Bear

The Blade - The Blade is Hark Tsui's 1995 remake of Cheh Chang's classic wuxia The One-Armed Swordsman. While this isn't quite as good as The One-Armed Swordsman, it's amazing and it feels really fresh even to this day. This is darker than the original, is very colorful and features a very unique approach to fight scenes. The fights in the film's incredible, especially the last one, and is the highlight of the film for me. One of the reasons for this is how the fights is put together, and both the choreography and execution are top notch, another, even bigger reason for this is Hark Tsui crazy work behind the camera. Great film, and I love how Tsui Hark makes it into his own. It's not just a modernized remake, it's something quite different than the original but without losing the feeling of the original. Well done! The Magic Blade - Fantastic wuxia with a great plot, great characters (especially the hero and the amount of villains, all very diverse and different from eachother) and amazing choreography. There's lots of fights, but they are all short and from what I found out there is 22 fights for a total of 14 minutes and 8 seconds throughout this film. Not much time spent on fighting, but the fights are way more than amazing. The cinematography is amazing as well. Top notch wuxia cvery close to its very best!

I'm not too impressed by the cover art myself, but the music is top notch. It's fresh and original, but it sounds like Dødheimsgard and is just really good. The proper black metal riffing they've got going in these two new songs really give me an old Abigor feeling. Love it.

Police Story 3: Super Cop - Jackie Chan stepped down from the directors chair for this one, as well as not writing anything for it and it's easy to see. While this is a very good film and I really like it, it lacks the unique touch of the two first films. Jackie Chan is great as always, the stunts are batshit crazy and Michelle Yeoh is as good as she's beautiful. The most disappointing part of this film is how they've went away from the down to earth plot in the first, and gone way over the top with this one. It just doesn't feel like a proper Police Story film. Good film, but not nearly as good as the two first. Warriors Two - Magnificent Sammo Hung film, who also co-stars, with Casanova Wong (take that for pseudonym, guys! It's so fucking 70's porn, and it's so fucking cool!) in the lead role. This is only Sammo Hung's third film as a director, but his approach to making martial arts films were very unique already from here on. Plot-wise it's pretty standard with our hero being out for revenge and goign through tough training, but the humor feels way different from other martial arts films at the time and the fights are as pure as they get... well, with the exception of a few hilarious Sammo Hung fights. The rest of the fights are intense, beautifully choreographed and stunning in every single way possible. This is one of the best martial arts films I've seen so far. Simple as that! Amazing opening credits btw. A spoiler for one of the last kicks in the film. Look at that for a kick, guys. Immense!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eZH-5QQ_r1k Damn! That's quite something.

Twin Warriors / Tai-Chi Master - Great Woo-ping Yuen film with Jet Li and MichelleYeoh in the leads, and both are wonderful. The lot is fairly standard, and something we've all seen before, but it's more than good enough to keep my attention again and again and the fights are msotly superb. They went a bit over the top in some scenes which feels very much out of place, but other than this it's a very good film. Lots of great, well-choreographed fights, and they are very diverse and well thought-out. Not Yuen's best film, but great nonetheless. Police Story - This film is often considered Jackie Chan's masterpiece, or at least one of his masterpieces, and it's obviously correct. It's a great film with a good plot, amazing choreography and superb stunts. The humor is pretty spot on as well, and all in all it makes it a superb film! Police Story 2 - This is basically more of the same, but it's damn fucking entertaining so I won't complain. Fun, exciting fights, brilliant stunts and all that. The humor is pretty spot on as well, and all in all it makes it a superb film!

From what I understand we'll get the same songs in a metallic version on one CD, and a folky version on the second CD. Sounds decent.

The entire Macabre Omen album is up for steaming: http://macabreomen.bandcamp.com/ Sounds fantastic after one spin. A perfect mixture of traditional greek black metal in the vein of old Rotting Christ, Kawir and Varathron, mixed with the epic viking touch of Bathory and Hades. I had massive expectations to this album as I adore everything the band has released up till now, with their debut being nothing short of perfect, and this seems to live up to my massive expectations... as expected. New track from the original Death tribute band. Sounds great! Love the vocals which reminds me of early Death, Obituary and so on.

I will not check out season 4 of Dexter as season 3 made me hate Dexter, Debra, and the rest of them. So yeah, there's not a change in the world I'll ever watch another episode of Dexter.

Dexter was good for two seasons, then season three turned up and everything went to shit. Worst season I've ever seen on TV. Lost interest in the series after that. Digging House, though, but it's got some problems. More or less every single episode throughout the series follows the same patterns and all solutions comes the same way and so on. Things get extremely predictable. Still very enjoyabe, though, and lots of good characters.

Here's a few series I enjoy and enjoyed, some are finished while some are on-going. Some have 5-6 seasons, while others are mini-series or anthology series. Just look it up. The Wire (crime-drama and the best series ever. Finished) 10/10 The Sopranos (crime-drama and one of the very best series ever. Finished) 9/10 Game of Thrones (fantasy-drama. On-going) 9/10 Danger 5 (action-comedy sillyness. On-going) 8/10 Orphan Black (sci-fi drama. On-going) 8/10 Sherlock (crime-drama. On-going) 9/10 Fargo (crime-drama/black comedy. Anthology, so finished, but with a brand new season of something new comming later) 9/10 Band of Brothers (war-drama. Finished) 9/10 True Detective (crime-drama. Anthology, so finished, but with a brand new season of something new comming later) 10/10 The Pacific (war-drama, and the "sister series" of Band of Brothers. Finished) 8/10 The Singing Detective (noir-drama. Finished) 9/10 The Shield (action-crime. Finished) 8/10 Good shit.

Seen the pilot and two first episodes of Kung Fu, and despite my love for David Carradine I'm disappointed so far. Not at all what I had expected. The series focus on the philosophical side of martial arts, which is fine, but it all gets a bit too standard. So far it's felt like a traditional late 60's, early 70's western drama with a shaolin monk thrown in for good measure. Also, David Carradine wasn't a martial artist, so I didn't expect over the top good fights, but they are so poorly choreographed, directed and executed. The fights offer nowt at all to be honest. I'll give it a whole season because I really want to enjoy this, but so far it's not worked out. However, it's still early in the series though. Might get better any second now, and hopefully it does.

Snake & Crane Arts of Shaolin - Another early Jackie Chan film, also from 1978. This film starts off like many traditional kung fu films of the time, with the hero showing off his skills and from there you know this is gonna be damn good, because the opening credits are amazing. The story is straghtforward with Jackie Chan playing Hsu Yin-Fung, a talented and very arrogant, yet likeable, man in search for a certain man whom he does not know what look like, except for a mole on his shoulder. Lots of cool characters, lots of amazing action and lots of cool actors. I expected something good, but not something as good as this because this film was amazing. Not much more to say really. Have Sword, Will Travel - A classic Chang Cheh and Shaw Brothers wuxia film, and one of the best Chang Cheh and Shaw Brothers films I've seen so far. Which says a lot by the way. The film stars Ti Lung and David Chiang, and both are amazing as always. The characters can jump high, fly through the air and everything that is usual for wuxia films, but what sets this apart from other wuxia films I've seen, especially from around that time, is the dreamy feeling of the film and its bloodshed. There is lots and lots of blood in this film, amazing swordplay in true Chang Cheh fashion, great characters and a very good and engaging, yet straightforward, plot. Also, the opening credits are AMAZING and among the best I have ever seen, if not THE best. Crazy fucking good like! That's actually from the opening credits. Chang Cheh is, despite my limited knowledge of his films, by far one of my all time favourite directors. An artist unlike anyone else, and his way of directing action is unreal and not matched by many. Such a talented guy.

http://www.rollingstone.com/music/news/metallica-kick-off-reissue-project-with-no-life-til-leather-cassette-20150303?page=2 By far Metallica's best release miles ahead of Kill 'em All, so I'll try to grab both the tape and vinyl version. It's good to see that despite only releasing shit every since 1986, they're still capable of putting out good music. Heh. This demo is sooooooo damn good, and sadly James Hetfield would never sing this awesome ever again. Such a shame.

I'm finally checking out Thulcandra properly, and so far I am most impressed. Dissection worship at its finest, with hints of Unanimated, Vinterland and Sacramentum, which all belonged to the mid 90-s swedish melodic black/death metal scene. The band even covered Dissection on their debut and Unanimated for their second album. I'm still on the debut album, but Fallen Angel's Dominion sounds like the album Dissection would've released in 1997 had Jon Nödtveidt not been sent to prison at that time. The band even got Necrolord to fix their cover art, so even their cover art screams of Dissection as he made the cover art for most Dissection albums as well. Highly recommended for fans of Dissection, or melodic black/death metal in general. Sure, not quit as good as its influences, but still more than good enough to be worthy of your time.

I recently rediscovered Gates of Ishtar, and this have to be one of the best melodic death metal albums ever. The whole album's like a mix of mid-era At the Gates, old In Flames, Unanimated and Dissection, but with their very own touch to the mix. Great production as well. Edit: The W.A.S.P. cover is awful, though. Should never have been a part of the album, but aside from that it's bloody brilliant.

Dragon Lord - Originally called The Young Master in Love, this is some kind of a semi-sequel to The Young Master, but not nearly as good as the first. It's a bit too long and the plot isn't as engaging, but the overall flow is a lot better in this due to it not being cut to death. The fights are very good, especially the final fight which was a massive inspiration for Gareth Evans and his excellent The Raid, but they are a bit more stunt-oriented than the first. Jackie Chan took a couple of steps closer to his trademark stunt-fighting, which I think is cool. A bit disappointing overall, but still very entertaining. Snake in the Eagle's Shadow - A really early Jackie Chan film from 78, and Yuen Woo-ping's directorial debut, and one hell of an impressive debut. Of the Yuen Woo-ping and Jackie Chan films I've seen, I consider this along with Drunken Master to be their best, which says a lot considering the guy has films such as Dance of the Drunk Mantis, Magnificent Butcher, Legend of a Fighter and Iron Monkey in his name. But to be quiet honest I think this might be my favourite Jackie Chan and Yuen Woo-ping film. The film follows the same storyline as Drunken Master, is directed by the same guy and has the same cast, but it's a bit more traditional than Drunken Master. It's so fucking good. Well, I can't choose a favourite of the two, as both are brilliant. Yuen Woo-ping and Jackie Chan were some duo, guys. Incredibe! One of the best martial arts flicks ever. Stunning in every way possible! Demolition Man - I grew up watching this film over and over again, and I still love it. A badass Sylvester Stallone, a theatrical, over the top and cool Wesley Snipes and a super cute and sexy Sandra Bullock in her best film ever, doing her best role ever, makes this a fantastic film. Cool plot, cool visual style, cool everything. Underrated 90's action gem!

I haven't heard that many releases from february, but it stands between 6 releases for sure: Solefald - Solefald World Metal. Kosmopolis Sud Meleches - Enki Negură Bunget - Tău Glaciation - Sur les falaises de marbre Devouring Star - Through Lung and Heart Wormridden - Festering Glorification I'll choose the three I've listened to the most right now, but tomorrow the list could easily have been quite different with two changes for instance. Solefald - World Metal. Kosmopolis Sud If you are familiar with Solefald you know that you never know what to expect from these guys. Ever since their 1995 black metal demo Jernlov they've been doing something different than the rest of the guys, and with the exception of Red fo Fire and Black for Death, which was meant to be released as a double album, they've gone through massive changes from one album to another, always experimenting with new sounds and thinking outside the box. With World Metal. Kosmopolis Sud, Solefald's 8th album, they're on a new path once again and the title World Metal, as well as song title World Music with Black Edges, tells you everything you need to know about the album. The foundation of Solefald is still black metal, but they're playing around with a shitload of different genres and influences, but despite this, nothing ever seems out of place. It's all over the place, but everything feels natural and that's the big beauty of this album. Bububu Bad Beuys? Yes, Bububu Bad Beuys! Melechesh - Enki Call it Mesopotamian blackened thrash metal, middle eastern folk/death/black metal or what the fuck you feel like, it doesn't really matter . What matter is that Melechesh is still releasing fantastic music, and thee's no-one out there quite like this. This isn't a very original album and Melechesh has done most of this several times already, but Melechesh Ashmedi is a riffmeister, and after a rather disappointing album in form of The Epigenesis, he and the rest of the guys returns to form with an album full of fantastic, catchy and memorable riffs, brilliant atmosphere and mysticism that'll draw you closer to the sound of the album. The biggest difference between this and the last two albums, is that drummer Xul is out while their first drummer, Lord Curse. Lord Curse isn't close to being as good as Xul or Proscriptor McGovern, as far as the technical and creative aspect goes, but he offers something new, and despite being n the simler side, something refreshing in the band's sound. Cool drummer! Multiple Truths Glaciation - Sur les falaises de marbre After a fantastic debut, Glaciation, with members such as Neige, Winterhalter and Indria Saray, is back after 3 years, and this time with a new vocalist - RMS Hreidmarr of Anorexia Nervosa fame. They continue what they started on the debut, but the album isn't as dark and macabre as the debut. It's feels a bit more "airy" and lighter, with more inspiration from early Alcest than the mid 90's black metal scene. But this isn't as radiofriendly as Alcest, this is still a dark, macabre and grim album, at least compared to Alcest. Well, considering the extemely solid line up on this album, they were never gonna disappoint with their second album were they? Nah, they weren't. Also, they've gone from having the worst album cover ever on their debut, 1994, to a very good and solid one of this. That's good! I can't find a single sample online, so check out this song from the debut: Glactiation I have yet to heard Macabre Omen's new album, Gods of War - At War, but I am 100% sure that it'll end up on this list as soon as I have heard it.

Do you trust Crowd-Funds? Yes. Have you ever given money to any form of Crowd-Fund? No, and I'll never give any money to a band crowd-funding. Thousands and thousands of bands have manage to put out demos, EPs and albums without crowd-funding for many, many decades already, and I don't see why bands are in such a need of this now, in a time where producing a record is easier than ever before. However, I could help crowd-funding a film or something though, as that shit is a lot more expensive and harder than doing a record. Can't even be compared. What band`s do you think you would support if they had a Crowd-Funded project? None. I wouldn't even give my friends any money to help fund their musical careers as I know they are fully capable of doing this without any help from outside. What do you think your donation range would be? (Be honest, you don`t have to worry about being seen as a cheap-skate, and don`t have to be Mr. / Mrs. Moneybags.) $0 Are special awards or gifts valuable to you? (Early access to tracks, special messages from the band (or whoever), other perks, etc...) Not really. If I did help crowd-funding a film, I'd appreciate something special, but not as far as music goes. Do you think crowd-funding is a sustainable practice (can it be used often or only on occasion), and that many bands can use it at the same time, or does it present an even greater price-tag to fans? I think it's retarded and don't really give a fuck. Simple as that. If Crowd-Funding became more popular, would that create a greater wealth gap in the music industry, where more popular bands can sustain more releases and advertisement, while smaller bands can not succeed or compete, and labels are not as profitable so fewer bands can actually exist on a visible level? You don't need a shitload of money to make and release demos, EPs, albums and merch, so I don't think smaller bands will suffer from this at all. However, I can see this getting more and more popular in the future, both for bigger and smaller bands. Which is sad. What do you think of Alice Nine`s project so far? I haven't heard anything from this band in a long time, but considering what they've done in the past it's pobably übershit. Any notable musical crowd-funds you want to mention (worldwide or Japanese, though they are different markets)? No. Should a Crowd-Funded release be free? Or should it only be free for those who donate? Does crowd-funding affect your view on downloading a release? Of course it shouldn't be free and of course it shouldn't be free for those who donated, unless you donated a huge sum. In most cases a band/film crew/whatever will have something special to give you as a donator, and the more you donate the bigger gift you'll get, but you donate of your own free will and don't deserve a free release just because you gave away some money. But most crowd-fundings make it clear long before you donate about what you'll get for donating this and that much. That's it for me.

February is over and it's time to reveal your favourite albums of the month. The thread for january wasn't exactly a success, but I'll give it a new try anyway. The concept is simple: pick 3 releases (albums, EPs, singles or compilations), write why you like the album/why people should check it out and be cool. As you hear new albums of the month feel free to quote yourself, remove one and add the newest one instead of it. At the end of the month I'll make a new thread for the previous month. That's all. Rules: Post three albums each Add a linke to your favourite track of the album. Do NOT embed youtube videos. Just link to the best song. Not everyone have decent computers to handle all the videos. And that is basically it. Ask if there's something you're curious about. Go on, guys!

Bump! These guys won the finnish Eurovision selection and will represent Finland in Eurovision later this year. Fantastic! I can highly recommend the 2012 documentary The Punk Syndrome which is about this band, Pertti Kurikan Nimipäivät. Fantastic and beautiful documentary about a very cool band.

The Young Master - Jackie Chan's second attempt at direction a film, and a rather successful one as well. He does well behind the camera, the story, also written by Jackie Chan, is good, he's good in front of the camera and the action is top notch. OK, there's a few silly scenes which should've been cut, and there's also times where a few scenes is just cut too early or the film just jumps ahead to another point with no explaination whatsoever, but considering Golder Harvest cut the film from around 3 hours to less than two hours we can hardly blame Jackie Chan for that. Would love to see the full 180 minute version of this film. Anyway, it's a very entertaining film, and the fights are top notch and showcase something I'd say are an early vesion of what would later become his biggest trademark. They are so well choreographed, executed and directed that it's impossible not to enjoy it. Also, one cannot praise the last fight enough. A close-to 20 minute long fight, which goes from bloody serious to silly as the character gets more and more tired, and more and more beaten. It is absolutely tremendous, and a few times it had me in tears. Hilarious, an Jackie Chan is so good during that scene. Top notch!

That's a great mustache, but aside from the one mustache they all look like shit.

I lost my boner as soon as I saw Niklas Kvarfoth mentioned. What the fuck is this cunt doing there. That's probably the worst decicion they've taken during their 25 year long career. Christ allmighty. I can't say I am too excited by seeing the likes of Matthew Heafy and Fred Leclercq there either, but Matthew Heafy is excused just for being the massive Sigh fan he is, and they're both excused just for not being Kvarfoth. However, the bold part turns me the fuck on and the artwork is nothing short of brilliant again.

1. The Black Gates 2. Harps of the Ancient Temples 3. Titans 4. River of Woe 5. B.O.D.D. 6. Blood Rite Tree 7. Opaline Eye of Death 8. Andromeda I read about this release (Nocternity - Harps of the Ancient Temples) a long time ago, but I thought it was a re-release of the EP by the same name, but I just found out we're getting a full album. 3 previously released songs (2-4), and the rest is new. It's been 12 years since last full lenght, so this is exciting news. Brilliant band, and among the best greek metal bands ever. Love the band's imagery as well.

I expected this album to be great, and it really is. It's way too early to say if it is better than 1994 or not, but the thing I do know for sure is that the album is devilish good, just as you'd expected from a band consisting of Neige, Winterhalter, RMS Hreidmarr and Indria.