Bear

Till fjälls, del II
 
Making a part II of such a legendary classic as Till Fjälls is seriously risky as fuck because people will automatically put it up against the original, but as Naturbål was a proper return to form and their folkiest/most viking-esque album since Ödemarkens son I am really excited for this. Naturbål is excellent, and I've got some high expectations for this. There will also be a bonus EP with tracks from around 96-97 or something, from the time when they went from Vargatron to Vintersorg. I think they're re-recorded, or slightly re-recorded at least, but that is very interesting anyway.
 
They've also started playing live. Finally!

Decided to watch every 50 films in the Horror Classics box chronologically since I've already seen, if not all, the majority of the films anyway. So the sub-par quality of some of these don't really matter.
 
 

Carnival of Souls
The box set kicks off with an absolute beast of a film. Carnival of Souls is Herk Harvey's only feature film as a director, and he produced, co-wrote, directed and acted this masterpiece which looks, sounds and feels like a billion bucks. It was not a success on its release and did not gain much attention at all, but its since then gained status as a cult classic and the film is more often than not feature on lists of scariest films, and it's inspired people like George A. Romero, David Lynch, Roman Polanski and James Wan among others.
 
But hey, I mentioned that it looks, sounds and feels like a million bucks, so let's just start with the budget: 33 000. 33fuckingK. Compare that to Night of the Living Dead's 114 000, The Innocents' 43 0000, The Haunting's 1 400 000, Cat People's 134 000 or Peeping Tom's 135 000. In other words, this is as low-budget as it gets. Made from close to nothing compared to other films of the era. But it surely does feel like a big-budget film. But the problem was never it feeling like a low-budget, but it being slightly more artistic and slow-burning than other horror films of the era. It's closer to an Ingmar Bergman film than classic horror films. It's just different.
 
The film is beautifully shot in B&W. The cinematography is simple but effective, and the entire film is almost free of any special-effects whatsoever, and instead relying 100% on creating atmosphere via cinematography, acting and more than anything, an organ score that sounds like the soundtrack to a 1920's horror film. The film is eerie as fuck, very surreal and dreamlike, and that's basically what makes this so god damned great.
 
If you're into atmospheric horror films, then this is for you. But you do need a bit of patience, because it is kinda slow. But it's never boring. Masterpiece!
 
9/10

I know there's a similar thread for everything on the forum, but I thought physical copies and merch deserved its own thread. Pictures of you stuff is always a positive.
 
 
Went to this record thing today where lots of people have stands and sell their shit, and I ended up with the following:
 
Vinyl:

Don Peake ‎– The Hills Have Eyes (soundtrack)
Roberto Donati ‎– Mangiati Vivi! / Eaten Alive! (soundtrack)
Steve Moore ‎– Horror Business (soundtrack)

Tape:

Don Peake ‎– The Hills Have Eyes (soundtrack)
 
 
 
Soundtracks is the shit. Will try to add some photos when I have my shitty-ass phone around.

Home, tired and destroyed. Feels like I am gonna die any minute now. Anyway, good festival as usual, and even tho my brother was missed we managed to have lots of fun.
 
Wednesday:
Tangorodrim - Simple, stripped down and straight-forward black metal heavily inspired by Hellhammer, Celtic Frost and Darkthrone. This gig was top notch. No mumbo jumbo, just pure black metal.
Hail Spirit Noir - I was drunk out of my mind when these guys played, and that might have done wonders to the gig. But this was fantastic. Great gig!
This was moments before I puked on the security guard and walked around in Oslo puking all over the place, looking for my friend. That's the state I was in. I have no idea how they could serve me the last 5-6 beers/G&T's.
 
Also catched a couple of tracks by Borknagar, but it was pretty poor.
 
Thursday:
Got there late, so Destruction was our first band out. Sounds a bit too modern, but the gig was pretty good. Was better in 09 or whenever it was, tho.
Pillorian was amazing. While they were black metal as fuck, they did sound a lot more Agalloch-esque live than on album. I even thought they played an Agalloch track, but from the looks of it I was mistaken. But this was great and the ending with Dark Is the River of Man was brilliant. Just... completely put us under some kind of a spell.
Carcass was headlining day two, and they went on with a full 90 minute set. Which is really long for a band that play this type of music. But it worked and it was fantastic from begining to end, and Jeff Walker looked like he was having the time of his life. Looked like he could've gone on for a couple of more hours. My biggest problem was Bill Steer who looked like he came straight from a stoner rock gig, and with some nu-metalish moves here and there. But that's not a big deal. Amazing gig!
 
Missed out on Helheim and Venom. Inc, but they played too early for me. Simple as that. Having to go a gig before 8pm one of the days is more than enough for me.
 
Friday:
Infernal War kicked off our day with some brutal black metal. Just pure brutality from start to end. Far from amazing, but very fun.
I didn't expect much from Samael as I haven't enjoyed a single album since 1994's Ceremony of Opposites, but this was a very good gig. Lots of fun, even though I wish Xy played a real drum kit for the old track. But it was good.
Gorgoroth was surprisingly good. Drums was a bit off, but it wasn't awful or anything. Considering they headlined friday I expected them to do a bit more on stage, but they kept it really simple. Lots of spikes was all really. They were mainly carried by Hoest (I believe it was Hoest handling the vocals live this time) who did a fantastic job. Superb stage pressence for this gig. Looked like he came straight from hell.
 
Tried Crowbar but left after a couple of songs. Boring.
 
Saturday:
Primordial kicked it off and they were as good as only Primordial can be. Winner of Inferno Festival 2017. The sound was a bit muddy and "tight", but you could hear everything and A.A. Nemtheanga is just out of this world as both a vocalist and frontman. Stunning!
I had never heard Kontinuum before their Inferno Festival gig and the gig didn't make me want to check it out any further. Progressive black metal/post metal clearly inspired by crap like newer Sólstafir. Just... they were all over the place. Didn't seem like they knew what type of music they wanted to make. Meh.
Belphegor surprised me quite a lot. I did not expect to like this live, but it was pretty good. Tho, I got a bit tired towards the end. It's just more of them same until it's over, and the drum sound was a bit annoying. But the first 3/4th of the concert was cool. LOL at Serpenth looking like the fucked up, uglier son/brother/whatever of Dani Filth, though.
I've seen Svartidaudi a few times now, and I've never really been too impressed. But this gig was a a force of its own. Blew me away! I did miss them covering their faces tho (only the two guitarists did it this time).
Abbath got the honor of ending Inferno Festival 2017 and they just fucked it up. Or, Abbath fucked it up. He's a fucking diva, a pussy and a fucking idiot. They played four songs before he threw his guitar in on the floor, left stage and never came back. How anyone wants to be in a band with this dick is beyond me. Rumors has it that he was angry, had fought with the rest of his band earlier this day and that he had some technical problems. But still. A disgusting way too end Inferno Festival 2017. Got not statement from them yet, tho. But whatever.
 
 
Great shit. Got way too drunk for most part. But it's all good. It suits me.

Home, tired and destroyed. Feels like I am gonna die any minute now. Anyway, good festival as usual, and even tho my brother was missed we managed to have lots of fun.
 
Wednesday:
Tangorodrim - Simple, stripped down and straight-forward black metal heavily inspired by Hellhammer, Celtic Frost and Darkthrone. This gig was top notch. No mumbo jumbo, just pure black metal.
Hail Spirit Noir - I was drunk out of my mind when these guys played, and that might have done wonders to the gig. But this was fantastic. Great gig!
This was moments before I puked on the security guard and walked around in Oslo puking all over the place, looking for my friend. That's the state I was in. I have no idea how they could serve me the last 5-6 beers/G&T's.
 
Also catched a couple of tracks by Borknagar, but it was pretty poor.
 
Thursday:
Got there late, so Destruction was our first band out. Sounds a bit too modern, but the gig was pretty good. Was better in 09 or whenever it was, tho.
Pillorian was amazing. While they were black metal as fuck, they did sound a lot more Agalloch-esque live than on album. I even thought they played an Agalloch track, but from the looks of it I was mistaken. But this was great and the ending with Dark Is the River of Man was brilliant. Just... completely put us under some kind of a spell.
Carcass was headlining day two, and they went on with a full 90 minute set. Which is really long for a band that play this type of music. But it worked and it was fantastic from begining to end, and Jeff Walker looked like he was having the time of his life. Looked like he could've gone on for a couple of more hours. My biggest problem was Bill Steer who looked like he came straight from a stoner rock gig, and with some nu-metalish moves here and there. But that's not a big deal. Amazing gig!
 
Missed out on Helheim and Venom. Inc, but they played too early for me. Simple as that. Having to go a gig before 8pm one of the days is more than enough for me.
 
Friday:
Infernal War kicked off our day with some brutal black metal. Just pure brutality from start to end. Far from amazing, but very fun.
I didn't expect much from Samael as I haven't enjoyed a single album since 1994's Ceremony of Opposites, but this was a very good gig. Lots of fun, even though I wish Xy played a real drum kit for the old track. But it was good.
Gorgoroth was surprisingly good. Drums was a bit off, but it wasn't awful or anything. Considering they headlined friday I expected them to do a bit more on stage, but they kept it really simple. Lots of spikes was all really. They were mainly carried by Hoest (I believe it was Hoest handling the vocals live this time) who did a fantastic job. Superb stage pressence for this gig. Looked like he came straight from hell.
 
Tried Crowbar but left after a couple of songs. Boring.
 
Saturday:
Primordial kicked it off and they were as good as only Primordial can be. Winner of Inferno Festival 2017. The sound was a bit muddy and "tight", but you could hear everything and A.A. Nemtheanga is just out of this world as both a vocalist and frontman. Stunning!
I had never heard Kontinuum before their Inferno Festival gig and the gig didn't make me want to check it out any further. Progressive black metal/post metal clearly inspired by crap like newer Sólstafir. Just... they were all over the place. Didn't seem like they knew what type of music they wanted to make. Meh.
Belphegor surprised me quite a lot. I did not expect to like this live, but it was pretty good. Tho, I got a bit tired towards the end. It's just more of them same until it's over, and the drum sound was a bit annoying. But the first 3/4th of the concert was cool. LOL at Serpenth looking like the fucked up, uglier son/brother/whatever of Dani Filth, though.
I've seen Svartidaudi a few times now, and I've never really been too impressed. But this gig was a a force of its own. Blew me away! I did miss them covering their faces tho (only the two guitarists did it this time).
Abbath got the honor of ending Inferno Festival 2017 and they just fucked it up. Or, Abbath fucked it up. He's a fucking diva, a pussy and a fucking idiot. They played four songs before he threw his guitar in on the floor, left stage and never came back. How anyone wants to be in a band with this dick is beyond me. Rumors has it that he was angry, had fought with the rest of his band earlier this day and that he had some technical problems. But still. A disgusting way too end Inferno Festival 2017. Got not statement from them yet, tho. But whatever.
 
 
Great shit. Got way too drunk for most part. But it's all good. It suits me.

Best thing about going to concerts or clubs/bars in Trondheim is the bus home at 3am. 9 out of 10 times it's just brilliant. Most times I'm actually laughing for the entire ride (60-90 minutes, depends a bit). Unlike in Oslo where there's always some shit going on on the bus or among the people waiting, here there's only joy. Overly drunk people who do stupid shit and make fools of themself, some nice people and just good atmoshere all the way, all over the place.
 
Even the hour and half wait for the bus was amazing. One drunk, pessimistic dad of three, one overly drunk mom of three and me. And some people who come and go of course. Hilarious!
 
 

Best thing about going to concerts or clubs/bars in Trondheim is the bus home at 3am. 9 out of 10 times it's just brilliant. Most times I'm actually laughing for the entire ride (60-90 minutes, depends a bit). Unlike in Oslo where there's always some shit going on on the bus or among the people waiting, here there's only joy. Overly drunk people who do stupid shit and make fools of themself, some nice people and just good atmoshere all the way, all over the place.
 
Even the hour and half wait for the bus was amazing. One drunk, pessimistic dad of three, one overly drunk mom of three and me. And some people who come and go of course. Hilarious!
 
 

Next week is Inferno Festival, my 10th anniversary actually. Really looking forward to this. It kicks off on wednesday with the club day, which means a lot of bands playing in different clubs. Which means you'll always miss out on some bands.
 
The bands I really want to see:
 
Vulkan/Pokal:
Red Harvest
Borknagar
Nachash
Tangorodrim
Furze
 
Parteateret:
Whoredom Rife
Deus Mortem
 
Blå:
Hail Spirit Noir
 
Should manage to see Nachash, Red Harvest, Tangorodrim and Hail Spirit Noir, but my main priority is Hail Spirit Noir. Nachash is a fantastic band, but they play really early. So we'll probably miss out on them.
 
Thursday:
Helheim
Venom Inc
Destruction
Carcass
Pillorian
 
Heavydeath (ends this night at Revolver, which is a short walk from Rockefeller/John Dee). We always go to these shows.
 
Helheim and Venom Inc plays a bit too early for our taste, but I would love seeing both.
 
Friday:
Anaal Nathrakh
Samael
Gorgoroth
Infernal War
Crowbar
 
Other than Samael and Infernal War I am not too interested in seeing any of the bands this day, but we'll go and gotta catch some bands. And these are the most interesting of the lot. Last time I heard Anaal Nathrakh live they were atrocious. They didn't even seem to know how to perform live. Absolute trash. Doesn't help that's it's been 11 years since their last good album, and that they since then seem to have found lots of inspiration from metalcore.
 
Saturday:
Slagmaur
Primordial
Belphegor
Abbath
Svartidaudi
 
Only metal bands I've seen live that's better than Primordial is Ghost, and I've seen quite an amount of metal bands live by now. Slagmaur is an interesting band, but they've not been very good the two times I've seen them live. But the second time was a huge improvement on the first time at least. But I fucking hate the masks they use live. Looks so cheap. Like they bought it from a kids store in October. Belphegor is Belphegor. Not a huge fan, but they've got some good albums and could prove to be good live.
 
 
Anyway, I have 48 0,5l cans of beer and a bottle of gin waiting for me at my moms house, so no matter wich bands we see or miss, the four day long party will be majestic as always.
 
First Inferno Festival without my brother who moves to the Philippines earlier this year. Will be a huge miss as he's been with us 8 of these 10 years, and we've spent an insane amount of time in Oslo with the friend we've always stayed at when we've been in Oslo. But life goes on I guess.

Just finished Narcos, season 2.  I really liked the first season, but I was very sceptical about this season and delayed watching it because I read somewhere that the first season was something like 75/25 true/fiction and that this was 25/75 true/fiction, and I didn't think they could create something as good as the first season. But I was wrong, because season 2 is a step up from the first season. Fiction or not, this season was fantastic from start to end. Season 2 is a lot more action-oriented, but at the same time it pays more focus to the emtotional side of the characters, and that's what really makes this season. I'm very surprised, but this was excellent.
 
Can't wait for season 3. And good thing is that they can so easily move this to other coutnries, like Mexico, as they seem to have stepped into fiction a long time ago anyway. Holy shit, excited for more!

Fuck trimming it down, because I began but got a few problems. Which do I keep and which do I remove? So I'll just post everything that's left. Someone might find some of these releases interesting, so I'll put some time and effort into the post.
 
10/10
 
Rude - Remnants...
Rude debuted with an absolute monster of an album in form of Soul Recall in 2014, and 2017 sees the band return with their sophomore album, an album that is just as good, if not better, than their debut. It sounds old school and very familiar, but as with their debut it sounds very fresh at the same time. They don't try to hide their influences, and the riffing, vocals and production reeks of old Pestilence, Morbid Angel and Death, but they still got their own thing going.
 
9/10
Black Magic - Demon Lord
Black Magic has gone from playing black metal on their two first demos, to heavy/speed metal on their EP and a more heavy rock sound on this one-track demo. Totally different, but at the same time it sounds Black Magic as fuck. The occult feeling isn't gone. And as for the quality of the song, this is probably my favourite Black Magic track thus far. Catchy!
 
Black Magick SS - Kaleidoscope Dreams
I've been a fan of Black Magick SS' psychedelic rock with hints of black metal since the begining, and this is by far their best release so far. It's so cheesy, but it sounds awesome. Really, really good, and as unique as it is good. Original band!
 
 
8/10
Helheim - landawarijaR
It took me many years to get into Helheim's post-Terrorveldet releases, but after years of trying I suddenly got into them a year or two ago. Their brand of viking metal and black metal is very unique, and it's always been so, but with landawarijaR they're offering their best and most unique album since Blood & Ild. It's a weird album, almost sounding avant-garde in the vein of Celtic Frost's Into the Pandemonium at times and progressive like mid-era Enslaved at other times, but it always manages to sound like Helheim. Still got lots of brass that makes it feel really epic.
 
Obscure Evil - Void Fumes
Mean and raw black/thrash metal with lots of Bathory, Aura Noir, Nifelheim and the likes in their sound. Not original, but really good. This is a compilation of their demo and EP which is fine as both releases rules.
 
Goatmoon - Stella Polaris
I've always considered Goatmoon to be as bad as they are ridiculous, and never in my wildest dreams would I dream that I would end up enjoying this. But I do. A lot actually. Nice, epic-sounding black/folk metal that's still furious, but it's seasoned with lots of heavy metal riffing here and there. Just check out Stella Polaris that out of nowhere turns into a heavy metal song, and that glorious riff gets even better towards the end of the song when there's a brilliant solo on top of it. It kinds sounds like traditional finnish black metal gone folky. As if Sargeist or Horna added folk metal to their black metal. Surprise of the year for sure. So good I will revisit their older material.
 
Front Beast - Third Scourge from Darkness
I've always been a huge fan of Avenger and many of his bands, especially Front Beast, Nocturnal and Szarlem. With Front Beast Avenger pays a tribute to the ancient black metal of the past, with mean and raw riffing in vein of Darkthrone, Bathory, Celtic Frost, Bestial Summoning, Countess and more. But there's also plenty heavy metal riffing throughout, but it's black in the vein of Mercyful Fate, Oz and Hell. Great stuff!
 
Pillorian - Obsidian Arc
When Agalloch broke up it didn't take long before John Haughm announced his new band, Pillorian, together with Trevor Matthews of Uada and SP of The Will of a Million. And even before they had released a single song to the public, they got booked for shows around the world, among them a headliner spot at this year's Inferno Festival. So how's the music? Well, very good, I'd say. Kinda sounds like a mix of the blackest of Agalloch and Uada, which should come as no surprise. But it's more traditional black metal than Agalloch ever were, but if you're familiar with Agalloch you should be able to hear influences from there. John Haughm's grim vocals are really good for this release too. I'm pleased!
 
Sale Freux - Vindilis
Sale Freux are one of a few "newer" French bands who carries the torch of demo-era Peste Noire.  It's not as medieval-sounding, but it's got that dark, gritty and french countryside-feeling to it. Would be a nice soundtrack when walking over a french battlefield with thousands and thousands of dead soldiers everywhere. Fucked up drumsound, but I like it.
 
The Great Old Ones - EOD: A Tale of Dark Legacy
Post-black metal inspired by H.P. Lovecraft, influenced by old Altar of Plagues, Wolves in the Throne Room, Fen and Deafheaven. These guys just gets better and better, and their third album is by far their best. Really powerful!
 
Bròn - Зарђала Круна
I have, over and over again, mentioned Bròn's two demos and debut album Ànrach as masterpieces, and I still do. Зарђала Круна is the band's new EP consisting of one 32 minutes long song, and it's another masterpiece of cold, atmospheric black metal in the vein of Evilfeast and Forest Silence. Breathtaking release! But as far as I know, this will be the last Bròn release with black metal elements, at least for a while. But the atmospheric ambience of these releases are amazing too, so I expect the future releases to be great too.
 
 
 
That's it for now, but I've got some other releases I'll add to the mix too. I just need to spin them a few more times.

Finished Black Mirror, season 3 today. The third exceptional season of a TV-show that's different and completely unique as far as modern TV-series goes.
 
Both San Junipero and Hated in the Nation are among the best episodes in the series so far, if not the best.
 
San Junipero showed a total different side by ditching the grey environment and bleak atmosphere in favour of something colourful, cheerful and positive. A very uplifting episode in many ways, and a real pleasure to the eye. This was visually stunning.
 
Hated in the Nation are so far one of the most thematically relevant stories of the series so far. A top notch thriller clocking in at 90 minutes, making it the longest episode of the series so far. The storytelling here is much more traditional and familiar, but it's really nicely done throughout.
 
What a series. Holy shit! Brilliant! I have no problems understanding the hype or cult status. Deserved!

Started watching Black Mirror yesterday and right now I just can't get enough of it. Just three episodes left. I've always enjoyed the anthology format, and especially series which is just a bunch of short films, and not entire seasons. And this series is doing it really well, much like a modern-day The Twilight Zone and The Outer Limits. It'd diverse, with episodes covering different genres (drama, horror, thriller, black comedy), with different type of atmosphere and whatnot, but at the same time it's all conected through everything being sci-fi at the botton and thematically based around technology. Great satire all around, and overall very bleak and dark.
 
On it's worst (The Waldo Moment) it's really fun, at its best (Fifteen Million Merits, Be Right Back) it's absolutely mindblowing. And the rest of the episodes are much closer to Fifteen Million Merits and Be Right Back, than The Waldo Moment as far as quality goes. Says it all really.
 
Gotta point out that White Bear was fantastic. And please tell me I am not the only one who gets a folk-horror feeling of this one? At times it made me think of The Wicker Man, Kill List and so on. Did not expect that.

Started watching Black Mirror yesterday and right now I just can't get enough of it. Just three episodes left. I've always enjoyed the anthology format, and especially series which is just a bunch of short films, and not entire seasons. And this series is doing it really well, much like a modern-day The Twilight Zone and The Outer Limits. It'd diverse, with episodes covering different genres (drama, horror, thriller, black comedy), with different type of atmosphere and whatnot, but at the same time it's all conected through everything being sci-fi at the botton and thematically based around technology. Great satire all around, and overall very bleak and dark.
 
On it's worst (The Waldo Moment) it's really fun, at its best (Fifteen Million Merits, Be Right Back) it's absolutely mindblowing. And the rest of the episodes are much closer to Fifteen Million Merits and Be Right Back, than The Waldo Moment as far as quality goes. Says it all really.
 
Gotta point out that White Bear was fantastic. And please tell me I am not the only one who gets a folk-horror feeling of this one? At times it made me think of The Wicker Man, Kill List and so on. Did not expect that.

Under-World is great and I don't get the hate for Fuyu no Castanet at all. I've said it many times and I'll gladly say it again: fantastic song!

Are you fucking serious? Blacklisting? Fuck, that's an embarrassing suggestion, dude.

I just watched this yesterday. Fun stuff!  Thx for bringing it to my attention.

That's a bit of a tough one. Or, it kinda isn't. But it depends a lot on what you like. I could go on recommending Seven Samurai which is one of the greatest films ever as far as story, directing and acting goes, but unless one is actually into jidaigeki and is up for a four hour long epic adventure drama it's easy to become a bit biased, which would probably make it a bit harder to appreciate the greatness of the film.
 
But fuck that, I will recommend it anyway:
 
Seven Samurai (Toshirô Mifune and Takashi Shimura)
Harakiri (Tatsuya Nakadai)
The Sword of Doom (Tatsuya Nakadai)
Lady Snowblood (Meiko Kaji)
Lone Wolf and Cub: Sword of Vengeance (Tomisaburo Wakayama)
A Colt Is My Passport (Joe Shishido)
Sonatine (Takeshi Kitano)
Twilight Samurai (Hiroyuki Sanada)
Samurai Reincarnation (Sonny Chiba)
 
 
Just to mention a few, and I've tried to mix it up a bit as far as genres and stuff goes. Some of these, especially Harakiri and Twilight Samurai, might be way too slow for many, especially Harakiri and Twilight Smurai, but they're absolutely brilliant films with top, top actors and performances.
 
Should also be noted than Tomisaburo Wakayama, Meiko Kaji and Sonny Chiba which are fantastic in a different way than e.g Toshirô Mifune and Tatsuya Nakadai, which is the reason why they played in way different films too. And so on.

Visitor Q is really good if you'd like to watch something quite fucked up.
 
His remake of 13 Assassins is very good, but the original is way better.
 
Gozu and Foduh are both masterpieces.
Full Metal Yakuza is great.
 
Three Extremes are excellent.
 
Both Crows Zero filmes are great, but a bit too boyband-esque for my taste. Always wish that they was a bit tougher around the edges with less pretty boys.
 
And that's all I bother now on my phone.
 
He's got some remakes to his name and while some, like 13 Assassins, are very good, the originals are in all cases way, way better. Always watch the originals first.
 
 
Will come back later. Magnificent, unique director who's really managed to find his own style.
 

Since I'm home I'll throw in a few more recommendations for Takashi Miike:
 
The Happiness of the Katakuris
Really weird mixture of horror, comedy and musical. Surreal, odd and weird remake of Kim Jee-woon's cult classic The Quiet Family. This is actually one of the best remakes ever, just so it's said. It's different from the original, but at the same time very familiar (if you've seen the original).
 
Dead or Alive: Hanzaisha
Ultra-violent, bizarre, wild and fucking crazy. Yeah, watch this gem of a film!
 
The Bird People in China
While not my favourite film, this is probably the man's best films as far as script, dialogue, characters and direction goes. It's quite the opposite of what he's known for, but it shows that he's got some serious skills.
 
Deadly Outlaw: Rekka
One of his many yakuza films, and a great one as well. It's a very typical Miike film. Over the top and wild. The entire soundtrack to this film is Satori by Flower Travellin' Band, which is cool as the album is a proper masterpiece.
 
Shinjuku Triad Society, Rainy Dog and Ley Lines (also known as Black Triad trilogy)
Some very early Miike crime films. Classics!
 
Graveyard of Honor
Great remake of Kinji Fukasaku's 1975 film of the same name. If you've not seen the original I would recommend getting into that one first, but this is a great remake of a classic yakyza film.
 
Sukiyaki Western Django
A film you'll most likely hate or love. Doesn't seem to be anything inbetween in Miike's western, which combines plenty elements of Sergio Leone's Dollars trilogy and Akura Kurosawa's Yojimbo. It's in English (or, engrish if you want), and that's something that bothers a lot of people as the majority of actors seems to concentrate more on pronnouncation than acting. I like it a lot, and the engrish just adds to the fun.
 
Young Thugs: Nostalgia
Brutal violence, comedy. Yeah, a very Miike-esque film from the late 90's.
 
Young Thugs: Innocent Blood
I believe I have seen this film been called "a violent comedy" and a "cinematic bloodbath", which is spot on.
 
Yakuza Apocalypse
Absurdity level 10,5. Vampire yakuzas, a guy dressed up as a frog. A love/hate type of film.
 
Agitator
Yakuza! Great film.
 
But as you can see, there's a lot to choose from. From around 95-04 (or something) he seemed to be obsessed with yakuza tales. Often very bleak, gritty and brutal, but a lot of them are quite different from eachother nonetheless.
 
He's a great director with his own thing going on. But the further back you go, the darker, grittier and more fucked up it gets in many ways. His characters, plot and overall look used to be a lot less slick and polished. There's something so very perverse about the way he shows and present his violence on screen, and I absolutely love and adore it .
 
If I had to recommend a few to begin with:
 
Fudoh: The New Generation
Gozu
The Happiness of the Katakuris
Dead or Alive: Hanzaisha
The Bird People in China
Shinjuku Triad Society
Visitor Q
 
Not necessary because these are my favourites (even though some of these are his best), but because they all are great films, but they show some very different sides about him.

I don't talk about Play Dolls, but I listen to it quite often and I have done so since it's release. Think it is a brilliant album and on par with Not Obtain, if not better. Two of the darkest, most depressing VK/jrock albums I've heard, and that's something I appreciate a lot. Really despise everything they've done after Play Dolls and Not Obtain, though.
 
 
Cool topic. Will come back to this later.

I couldn't find a better title for this thread, but I would like to have an own thread for anime that are suited for adults, rather than kids/teens. Because whenever I've started talking about this in the anime thread it's kinda dwoned in the talk of everything else which is probably more popular. And with "adult" I am basically thinking about anime that is much darker and psychological, more violent and gory, features erotica, or deals with themes that'll go way above the head of most teens. It's a bit vague I guess, but I think you'll get what I mean when you see the lists of examples.
 
Series:
Cowboy Bebop*
Ergo Proxy
Serial Experiments Lain
Neon Genesis Evangelion
Elfen Lied
Hellsing
Gungrave
Cyber City Oedo 808
Berserk
 
 
Films:
Perfect Blue
Akira
Ninja Scroll
Ghost in the Shell
Angel's Egg
Memories
Wicked City
Vampire Hunter D
Vampire Hunter D: Bloodlust
 
*I understand that Cowboy Bebop might seem a bit out of place to some here, but its touches of neo-noir, sophistication, philosophical concepts of boredom and loneliness and more adult themes such as drugs and homosexuality makes it a very adult series.
 
 
Anyone ever see anime that's either Lovecraftian or very cosmic horror-inspired? Would be real cool!

Which is understandable. It's a heavy film that really requiers and asks a lot from the viewer, but I think this film is pure magic.  Repeated viewings are probably not a bad idea for a film like this.

Sounds neat! After hearing two tracks this album is already better than their debut album and EP. Way ahead of both! I'm surprised by how epic this song sounds, but it still sounds like it's from the same album as the first, more Nifelheim'esque track. Diggin' this, and the cover art is just beyond rad.

By the way, Angel's Egg is an overlooked masterpiece. Slow-burning, surrealistic and poetic anime with barely any dialogue at all. It's not as much about plot, characters and all that, but rather an atmospheric trip, or just an experience, that offers something different. Probably the most unique anime I've ever seen. It's not even 80 minutes long, but 85% of everyone who  watch this will be bored to death and the 80 minutes will feel more like 578 minutes. But this is perfect IMO. Highly recommended for people with some patience who appreciate atmosphere, visual style and the artsy side of things.
 

By the way, Angel's Egg is an overlooked masterpiece. Slow-burning, surrealistic and poetic anime with barely any dialogue at all. It's not as much about plot, characters and all that, but rather an atmospheric trip, or just an experience, that offers something different. Probably the most unique anime I've ever seen. It's not even 80 minutes long, but 85% of everyone who  watch this will be bored to death and the 80 minutes will feel more like 578 minutes. But this is perfect IMO. Highly recommended for people with some patience who appreciate atmosphere, visual style and the artsy side of things.