast and even more diverse fights, digging into a shitload of different styles and handling them brilliantly. Gordon Liu is always a pleasure to the eye as he's both a great actor and martial artist, and as usual he's phenomenal. Massive film!

Trying Sulphur Aeon now. Three songs in it sounds well-written, produced and played, but I don't think I'll ever be able to fully enjoy this. It sounds like a mix of Behemoth anno 2004-2009, Immolation and Hypocrisy anno 1996. I'd say they mix the grand, epic style of Behemoth, the darkness of Immolation and spice it up with the melodies of Hypocrisy's Abducted. Not really the type of death metal I enjoy, but I'll give both albums a fair chance. The psychedelic death/doomers in Acid Witch released this cover EP this year. Four great songs taken from some really cool films. Here's the originals of the songs they cover: Sorcery - I'm Back (from Rocktober Blood) Fastway - After Midnight (from Trick or Treat) Black Roses - Soldiers of the Night (from Black Roses) 45 Grave - Partytime (from The Return of the Living Dead) I'm usually not into cover albums, but considering this is Acid Witch covering some songs far away from what they are usually doing, the fact that these are great songs form cool horror films and I'm a horror maniac I'm really looking forward to hear this. Their cover for Partytime, which they've been playing live for years, is really cool: Highly recommended band too. Horror-influenced and psychedelic death/doom. Shame I am missing out on their concert in a week or two. Such a shame.

Edge of Tomorrow - I've been looking forward to seeing this for a long time, and I was very much enjoyed. I wish it was a tad more brutal, I didn't like the ending and some of the special effects looked pretty poor, but apart from that it was very good. Emily Blunt was good and Tom Cruise is still capable being cool. That's good!

Haven't heard the new Tribulation album and wasn't a fan of the last, but I'll try 'em both out sometime. Brilliant coverart for the new one, though. It's taken from Les Vampires, one of my all-time favourite TV-series. And yes, the Gruesome album is cool. Total Leprosy worship. I know this album (Sulphur Aeon) was talked about earlier here, I've not heard the band as far as I know but that's some artwork. Would love to have a huge picture of that up on my wall.

Well, as I said I'd watch this as soon as possible, and so I did. The Sentimental Swordsman - This doesn't have anything to do with Chor Yuen's Clans of Intrigue, Legend of the Bat and Perils of a Sentimental Swordsman, but they have plenty in common. Ti Lung plays a very elegant, slick and classy guy, just as in Clans of Intrigue, Legend of the Bat and Perils of a Sentimental Swordsman, and his weapon of choice is a hand fan, just as in Clans of Intrigue and its sequels but with some blades thrown in for good measure. The overall feeling is much of the same, though it doesn't have the whole mystery from the three mentioned films, but still carries much of the same feeling. Ti Lung is TI Lung aka fantastic, and Derek Yee (who also appeared in Legend of the Bat) is amazing as well, and together they form a superb duo. As usual for "newer" Shaw Brothers wuxias the sets look's a bit fake, but despite this they look so god damn amazing and I am always impressed by them. If you like late 70's/early 80's wuxia which is just inbetween the old school pre-wire-fu and new school wire-fu, then this surely will please you. Return of the Sentimental Swordsman - This film starts three years after the other and while much of the same, but it has more of a classic kung fu feeling to it because of the plot. There's not really any point saying any more. It's on par with the first one. Both films were amazing.

A last batch of good bands: A.G.E. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=prLbVWtXBOM Thrashing crust in the vein of Effigy, Amebix and Sacrilege with a big focus on the thrash metal. Got two great albums and some great split releases. Swarrrm https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0I9DKX3L_dk Grindcore with a old school screamoish feeling to it, and I am not kidding. I get serious old school screamo-feeling from the band. You won't find many bands sounding like this. Realized https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3U1pn8OIqlQ Good, crushing grindcore in the vein of old Napalm Death and S.O.B. No more to say about that. Sex Messiah https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RGdQhTqPIWM Ugly black/crossover. Cool stuff. Necrophile https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=80pyOzOEKc8 Despite a small dischography with only three demos, one single and two splits in the period 87-91, these guys are totally cult. Death metal with an original twist to it. Their split with the singaporian black/death/thrashers Abhorer is one of the finest splits ever. Voidd https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7MmDYqDPt3w These guys started out as a black/death/thrash band, but after a couple of albums they moved towards hardcore/psychobilly (some change, huh?). Their debut albums contains fantastic music, but the production is a bit off. It's produced by Gezol of Sabbat, but the drums sounds pretty poor, especially the bass drum. So I prefer their demo material because of this, but the debut album is good if you can look past the bass drums. Released a tribute to Sabbat in 09, with 7 Sabbat covers. That's cool. Revölt https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wi9jOyMdAx0 Crusty death/doom. Think Amebix and Effigy meets Coffins. Sweet band with two great albums in their discography. Cut Throat https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WiigwYyjrek "Supergroup" with Mirai and Shinichi of Sigh, and Yasuyuki and Youhei of Abigail. They're mostly a cover band covering classic thrash/speed metal and hardcore songs, but they've got some original songs to offer as well, and they're cool. Beyond Description https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iHXFKadIz_s These guys started out as a hardcore band but moved more and more towards crossove with time. I'm only familiar with Proof of the Truth and An Elegy for Depletion which is their two latest albums, but both are good albums. It's exactly what you'd want from a crossover band.

If I were to make a personal top 5 for bands I've seen, it would probably look something like this (in no specific order): Ghost Behemoth Goblin Gallhammer Sigh

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JCyAXhesskA

Magic Sword, guys. This group is highly recommended. The name might seem weird for an electronica group like this, but it really suits their fantasy-esque and dream-like music. Massive stuff! https://magic-sword.bandcamp.com/ They've also contrubiated to the soundtrack of Hotline Miami 2, which is awesome.

By the way, for those interested there's a documentary called Japanese Extreme Metal - the Documentary on youtube. You can find all the parts HERE if you're interested. It's a decent watch, if not a must or anything.

I've never really given Gotsu Totsu Kotsu a fair chance. I guess I've played through their first two albums a handful of time combined. I always thought they sounded a lot like old Gorefest, just not close to as good. Mononofu is like the death/thrash version of Gotsu Totsu Kotsu. They evoke much of the same feeling IMO. I also like other bands like Ritual Carnage, King's-Evil, Döraid, Parasite, Birth Ritual, Hellhound, Battlehawk, Volcano, Headlight, Tyrant and more, but they aren't bands that gets much playtime despite having some good music. Gorgon gets plenty of playtime though. Traditional heavy metal with a vocalist that can't sing for shit. Or, he couldn't, but he's improved a lot over the years. He's always got heart though which is what counts. Most people will hate it, but I like it a lot. Sacrifice also gets some playtime, especially their debut album. Classic, dark and heavy thrash metal.