Bear

It took me a long time to start enjoying Vektor, but I'm slowly becoming a big fan of the band and this might be the best thing I've heard from the guys so far. I enjoy both full-lenghts, but I find both heavily flawed. Some of the time signatures and complexity have always felt a bit forced to me, as if they're there just because they want to do something "weird" and "special" and not because they actually add anything to the song. And judging from the new songs they've released, they seem to take a step or two away from the Obliveon- and Coroner-sound they've had and lean a bit more towards straighter death/thrash like Destruction, Sadus, Atheist and Hellwitch. Still progressive, but a lot straighter and way more natural IMO. Also, superb cover art once again. Digging their sci-fi theme. Sci-fi is always awesome!

Run All Night - Liam Neeson stars as Liam Neeson in this action-thriller, playing a very similar role he's done a lot lately. Liam Neeson stars as a worn out, badass motherfucker ready to fuck things and people up. He's basically playing a similar character to the one he did in Taken 1, 2 and 3, Unknown, Non-Stop and probably more films, and as in all those he does a fine job. But the film is predictable and is never interesting in giving you more than the usual, which is fine for me. It works well enough. Entertaining, but never a masterpiece. Assassination - Great South-Korean espionage-action with incredible action scenes, the type of action of rarely see in films like this anymore. Beautifully crafted, exceptionally choreographed, violent and bloody. The cast is strong, the direction stronger and the script very good. The film might be a bit too long and a tad too complex for its own good, and there's probably a few characters too many. You almost need to take notes to follow 'em all, who they are and all that. But if you manage to pay close attention to the film for its 140 minutes runtime, you'll manage. I sure did, and I sure as hell liked this film. Really intense and epic, and again, the action sequences are phenomenal!!! The kind of scenes you won't see in any massive-Hollywood-productions similar to this. Refreshing! I was very impressed by Jun Ji-hyun, Ha Jung-woo, Lee Jung-jae and Cho Jin-woong in this film. Great performances, and Jun Ji-hyun's is worthy of an oscar. Incredible! The film is almost overly patriotic though. The patriotism is way over the top here, and the message is basicall "Korea is good, Japan is very, very bad!!!". Heh. Choi Dong-hoon is a very good director. Can't wait to see more of him.

Cult progressive thrash/avant-grde rockers Doom are returning with a new album and their first release since 1999. I can't say I have any big expectations for this, but their first few releases are fantastic. If you enjoy bands like Voivod, Gargoyle and Vektor you sure should check out their first two albums and EPs.

http://joelgrind.bandcamp.com/album/davie-allan-joel-grind-split Toxic Holocaust mainman Joel Grind is releaseing a new split under his Joel Grind monicker. He released the fantastic Motörhead, Venom and Bathory influenced speed/black metal masterpiece The Yellowgoat Sessions in 2013, as well as a few singles, and now he finally returns with two track of fuzzed out surf rock in a split together with legendary surf rock guitarist Davie Allan. I like both tracks presented on the bandcamp page, and I really look forward to hearing the two others. Two great artists here! Also: Joel Grin > Toxic Holocaust post-Hell on Earth Fact!

Fuck yeah, brah! Other than that: Run the Jewels - Run the Jewels 3 Rude (TBA)Ri Ripper - Experiment of Existence These four are the albums I can think of right now that I really look forward to.

I usually listen to a lot of ambient and (neo)folk when I focus on something special, often instrumental bands/artists or albus with very little vocals. Albums that tend to get to get plenty playtime under those circumstances: Mortiis - The Song of a Long Forgotten Ghost Mortiis - Ånden som gjorde opprør Mortiis - Født til å herske Mortiis - Keiser av en dimension ukjent Vond - Selvmord Wongraven - Fjelltronen Nest - Trail of the Unwary Hagalaz' Runedance - The Winds That Sang of Midgard's Fate Ildjarn - Hardangervidda Karl Sanders - Saurian Meditation Karl Sanders - Saurian Exorcisms And more or less everything by Paysage d'Hiver, but this type of lo-fi black metal ain't for most people at all. But it sure does it for me. A lot of these albums tend to bore people to tears, though. So it mgiht not be your cup of tea at all.

Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon: Sword of Destiny - No less than 15 years have gone since Ang Lee's epic wuxia Crouching Tiger, Hiden Dragon took the world by storm and introduced flying humans beings with incredible skills to castual cinema goers in the west, and more or less started a small storm of classic wuxia-releases for the next few years, the films sees a sequel, directed by none other than legend Yen Woo-Ping, starring Donnie Yen and the only returning cast members, Michelle Yeoh. I liked the film quite a lot, but I totally understand the disappointment of the general Chinese audience, fans of the original film and fans of wuxia in general. But despite all this greatness, it's a heavily flawed film. To use a word I am not too fan of at all, it's very "americanized" (in lack of a better word). It's quite obvious from early on that this film tagets a completely different audience than the original film. The wuxia-elements are toned down, its characters and story is very simplified in many ways, and the fact that they speak English feels just plain weird, and not only does it feel very out of plae in a wuxia, but the chemestry and acting itself seems to get dragged down by it. Like they have to use too much brain and concentration on the language itself. You have a film like Sukiyaki Western Django who went for the same thing, just with engrish instead of english but unlike CTHD:SoD it helped the film because of the already cheesy and silly tone of the film. This is a serious film, SWD wasn't- And the films feels very modern and digital, something that annoys me a lot. There's also a few films that would work better in a classic Jackie Chan-comedy than in a wuxia. Another low-point is that the film is shot in New Zealand, and some shots reminds me a lot of The Lord of the Rings. They're basically like taken straight outta LotR, while the classic Chinese parts are CGI. It doesn't look awful, but it looks very digital and out of place in a film like this. The visuals is also toned down, removing the classic wuxia-feeling from it. But one of the reasons why this worked for me is the fact that I am a huge fanboy of Yuen Woo-ping, Donnie Yen, Michelle Yeoh and wuxia in general. I had lots of fun with it. But at the end of the day what we have here is wuxia for people who aren't familiar with the genre or simply don't really enjoy it at all. The original, Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon has a truly special place in my heart, though. It wasn't my first wuxia as I grew up watching a lot of action films, among them plenty chinese martial arts film. But back then all martial arts films were kung fu or karate film. Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon was the one that introduced me to the genre itself, making me understand what it is all about, along with Hero and The House of Flying Daggers. Majestic films, but unlike everyone else I have Hero as my favourite.

You shouldn't drink to forget something or erase someone from your memory. It's never gonna work, And even if it helps, it's only for a few hours a time, and it's a poor solution. Time's the only thing that'll heal/help with those things. Save the alcohol for good times.

I'm surprised by the popularity of this thread. Christ. Anyway, tonight! Fuck, this is gonna be great. Will not be surprised if this ends up as the musical highlight of the year for me. WOuldn't be surprised at all.

I'm seeing Ghost live again tomorrow and thought it was about time this brilliant band got their own thread on the forum. I've followed Ghost since the release of their debut single Elizabeth, and I've enjoyed every release since then. Ghost is a big fucking circus with great music, and live they're a force of their own. Few bands can match the live shows of Ghost in 2016. As far as their live shows goes the most natural comparison would be Rammstein, rather than bands like Black Sabbath, Iron Maiden and Foo Fighters. I think all three albums are top quality, but if I had to rate them: 1. Infestissumam Ghost goes pop-rock. Infestissumam sounds like a mix of Abba, Roky Erickson and with very little hard rock and heavy metal. Catchy as fuck. Only flaw is the weak production. Too polished and over-produced, but the brilliance of everything else makes up for it. Hightlights: Year Zero, Ghuleh / Zombie Queen and Monstrance Clock. 2. Opus Eponymous A hard rocking mix of Blue Öyster Cult, Black Sabbath and Mercyful Fate, though Mercyful Fate is named more or less only because of the atmosphere and feeling of the album. Highlights: Ritual, Elizabeth and Stand by Him. 3. Meliora By far their heaviest album IMO. An adventurous dig into progressive rock, heavy metal and hard rock. Sounds like a mix of Genesis, The Beatles and Blak Sabbath. Highlights: From the Pinnacle to the Pit, He Is and Absolution. I also think their covers of Abba's I'm a Marionette, Roky Erickson's If You Have Ghosts and The Beatles' Here Comes the Sun is as good, if not better, than the original songs. I also really like their cover art, even though the execution of Infestissumam is poor. But the film refrences of their cover art is nice and a cool touch to it all. Opus Eponymous - Salem's Lot Infestissumam - Amadeus If You Have Ghost - Nosferatu, eine Symphonie des Grauens Cirice - The Silence of the Lambs Meliora - Metropolis Year Zero - Paradise Lost (not a film, but still cool) They also have two tour shirts refrencing A Clockwork Orange and Jaws. Both looks sweet as fuck.

Unforgiven - Fantastic western by and starring Clint Eastwood, and with him he's got Morgan Feeman, Gene Hackman and Richard Harris. This dark, gritty and sombre western films takes a bit different angle than most other westerns, at least at the time, and is dirty as hell. Best thing about this film, aside from the beautifulcinematography, is how it steps away from the romanticism of the Wild West. It takes a look at the dirtier side of it, and shows us another side of it, more realistic and more down to earth. Superb characters, a great story. All in all a fantastic film! I do think the film is slightly overrated, though, despite my love for it. It's often considered Clint's best work to date as a director, but I think films such as Play Misty for Me, High Plains Drifter, The Outlaw Josey Wales, The Gauntlet and Pale Rider are much better/cooler. Not necessary better films per se, but I enjoy them a lot more.

I'm having a massive kick on Dance With the Dead today. Dark, catchy and surprisingly guitar-heavy group that'll rock your socks off. Excellent stuff! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yvQZwuxVNnA

Bought a pair of AKG Y50 yesterday. First impression was very good, and I thought they offered much sound for $100-110 even though I wish the bass was a bit subtler. But that's just my first impression, and it was good. Ironic though that I bought new ones because the left ear stopped working on the last pair, and when trying these new ones the left ear is completely fucked. It comes and goes. Jesus. Will have to go back and get a new pair today.It's weird how iIt's always the left fucking ear with me. Always.

Two vacations a year a local restrurant puts up some stands outside of trondheim, far from all and everything, mostly with different type of foods, and let a few schools and kindergartens come and try food, learn about the food and all kinds of shit. All the food was homemade of course, and all the ingridients were local. Got to eat fish cakes, smoked herring, vegetable soup, and four types of sushi. Liked everything even though I make way better fish cakes than them. So disappointed by that. But the sushi was fantastic, and it was free. I just couldn't get enough of it. Christ. . Thought the whole experience was awesome. I was quite surprised at how many of the kids actually tasted the foods, and especially the sushi. The majority of the first gradders just couldn't get enough of it and kept eating until I had to tell my bunch to stop because the next group was waiting for so long for us to finish eating.

The Retrieval - Slow-burning, atmospheric western-drama set to the year of 1864 that follows a 13 year old boy who survives and makes a living by helping out a slave hunter during the Civil War. THe script is fantastic, the characters lovely (the bonding is most excellent here. That growth!) and fine acting. A very powerful and touching look into how things were back then. There's also a few scenes that shows the immense power these slaveholders had over the minds of the slaves back than, scenes that'll make you wonder how people could be so cruel as to make other humans feel that way. Those scenes were really hard to watch actually, because they just felt so very authentic. The cast is superb too. The three leads are fantastic, and Tishuan Scott gives us a performance that, in a fair world, would'be been very close to winning an Oscar. Top notch performance. Emotional, powerful, touching. The main problem is the modern look of it all. It just looks a bit too digital and clear. But that is nitpicking. Superb film!

Shit, really looking forward to this film.

Das finstere Tal/The Dark Valley - A really dark, grim and minimalistic austrian/german western film that touched me in all the right places. It's a very simple and traditional revenge tale, but it's really atmospheric, well-acted and beautifully shot. Visually stunning! It's very mezmerizing in its own slow-burning way, and the first 50-60 minutes or so goes along at the pace of a god damn snail, but it works, and the soundtrack is so cool and odd. I really liked the close-to-out-of-place songs that's included. So god damn good! Fantastic film!

The Believers - An unevenly paced, poorly written and messy horror-noir film that I really wanted to like but which just didn't work as I had hoped. It's poorly acted too. I'm usually a big fan of Martin Sheen, but he looks so uninterested in this whole film, like he's not even trying. At times very cool and atmospheric, but its atmosphere is cut up because of the poor pace and writing. Shame, beause I like the concet of the film a lot. Mediocre at best. And Then There Were None - Horror? To some degree at least. And Then There Were None is a dark and grim mystery-tale with plenty suspense, terror and claustrophobic atmosphere. It's based on Agatha Christie's critical acclaimed novel, and as far as I know the film is fairly true to its original source, but with a few changes. Fantastic atmosphere, a fantastic cast. Well fuck it, everything's fantastic!

The Thing: Terror Takes Shape - A very good documentary on John Carpenter's The Thing. I thought this documentary was exceptionally thorough and it covers everything from why John Carpenter wanted to make this, to the casting and the cast, to the special effects guy to the guy who painted some pictures used in the film to this and that. They even give the dog some time. Very impressive documentary with lots of fun facts, interesting facts and all that. Best part was about the special effects, which should be no surprise considering I consider The Thing to have some of th ebest special effects ever. But what makes this part so great is Rob Bottin's enthusiasm. The way he talk bout John Carpenter, the way he talk about how he came up with the special effects, the way he talks about how they executed them on film. There's so much enthusiasm there. It's pure happiness from a guy who quite obviously loved what he was doing. And he provies some fantastic anecdotes too. And I wish it would be released with the original stop-motion sequence that they filmed. God, that looked gorgeous Such a shame it's stored away some place. There's two things I wished was here/spent more time on: 1. I wish there was more time spent on the cast, and especially Kurt Russell. But that's nitpicking. 2. Thee is no Ennio Morricone. Such a shame, especially considering this is one of the few times John Carpenter have had someone else to the (majority) of the soundtrack. If you're a fan of The Thing there's no reason not to watch this. Fantastic documentary! The Man They Could Not Hang - Low-budget horror by Nick Grinde with Boris Karloff in the lead. It's a mix of traditional horror and an old dark house-mystery, and I think it's a real effective film. Great atmosphere, and Boris Karloff is beyond excellent as usual. His charisma, the way he talks, the way he moves, the way he looks. Such a fine actor! Very nice film! It's very interesting how this film was way ahead of its time foretelling of artificial hearts and organ transplants. Very cool!

This Film Is Not Yet Rated - A good documentary about the MPAA, the american movie ratings board. While I found all three main elements of the film interesting (interviews with directors who experienced problems with the ratings board, an investigation into what exactly the MPAA stands for and who the MPAA raters are, and director Dick's own problems with the ratings board. The most interesting part is the dissection of the NC-17 rating and the MPAA's discrimination as far as sex goes. It's very interesting to see that the main difference between an R and NC-17 (which is HUGE as far as how many you'll reach with your own) can be as small as some female pubic hair, three people instead of two or an innocent sex scene with a gay couple instead of a straight one. Anything that's "out of the ordinary" as far as sex goes will get a NC-17. And the NC-17 rating ONLY concerns sex scenes. A girl masturbating with her clothes on with no nudity whatsoever woul get an NC-17 rating, while the most violent shit you can think of would get an R rating, or maybe even an PG-13 rating as long as there's no big amount of blood. Says it all really. The whole ratings system is very homophobic, and it's disgusting. And shocking. Now this was made back in the mid-2000's, so things may have changed since then. But it's still interesting to see how it was, and maybe still is. Very good documentary IMO. John Waters is, as always, bloody brilliant!

Going to Pieces: The Rise and Fall of the Slasher Film - An interesting, but sadly flawed, documentary about the rise and fall of the slasher genre. Lots of interviews with diretors, people involved in the "movement" and fans, and among the people interviewed are John Carpenter, Wes Craven and Tom Savini, the latter is the best part as usual. It provides lots of great info, albeit not much new info on the genre, and it's very fun and interestig. But as I said, it's flawed simply for starting with John Carpenter and his Halloween. 1. It simply forgets some very important films to the genre. It starts with Halloween as if Halloween was the very first slashers film. Psycho and Peeping Tom gets a mention for being a huge inspiration on the genre, as well as a minute long mention of "spaghetti slashers" aka giallos, but it doesn't spend any time on the giallos. That, to me at least, is shocking considering how big of an influence giallos had on slashers, and John Carpenter is one that have been very open about his admieration of the genre, and how much of an influence they had on him and the creation of Halloween. Halloween was baically John Carpenter going all Dario Argento and Lucio Fulci on us, and even the soundtrack of these giallos were an inspiration of John Carpenter and the Halloween soundtrack. He's personally thanked Claudio Simonetti and Goblin for almost making his soundtracks for him. Now, how do you then go on to make a documentary about the genre without mentioning this genre? 2. Black Christmas is completely left out. Doesn't get a single mention. This is a pure slasher. It might even be the first proper slasher. While Halloween probably was the first film to create the rules for the genre, Black Christmas was the film that, as far as I know, laid the groundwork for the genre. 3. The Texas Chain Saw Massacre is more or less completely left out. Not a traditional slasher, but it sure had much influence of the creation of the genre. It should be in it. I also understand that they can't put every single slasher or proto-slasher into the film, but again it just lacked the mention of so many films. Thirteen Women, The Spiral Staircase, Agatha Christie and the AC-adaption And Then There Were None, House of Wax and so on. They just completely ignore the lot of these. Slashers? No, sure not. But proto-slashers is a fair term to describe these films. They were slashers before there were slashers. Long before the groundwork was laid and before there was any rules. Some of these should at least be mentioned in every single documentary of the genre. But other than that, I had a great time watching this. It was lots of fun, and Tom Savini is the man as usual. And the way they talk bout humans need of blood. It's in our nature to love watching people die the most gruesome deaths, and it always has been. For real. Rob Zombie was great too. The way he talked about writing autograph just sums him up really. He comes off as a proper human, the way humans were supossed to be. Hopefully he lives up to this in real life too. Heh.

American Movie: The Making of Northwestern - Not a horror movie per se, but a documentary about an indipendent moviemaker that is directing his own movie, a short film titled Coven. This film covers a bit range of emotion in the film. It's sad, it's hilarious, it's heartbreaking and it's heartwarming, but for most part it's bloody hilarious. What a bunch of people, and our two main men, Mark and Mike, are what I'd call a radar pair. They're brilliant by themself, but even better together. Fuck, even the way Mark Borchardt, our director, pronounces the word "coven" is beyond funny. I spat out in laughte every single time he said "coven", and that was't even close to being the funniest part. It's simply one of the best documentaries I've seen. A must-see! !!!

Straight Outta Compton - I was really looking forward to this film, but I was sceptic as it seemed like it was aimed more towards casual movie watchers rather than hip hop/N.W.A. fans. Which is understandable of course considering how movies are all about money. But it still made me sceptic. Looked too much like a standard hood-film. But I was pleasently surprised.I thought it was excellent actually. I'm sure there's plenty fiction in the film, like it is in 95% of films like this, but it felt real and it felt honest. Dramatic and touching, tough as fuck, witty. Got a lot! I really enjoyed this. But there were things that bugged me throughout this film too. MC Ren is almost forgotten. Now I don't now N.W.A.'s history through and through, but he surely was a much more important figure in the group than what this film made him out to be, and why on earth is Arabian Prince almost completely left out? That's so weird. Shocking actually. Not too fan of the good guy image the members are given her either, but this is close to nitpicking as it was a very entertaining films. And I wish there was more N.W.A. in the soundtrack too. Straight Outta Compton is one of the very best hip hop albums ever, and it should've been given more time. In my eyes at least. But I really liked the film! 3:10 to Yuma - I'll just start off by saying that this film is excellent, even though it doesn't quite reach the original. A great cast where both Russell Crowe and Peter Fonda truly excels. It feels like an old school western in a modern production. I like it a lot, but I'll recommend the original 9/10 times. It's simply a better film IMO. But if you love westerns, like I do, then this it well worth your time.

I'm playing these two games right now: Super House of Dead Ninjas - This game will be the death of me. Jesus christ! So fun and so addictive, but god is it frustrating. Darkness Within: In Pursuit of Loath Nolder - I'm really enjoing the atmosphere it has. It's very Lovecraftian, interesting and creepy, which is ntohing but very positive. But the gameplay isn't all that, and you sure as hell gotta be patient with this game. Not too fond of the gameplay, but as I enjoy the atmosphere as much as I do I'll continue for now.

I finished The Good Guysthe other day. I was entertained throughout the whole series, but it didn't manage to follow up on the fantastic start. That's ofte a problem with series that go with 15+ episodes in a single season. 10-13 is usualy more than enough, and so it would've been here. Every episode are built the same, and you just know how the episodes will go. And when you follow this recipe for 21 episodes it gets a bit old. Glad It's over, but the first 5-10 epsodes were superb!