Bear

The Devil's Candy - Sean Byrne impressed the world with The Loved Ones , six years later he's back with another horror film. This time around he offers a pretty unique and original horror film with surprisingly well-made and thought through characters, an interesting plot and with a very cool soundtrack. The film has a strong 80's vibe to it and is clearly inspired by the satanic panic era of that time, which is something I always found nice.
 
Not only does the soundtrack consist of lots of metal, but both father and her daughter are metal fans, wear lots of metal t-shirts (Slayer, Metallica, Motorhead) and the daughter's bedroom is full of metal and punk posters. And not just the usual and big ones. Melvins, Ghost, Bikini Kill are among the posters.
 
The soundtrack offers lots of standard tracks from bands such as Metallica, Slayer, Pantera og Cavalera Conspiracy, but the highlight is the use of Sunn O))). Which completely caught me off guard. Got mad chills every single time Sunn O))) came on. Massive!
 
 

The Void was so good that the first thing I did when the end credits were over was to rewatch it. What a fucking film! As a huge fan of the Astron-6 team my expectations were ridiculously high for the film, but it went way above all of my expectations. It's not original, but it captures a Lovecraftian feeling and atmosphere rarely seen in film these days with brilliant atmosphere throughout, and monster designs and special effects worth dying for. This is perfection as far as Lovecraftian horror goes.
 
The film was 80's through and through, and a really nice mix of The Thing, From Beyond, Hellraiser, The Beyond og Assault on Precinct 13, Lovecraftian horror in general og Silent Hill.
 
I'm left with much of the same feeling I was left with after watching films like The Thing, From Beyond and Hellraiser for the first time. It won't take me many days before I rewatch this masterpiece.

Finally giving a good listen to Cradle of Filth's "Dusk... and Her Embrace: The Original Sin" recording, what a treat! So cool to hear this alternative (or, well, original) version of the now-classic album. The sound quality is perfect too, and ofc the songs themselves rip like hell.
 
Excited for the new album too from what I've heard so far. Gonna hold off until it officially gets released, won't spoil myself with the leak.

2017 has been a shit year for metal? What the actual fuck! Makes me wonder what type of godawful metal you like. Been another great year, and that's even before I've started to dig into this year's releases.

Which is something that goes for what, 80-90% of all rock, punk and metal bands currently active, and is something that can be said for 80-90% of all rock, punk and metal bands over the past 20-25 years.

I have long wanted to watch the Undisputed series, but I never got that far. Until recently.
 
Undisputed - Really, really disappointing. I really like Wesley Snipes, I enjoy Ving Rhames and I adore Walter Hill as a director. But this did not do it for me. A mediocre boxing-drama that doesn't offer enough hights. The drama is disappointing, the characters mostly boring and the action is weak. 5/10
 
Undisputed II: Last Man Standing - Isaac Florentine takes over the direction, and the entire cast is new, even though Michael Jai White plays George "Iceman" Chambers who was played by Ving Rhames in the first film. But this is a different film in every way. Gone is the standard drama and boring bullshit. Michael Jai White's character was a antagonist in the first film, but returns as a protagonist in this film. And he is good. But even better is Scott Adkins who rules supreme in the film, and his character, Boyka, is terrific. He's not goot much meat on his bones, but he's just totally badass throughout the entire film. But the real star? The choreograph whos name I don't remember at the moment. What a fucking brilliant choreography. The way the action is choreographed, performed and filmed is very untypical Hollywood, and big budget directors won't even dream of including fights this good in their movies. And this is a fucking direct-to-video film. But the action is superb. Very asian, especially in the way it's filmed. 8/10
 
Undisputed III: Redemption - Scott Adkins and his character Boyka goes from being the antagonist to being the protagonist, and it works really well. Best character in the previous film, and he still reigns supreme in this film. So does the choreography which is again mindblowing! And once again very untypical of an american film. Amazing! 8/10
 
Boyka: Undisputed IV - The first film in the series not to have an antagonist being the protagonist, instead it continues the focus and story of Boyka. And it works. Probably the deepest and most story-oriented film of the series, but it's really well done and it works really well. But again, Scott Adkins and his character Boyka is truly amazing. But as with the previous two films, the choreography and direction os the action scenes are the true star. So fucking gorgeous. So sexy. That shit turns me the fuck on. 8/10
 

 
The fucking Guyver kick, man. Heeeeeeellz yeah!

What is dungeon synth, you say? Dungeon synth is a form for ambient that draws heavily from black metal and dark ambient. But I'll stop there and just quote a wiki instead:
 
 
 
Everyone knows I'm very much into black metal, and while the music itself doesn't resemble black metal, the atmosphere sure do and I can't think of a genre closer to black metal than this. Which is probably why I've become such a huge fan, and in recent year the genre have seen a massive revival with a shitload of new artists popping up everywhere. So I've really gotten into the genre beyond Mortiis, and grown familiar with lots of new and old artists.
 
I don't expect this thread to be popular at all, but if you like 90's black metal and listen to that type of music for the atmosphere I am sure you'll find this very interesting and enjoyable too, tbh. And it's the perfect soundtrack for an evening of tabletop RPGs like Dungeons and Dragons and other fantasy games.
 
Some of my favourite dungeon synth releases:
 
Mortiis - The Song of a Long Forgotten Ghost
Mortiis - Født til å herske
Mortiis - Ånden som gjorde opprør
Mortiis - Keiser av en dimension ukjent
Mortiis - Crypt of the Wizard
Wongraven - Fjelltronen
Thangorodrim - Taur Nu Fuin
Thangorodrim - Dagor Bragalloch
Thangorodrim - Towers Of The Teeth
Old Tower - Spectral Horizons
Old Tower - The Rise Of The Specter
Old Tower - Remembrance of the Lone Enclave
 
 
This youtube channel uploads an incredible amount of dungeon synth, both old and new: The Dungeon Synth Archives
 
 

The thing that worries me is that horror is a niche genre whether we like it or not, and it's a genre that simply shouldn't please everybody. It's a genre that shall divide people. It should be as hated as it is loved. But when everyone, including people who loathe horror films in general, suddenly loves a film, it does worry me quite a bit. Call me stupid, but that's just how it is for me.
 
A film getting good reviews doesn't worry me. I love plenty films who debuted to brilliant reviews and all that. But when the the 62 year old woman I work with, who absolutely loathe horror films, love a horror film, I feel like I've got all the reason in the world to turn very sceptical.  

Always liked Rammstein quite a lot, but their stuff from 09's Pussy and onward have been very lackluster. I like themes they go for and all, but as long as the music isn't good enough it's not close to enough. But their three first albums are complete classics, and both Reise, Reise and Rosenrot are solid albums. Fun fan! Hope to catch them live someday.

That is good. Heretic Rites is another band ripping off Satan's Satyrs, albeit a lot more doomy sounding at times. Not as great as either Alucarda or Satan's Satyrs, their second demo, In Satan's Claws, is really good. Sounds like it was recorded in the 70's whilst in the mid of a brutal acid trip. It's also re-released with two tracks that's not quite as lo-fi and way more up-beat, with some superb keys on them.  The first track sounds a bit more Uncle Acid & the Deadbeats while the second track sounds more like Electric Wizard. Great songs nonetheless.

Wild Beyond Belief! is absolute perfection. Doom metal punk at its absolute finest, and as good as the songs and performance is, the production is the highlight. So filthy and disgusting.
 
I think Don't Deliver Us is as good, btw. Very different, but just as good. Sounds like Blue Cheer from hell getting raped by Black Sabbath or something. Creepy Teens is their best song by far. I fucking love those cheerleader-esque vocals.
 
 
I don't know if you've checked it out yet, but I've been talking about Alucarda for years now. They've got the same biker and exploitation-vibe as Wild Beyond Belief! Now, Raw Howls isn't as awesomely produced as Wild Beyond Belief!, but it's got better songs IMO. I consider them equal. And don't believe those calling Alucarda a shitty rip off. While they certainly do rip off Satan's Satyrs, they're not shitty. They're as good. 

I'm not one of those who hate Myrkur with passion, but I don't like it either. Not one bit. It's shit. But after this atrocity of a cover song I hope she just drives off a cliff or gets raped by a fucking bear or something. That is awful.
 

Wizard Bloody Wizard is the title of the new Electric Wizard album. Fantastic title, and I like the cover. There was a new track up on youtube but it's taken down. Apparently Clayton has made his mark onto the band as the track has some elements of Satan's Satyrs, which I think sounds amazing. People seem to think it's hella lot better than Time to Die as well, which as well all know is a good album,b ut their worst. Looking forward to this.
 
 
The track is up on Spotify. Sounds superb!

New Wolfbrigade album sounds really nice. They still mix crust and mainly traditional d-beat with elements of death and thrash metal, but I'm quite surprised at how melodic some of these songs sounds. But it sounds really good and aggressive.

Wizard Bloody Wizard is the title of the new Electric Wizard album. Fantastic title, and I like the cover. There was a new track up on youtube but it's taken down. Apparently Clayton has made his mark onto the band as the track has some elements of Satan's Satyrs, which I think sounds amazing. People seem to think it's hella lot better than Time to Die as well, which as well all know is a good album,b ut their worst. Looking forward to this.
 
 
The track is up on Spotify. Sounds superb!

Ya know, my co-worker introduced me to Dance with the Dead about a year ago, and I never looked into it.
It's not until today that I decide to check out some city pop forums, and I stumble across an article that mentions SATELLITE YOUNG, and well .....
 
Here I am lol
 
Gonna check out all your recommendations guys, and maybe even stumble on some new stuff for ya too.

Another legend gone in form of Tobe Hooper. He was never the most consistent director around, but he's got plenty of great films to his name.
 
The Texas Chain Saw Massacre
Eaten Alive
Salem's Lot
The Funhouse
Poltergeist
The Texas Chainsaw Massacre 2
Tales from the Crypt episode Dead Wait 
Body Bags
 
All these are amazing, with The Texas Chain Saw Massacre and Salem's Lot being my favourites, and The Texas Chainsaw Massacre 2 being one of the most underrated films in history of film. Such a great film, but as it's way different from the first one people simply writes it off as trash. Sad but true. It's a film everyone should give a fair chance. It's a great film and as a sequel it makes very much sense as well, one just have to open up a bit about the whole TCSM universe.

Texas Chainsaw Massacre 2 fucking rips, I love the aesthetic and vibe of the whole film. Very maximalist and over the top, especially compared to the relatively gritty and raw original, but I still think it's great.

I had a problem getting into Trever Something as first too, also because of the vocals. But there was something very unique about the music so I kept spinning the album until Miami Nights clicked with me. And shortly after I fell for the entire album. Now it's become one of my all-time favourite songs and the song I always play when I mix and drink my first gin & tonic for the evening. My friends have also made this their g&t song due to me.
 
 
You could try Noir Deco too. Was featured on at least Perturbator track that I remember. Future to Fantasy is a very good album.
 
 
 
 
Anyway, Magic Sword:
 
 
 
That is just way too good to be real. 

Oh yes! I think Carpenter Brut is a favourite of many fans of the genre in general, and along with Perturbator they kinda opened up the world of electronica to many a metalhead around the world. You have these artists playing at metal festivals, which is very, very cool. Gost at Maryland Deathfest, Perturbator at Beyond the Gates and Nidrosian Black Mass, Carpenter Brut and Perturbator at Roadburn and so on. But at the same time, it shouldn't come as a surprise because these darker synthwave artists have a lot in common with metal. Especially Carpenter Brut. Very metallic sounding in general.
 
Should be noted that Nidrosian Black Mass is a black metal festival where very few bands are something else than black metal. So musically Perturbator should be very out of place, but he's been extremely well-recieved at all these gigs.

Thought I'd just throw out a few rcommendations for overlooked death metal releases of 2017. Just a few that seems to have flew under most peoples radar:
 

Venenum - Trance of Death
 
An album hard to decribe. Death metal with some progressive elements. For fans of Tribulation, Morbus Chron, Excoriate, Necrovore, Invidious.
 

Venenum - Trance of Death
 
Death metal with some progressive touches. For fans of Invidious, Necrovore, Venenum, Obscure Burial.
 

Obscure Burial - Obscure Burial
 
This feels like cheating, but this is a compilation of their two demos. Most excellent! Black/death metal for fans of Necrovore, Incubus, Invidious, Ensnared.
 

Rude - Remnants...
 
Old school death metal with a new sound. For fans of Pestilence, Morbid Angel, Death, Autopsy, Possessed.
 

Cryptic Brood - Brain Eater
 
Death/doom for fans of Autopsy, Coffins, Winter, Druid Lord and Anatomia.
 

Vampire - With Primeval Force
 
Epic, Castlevania-sounding death/thrash. For fans of Possessed, Tribulation, Necrovore, Repugnant, Merciless
 
 
 
I've got more to come.

Thought I'd just throw out a few rcommendations for overlooked death metal releases of 2017. Just a few that seems to have flew under most peoples radar:
 

Venenum - Trance of Death
 
An album hard to decribe. Death metal with some progressive elements. For fans of Tribulation, Morbus Chron, Excoriate, Necrovore, Invidious.
 

Venenum - Trance of Death
 
Death metal with some progressive touches. For fans of Invidious, Necrovore, Venenum, Obscure Burial.
 

Obscure Burial - Obscure Burial
 
This feels like cheating, but this is a compilation of their two demos. Most excellent! Black/death metal for fans of Necrovore, Incubus, Invidious, Ensnared.
 

Rude - Remnants...
 
Old school death metal with a new sound. For fans of Pestilence, Morbid Angel, Death, Autopsy, Possessed.
 

Cryptic Brood - Brain Eater
 
Death/doom for fans of Autopsy, Coffins, Winter, Druid Lord and Anatomia.
 

Vampire - With Primeval Force
 
Epic, Castlevania-sounding death/thrash. For fans of Possessed, Tribulation, Necrovore, Repugnant, Merciless
 
 
 
I've got more to come.

Spoiler about Littlefinger during season 7;
 

 
I have not checked if this is actually true, but if it is then it's a brilliant detail that would explain so much.

Modern garde, Violet harenchi and Gekisei are Merry's masterpieces as far as I am concerned, with Modern garde being one of the very best VK albums of all time.
 
I'm not too fond of cover albums and shit, but the two cover songs on the Gekisei single are stunning and ever since that release I've always wanted to hear a full album with Merry playing that type of music, either a cover album or something original in that vein.
 
 
Edit: I actually forgot to add that I easily can recommend every single Merry album bar the last one which I haven't heard. I think all albums are fantastic, but Modern garde is just way, way ahead of theo thers. So there's that.

I would not say that. One of the things Game of Thrones has done well throughout the series is the use of CGI. They've never gone full retard with it. At least not very often. Even the scenes which are 90% CGI it's usually looked good, much of it because they've used CGI for the unimportant parts, and kept the important parts real.
 
The Night King is a good example of this, and how to properly use CGI to get the best results. He's not entirely CGI, but 98% prosthetics with just a bit of CGI to get the finishing touch. 99,9% of Hollywood blockbusters nowadays would've made him entirely CGI.
 
This here is a great example too, even though it's not looking perfect:
 

 
Again, in a Hollywood blockbuster the special effects woulda been entirely CGI, while in Game of Thrones it's 80% practical effects and 20% CGI for the face. It's just a nice example of how to do things.
 
Now there's times where they've gone a bit over the top with the CGI, but that's more the exception rather than the rule in Game of Thrones.
 
But as far as CGI goes, it's never been the CGI itself that's the problem. But how it's been used. Same as with auto-tune, programmed drums, drum triggers/samples and so fucking on. As long as you don't go full retard there's no problem with it, and same goes for CGI. "CG is a very specific tool, like a hammer. It is good for certain uses, but when you wish to saw a board a hammer is useless.". This quote is spot on. There's a reason why the CGI in 1993's Jurassic Park may be the best CGI ever, and it's not because they had the tools we have today. It's entirely because of how it's used in the film. Perfection! In recent times Mad Max: Fury Road comes to mind as a superb example of how to use CGI. Thing there is tat most people don't realize that the film is FULL of CGI, but it's just that the majority of the important things are the real deal.
 
 

 
 
 
 
I could come up with a shitload of examples here on how not to use CGI. I Am Legend?  The original look of the zombies are absolutely brilliant, but for some reason they were dropped in change for the godawful CGI we see which in turn make the zombies look like something from a poor Playstation 2 game.
 
Another example here is the remae of The Thing. They made som extraordinary practical effects for the film, but again they were either dropped for or overlayed with some cheap, poorly made CGI. Not a great movie to begin with, but when they took away the practical effects they completely fucked the film over. Had they kept all the practical effects the way they originally were, this film would've been remembered for 100 years. Now it was forgotten in 2 becase there's nothing unique or anything in it. But as far as I know, both writer Eric Heisserer and director Matthijs van Heijningen were both totally against CGI and shot the film with practical effects, but as CGI is the trend the studio went over their head and decided to change it, probably because it's what was trendy at the time. But it's weird as CGI is about 5-10 times more expensive than practical effects.
 

 
But enough with CGI talk. I could probably go on forever here. Sorry for the off topic.