Bear

Like too many times earlier this year I've barely checked out any music at all, but the few releases I've checked out have been great. Hexenslaught - Demo 2016 I wrote about this fantastic demo a couple of months back, but it actually wasn't released before august. Raw death metal in the vein of Necrovore, Incubus og Morbid Angel demos. This demo sounds like 1987, and if someone had told me this was a lost gem from the mid-late 80's I'd have believed them. Brilliant demo! http://invictusproductions666.bandcamp.com/album/demo-2016 Joel Grind - Fatal Planet Joel Grind (solo project of Joel Grind of Toxic Holocaust fame) started out as a band where he could release some music that didn't belong under the Toxic Holocaust name and it started with a black/speed metal album in 2013, inspired by the likes of Bathory, Sodom, Hellhammer, Bulldozer and Motörhead, before he released a raw, fuzzy and acid-drenched surf rock split with legendary Davie Allan. His new EP, Fatal Planet, steps into the world of ambient/electronica and gives us two track of synth-music inspired by the likes of John Carpenter, Fabio Frizzi and Tangerine Dream. Might be his very best release till now. http://joelgrind.bandcamp.com/album/fatal-planet Bewitcher - Bewitcher Rocking black/speed metal in the vein of Midnight, Joel Grind, Bathory, Venom and more. Unoriginal as fuck, but they sure as fuck delivers some great tracks that's sure to make you headbang and get out that ice cold six-pack that's standing in your fridge. http://bewitcher.bandcamp.com/ I'll come back later with a few words about Abigail's new album "The Final Damnation" as soon as I've heard it. The one track I've heard is excellent and I can not see this album not deserving a spot on my list this month. Really looking forward to this album.

Finished The Get Down and thought it was very good. Episode one was a bit better than the rest, but the series was great from start to finish. Very satisfying series with a fantastic setting, lots of cool music and nice, colourful characters. The last battle was so fucking cool! Jesus, I think I've watched that ten time already. Amazing! Looking forward to part 2 of season 1. Shame we'll have to wait until 2017 though.

I think they're pretty shit, to be honest. I like Something Wild and Hatebreeder, and I can tolerate Follow the Reaper, but everything after Follow the Reaper is a big, fat turn. It's just awful.

Fuck me, this is just sounding too god damned good. This could easily turn out to be the best Alcest release since Le Secret if the rest of the album is as good as the two tracks we've heard. Magnificent!

G.I.S.M.

Watched Stranger Things this week and thought it was utterly fantastic through and through. Alongside True Detective season 1 this is the best thing that's happened TV since The Wire. As a whole the series is a big, fat homage to the great 80's, and while it feels very familiar, it still feels so different and unique. It feels like The Goonies, Stand By Me and E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial meets Poltergeist, The Thing and Encounters of the Third Kind, with a bit of Silent Hill and Dark Souls/Bloodborne on top, mostly due to some of its visual style and atmosphere. Great story, piss-fucking-cool characters, great cast and a top notch soundtrack to top it all. Brilliant! Also watched the first episode of The Get Down just now. Thought it was fantastic. Cool, funky and groovy. I'll be quite surprised if they manage to keep this quality throughout the show, but if they do we're talking a future classic here. What an episode. A tour de force of awesome!

Holy shit, that cover art is good. That's actually brilliant. It's the cover of Gatecreeper's (very cool bandname too!) debut album, Sonoran Depravation. Groovy mid-tempo death metal in the vein of Entombed, Dismember, Bolt Thrower, Obituary and more. Sounds great.

I haven't seen Don't Breathe, but I have been looking forward to this film since Fede Alvarez first mentioned it years ago. Even without having seen either the film or a single clip from it I won't hesitate to call it a modern horror masterpiece. I just know it. I can feel it. A must-see for sure.

Been watching a lot of older (spaghetti) westerns from 65-75 lately and had a good time, one of the coolest was The Stranger and the Gunfighter starring Lee Van Cleef and Lo Lieh, at the time one of the biggest stars in China. The Stranger and the Gunfighter offers a nice mix of classic spaghetti western, traditional Hong Kong martial arts and comedy, and it works really well. Neither Lee Van Cleef or Li Lieh are comedians and a lot of the comedy is very off-beat and off in general, but it does add a lot of charm to the film. I really enjoyed this film! Both Lee Van Cleef and Lo Lieh are really good here, and Julián Ugarte is superb as the religious fanatic that works against them. Superb! It's a Shaw Brothers. (and some Italian company) production and was released in 1974, the same year Shaw Brothers. and Hammer Horror released the genre-bender The Legend of the 7 Golden Vampires. Both films are super underrated too. Love these films!

Botanisk hage on repeat. Dickwashers!

Pictures from the short European tour with the brilliant Norwegians In The Woods... this month. Looks like they put a good show on as usual. What a band!

I like Deafheaven and all, but those are the worst, most unfitting moves I've evern seen anyone do on stage. Was supossed to see them live at the last day of Pstereo last saturday but decided not to buy tickets because I didn't think they would be good enough to pay all that money just for these guys, and after seeing that I'm very happy about it, and I can see I did the right thing. Eeeeew!

Holy shit, I am so looking forward to Shin Godzilla (aka Godzilla Resurgence) now. The very few pictures I've seen looks very good, and Godzilla haven't looked this awesome in many, many, many years. They've used mostly CGI, puppets and animatronics as far as I know, but it actually looks like a dude in a rubber suit, and it seems like they are trying to evoke a feeling of classic Godzilla with it. I love how deformed and ugly he looks, and on top of that he looks really fucking mean and angry. It actually looks like the complete opposite of the american Godzilla which looks cute, happy and nice, on top of being "perfect" and smooth. Fucking hate the look of the american Godzilla. But this new Japanese one looks like a fucking beast. Looking forward to the anime film too.

CUNT!

Both, can't answer anything else. Can't choose a favourite as they both do the work, but at different times.

It would be easier and take me less time to name the genres I don't like/can't stand: Danseband Deathcore That's it as far as I know.

I sure will do. Have you seen Na Hong-jins two other films, The Yellow Sea and The Chaser? They're both more in the land of thrillers and mystery than horror (neither are close to being horror), but both are excellent. Which is why my expectations to The Wailing is sky high.

I've barely seen any horror movies of 2016. Jesus. Hush (8/10) Huset (6/10) 10 Cloverfield Lane (7/10) That's actually it. But I do have a lot on my watchlist, though. Can't wait to see some of them, especially these: The Neon Demon 31 Blair Witch Phantasm: Ravager Trash Fire Under the Shadow The Void Don't Breathe Lights Out The Conjuring 2 The Wailing I expect The Conjuring 2, The Wailing, Don't Breathe, Lights Out or The Neon Demon to be the best horror of the year. But I think all these will be good, as well as some others I won't mention right now.

Second day of Pstereo yesterday. Another great evening with some good acts, lots of beer and lovely weather. The band with the ridiculous name Kakkmaddafakka was playing when I arrived so I had a look at them, but I wasn't impressed at all. Not bad, but quite boring. 5/10 The duo in Barren Womb was next up and they gave a solid performance. Nothing breathtaking, but good and fun. 6/10 Next up was legendary Thursten Moore and his The Thurston Moore Group, and he did nothing wrong. Not a single mistake from either him or the three others. Great gig, but way too short. 45 minutes isn't close to being enough for something like this. 8/10 Next up was Uncle Acid and the Deadbeats, the main reason why I went this year. Been a fan ever since I downloaded the super limited Volume 1 back in 2010 and I've been wanting to see these guys since forever now. And holy cow, these guys did not disappoint me at all. Great set list (which is quite obvious since they've never done a single poor song), a great performance and good sound. Second best of the festival. 9/10 Veronica Maggio offered some lighthearted pop in the sunshine and took me by surprise. I wasn't quite sure who or what this chick offered, but I had lots of fun. Enjoyed it quite a lot, and it was only towards the end that I realised that I knew one of her songs, Måndagsbarn, which is fantastic. Yeah, good shit! 8/10 Hudson Mohawke was next and gave a superb performance. I wasn't familiar with the guy from before, but this was another great gig. 8/10 Highasakite got the honour of ending day two, and from what I remember they were amazing. I can recall the first 45 minutes clear as the day, but there's a few black holes for the second part of the gig. There's a lot of holes. But from what I remember, 9/10. Another great Pstereo, and I am actually happy I didn't get a ticket for today, day three. Jesus. I'm destroyed. Just waiting to die.

Went to day one of the anual Pstereo yesterday. Some great bands, lots of beer and lovely weather. Didn't know too many bands this evening, though, but I was positively surprised by several acts. First band I actually saw was RGB Unit, a group I've never heard before. Funky, disco-pop. Liked it, as it worked really well in the sun. 6/10 Next up was All Them Witches, a band I'm unfamiliar with but yet had some expectations to, mainly because of the band name. Started off well, but I got a bit tired of it as the concert went on. Decent, but musically a bit too all over the place for me. 6/10 Next up I had to choose between two unknown acts for me, Ary and Postaal. My gut told me to go see Ary, what the fuck that may be,, and I did not regret that decision. By far the best concert of the evening! Electropop with a phenomenal vocalist in form of charming, 21 year olf female Ary. She sings amazing throughout the concert, looks comfortable in the way she dances around the scene for the entire set and have lots of attitude. Despite only doing music for a couple of years, and probably doing concerts for a far shorter amount of time, she looks and sounds like a girl who's been on stage for 40 years. Exceptional! 9/10 Lars Vaular was next. Hip hop in norwegian. I never got the hype around this guy, but decided to check it out anyway. It was good. I'm only familiar with one of his songs, Gary Speed, but I am not quite sure if I like this song because it's good or because it's awesome that he's made a song about a football player I've always loved. Anyway, surprisingly well gig with lots of attitude. Ended the whole shit with Gary Speed wich was cool as fuck. 7/10 Black Moon Circle was next up and I felt ready for some psychedelia, but these guys just didn't hit me at all. It wasn't bad, but I think I would've enjoyed it a lot more if I knew the songs they played. Loved the backdrop, though, with a man handling some colour fluids on stage. Was really cool. 6/10 Sigur Ros ended the evening and this was the main reason I was there, but after 20 minutes of massive boredom I decided to just run and catch my bus for free instead of paying 6-700 for a cab later on. I'm sure it got better, but the first 20 minutes was ridiculous. Worst I've ever see live. Anyway, had a great time and looking forward to day 2 today.

Oh shit, that new Darkthrone song rips. A lot blacker than I had expected, and I actually get a slight Hate Them feeling from this. Culto sounds fantastic too!

The new Cult of Fire track is excellent. Can't wait! Darkthrone is releasing something new soon too: 1. Tundra Leach - 05:02 2. Burial Bliss - 04:59 3. Boreal Fiends - 05:50 4. Inbred Vermin - 05:49 5. Arctic Thunder - 04:41 6. Throw Me Through the Marshes - 05:00 7. Deep Lake Tresspass - 04:48 8. The Wyoming Distance - 03:14 I've enjoyed the fuck out of recent Darkthrone and can't wait for this. Really looking forward to this. And the namedropping of those specific albums by Dream Death, Black Sabbath, Candlemass and Sacrilege is turning me on. Hell yeah!

I finally got around to watch Adjust Your Tracking: The Untold Story of the VHS Collector today, one of two documentaries about VHS and their collectors that was released back in 2013, with the other one being the excellent Rewind This! If you have seen Rewind This! then Adjust Your Tracking doesn't offer anything new at all, and in all honesty it's not quite as good either. But it's still great fun, especially the interviews with random collectors and so on. It offers lots of great, interesting and fun info. Was very surprised to see Matthew "Putrid" Carr in this, but considering his artwork and love for death metal I wasn't surprised by him being into this kind of stuff. He's made some cool artwork for bands such as Acid Witch, Anatomia, Autopsy, Cianide, Hooded Menace and more. Worth a look for sure. Loved it!

Finally watched Green Room the other day. I've been puting this aside for a long time now to try to lower my expectations, but it didn't work to be quite honest. His second film, Blue Ruin, is a masterpiece and I just didn't think he'd manage to follow it up with something as good, and he didn't. But he wasn't too far away, and the only thing seperating the two films as far as quality goes is Blue Ruins' lead actor Macon Blair, its sombre atmosphere and originality. This film also had Macon Blair, who did superbly, but his role was much more limited sadly. But Green Room did live up to my sky high expectations. Violent, raw and intense horror/crime with a badass soundtrack (Poison Idea, Napalm Death, Midnight, Dead Kennedys (cover), Obituary, Slayer, Bad Brains, Creedence Clearwater Revival) and more, a fantastic script, a bunch of fantastic actors and super awesome gore. But there's nothing not to like here. What a movie! Jesus, absolutely brilliant!

I spend it wisely.