Bear

Earth and Pillars - Earth II https://avantgardemusic.bandcamp.com/album/earth-ii Yep, still very Paysage d'Hiver- and Darkspace-esque, and still very good. Looking forward to this for sure. Ey, @Jigsaw9

Champion of Death - This might be better known as Karate Bullfighter, but Champion of Death of a much cooler title so I'll go with that. Mid-70's Sonny Chiba flick directed by Kazuhiko Yamaguchi. I'm a pretty big fan of Kazuhiko Yamaguchi, but I prefer him as a horror and exploitation director. The Delinquent Girl Boss series, Wolf Guy, Sister Street Fighter and so on. But Champion of Death was a pretty cool film based on a manga(?) based on the real life of Korean fighter Choi Bae-dal who moved to Japan, changed his name to Masutatsu Oyama and founded Kyokushin Karate. Sonny Chiba is, as always, exceptional, and it's well-directed and choreographed and all that. So very enjoyable, but not the best Kazuhiko Yamaguchi or Sonny Chiba movie. Karate Bear Fighter - The sequel is more or less on the same level as the first one. Very good, but not exceptional like what you'd expect from a Kazuhiko Yamaguchi and Sonny Chiba movie. I'd rate both 7/10. Very good, but not classic.

Verónica - I've seen a lot of hype surrounding this movie, but truth be told I didn't get it. It wasn't bad or anything, but far from as good as people say. Well-acted, good cinematography and so on, but I thought the atmosphere was lacking, and whenever it got close to building some proper atmosphere it ruined it with a very, very cheap jump scare. It was really fucking predictable as well. It was OK, but that's it. I don't get the circlejerking around Paco Plaza at all. Overrated as fuck. Also, whoever consider this movie scary should just fuck off right away.

Speaking of El Camino, Robert Forster died yesterday on the date of the release of El Camino. He played Ed Galebraith, the vacuum cleaner guy. That's sad.

I am currently 7 episodes in it. And it is bloody brilliant. But then again I am one of those who consider the original movie a classic. But then again, the fact that I consider the original a classic and still feel like this is amazing is quite something isn't it? But the original is highly recommended. A really good, elegant and fantastic movie Still haven't watched the Making of..., but I am looking forward to it. I know there's CGI in this series and all but it's used sparsely, and the characters are puppets and animatronics and that looks amazing. No, it doesn't always look like they speak whatever it's said. But that is not at all the importance of this type of filmmaking at all. It's all about the atmosphere, the feeling, the visuals and all that. What makes this so amazing is that it feels 80's/early 90's, even with modern techniques like CGI and so on. Hands down! This is amazing!

El Camino: A Breaking Bad Movie - I was sceptical and did not expect anything good or anything close to that. But I was surprised. Because this was motherfucking magnificent! It's not a film that the world needs, nor is it a film that the Breaking Bad universe needs. But it does add some closure to Jesse Pinkman's story, and it does so in a really, really, really classy way. Thought it was exceptional, and it was so good that it made the series even better. Also, Aaron Paul really outshines himself here. Truth be told, you can't really compare this Aaron Paul too the one in the series. He's on a whole other level. What a performance! This guy has truly grown as an actor. Impressive!

I started re-watching Tales from the Darkside and so far I am actually quite disappointed. It starts off with a blast with Trick or Treat, co-written by George A. Romero, an episode than leans more towards horror-comedy. And it feels like an episode that could've been on Tales from the Crypt. But from there it went quick downhill. Currently 6 episodes in. I hope for more horror, because this is not at all what I remembered. It's never straight up bad, but aside from the first episode it's basically like the worst episodes of Tales from the Crypt. I think I rated 16 out of 93 Tales from the Crypt episodes 6 or 5 (had two 5's I think), with the majority of them appearing in the last season. So far I've rated 4 out of 5 episodes 6 or lower in Tales from the Darkside. Disappointing. Oh well, I hope the quality rises soon enough.

Mechanic: Resurrection - The sequel to the remake The Mechanic with Jason Statham. The first one suffered from being an inferior sequel. I would probably have liked it a lot more of it wasn't for the fact that the original was an classic. But it was cool. This, too, is pretty cool if you're an action freak who also happens to like Jason Statham. Some really cool scenes, a very cool Jason Statham, a superb over the top Tommy Lee Jones and some cool action. Not a masterpiece, but entertaining crap basically. In the Shadow of the Moon - A new Netflix feature that's raised some eyebrows due to its content and stuff. The concept is really fucking cool, but the execution does not live up to its concept. I felt like they simplified it way, way, way too much. And it doesn't really ask any of the right questions either. It's too black and white, despite the fact that everything it works towards is pretty damn grey is you ask me. But hey, I was entertained. So it was fun. Wild Card - Remake of the cult Burt Reynolds move Heat starring Jason Statham. It's not really any worse than the original, maybe even better, but it lacks the charm. But as an avid action fan and a Jason Statham fanboy I really liked it. I would pick the original if I had to choose tho. Burn - Slightly weird and offbeat thriller set to a gas station. It's about a insecure, lonely and trouble gas station worker who does everything in her power to please everyone, but who isn't seen by anyone. One day shit hits the fan and, as you'd expect, she takes som weird choices. It's fun, it's interesting, it felt different. But the plot is a bit too thin for 90 minutes. Could've done with 60 tbh. But it was alright.

This guy is such a big fucking clown. PATRIK LEONHEART???

I wouldn't say it's underrated as it's considered both a cult movie and a semi-classic, but I would say it's incredibly overlooked. Those who sees it, and obviously love the genre, usually end up loving it, but not too many have actually seen it. In general I think the entire Spanish horror scene is incredibly overlooked. Especially the 60's and 70's spanish horror movies. They weren't among the country that produced the most movies, but whatever they did produce were usually of really high quality.

Three from Hell - Rob Zombies latest film, the last film in the trilogy featuring House of 1000 Corpses and The Devil's Rejects, and one of the very last films of legend Sid Haig. So how was Three from Hell? It was better than House of 1000 Corpses and on par, if not better, than The Devil's Rejects. It feels a bit like three movies edited into one, and it really works. It kinda feels like a hybrid between 70's exploitation and video nasty movies, and a 90's Robert Rodriguez movie. Totally motherfucking awesome!

Draug - Swedish horror movie that disappointed me quite a lot. At times it was really well-made with great costumes, greats sets, an interesting plot and so on. But the acting was, for most of the movie, pretty poor, it looked too digital and cheap, the many attempts at humor were awful and so on. Shame, as this could've been something amazing.

Rambo: Last Blood - The legend that is Sylvester Stallone decided it was about time to put an end to the franchise, and what a motherfucking end it was. This might as well be the best Rambo to date, it certainly ain't any worse than Rambo: First Blood or Rambo. Ultraviolent revenge flick that's more similar to Taken than any of the previous Rambo movies. And that was a really wise choice. I fucking loved it! Cop Car - Low-budget crime thriller starring an excellent Kevin Bacon and two amazing teenagers. It's very simple and "sparse", but it's really clever, suspenseful and fun. Kevin Bacon is one of the most overlooked and underrated actors in Hollywood. He's always been a favourite of mine, and he still remains one. Such a fantastic actor! This was amazing. Highly recommended. Stuber - A new buddy cop action comedy starring Dave Bautista, Kumail Nanjiani and a sadly underused Iko Uwais who should've had way more screentime. But Dave Bautista just keeps getting better with each movie, and he's not only badass as fuck. He's got fantastic comedic timing. This isn't original or anything, but if you like buddy cop comedies then this is for you. Hilarious, charming, exciting, silly and over the top. Dave Bautista could become the new Dwayne Johnson for sure. He's just got charisma and coolness about him. Invader ZIM: Enter the Florpus - I haven't watched the series in ages, but as soon as this popped up on Netflix me and a mate watched it. Thought it was amazing. Fantastic animation, brilliant voice acting, really stylish, fun and clever, and it does something a bit different. It feels like an Invader Zim film, but without copying previous episodes. Liked it hella lot. Sword Master - I didn't know what to expect from this, but liked the poster and is a sucker for martial arts movies so I had to check it out. Didn't take me long too realize that it's actually a remake of the classic 1977 Yuen Chor movie Death Duel, tho. Not nearly as good, but still fun. Had problems with some of the CGI and overall visual style, tho. Looked a bit corny and awfully fake at times. But nothing too bad overall. Space Ninjas - Random, stupid, silly, over the top, bad, but at the same time good action comedy that suffers from bad acting, an awfully modern look and a lack of visual style. I think that if this was made in the 80's I would've loved it, but it lacked just that little extra. But it was fun for its randomness and absurdity.

Sibiir just released their new album and it's filthy fucking gold. As their debut it's a mix of black metal and hardcore, but this time around it leans even more towards black metal than hardcore. There's simply more Darkthrone in their sound. But don't get me wrong, there's still plenty hardcore in the sound. Just not quite as much as it is harsh and cold black metal.

https://toxicholocaust.bandcamp.com/album/primal-future-2019 The new Toxic Holocaust album is out. It kinda continues where Chemistry of Consciousness, but sounds much, much better. I'm very surprised by how much I like it so far. It sounds more commercial and a lot more similar to the vast majority of the 2000's thrash revival, but at the same time he writes better riffs than most of them and he makes it sound unique by adding new, different elements, such as glam metal. Way, way better than Chemistry of Consciousness, that's for sure.

CATUSHKA https://catushkaisnoice.bandcamp.com/ Some of theee has been posted already, but that's fine: WARTUSHKA https://wartushka.bandcamp.com/releases Papushka https://papushka.bandcamp.com/album/- Gabbatushka https://gabbatushka.bandcamp.com/album/littergya BASHUTPSKA https://bashutpska.bandcamp.com/album/ecce-homo I think there's something like 15 variants of Bathuska right now. Hilarious shit!

Oh hell yeah! That is so good!

You should check out Flamen then. Can't see anyone liking Véhémence and Obsequiae, and not enjoying Flamen.

Loads of stuff coming, as well as a few releases from earlier this year that people might have missed out on: Blood Incantation - Hidden History of the Human Race "Weird" death metal inspired by Timeghoul, Demilich, Nocturnus and Morbid Angel. Should fe fairly known to fans of death metal. Album only has four tracks, so I guess we're getting some really long songs. Cryptic Brood - Outcome of Obnoxious Science Heavy and ugly death doom. Autopsy meets Winter meets Obliteration. Obsequiae - The Palms of Sorrowed Kings Medieval/melodic black metal. Nechochwen meets Summoning and Dissection? Very "springy" feeling to it all. Véhémence - Par le sang versé Kinda similar to Obsequiae, but maybe a bit darker and less springy? Flamen - Furor Lunae More medieval/melodic black metal. Similar to both Obsequiae and Véhémence, but I prefer this band to both of them. A must-hear album for sure. Fleshcrawl - Into the Catacombs of Flesh Looking forward to this, mostly because of the cover. One of those bands that's been going forever (since 1987!) but no one really talks about. Debut album is a classic for sure, and its cover by Uwe Jarling is mindblowing. Fits perfectly into the classic 90's Swedish death metal scene. Don't have too high hopes, but looking forward to it nonetheless. Ofdrykkja - Gryningsvisor Depressive black metal that doesn't sound very depressing. The new track, Wither, sounds absolutely gorgeous. Atmospheric, cold and foresty. A bit more uplifting than their previous stuff, and it also happens to be their best song so far. Really looking forward to this although the track list worries me a bit. There's a lot of shorter songs, but let's just hope they're interludes to set some mood and not proper songs. The Deathtrip - Demon Solar Totem The first album of this British-Norwegian project, Deep Drone Master, was close to being a masterpiece. But since then Aldrahn (Dødheimsgard, Thorns, Zyklon-B, Old Man's Child) has left and been replaced by non other than Kvohst (ex-Dødheimsgard, Code, ex-Beastmilk, Grave Pleasures, Hexvessel). So they lost one excellent vocalist and replaced him with another excellent vocalist. Not bad at all. New track is fantastic as well, so this should be good. Elvarhøi - Dansen låter fra graven åter This is folk metal done in a very, very classic folk rock-esque way. Pretty much the opposite of Korpilaani, Finntroll and so on. I can't help but to think of Otyg and 70's folk rock bands. This should be good. Taiwaz - The Uninvited Guest This Swedish heavy metal band formed in 1985, disbanded in 1991, reformed in 2012 and released their debut album I Am All in 2012. The first half of their debut album was recorded in 2013, but the B-side was recorded way back in 1988-89, and the album is fantastic. Watain covered a track on their 2013 single All That May Bleed. Really looking forward to this new Taiwaz album.

VVATUSHKA https://vvatushka.bandcamp.com/album/batushka-demo-2019-new-black-metal-poland The funniest so far. Caught me very much off guard. Jesus christ, some human beings got too much time man. lol

Μπατουσκα (Batouska) Another parody lol.

The first "peek" at Lustmord And Wargasm. The drums are, as far as I know, Nick Barker's original drums, but mastered properly. What an insane difference.

Oh yeah! Next week can't come fast enough.

Entire album is out and after 4-5 listens it's nothing short of breathtaking. The album sounds incredibly 90's. Imagine a much darker, grimmer and more black metal version of Arcturus' Constellation and Aspera Hiems Symfonia. Steinar "Sverd" Johnsen (main songwriter for Arcturus) is the main guy here, and that shines through and through. Among the very best metal albums so far this year.

Another Alcest song out and it is, unsurprisingly, a beast of a track. Absolutely gorgeous. Love the vocal lines. Borknagar released a new video. Was listening to the whole album a few times during work today and this is easily the best album since 2000's Quintessence. The songwriting is really good, and Vortex, despite sounding odd at times, just fits the band better than Vintersorg. And it probably opens up for more Vintersorg solo stuff, which is awesome as the last two Vintersorg albums have been fucking amazing.