Bear

Why do they need to rerecord them? Some of those (Kurenai, X, Silent Jealousy and Art of Life) are close to perfect in their original form, and there's no way they would manage to improve them. They would kill them with a modern, sterile and lifeless production, and no enthusiasm and energy. Sounds good, yeah. Jesus, this fanbase, man.

The dress "code" thing is pretty embarrassing to be honest. Asking people to be quiet throughout is also very meh to me. But I can understand a band asking peole to be quiet under ambience/quiet passages and things like that. But not when a band is "rocking out".

Brilliant band, brilliant song. There's nothing mroe to say really. Once again they renew themself without losing the classic Sigh-feeling. They won't disband before another album, that's for sure. They'll complete their "SIGH" once again. If it'll be and album or an EP doesn't mater. However, things will most likely take much more time from now on as Mikannibal is pregnant again, and hopefully everything will go well this time. But the disbanding rumor came from when Mirai said he didn't know how long he could be into Sigh and making this kind of music. That's all there was to it really. Graveward is alreadythe album of the year. 10/10. Saw them live a few weeks again and that was amazing. Way better than the first time I saw them. And for those of you who care about vinyl, The Crypt will re-release Scorn Defeat, Infidel Art and Ghastly Funeral Theatre + Tragedies as standard versions without all the extras in the comming time. They already did release some superb versions of these, but demands have been high so they're gonna re-release them. Their original releases looked like this, so it'll be something to get a hold of if you're into vinyl: Sorn Defeat (3LP box) Infidel Art (3LP box) Ghastly Funeral Theater I expect the standard versions to be good as well. I already own the versions shown over (as well as the other versions released by The Crypt), but I've already made sure I'll get the re-released versions too and I can't wait! And hopefully they'll release Hail Horror Hail and Imaginary Sonicscape as standard versions too. The other Sigh vinyls on The Crypt: As you can see, these guys aren't fucking around. All limited to 500 versions. 200/300 black and colour/splatter. Worth every single penny I've paid for them. Beautiful!

Not Japanese, but I'll post it here anyway: Ewigkeit - Det Som Engang Var (Burzum cover) One of the best and most unique cover songs I've ever heard. Ewigkeit's made the song into their own, but you can still hear which song is being covered. It's amazing!

I think Master of Puppets is way too stiff, controlled and mature, and I don't think there's a single decent riff there either. I prefer my thrash more energic and wild, and with less polished production. As far as Metallica goes I'm all about Kill 'em All and No Life til Leather. And no thrash metal album should have a ballad. Ballads is the opposite of what thrash metal is all about to me.

Uh, that's a weird thing to say as both Master of Puppets and ...And Justice for All is thrash metal. Awful albums btw.

Yeah, their debut album only. I love everything they've made after that album. Summoning is an incredible band. As for Blut aus Nord, they're very hit and miss IMO. But I prefer their three first albums, with The Mystical Beast of Rebellion being my favourite. I think all those three albums ae very good. They were less avant-garde and experimental back then. They've released some good albums later too, but they don't grab me the same way. Memoria Vetusta II: Dialogue with the Stars is my favourite after the three first albums. But yeah, it is the three first albums I listen to whenever I play ome Blut aus Nord.

Good. It's a film that shouldn't be missed. And if I were to guess, i think The Body Snatcher and The Seventh Victim will please you very much. Looking forward to hear your thoughts on them sooner or later.

I have no problems with Joey leaving/getting fired. Decent drummer and all that, but I doubt he's all that important for Slipknot's sound. Bands changes members all the time without anything happening to the sound of the band, so I don't have any problem with it at all. Joey isn't exactly the most exciting drummer in the world either, so eheh. All Hope Is Gone was disappointing as fuck, so I hope they've found some new inspiration for the upcomming album.

Cool! You should add The Body Snatcher to that list to be honest. Yes, that it is. But the original is way superior in every way, despite the remake's great soundtrack by Giorgio Moroder. Cat People also got a sequel, The Curse of the Cat People, which is also a good film. But it's in no way a horror film. It's more of a fantasy film. A bit Disneyesque, I guess.

Cool! Which ones will you check out? I'm actually gonna check out a few of these again myself and make sure my mind didn't play any tricks on me. The Seventh Victim, Dead of Night and The Lodger. And I hope I remembered correctly, because I remember all of these as amazing films.

Since Jigsaw is gonna skip the 40's, and me and him are the only one active in this thing, I'll just jump straight to the 40's. The Universal Monsters slowly started in the 20's, and we got many great horror films that decade, both Universal Monsters and other films. In the 30's they made even more monster (and other horror) films, and then came the 40's, often seen as one of the horror genres golden years. These years launched the careers of icons such as Boris Karloff, Bela Lugosi, Lon Chaney, Jr. and Lon Chaney. In the 30's, 13 of the 17 released films had Boris Karloff, Bela Lugosi or both in the lead. That's how big these two became. But this isn't about the 30's, this is about the 40's and in this decade Lon Chaney, Jr. was the huge star. Boris Karloff and Bela Lugosi continued to impress with their acting, and Vincent Price were slowly getting bigger, even though he wouldn't become a known horror acto before the 50's. The 40's gave us a shitload of sequels to big titles such as Frankenstein, The Mummy, Dracula. Abbott and Costello made the whole world laugh with their funny slapstick comedies, but they also stepped into horror terretory and gave us some of the best horror comedies ever. And The Wolf-Mann took the world by storm! But even though this was Universal's year, it wasn't all about Universal. Someone walked with a zombie, another one went to graveyards and stole bodies while this one, weird chick thought she turned into a cat when sexually aroused. All in all it was a great and exciting decade for horror, and hopefully someone will get some inspiration from this list to check out some 40's horror films (Jiggy boy, I am looking at you!). 1. The Body Snatcher Boris Karloff's (my all time favourite actor, btw) career were going downhill, but this is often considered the film that saved his career as he not only gives his best performance ever, but also oen of the finest performances in the history of horror. But guess what? This film also has another amazing horror icon of that era. Bela Lugosi! Both are amazing in their roles, but I prefer Boris Karloff (as I am a fanboy and) as he's so damn evil in this. This is an atmospheric piece of horror cinema not to be missed by anyone. 2. The Seventh Victim One of the most underrated and overlooked films in the genre. The Seventh Victim was way ahead of its time and mixed horror and film noir. Satanic cults, suicide and an amazing scene that most likely inspired Alfred Hitchcock to do his most known scenes of all time. This was the darkest film ever made at its time, and still is one of the darkest films ever made. This is a film that deserves to be mentioned among the biggest of the biggest in the genre. It's a long time since I last saw it, though, but I will have a watch again soon enough. This might even climb up a few places on this list. Amazing film! 3. Bud Abbott and Lou Costello Meet Frankenstein This is, in my eyes at least, the best horror comedy of all time. You get simple slapstick humor mixed with fantastic horror. The thing that makes this such a great film, other than Bud Abbott and Lou Costello's fantastic and funny performance, is that everyone else, including Lon Chaney Jr., Bela Lugosi and Glenn Strange, treats this as a regular horror film. The monsters aren't made funny or dumb or anything, they are themself alike. That's one of the things that put this in front of every other horror comedy ever made. This film is unique even to this day, and has never been touched by other films in the genre. And you get three classic monsters in the same film. THere's other films like that, but none as good as this masterpiece. 4. The Wolf Man We've been treated with many fine werewolf films over the years, but in my eyes no one ever came close to this film. The atmosphere is great, the make up and especially transformation is incrediblly good and Lon Chaney, Jr. is unforgettable in his role as the manbeast. This film set the standard of how werewolf films should be, and 80 years later it is still the finest one. 5. Cat People The thing that stands out the most in this film is the set pieces, and they are half the fun here. They help evoke this great, eerie atmosphere that sends chills down your spine. But the acting is nothing short of superb and the use of shadows is amazing. This was a very unique film at its time, unlike anything else created. Dark and erotic. 6. Dead of Night This is often seen as the best horror anthology of all time. It consists of five stories and one linking narrative. As with The Seventh Victim I haven't seen this in a long time. But I remember it being amazing, and some of the things here must've been a huge inspiration on well known horror films/series later made. Underrated and overlooked film. Will watch it again soon. 7. Hold That Ghost This was, as far as I know at least, Bud Abbott and Lou Costello's first step into horror terretory, and what a great step that was for them. While not as good as Bud Abbott and Lou Costello Meet Frankenstein, it's still bloody great. The thing that makes Bud Abbott and Lou Costello Meet Frankenstein a better film is that it's way funnier and has a genuine horror feelign to it, something which this doesn't really have. But it's still a hilarious film and the movingcandle scene might be the funniest scene ever made in a horror film. It's hilarious! 8. The Uninvited A very original horror film with stunning cinematography, great acting, an amazing score, atmosphere that will send chills down your spine and suspende. This film kinda has it all, doesn't it? This is a must see for sure. 9. I Walked with a Zombie This is a very fine horror film, but if you expect brain- and flesheating zombies, you'll have to look somewhere else. This is a poetic film filled with great mysticism and and atmosphere. This is often seen as one of the best zombie films ever, and I do agree, even though it's not quite up there with the very best. But it's a great film! 10. The Lodger I don't think I've ever seen anyone mention this film, and it's weird because this is a great film. A masterpiece in fact. Atmospheric horror mystery set in the 1880's. The amazing performance by Laird Cregar and the eerie, foggy streets of London are sure to give you the chills and put a fright in you. ANd it's a beautiful film in the way it is directed. Stunning stuff! That was the 40's for me. It was a damn fine year for horror, and I hope someone gets a bit of inspiration from this post to check out some great, 40's horror films.

Any ballad from Kagrra would make my list to be honest. But if I had to pick just a few I'd go with the following songs: Kagrra - Utakata Kagrra - Irodori no Sanka But to be honest I tend to be disappointed by ballads on VK albums. I think they often feel very uninspired and unfitting to the rest of the album, and that they're made and included just because it is an "unwritten law" that you have to have at least one ballad on every album. The ballads themself are often very underwhelming and forgettable.

Yes. I think Luguburz is a poorly written black metal album. I love the artwork and the intro, but the rest is mediocre at best IMO. Yeah, this is how I'd rate Summoning's discography: 1. Stronghold (10/10) 2. Oath Bound (10/10) 3. Dol Guldur (10/10) 4. Old Mornings Dawn (9/10) 5. Minas Morgul (8/10) 6. Let Mortal Heroes Sing Your Fame (8/10) 7. Lugburz (4/10) So you could say I am quite the fan of Summoning. And my Summoning worshipping/clones band list would look something like this: 1. Kinstrife & Blood - On Paths Long Forgotten... (9/10) 2. Caladan Brood - Echoes of Battle (8/10) 3. L'Ordre du Temple - In Hoc Signo Vinces (7/10) 4. Emyn Muil - Túrin Turambar Dagnir Glaurunga (6/10) All these albums should be heard by fans of Summoning. Great stuff. The last one isn't as mediocre at the score suggests. It's just that I think the songs are way too short, something which ruins the whole experience a bit.

You should check out more Vincent Price films. One of those huge horror icons. He played in a shitload og great horror films, and I think his work with b-film legend Roger Corman was superb. Corman is best known as a b-film director and producer, and is known for making and producing films that tried to cash in on other films' succses. But he did make some really great films now and then, and some of his best films is his works with Vincent Price. House of Usher, Pit and the Pendulum,The Premature Burial, Tales of Terror, The Raven, The Haunted Palace, The Masque of the Red Death and The Tomb of Ligeia (all from the 60's, and all Edgar Allan Poe adaptions)) are damn fine films. Vincent Price also played in other great films such as The Last Man on Earth, Witchfinder General, Twice-Told Tales, The Tingler, The Fly, Return of the Fly, House on Haunted Hill, The Abominable Dr. Phibes and Dr. Phibes Rises Again, which I guess are the ones I've seen. He was a superb actor. Skip the 40? Daaaaamn! That means I am all alone then. Christ almighty!

Yeah, you do that. Though, emember that every single Sigh album is very different from the previous one. They've always managed to sound Sigh, but still every album is very different from the last one. Started out as a black metal band and moved through avant-garde black metal and then progressive/psychedelic black metal to heavy metal to symphonic blak metal and then avant-garde again. Unique and superb band! As for Summoning, massive band! I don't like their debut, but everything since then has been good. Some albums better than others, but all are worth getting. Caladan Brood is also great. Not Summoning level great, but great. They sound a lot like later Summoning, and they do it well. Another band woth checking out is Kinstrife & Blood. Another Summining clone, but unlike Caladan Brood these guys sounds alot more like earlier Summoning, and they're even better than Caladan Brood IMO.

I guess we're finished with the 60's, so let us just jump straight to the 50's. I exect even less respnse and entusiasm here, but it'll be fun anyway. The 50's were when Hammer Horror started, and even if they started late, they released some amazing films this year. But even if you remove every Hammer Horror film, you still have a fabolous year for horror. Jesus, Gojira started to destroy Tokyo, but he was not the only monster on the loose. The giant monsters were everywhere, and they destroyed and killed everything in their path. The Thing came to planet earth and scared a bunch of guys shitless far out in nowhere, and you had a house of was that might not have been exactly what it looked like. This decade, man. Awesome! 1. Gojira We all know Gojira aka Godzilla, don't we? This awesome monster film is oneof the best, if not THE best monster film ever made. Fuck, everything looks so good in this film. Gojira looks amazing, and his movements and growls weren't much worse. Gojira really IS terror and horror. This film will never be topped as far as giant monster films goes. 2. Dracula This film gives you both Christopher Lee and Peter Cushing, two of the biggest horror icons ever, and is directed by Terence fucking Fisher, a man who would direct a shitload of great, classic Hammer Horror films. This film isn't very gory or anything, and it put all its faith in atmosphere, and it worked so well. This gothic horror masterpiece is stylish, grandiose and very sexy. Both Christopher Lee and Peter Cushing and great beyond words in this film, as they mostly have been throught their careers. Great actors! Two of my favourites to be exact. 3. The Hound of the Baskervilles We all know The Hound of the Baskervilles, even those who'se not read the novel. This is another Hammer Horror film with Christopher Lee and Peter Cushing in the leads, and it's another Hammer Horror film directed by Terence Fisher. This is often regarded one of the best Hammer Horror films ever, and I do agree. They've turned in into a gothic horor mystery, and it works so bloody well. This is, without no doubt whatsoever, the best Sherlock Holmes adaption ever made. That's how bloody good this film is! 4. Them! This film is one of the first nuclear giant monsters films, and it's also one of the best. And you can all it sci-fi, horror or just sci-fi-horror. Who gives a fuck? I do, and I call it horror. It starts out as a regular mystery film before slowly turning into a horror film about something less nicer than your mom. You know. The pacing is incredible, it's very suspenseful and for someone who hates all kinds of insects, this is still freaky as fuck to me. 5. Les diaboliques Les Diaboliques is such a great film. It's a psychologial horror based of a novel, and can you guess who was close to directing this? The master of suspense himself. But he just missed out on it, and it's a good thing because that led Alfred Hitchcock to make Psycho instead. Robert Bloch, the writer of Psycho, has stated many times that this is his all-time favourite horror film. It's a bit predictable, but with suh great suspense and atmosphere it's easy to forget that. The direction is superb, the acting is great and its atmosphere is just top notch. 6. House of Wax Über classic horror with the always amazing Vincent Price, in one of his best roles ever. You also get Charles Bronson, which is great here despite not having the biggest of roles. This isn't as much atmospheric as it is suspensful, but it does have its moments with geat atmosphere too. By the way, if you have seen the 2005 version and disliked it, do not wory, the 05-version is NOT a remake of this. But the 50's version however, is a remake of the great, though not as good as this, horror film Mystery of the Wax Museum. Worth checking out too. 7. Invasion of the Body Snatchers Sci-fi or horror? I say both, but I've always called it horror. This is suspenseful, but not in the same was as Les Diaboliques. This is scary, but at the same time not scary. I can't explain it at all. It's a great film! The first remake of this film is also worth seeing. Not as good, but still damn fine! 8. Tarantula Another big monster film, and another great one. Of all monster films I have seen, this is by far the scariest, and in fact one of the scariest films ever. I hate spiders more than anything else in this world, and this film gives you real, giant spiders that are bigger than fucking houses. Yes, that is fucking scary, and it nearly made me shit my pants. Fuck, do watch this film, guys, especially if you hate spiders. Eww! 9. The Creature from the Black Lagoon This seems to be one of those films everybody has heard about, but a lot haven't seen. And it's a shame, because this is a great film. It's a fun film that gives you this b-film feeling, and who doesn't love that? It's a fun ride. Check it out! 10. De dødes tjern I just had to include this as well. This is one of very few Norwegian horror film, and is my all-time favourite Norwegian film. This is a classic piece of atmospheric horror. Too slow for many, but god damn amazing to me.

Aha, I see. Thanks. Well, I still gotta watch it though. I dislike Michelle Rodriguez a lot as an actress, but she did very good in Machete and hopefully she'll surprise me here too. I expect shit from Lady Gaga, obviously. No idea why she was picked, other than to try to get a bigger crowd. However, I am excited to see Amber Heard on screen. I hope she's got a badass role like she did in All the Boys Love Mandy Lane, where she did so very, very well.

What was it that made it so bad, and how did you feel about the first one? For me, the first one is a modern classic. Badass, modern trash cinema at its very best. Exploitation the way exploitation was meant to be made. I haven't seen this yet. Reason? I read it was filled to the edge with awful CGI, and as I am very negative to so-called "good" CGI I can't be positive to that. Is that true, or was it just some bullshit from some bullshitters?

I decided I'd just update my list as I hear things through enough times and put them below their character: 9/10: Cluster Buster - Maniac 1980 This album is among the best synthwave/retro electro albums I've heard. So friggin' good. The whole album/band is a huge homage to great films, and the music is amazing. Don't need more than that. Best song of the album can be heard here: Maniac 1980 Black Magic - Wizard's Spell Great heavy/black metal from Norway. These guys does it the old way. First half is pure black metal influenced heavy metal madness, and the second if their second demo, and black metal in an 80's fashion. This album is awesome! Best song of the album can be heard here: Thunder Salem's Pot - ...Lurar ut dig på prärien There's not a hint of originality or distinctive stamp to be found anywhere on this album, but fuck me if this album isn't damn fine. Salem's Pot delivers 33 minutes of sleazy, occult doom metal of the purest kind. This album could've been used as the soundtrack to Vampyros Lesbos, or many of the other erotic horror films of the 70's. I dig! Best cover of the year as well, with Soledad Miranda, taken from Vampyros Lesbos. I love it! Best song of the album can be heard here: Creep Purple Pharrell Williams - Girl Wow, this album, man. Easy-listening summer pop filled with great songs and a Pharrell that never was better. Semi-funky pop at its very, very best. There's not a single bad song on the album, but there is a few that stands out very much. Marilyn Monroe, Happy and Know Who You Are are a tad better than the others. Pop doesn't get much better than this in 2014. No poor rapping, electronic influences or anything like that. Just pure pop madness that makes me think of the 70's and 80's, just with a modern touch. Fantastic! Best song of the album can be heard here: Happy Clishe choice, but this song is out of this world good. Doesn't get much better or catchier than this. 8/10: Hail Spirit Noir - Oi Magoi This isn't as good as their debut, but still a lovely album. HSN continues their unique brand of psychedelic/progressive rock and black metal. The production is richer than on the first, but I thought the first was better. It was more laidback and less produced really. The song writing was better to. It was more messy than this. But it's a great album anyway. Best song of the album can be heard here: Hunters Alcest - Shelter A lot of people were disappointed by this becuse of the lack of metal and harsh vocals, and didn't like the big change. But c'mon guys, what big change? Despite dropping most metal influences on this album, it still sounds 100% Alcest. The melodies, vocal melodies and atmoshere are still 100% Alcest. There was never a big change to be honest. This is a fantastic album with a massive atmosphere and great songs. Don't believe the lies, this is still 100% Alcestesque. Their weakest album till now, though, but considering the previous three albums and their debut EP are masterpieces, that's not so surprising and doesn't mean this is bad. Best song of the album can be heard here: Délivrance Satan's Satyrs - Die Screaming In 2012 these guys released their debut album Wild Beyond Belief! which is the perfect mix between Electric Wizard, Black Flag and Blue Cheer, mixed with some heavy metal. Wild Beyond Belief! is a masterpiece beyond words to be honest. The production is nothing short of perfect, the songwriting is amazing and the vocals were both unique and great. Add an amazing aesthetic and image on top of that and you get something close to perfect. I had high hopes for this album, and even though it does deliver, I must admit to the fact that I am a bit disappoitned. Everything is weaker than on the debut album, and most noticable are the change of vocals. They're still awesome, just not as over the top awesome as on the debut. But what we've got here is a great album, and if you enjoy Electric Wizard, Black Flag or Blue Cheer you should be sure to check this album out. I couldn't find the best song (title track) on neither youtube or bandcamp, so this has to do: One by One (They Die) Hooded Menance - Labyrinth of Carrion Breeze These finns have been making heavy-as-fuck horror inspired doom/death metal for 7 years now, and ever since their demo they've released doom/death metal in its purest form. The majority of their songs have been about The Blind Dead film-series, but they've got songs influenced by other films as well. This is an EP consisting of two songs at 10 and 7,5 minutes, inspired by the cult horror film Cry of the Banshee, and they manage to create much of the same atmosphere as the film does. This is dark, heavy and ugly, yet melodic, doom/death metal at its very best. This will crush your bones! Best song of the album can be heard here: Chasm of the Wraith Nocturnal - Storming Evil Nocturnal has been giving us great teutonic thrash metal for 14 years now, but despite that this is just their third full lenght. If you like classic, German thrash like old Destruction, Kreator and Sodom, you'll like this. This is a total thrash assault, giving us 45 minutes of amazing thrash metal riffs. This album ain't nothing but riffs. This is a comlete riff-o-rama. If you like badass riffs, then you'll love this album. I wish the production was a bit rougher, though, as it is a tad to clean for this kind of music IMO. It could also have been 5-7 minutes shorter, despite everything being great. But thrash metal albums doesn't need to go past the 40 minute mark, no matter how great the music is. I can't think of many thrash metal albums among the 30 best that are more than 40-41 minutes long, and there's a reason for that. EVÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄL!!! Best song of the album can be heard here: Blessed Death Mansion - The Mansion Congregation Hymns Vol​.​1 Mansion is another of those female fronted occult doom/rock bands that's been rising the past decade or so, and they impressed me very much with their debut EP last year. It's a fine mix of doom, rock and heavy metal, often sounding like a Jex Thoth rip off. Which, to me at least, is nothing but positive. Very much so as well. The Mansion Congregation is a two song EP and starts off with the hard rocking Wild Child, which is 100% rocking, and nothing more. It's a fine song with a great chorus. Catchy as fuck. The second song, New Dawn, is on the slower side. It's an atmospheric song, but it's still catchy. The chorus is damn fine! Best song of the album can be heard here: New Dawn In Solitude - Serpents are Rising The title song here, Serpents are Rising, are from their critically acclaimed second album, The World. The Flesh. The Devil, released in 2011. Since their debut in 2008 these guys have risen and evolved from a very Iron Maiden and Mercyful Fate inspired sound to a heavy metal/death rock sound, more just as inspired by Samhain, Sisters of Mercy and Fields of the Nephilim. Sister, released just last year, was a unique heavy metal album and their best to date. Serpents are Rising is just a single comsisting of one damn good original song, and an even better cover song of already mentioned Samhain. Mother of Mercy is just as good as the classic, original song, if not better, and that just shows how great this is. Not many can cover a classic song written and sung by Danzig, and improve on it. Very, very few, if none, have done that before In Solitude. It's damn great! Best song of the album can be heard here: Mother of Mercy (Samhain cover) Nunslaughter / Acid Witch - Spooky This is a split between the cult death metallers Nunslaughter and the horror ridden death/doomers Acid Witch. Unlike most splits, this split ain't your regular one band on side A - the other band on side B type of thing. This split is divided into genres. Side A is DOOM and side B is DEATH, and both bands have one song each on both sides. On side A Nunslaughter gives you heavy, doomy death metal in the vein of Asphyx and Autopsy. Not their usual brand of death metal, but they done it well here. Heavy as fuck. Acid Witch gives you their usual brand of horror inspired death/doom with brilliant, horror inspired keybord over it. Side B is pure death metal hell, and this is where Acid Witch surprises. The song doesn't reach the level of awesomeness of "Evil", but it's a surprising song in that it is completely different than anything they've done before. Thrashy death metal with horror inspired keyboard over it. The thing I find very funny here is that the band seems to have written eachothers lyrics on side A. Acid Witch usually have lyrics about horror, witchcraft and drugs, while Nunslaughter usually have lyrics about satan, blasphemy and anti-christianity. However, on side A Acid Witch gives us bible bashing madness while Nunslaughter gives us lyrics about horror. Awesome! And since this is a split I'll take one song from each band: Best song of the album can be heard here: Acid Witch - Evil Best song of the album can be heard here: Nunslaughter - Spooky Tails Sargeist - Feeding the Crawling Shadows Sargeist is one of Shatraug thousand active bands (not actually a thousand, though. Seventeen is more like it), and one of my favourite bands of his. Let the Devil In was Sargeist's previous album, and while being good, it was almost too catchy. It was polished and just too nice really. That's why it isn't played much anymore. I just got tired of it. This however sees Sargeist return more to their roots. The production is way rawer and while the music is the same as always, it just doesn't feel as catchy. It's way thicker on atmosphere and it suits this band very well. It has more in common with their debut, and the debut being my favourite of theirs that's obviously a very ositive thing. Great album! Best song of the album can be heard here: The Shunned Angel The Great Old Ones - Tekeli-Li I liked the debut very much from these guys, but it wasn't a masterpiece. Neither is this, but it is even better than the debut. This is Lovecraftian post-black metal and at times you can feel the Lovecraft influence in this album. It's a damn atmospheric album which is a bit better than the debut on every aspect of the album. This is a damn fine album! Best song of the album can be heard here: Behind the Mountains Portrait - Crossroads These guys are known Mercyful Fate/King Dimaond worshippers, which is why I felt a bit disappointed by this album. I mean, fuck, it's a damn fine album, but with this they've gone a few steps away from the Mercyful Fate/King Diamond worship they've done previously. I think this is a great album, and as soon as I got used to the progressive sound of this album I really started to appreciate this album way more than in the begining. It's grows a lot! Evil, occult heavy metal really is my cup of tea. Best song of the album can be heard here: In Time Spell - The Full Moon Sessions Spell plays dark, dirty and occult heavy metal with a touch of originality. You won't have any problems hearing which band this is if someone put on the record. Not all songs are amazing, but the worst songs on the album is very solid and the best ones are nothing short of amazing. Best song of the album can be heard here: Electric Witchery Vintersorg - Naturbål With Cosmic Genesis, released in 2000, Vintersorg moved away from his well-known folk metal sound and stepped into progressive territory, and lyrically he moved from nature and paganism to cosmos. While there was still elements of both the folk and black metal sound in the music, it was a huge change and while a good album, it's inferior to the three albums relesed before it. With each album he got gradually worse and reached a low with the progressive The Focusing Blur. Not bad, just not very good either. Then came Solens rötter. We were promised an album that would be back to the roots with folky metal and lyrics in Swedish. Well, it was a bit folkier, and it had Swedish lyrics, but it wasn't much about it that reminded anyone about the good, ol' days. With that album I stopped checking out his new albums. He also got gradually more annoying vocal-wise, and went to become awful in both Vintersorg and Borknagar (both bands got worse with each release anyway, so it did not matter). I accidently came over his promo video for Lågornas rov and it was such a surprise. Once again he was playing around with folky black metal with a progressive and symphonic touch, and it was by far the best song he had done since Ödermarkens son. The album is amazing, and VIntersorg finally sings good again as well. The album feels like the natural follow-up to Ödermarkens son. Well-written and interesting songs with lots of catches, fantastic choruses, a production with a few, lovely faults and great vocals. His best album since Ödermarkens son, and perhaps even better than that, and a natural follow-up without him just copying himself. Because of this I also decided to check out Jordpuls and Orkan, and he got more and more back to his roots with each album. Neither are nearly as good as this, though. The best track of the album can be heard here: Lågornas rov Boneyard - Fear of a Zombie Planet Boneyard is the latest project from Noel Kemper, best known for his work with fantastic grindcore acts like Altar of GIallo and Gruesome Stuff Relish. Boneyard plays old school grindcore in the vein of Impetigo. This is 100% Impetigo worship, and it's damn fucking good. Original? No, there's not a single hint of originality here. But it's Impetigo-worship done in such a manner that it should be impossible for any Impetigo-maniacs not to enjoy it. The production ain't top notch, especially the drums sounds weak as fuck. Should've gotten himself a drummer to assist him on this. But everything else is so good it's impossible not to enjoy it. Great album! Easily one of the best album covers of the year as well. Horror! The best track of the album can be heard here: Rise of the Dead 7/10: High Spirits - High Spirits The debut album of this heavyrock act was catchyness in its purest form, and it was a display on how to write one überatchy song after another. It was almost too much of the good, so when I heard that the follow-up was on its way I was stoked as fuck. And the first song they published, The Last Night, is a really good and really catchy song, so I just assumed the rest of the album would be to. But god, was I disappointed. The Last Night is one of two songs on this album I'll dare to call eally catchy, the rest? Not so much. As with Portrait I am sure it'll grow on me, because this is a well-written heavyrock album with great songs, but I was a bit let down when I heard it. But I'll get used to it, and this will grow on me. Best song of the album can be heard here: The Last Night Behemoth - The Satanist Behemoth makes a return to form after spending the last 10 years releasing one album after another with overproduced shit. This as well is a bit overproduced, but it doesn't sound as plastic as the previous 3-4 albums, and it has good songs and improved vocals from Nergal, and finally they've gone a bit back to their roots and included way more black metal again. It was about time since it what they do the best. It's not a great album, but it's a good one and hopefully these guys will continue down this path. Best song of the album can be heard here: O Father O Satan O Sun! Kriegsmaschine - Enemy of Man This band is often compared to the fantastic Polish black metal band Mgla because of M. and Darkside (and previous member Daren) who're all members of Mgla, but except for the production, this doesn't have much in common with Mgla. This is way different than Mgla, and a bit different than the previous Kriegsmaschine albums. This is black metal, but there's no blasting or double bass here. And you won't find those dark, melodic riffs here, that you find in Mgla. This is evil-sounding, disharmonic black metal with a thick atmosphere that just reeks of suffering, death and dest uction. The drumming on this album is exceptional! It is truly out of the ordinary. Best song of the album can be heard here: To Ashen Havens Slough Feg - Digital Resistance This band is very hit and miss for me. They've never released anything bad, but they're not on top often either, and the only album I keep getting back to over and over and over is Traveller, which to me is a modern classic. Slough Feg got their own sound early on, and they've kina developed that a bit with every album, but they've never taken massive steps in any direction. They've just kept doing what they're good at, and what they know. They're like a mix of Manilla Road, Iron Maiden, Rainbow (with Dio) and Thin Lizzy. The first song we got to hear from this album was the fanfuckintastic Laser Enforcer, which reminds me a lot of Traveller. The rest doesn't live up to the greatness of this song, and that's disappointing. But it's still a very good album, and Slough Feg's second best album to date. Catchy as fuck! Best song of the album can be heard her: Laser Enforcer Sorcier des Glaces - Ritual of the End Sorcier des Glaces hails from Québec, a city that is being well known for having an amazing amount of great black metal bands nowadays, and their name translates to Wizard of Ice, a name that is very fitting band for a band like this. SDG plays ice cold, primitive and atmosheric black metal that at the same timel manages to be both majestic and grandiose. The songwriting is excellent, but the production does hold this album back a lot. The snare is way too loud in the mix and doesn't sound very well. The bass drum doesn't sound good either. They both sounds very plasticy, and that ruins a lot of the fun here. This is an album that deserves a more lo-fi production. But if you like bands such as Fortresse and Evilfeast, you might as well check out this album. Best song of the album can be heard here: The Frozen Sword of Midnight Woods of Desolation - As the Stars I love this band, but I have to admit I've been a bit disappointed with both albums released after their fantastic debut, Toward the Depths, and the fantastic EP following that album, Sorh. I think Woods of Desolation's previous album, Torn Beyond Reason, was a great album, just not on par with neither Toward the Depths or Sorh. Toward the Depths or Sorh both had this feeling of hopelessness, solitude and sorrow, which was something Torn Beyond Reason lacked. Torn Beyond Reason, to me at least, sounds like a more positive record. While Toward the Depths or Sorh sounds like the soundtrack to someone misrable who's missed everything, and who's got nothing to live for, Torn Beyond Reason sounds like the soundtrack to someone who's found light at the end of the tunnel and that has something to look forward to, that has this glimse of hope. Yeah, that's is painfully bad written and cheesy as fuck, but that's how I feel. As the Stars follows Torn Beyond Reason, just with a even bigger light at the end of the tunnel. It's warmer, more beautiful. It's not as depressive as its precending album, which again wasn't as depressive as its precending album. But it's a good album, and one that sure will evoke some emotions in you. Best song of the can be heard here: Withering Field Hypothermia - Självdestruktivitet född av monotona tankegångar IV: Warakumbla This EP is a 22 minutes long instrumental song that takes you on a journey through dark woods and hopelessness. Hypothermia plays depressive black metal, and is by far one of the best in the genre. They started out as a pute depressive black metal band but have evolved their sound a lot since the begining, and slowly started incorporating post-rock into their music. This is much of the same that we got on both Gråtoner and the 70 minute long instrumental Skogens hjärta, but with less black metal. It's damn atmospheric, and even though both this and Skogens hjärta is two damn fine songs, I just can't help but miss Kim's painful and sparse shrieks. That's what's missing here. But even without vocals, it's a damn good song. Best song of the can be heard here: Självdestruktivitet född av monotona tankegångar IV: Warakumbla Agalloch - The Serpent & the Sphere As Agalloch never released anything below amazing before this, I was obviously looking forward to this and expecting something great. Well, there's always a first and this was the first time Agalloch has disappointed me. Not because it is bad, but because it doesn't live up to their previous albums, and fora first time they haven't reinvented themself. The whole album sounds like a compilation of riffs written around Pale Folklore and The Mantle, but that didn't make either of the albums because they weren't seen as good enough. Then in 2014 they felt like they had to release something new, and they picked up all the old, unused riffs and just threw them together, and the result was this. It's disappointing. It doesn't feel fresh, it doesn't feel very inspired and it just doesn't sound too good. It's not bad, and I have to admit that it has grown on me a lot since I first heard it (jumped from 6 to 7 with a few listens), and it might grow a lot more with more listens. But as of now, I am not too impressed. It's not bad, but it's not amazing either. The magic is gone, to put it like that. It's not enchanting, like all their other albums are. And after the fantastic Faustian Echoes, an EP that was original, dark, fresh and amazing, I had also hoped they would continue down that path. That might have a big role in my disappointment as well. Best song of the can be heard here: Dark Matter Gods 6/10 Coffin Dust - This Cemetery, My Kingdom A good death/thrash/crossover album in the vein of Ghoul. It's just a fun deathrashing album with zero originality or anything like that. But if you enjoy the liked of Ghoul and Frightmare you'll enjoy this. This is not on par with those bands, though. The song writing isn't up and and neither are the production which is a bit weird. And the album is 10-15 minutes too long. Best song of the album can be heard here: Ancient Rites of Buried Evil Morbus Chron - Sweven Good album, but a huge disappointment. This will be the disappointment of the year I think. Their demo, Splendour of Disease, first EP, Creepy Creeping Creeps, and debut album, Sleepers in the Rift, are some of the best death metal produced post 1989 IMO. Masterpieces! They were unoriginal, but so well-written and great I can't hail them enough. Then came A Saunter Through the Shroud, which is a solid EP, but a huge disappointment. They found a more original sound for themself and became a lot more progressive and playful. I was disappointed, but it was still a good progressive death metal album. Sweven however, is just... I don't know. Mediore? 80% of the album sounds the same and the songwriting is pretty boring and predictable. It's all the same. There's barely any death metal left, and they've gone all Opeth with this album. It's not a bad album, but it's not that good either. Amazing at its best, but it rarely hit the top and that's the problem. Best song of the album can be heard here: Chains Vampire - Vampire Vampire causted quite a stir in the underground with their 2012 demo, and I was among them who was damn impressed. But me, I wasn't just impressed. I was in shock over how amazing the demo was. Despite being just a demo, it was one of the best death metal releases ever made, and I even went as far as calling it a classic after listening to it just once, and that's something I still stand by. The songwriting was close to perfect and the production was perfect. Vampire is Vampire's first full lenght, and the songs are great. None of the new songs matches the four songs found on the demo, but they're still good. The production however, isn't. It's way too polished. It lacks the ugly rawness of the demo. It probably deserves a point more or so, but I just can't. I'm too disappointed. I don't get how a death metal band, especially considering how fucking 80's the music is, can be happy with a production like this. It doesn't make any sense at all. Best song of the album can be heard here: At Midnight I'll Possess Your Corpse Newly added: 05.05.14 - Hooded Menance, Kriegsmaschine, Nocturnal and Slough Feg 06.05.14 - Sorcier des Glaces, Woods of Desolation, Mansion, Hypothermia, In Solitude, Vampire, Nunslaughter / Acid Witch and Sargeist 15.05.14 - Salem's Pot 20.05.14 - The Great Old Ones, Spell 06.07.14 - Pharrell Williams - Girl 07.07.14 - Vintersorg - Naturbål 15.07.14 - Agalloch - The Serpent & the Sphere 23.07.14 - Boneyard - Fear of a Zombie Planet

I haven't been watching many movies lately, but I finally saw something again: Streets of Fire - God damn, this film is so fucking cheesy, rock 'n' roll and badass. It's a mix of the 50's and 80's. The dialogue is tough, but in a 1950's kind of way. It's like this was first written in the 50's, then rewritten in the 80's and finally made. The dialogue and a few other elements oozes of the 50's, while the neot lit streets, 80's rock and other elements just oozes f the 80's. This is a film that deserved so much more attention than what it got. Badass film with a great soundtrack. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cJk61DfPOug https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LwjtYdlX5lQ And look at these posters, guys. You just don't get things like these anymore: Amazing! I am really looking forward to the unofficial sequel, Road to Hell, that came a few years back. It's supossed to be great from what I hear.

I thought about mentioning Umberto alongside Noir Deco and Perturbator meself, but as I get more 70's horror feeling by the band I decided not to. But From the Grave is a great album, and it gives me massive Goblin-vibes, which is very positive.

Noir Deco fits perfectly here, and is one of the darker bands I talked about. While the others mentioned are bands that you could've used as a soundtrack to Miami Vice, Streets of Fire and such, Noir Deco, Perturbator and those are these bands that you could use as a soundtrack to darker films/series such as Blade Runner, The Terminator, Akira, Escape from New York and so on. Noir Deco is included on one of the songs from the LP i posted a few posts up. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lRXu-bR8RGs This bandcamp has a shitload of great artists within the genre: https://future80s.bandcamp.com/ Haven't checked out all, but Cluster Buster, Niky Nine, Absolute Valentine, Tokyo Rider and Midnight Driver are all great IMO.

I'll continue this thead trying to get some attention towards this. John Carpenter and Tangerine Dream might be the most influential artists on this genre, even though the mid 00's French house scene was THE biggest inspiration as a whole (I guess). Both made plenty of soundtracks in the 80's (Carpenter is a legendary director himself, and he made the soundtracks to his own films), and when you listen to the soundtracks to films such as Thief (Tangerine Dream) and Escape From New York (Carpenter) you'll hear that synthwave sound, but they were often a bit darken than todays synthwave bands, even though you'll find darker ones today as well. Both films are very recommended as well! Tangerine Dream (from Thief): John Carpenter (from Escape from New Yourk): You can clearly hear the influence they had on this genre. Amazing! I'll add one of my all time favourite pictures as well. Kavinsky and Daft Punk:

I also pre-ordered this beauty the other day: It was sold out in a few hours. 100 black and 200 splatter versions. I chose the splatter one because it looks so damn sexy. Fucking awesome! I am so looking forward to it being released and me getting it. Mmmmh!