Bear

Paul Kantner's gone. Damn, them legends are falling like flies at the moment. Will honor the big man by playing Surrealistic Pillow a couple of time this weekend. Fantastic album!

For a band like Dream Theater that is 34 songs too many.

Jupiter Ascending - My girlfriend wanted to watch this, and so we did. Total fucking shit of course. I thought the universe and world was very cool and very interesting, but the characters, story and acting was subpar from begining to end. There's nothing to dig into and nothing to to enjoy. It's very Star Wars-inspired, but it feels a lot more crap to please fans of shit like the Twilight, Vampire Diaries and THe Hunger Games. Keep away. Guardians of the Galaxy - Do NOT believe the hype. It's decent entertainment all right, but Guardians of the Galaxy is just two hours of special effects and one-liners, most of them rather poor. I was entertained for as long a the film lasted, but it's just another blockbuster. It doesn't try to give us a good storyline, interesting characters or anything like that. It's just trying to fool us with tons and tons of CGI. A bit like Avatar in other words. The only thing it has going for itself is special effects. It's just very shallow. What it has going for it is the universe. It comes off as semi-original and fresh, but it doesn't dig deep into into it. You don't get to know the universe at all. It's not a bad film, but it's not all that good either. It lacks the visual beauty, storyline, characters and originality of both Star Wars and The Fifth Element, which is the films I think it's natural to compare this too. It's basically Marvel gone Star Wars/The Fifth Element. Watch it, but do not believe the hype or you'll be disappointed. If you do believe the hype and don't get disappointed, you're fucking weird and unbelieveable.

I was spellbound from the very first shot and just couldn't keep my eyes away from the screen. It was so good! Check out Bone Tomahawk to when you're at it. Western-horror, and as with The Hateful Eight it also stars Kurt Russell. Cartel Land - An interesting documentary that takes a look into two different "vigilante" groups of either side of the US-Mexican border. The look into the Autodefesans in Mexico was very interesting, very exciting and kept and kept giving. Now, the people in the Autodefensas came off as quite shabby from the first second and even the leader, a doctor who was tired of the troubles the mexican people have with the cartels, hit me as a guy willing to do lots of wrongs to make something right. But it's interesting to see what people are willing to do, and how they do it, when things gets too bad around them. The look into the american group is fairly interesting as well, but lacks the punch of the other side and the people who join up with this bunch seems to have a bit different motives. Their motives seems more to be about having an exciting time and keep the "greasers" from coming in and take white men's jobs. But it was interesting enough, and I am not saying that all of these are racists. It seems like their motives changed quite a bit from the start of the documentary to the end, and that their reasons got more real and was based on something else than (just) racism. Anyway, and interesting look into modern day vigilante groups for sure. Buckle up, guys, because the Mexican part will take on one hell of a ride. It's so dramatic and emotional, and because you know it's real it gets even more intense. Hamburger Hill - Brutal, honest and to my knowledge fairly authentic film about the Vietnam war. Hamburger Hill decides to focus on one unit, but doesn't dig deep into these guys' life. You never get to know them, and for this film it works very well. Their lacks of personality makes it a little dirtier and grittier, which is a very cool idea. Bleak and dark film that just showcases the tragedy of war, and the fear of the people involved. It doesn't glorify anything about the war, and it doesn't make any heroes. It's tragic. Now this film isn't as good as Platoon, Apocalypse Now or Full Metal Jacket, but it's a very different film that's a lot more real and easier to believe in. This could easily have been a documentary about the war instead of an actual film. It must've been 15+ years since I saw this now, and I probably liked it even more now than then. Great film!

I'll try, but this is impossible. Sigh - Hail Horror Hail Sigh - Infidel Art Kagrra - San Kagrra - Shizuku Sabbat - Karisma Bathory - Under the Sign of the Black Mark Paysage d'Hiver - Paysage d'Hiver Summoning - Dol Guldur Alcest - Le Secret Had you asked me this tomorrow the list would've been slightly different. I might had chosen another Alcest, Summoning, Paysage d'Hiver or Summoning album, or chosen different bands alltogether. The three albums I always keep on a list like this is Hail Horror Hail, San and Under the Sign of the Black Mark, the rest will always look different. It all depends on what day you ask me this on, how I am feeling and so on.

Up - Been meaning to watch this since forever now, and I finally saw it the other weekend. I had quite big expectations and this did not live up to them at all. It starts out great, despite the generic and boring animation, as well as the visuals which looks so familiar. But as soon as they reach the bird it starts to lose me. The whole bird was so damn annoying, and when the talking dogs hit the screen it completely lost me. The poetic wisdowm, likeable characters and beauty of the story is lost to me because of certain elements. A stupid, annoying fucking bird and some talking fucking dogs in air planes? No, I'll fucking pass. Shit ruined the whole film for me. I'll go as far as saying that this is the most overrated animation film I've ever seen. Not because it's awful, but because it fucks itself up the ass with smoe stupid, small decisions that so easily could've been avoided. Annoying dogs in planes. Jesus. Big Game - Finland's Jalmari Helander turly impressed me with his 2010's christmas-horror Rare Exports and I couldn't stop praising it. Big Game is his second full lenght, and it features some of the same cast as Rare Exports, as well as Samuel L. Jackson. Oskari is a young boy who is sent out into the woods to haunt and bring back an animal, a rite most boys in this part of Finland goes through. It's their change from boy to man. But he is weak and a poor hunter. While he is out in the woods, the American president played by Samuel L. Jackson os betrayed and shot down in the woods of Finland, and the betrayer is haunting him. Silly, but so cool! The film has this very 80's action-comedy vibe to it, as well as some very comic book-esque scenes that's really nice. It's not brilliant by any means, but it's so much fun and absolutely worth a look or five. I was really entertained, despite it being a bit disappointing compared to the excellent Rare Exports.

Prisoners - Really nice and atmospheric crime-thriller with a brilliant Jake Gyllenhaal and Hugh Jackman in the lead roles. The latter is left incredibly emotionally exposed in certain scenes. You can just feel his pain. While it is a bit predictable it's just dark, powerful and disturbing enough to make you look way past that., and the film looks great. Superb cinematography. I thought the film was lovely. Jake Gyllenhaal has turned into such a fine actor in recent years and just topped it with his chilling performance in Nightcrawle. Now, I really liked the guy in Brokeback Mountain, Jarhead and Zodiac, but around 2011-2012 he just turned into a completely different actor. I can't think of many actors in recent years that's gone through the same changes. It's incredible how much he's grown as an actor. Impressed! The Hateful Eight - Quentin Tarantino has done it again! I've never been disappointed by a Tarantino film, and I even worship Death Proof. It's a bit early to tell as I've only seen the film once, but right now I feel like The Hateful Eight might be his best film since 1994's Pulp Fiction. It's a slow-burning, atmospheric and dialogue-driven western-crime with a fantastic cast, great characters and, as always from this mad genius, brilliant dialogue. I thought it was beautifully shot, and the violence is nothing but a pleasure to the eye. I can see those scenes a thousand times and I would not get tired of them. Beautiful! And as with most Tarantino films, this is all about the dialogue. You need to be able to appreciate dialogue to appreciate this. It's intimate, yet huge. It's so calm and quiet, yet so god damn epic. He does things no-one should be able to do in 2015. Glad to see him to something a bit different too. It's reeks of Tarantino, but still he offers something fresh here. It's not a new Django Unchained. It's something so very different, yet so familiar. As far as the cast goes, incredible! Samuel L. Jackson gives us one of his performances of his life, Kurt Russell did here exactly what he did in 2015's western-horror Bone Tomahawk and gives us his best performance since 1993's Tombstone at least, Jennifer Jason Leigh is just too good and the rest of the bunch is fantastic too. Well, maybe with the exception of Zoe Bell who is no actor, but she has just enough charm and pressence to make up for her lack of talent. Was very impressed by Channing Tatum. Role of his life for sure! And the score? Ennio Morricone for fuck sake! Brilliant! He is western and he knowns how to make a western soundtrack that'll increase the viewing experience. He know how to strenghten even the simplest of scenes with a bit of music. Genius! I understand the hate/dislike for Tarantino, both as a person and filmmaker, but I am not of them. I worship the guy, and I worship all of his films. This man cannot do no wrong, not even if he did his best to fail. He'd still win! Best of 2015 along with Bone Tomahawk, and both are probably my favourite westerns since the 80's, if not 70's.

Black Coal, Thin Ice - Dark and atmosheric neo-noir from China with a beyond brilliant Fan Liao and Lun Mei Gwei in the two leads. A very stylized crime-drama that is all about the cold, dark and gritty atmosphere. There's something so very hazardous,mysterious and beautiful about everything, and the red and green neon-lit, grey city is a pleasure to the eye. The story is here and I was impressed, but it's the atmosphere and its characters that truly impressed me. The film takes its time and will bore half its watchers to death, but it'll be very rewarding for the rest. Fantastic! Masterpece!

Some albums that I play almost on a monthly basis and don't skip a song on (I'm an album-person, and I don't listen to albums where you have to skip a song): Sigh - Scenes from Hell Sigh - In Somniphobia Sigh - Graveward Sabbat - Sabbatrinity Framtid - Defeat of Civilization Albums I don't play quite as often as the ones on the upper list, but that I still dig and don't skip a single song on: Kagrra - Hyakki Kenran Forward - War Nuke And Death Sentence Kriegshög - Kriegshög Abigail - Sweet Baby Metal Slut Ningen-Isu - Burai Houjou That's the ones I can think about just now. Now there's many other albums I could've included on the second list here, but I don't really feel that they fit in despite me never skipping a single song on them. They're not quite as good.

Another new track. Sounds excellent! And Tarot is streaming their debut album now. Their compilation of their three previously released EPs (and a few new songs) was my favourite release of 2015, so I am really looking forward to this. I expect it to be among top 3 of 2016 for sure, if not the very, very best. I've only played the first track and it's nothing short of brilliant. Will play through it a couple of times tomorrow. Can't wait! Gorgeous cover art too. https://heavychainsrecords.bandcamp.com/album/reflections

And why is that? The first 4 seasons are fantastic.

Can't stop listening to Gary Moore. What an absolute legend. Only fools stay away from this guy. Fantastic!

Someone should seriously re-release the Murbas tapes. Like right fucking now!

The Mystery of Chess Boxing - Now, if you're a hipp hop fan you'll recognize this title straight away. Not only did Wu-Tang Clan name their song Da Mystery of Chessboxin after this film, but Ghostface Killer also got his name from this film's villain, Ghost Face Killer/Wan Chun-Shan. That's how cool this film is. The film is directed by Joseph Kuo (7 Grand Masters, Born Invincible), and it stars people like Jack Long, Li Yi-Min, Mark Long and super legend Yuen Siu-tien. The Mystery of Chess Boxing is an old school kung fu film from 1979 and it gives you everything you'd possibly want fom a film from this era. It's tighly choreographed and greatly executed with a huge amount of flair, got some funny humor and is very interesting over all. I am especially impressed by our villain played by Mark Long. He's got a killer look and is really badass. Ghost Face Killer's name is infamous and his Five Element fighting style is deadly. The film is a must-see for anyone into martial arts films. Total fucking badass!

Is this a thread for everything Japanese? I see Envy and Melt-Banana, so I assume metal and punk goes, even if it isn't your typical visual kei or "j-rock" band?

Another legend has fallen. Jimmy Bain who played bass on classic albums such as Rainbow's "Rising" and Dio's "Holy Diver", "The Last in Line", "Dream Evil" and "Magica" has passed away at the age of 68.

As far as 2016 albums goes, I have a lot I am lookign forward too: Striker - Stand in the Fire Heavy/speed metal in the vein of Enforcer, but unlike Enforcer this band is actually good. Ravensire - The Cycle Never Ends Epic heavy metal in the vein of Manilla Road, Omen, Ironsword and so on. Urgehal - Aeons in Sodom Old school, thrashy black metal in the vein of Beastcraft, Tsjuder, Krypt and so on. First album since 09. Gehennah - Too Loud to Live, Too Drunk to Die Venom and Motörhead-esque black/thrash. First album since 1997(!!!). Ningen-Isu - 怪談 そして死とエロス Heavy/doom metal with lots of Black Sabbath, Pentagram and Rush in the sound. Baphomet's Blood - In Satan We Trust Speed metal in the vein of Venom, Motörhead and Bulldozer. The Fog - Perpetual Blackness Death/doom with strong Goatlod-vibes. Ketzer - Starless Black/thrash in the vein of Desaster, Cruel Force and so on. Abigail - The Final Damnation Black/thrash metal mayhem in the vein of Venom, Bathory, Sabbat, N.M.E and Bulldozer. First album since 2010! Chthe'ilist - Le Dernier Crépuscule Death metal in the vein of Demilich. Great band and album! Wildernessking - Mystical Future Black metal clearly inspired by Wolves in the Throne Room, Agalloch and Deafheaven. Oranssi Pazuzu - Värähtelijä Psychedelic black metal. Ritual Chamber - Obscurations (To Feast on the Seraphim) Dark, crushing black metal in the vein of Sonne Adam and Necros Christos. Deströyer 666 - Wildfire Black/thrash/death, and first album since 09! Destructor - Back in Bondage Power-thrash with strong Hallows Eve, Nasty Savage and Agent Steel vibes. Released a classic album back in 85 and have release some albums afterwards too. Not too familiar with anything but the debut, to be honest. Ripper - Experiment of Existence Death/thrash in the vein of old Kreator and Sepultura. Church of Misery - And Then There Were None Stoner/doom! Blood Ceremony - Lord of Misrule Doom/psychedelic rock and one of my favourite bands in recent years. Gets better with each release! Moonsorrow - Jumalten aika Moonsorrow!!! Insulter - Crypts of Satan Black/thrash/death from Norway. That's what I can think of t the moment. Looks like it could be a good year for metal as usual.

One of the best metal albums from 2015, guys. This ain't gonna please your average black metal fan as this is weird as fuck, but if you like different you might like this. It's unique in every way possible, it's cool and it's brilliant. The guitar playing and riffing here is incredible, and I have never heard anything like it. Lots of thrash and heavy metal, and at times some doom (but a lot less then on previous albums), but at its very core it's experimental black metal unlike everything you've ever heard. This is fantastic, and I've been playing it a lot lately. But as weird as the album is, as far as Furze goes this is probably his most accessible album since his debut. A fine starting point, but if you'd end up not liking this I'd recommend checking out the rest of the band's back catalogue because every album is different. It's impossible to find any tracks online, and as far as I know this is the only one: https://soundcloud.com/furze-29250360/goat-cyclus Fantastic song, fantastic album. But this isn't the best song on the album, though. There's 5-6 songs that's better.

You need to check out older Borknagar. They were incredible! The song to hear from each of the albums: Borknagar (Grimskalle trell) The Olden Domain (The Winterway) The Archaic Course (The Witchinghour) Quintessence (Colossus) Check it out and enjoy.

Borknagar getting better with each release? Craziest thing I've heard in a long while. I couldn't gisagree more to be honest. The Olden Domain (10/10) > Borknagar (9/10) > The Archaic Course (8/10) > Quintessence (7/10) > Empiricism (6/10). Epic, Origin, Universal and Urd are crap. Actually looking forward to Winter Thrice though. The two songs I've heard are easily the best since Quintessence, especially the song with Garm, Lazare, Vortrx and Vintersorg singing together. Very good song, and based on that alone it's a way better album than the previous four.

I made this back in december and thought I'd make a new one since I've watched a ton of films since then. 1. Bone Tomahawk (10/10) 2. Dope (9/10) 3. Mad Max: Fury Road (9/10) 4. The Assassin (9/10) 5. The Final Girls (9/10) 6. Star Wars: Episode VII - The Force Awakens (8/10) 7. Kung Fury (8/10) 8. Slow West (8/10) 9. Beast of no Nation (8/10) 10. Furious Seven (8/10) Quite some year, that! Films like Ant-Man and Ex Machina could easily have made it onto the list on another day. Great year for films, and I've seen quite a few films from 2015 too, which is a big surprise. It tend to take years before I watch this many films from a recent year. Heh.

Finnish pagan metal act MOONSORROW will release its brand-new, seventh studio album "Jumalten Aika" - which means 'The Age Of Gods' in English - via Century Media Records."There are a lot more folk music influences present in "Jumalten Aika" than earlier", comments Henri Sorvali (Guitars, keyboards & vocals). "This time around, they are more deeply integrated to the overall sound. "Jumalten Aika" is like a circling wolf biting the hardest when you would never expect it. The music is unchained aggression, deep mysteries of the North and thundering witchcraft combined together in a molten forge of the Gods and reminds us all of something that never left our blood and soil. "Jumalten Aika" track-listing: 1. Jumalten Aika (12:43) 2. Ruttolehto incl. Päivättömän Päivän Kansa (15:21) 3. Suden Tunti (7:06) 4. Mimisbrunn (15:55) 5. Ihmisen Aika (Kumarrus Pimeyteen) (16:00) Bonus disc: 1. Soulless (Grave cover) (3:18) 2. Non Serviam (Rotting Christ cover) (5:10) Oh fuck yeah! I can't wait for this.

Vag.

The Assassin - I know this is a bold statement that most people with disagree with, but The Assassin is Hsiao-Hsien Hou's masterpiece. Much of that has to do with my love for wuxia in general, but the film looks incredible, the atmosphere was magnificent and it just feels right. However, while wuxia is more or less synonymous with chinese action-fantasy, ther eis very little action here. It's a calm film with only a few brief action scenes. The film is slow, has little dialogue, few action scenes and simply isn't a narrative-driven film. One of the things that will bother people here is the fact that the film is almost cut to death, and unless you're somewhat familiar with the story it'll be quite hard to follow. But as long as you've got patience and an eye for visual candy, there's a lot to love here. It's beautifully shot, stunningly staged and even the most random shots seem to serve a purpose. A film that will bore 70% of the watchers to death, but fur the remaining 30% it'll be more than just a film. It's put peace to your mind and soul, and for 105 minutes you'll be in heaven. A masterpiece! "Your skills are matchless, but your mind is hostage to human sentiments."