Bear

I'm not trying to be silly about it just for the sake of having something to write about. Everything contained herein has not an ounce of exaggeration nor a single unwarranted superlative. This was a complete disaster and everyone is worse off for having been there: the organiser, satsuki and the attendees.
 
It comes to no surprise to anyone that obviously this was top 3 least attended visual kei show in Finnish history, with the only other contenders being that Maria band who performed at a youth recreational center, HITT and possibly any of the dozen times ADAMS and Plunklock came here.  Even if I forget a gig it's beside the point anyway, because what you need to take away here is that there was an audience of well below 100 people. I doubt this was an issue for the organisers as the low attendance must have been well expected beforehand, and as has been demonstrated in the thread before he has no band with him and henceforth the least amount of gear possible. Satsuki the shrewd business man came to rake in the merch money and get out as fast as possible.
 
The weather was fabulous and we arrived to the vicinity of the venue quite early and after checking out the line we gtfo'd to drink more at a nearby park. We looked to be the sole contributors to the average alcohol % in the attendee blood stream average.  After finding out that the bar would be closed we came to the mutual decision that we'd skip the Finnish act - who's name shall not be mentioned because I don't want anyone to check them out even in jest - who would be warming up for Satsuki for the night. My dislike for all the shite local bands everywhere near you is intense burning fire. 
 
So we finally went in shortly before Satsuki started and nothing could have prepared me for it. I honestly think that when Satsuki started singing over a really bad sounding backtrack everyone was in the same state of shock as I was.  The mixing of Satsuki's very distinct voice and the song playing in the background sounded so weird that I cracked up uncontrollably right away and tried to get a yoko ono joke out and just couldn't without control the nervous laughter. I talked to one other random attendee after the show who expressed similar feelings, so I would rightly imagine that most people there felt this way.  
 
Right for the first song the crowd was as unenthusiastic any I've ever seen. I don't think anyone knew the songs, I mean, at all. Satsuki must have felt very awkward after every time he tried to get the audience to sing the songs it would fall flat straight away. He was practically begging for reactions throughout the songs and after every song played and numerous times said that the audience was shy - he did this a lot. There were multiple few minutes long MC's that were the usual fare like nice to meet you Finland, my newest album is great please buy it and etc. these were the highlight of the show because otherwise nobody looked like they were having fun. I legitimately don't think there were any solo Satsuki fans there, but people like me who just came there for the visual kei association. There are few things worse than seeing a band bomb on stage and being on hands and knees trying to garner a reaction. Apparently during one of the songs they were filming the audience to make a crazy wild live show good time PV out of it and I don't think they'll end up using the footage from this show...
 
We spent the show sitting down pretty much and I was trying to be a jerk for the bulk of the show by grunting and yelling Rentrer en soi songs, which other people seemed to do a couple of times too and Satsuki no-sold every single one. I actually saw Satsuki outside the venue at one point and waved at the guy but he couldn't care less. - Anyway the show was gladly very brief and actually looks like it may have been cut shorter than initially intended, as the amount of songs played must have been ten or even less. Don't quote me on that though. 
 
Yikes. After it was all said and done I don't think anyone had much fun. Satsuki being a touring musician must have had crowds like this before in his life, but it's probably safe to say he won't be returning and I don't think the audience would either. Everyone looked caught off guard by the lack of live musicians and just how awkward the setup ended up sounding.  After the show I said that this might just be the first ever outright bad show I went to. I've certainly been bored at plenty, but even those bands had their fans and people seemed like they had a good time. Here I think every single scream and utterance from the audience was out of straight up politeness. Appl- above seems to have liked it and definitely in a completely different environment this might have turned out of very different, especially in country that has not been as spoiled as Finland has been over the years. A visual kei gig has any shred of novelty here it one point may have had, like we have had bands here like during the heyday of visual kei in europe every band was here at some point. A good crowd can salvage every show and calling the mood lethargic would probably be an understatement. Some of the satsuki solo stuff actually sounded fine, but the if a show just bombs on a fundamental level with the setting then not even okay songs can salvage it. 
 
If Satsuki is performing near you then I really wouldn't advice you to go unless you want to buy the  signed Cinema Cradle DVD for 30 bux which he was selling. 

Hooo boy, May sure was a cool month! At least for me, I found lots of awesome stuff to listen to. What were some of your favorites?
 
As usual, the rules are pretty simple: you can list what releases you thought were the best, and explain why in a few sentences. You can even pick just 1 album if that's all you've got, and try to keep it to a maximum of 5 items. Feel free to add or remove any albums later if you feel like your taste has changed, etc. Oh, and try to include a sample or two so that others could peep those sweet tunes more easily!
 
Here we go~
 

Gustave Tiger - Chaste and Mystic Tribadry / This album completely blew me away. I've already been a casual fan of this artsy Hungarian punk group, but they've really upped their game for their 2nd full-length! They deliver sizzling and bubbling guitar melodies, catchy vocal hooks and an all around pleasantly weird atmosphere (those lyrics, bruh!) in spades. The horn section on some of the tracks is a nice touch too. Highly recommended if you enjoy melodic punk-rock with an eccentric twist.
 

Radiohead - A Moon Shaped Pool / It's been a long time since I've actually really sat down and listened to Radiohead, but when they released their new album I just had to check it out, of course... and what can I say? It's a completely immersive listening experience, very intimate yet grandiose. They show their weird side now and then too, which is always fun. However, it's not a 'fun' album, if you get my drift. Very melancholic and moody, with some pleasant orchestral arrangements to elevate the atmosphere. Strong release.
 

Vektor - Terminal Redux / What a beast of an album this is! Clocking in at over 70 minutes, it's Vektor's most ambitious project to date. We're dealing with a sci-fi concept album here that doesn't miss the mark, not even once. Raspy thrash metal collides with truly progressive elements making for an unforgettable listen. Some of the more gargantuan tracks might seem intimidating at first, but they're all packed with cool riffs and themes, so you won't get bored easily. Killer stuff!
 
 
Honorable mentions
 
Death Grips - Bottomless Pit / Another new DG album, another victory for them. Not much else to say.
Heart Attack Kids - No Future / Ass-kicking noise rock with just enough catchy bits to keep you hooked.
Perturbator - The Uncanny Valley / Almost made my top-top list. Excellent synth-stravaganza, just like last time!

I'm almost embarrassed to admit this, but I actually like the two super cheap, cheesy Diabolic Night covers, as well as the ones that actually good. They're absolute shit, but very chaming and I feel like they totally match his overall image and 80's feeling.
 

 

 

 

 
 
It just matches really well IMO. That's a great pic too, btw.

Uhhh gotta check me out some Luzifer and Quintessenz, thanks for the recommendations!

I've got some German gold for you fucks:
 
 
 
Classic sounding occult heavy metal from Genözider (Quintessenz, Bulldozing Bastard, Vulture) and Steeler (Hellhunt, Vulture). This sounds like it was released in 1986. For fans of Mercyful Fate, first King Diamond, Hell, Angel Witch and so on.
 
 
Black speeding metal hell with a heavy mid-1980's feeling to it. Think Bathory, Running Wild, Venom, Evil Blood, Sabbat and more.
 
 
Speed metal massacre in the vein of Ranger, Razor, Exciter and more from Genözider (Quintessenz, Bulldozing Bastard, Vulture), Steeler (Hellhunt, Vulture) and Axetinctör (Bulldozing Bastard). It's got a classic feeling to it, and speed is the key here. Speed kills!
 
 
Black speed metal hell in the vein of early Sodom, Deathhammer and more. This shit is awesome and sounds like 1986, which is a good thing. Total fucking war!
 
 
New track from Genözider's Quintessenz. Total 80's black metal worship, but this sounds less Hellhammer and Bathory and more Mercyful Fate and Angel Witch then the previous stuff. The first demo is a modern classic and the EP is great, but the debut album was a bit disappointing. This however sounds top notch!

I understand what you mean, but I don't agree. Animation is, as I've already stated, a medium and it can cover every single genre in the world of cinema, from action and crime tocomedy, horror and porn. The term animation isn't used to describe the genre of the film, but the artform and it's an easy way to seperate live-action flicks and animation.
 
And you'd be right in calling Porco Rosso an animated adventure film, but it's only the "adventure" part that tells anything about the genre. Animated is only used to seperate it from liveaction films, or just to tell you to some degree the techniques used in making this film.
 
 
As for war, it's a genre for sure, and a genre that is all about giving you a feeling of war.
 
Historical film could also be seen as a genre I guess, but it's not a well-defined genre at all as it can cover a lot of genres. But a historical film could be anything from a drama and an action flick, like e.g wuxia. So it's a very vague genre in many ways, and more often than not I see people either combine it with another genre (historical drama, historical war film) or just use a subgenre, Jidaigeki, costume drama, period drama and so on.
 
But I guess we can just call this nitpicking. Never mind me and go on, guys.

Siren Blood Curse is a very good game IMO, and horror the way horror should be. Great, frightening atmosphere, which is a serious scarce in the world of horror games. Creators of such games often seem to misunderstand what horror is and should be all about, and what it is that actually makes horror games work. The two first Silent Hill games, Amnesia: The Dark Descent, Siren Blood Curse, Slender: The Eight Pages, that's what horror games should be like. They are all atmosphere-based games, and great games as well.

I disagree with Salems Lott being a full on glam metal band. And the reason is simple: they play a type of music that doesn't fall in under that term. There's elements of the traditional glam metal sound in their music here and there, but they fall a lot closer to the heavy/speed/power metal of bands such as X Japan, Aion, Harkenkreuz and Rosenfeld, and of course bands such as Accept, Loudness and more. You gotta remember that glam is about more than just having big hair and flashy clothes. To be a glam band you also gotta play a type of music that fits in with the genre, and Salems Lott simply isn't doing that.
 
Visualy I also think they look more like X Japan, Rosenfeld, Harkenkreuz and so on, than any traditional glam bands IMO.

I don't take pictures at gigs do I don't mind it at all. In fact I think it's great.

I thought this was one of the best episodes of the series so far. Shit's getting real, and it was really nice and intense throughout. Hodor, though. Always liked him a lot.

I Bought a Vampire Motorcycle - With a title like that you'll expect something silly, over the top and cheesy as fuck, and I think they manage to make a film like that. It's as low-budget as it's stupid, but it's an incredibly fun horror comedy with a funny premise and good execution. Pure fun!
 

 
He Never Died - Totally unpredictable, almost insane black horror comedy with none other than Henry Rollins of Black Flag in the lead, and he does a brilliant job. The script isn't too funny, but the script along with Rollins' delivery makes it real fun. He's spot on every single time he spit out something fun, which is quite often. The plot and characters is lacking, they truly are, but Henry Rollins simply makes up for it. He's excellent!
 
Really liked He Never Died and I'll say something as bold as fuck: He Never Died is as good as Henry Rollins is cool.
 

Nightcrawler - Main character has to be one of the creepiest, sleaziest sociopathic assholes portrayed in film in the last decade or so. Great film! I really liked it. The fact that it's mostly set during nighttime helps too, I've always been a sucker for nighttime visuals lol

Their last album was very disappointing, but other than that this band has been Close to flawless ever since their demo, so them splitting (not sure if they're actually split though, or if it's just that all the members except of John Haughm who's left?) sucks.
 
From Which of This Oak, Pale Folklore, Marrow of the Spirit and Faustian Echoes are most excellent, and The Mantle, Ashes Against the Grain and the majority of the other releases are great too. The only release I don't listen to on a regular basis is The Serpent & the Sphere.

I recently started a new save on Borderlands, playing with my brother and two friends. I liked its singleplayer, but this took the game to new heights. Fun alone, great with friends. Looking forward to finishing this game and start on Borderlands 2 with them.

The Witch: A New-England Folktale - I had huge expectations to this film and it surely didn't disappoint. It's a simple enough tale, but it's incredibly atmospheric and tense throughout the film,  and it's beautifully shot, visually stunning and superbly acted. I thought the film was very haunting and unsettling, much because of its visuals, but also because first-time director Robert Eggers taunts us with certain elements a bit throughout the film, and makes some incredible choices both story-wise and in the way he's decided to tell this story.
 
A brilliant debut!
 

I hate that übermodern looking cover, but god damn how I look forward to this. This is gonna be suge a huge moment for me.

I don't think there's a single instrument that's more or less important than the others in general as it's all about how the band want to sound, how they write their music and so on.

The Hitcher is cult as fuck, Spy was surprisingly funny and Jason Statham WAS the film, and Visitor Q is so bisarre, and of course excellent.

The Hitcher: My man Rutger does it again. Damn, does he ever play the ''evil son of a bitch'' role well. Also, goddamn, this film delivers more spectacle in just its first 20 minutes than what some movies deliver in their whole runtime lol
Despite the lack of any supernatural elements in the movie, I'd say some MASSIVE suspension of disbelief is required, but goddamn, does it ever deliver the sweet '80s goodness. Loved it.

I'm always sceptic about going to the cinema which is why I tend to wait until the film has run for a long time before I go, because it means less people in the audience. I'm a big fan of going to the cinema on big, red days when we're off work and most people celebrate. New years eve is a good day to go to the cinema. It's early, it's more or less free of other people and chances are big that you'll have a good time.
 
 
Deadpool - I finally got to see this film and it actually lived up to my huge expectations, and went even further beyond those. To start off I have to admit that I always liked Ryan Reynolds despite many dogy choices of films to be in, but he's always got something about him. The second thing I need to say is that this is a really impressive debut by Tim Miller. It's not super original and he does rely on tricks used a lot before, but he's daring and he brings something to the superhero film that we haven't seen too much of. It's childish and silly with Ryan Reynolds delivering ridiculous one-liners from the begining to the end. But the character, the entire tone of the film and Ryan Reynolds' fantastic performance makes it work, as well as Tim Millers direction because he just knows what he wants this film to be. It's not uneven in tone at all. It's a known story, but it feels fresh. Yeah, fuck it! Let's just agree that this was exceptional!
 
There's a few CGI problems during this film, but they're minor and this film was excellent aside from that.
 
Now, this is a superhero film, but it's not a traditional one and it's more in the line of Kick-Ass, The Toxic Avenger and so on. And anyone expection something traditional will most likely be disappointed during the first watch, but most likely not the second or third. And quality-wise I think this is up there with the very best of superhero films. To me this film doesn't stand back to films such as Batman, Batman Returns, Watchmen, X-Men: Days of Future Past, Kick-Ass, The Toxic Avenger, Superman, Dredd, Swamp Thing and V for Vendetta which I consider the best of the best as far as superhero films goes.
 

I'm always sceptic about going to the cinema which is why I tend to wait until the film has run for a long time before I go, because it means less people in the audience. I'm a big fan of going to the cinema on big, red days when we're off work and most people celebrate. New years eve is a good day to go to the cinema. It's early, it's more or less free of other people and chances are big that you'll have a good time.
 
 
Deadpool - I finally got to see this film and it actually lived up to my huge expectations, and went even further beyond those. To start off I have to admit that I always liked Ryan Reynolds despite many dogy choices of films to be in, but he's always got something about him. The second thing I need to say is that this is a really impressive debut by Tim Miller. It's not super original and he does rely on tricks used a lot before, but he's daring and he brings something to the superhero film that we haven't seen too much of. It's childish and silly with Ryan Reynolds delivering ridiculous one-liners from the begining to the end. But the character, the entire tone of the film and Ryan Reynolds' fantastic performance makes it work, as well as Tim Millers direction because he just knows what he wants this film to be. It's not uneven in tone at all. It's a known story, but it feels fresh. Yeah, fuck it! Let's just agree that this was exceptional!
 
There's a few CGI problems during this film, but they're minor and this film was excellent aside from that.
 
Now, this is a superhero film, but it's not a traditional one and it's more in the line of Kick-Ass, The Toxic Avenger and so on. And anyone expection something traditional will most likely be disappointed during the first watch, but most likely not the second or third. And quality-wise I think this is up there with the very best of superhero films. To me this film doesn't stand back to films such as Batman, Batman Returns, Watchmen, X-Men: Days of Future Past, Kick-Ass, The Toxic Avenger, Superman, Dredd, Swamp Thing and V for Vendetta which I consider the best of the best as far as superhero films goes.
 

Just a heads-up: the new Perturbator album and bonus EP are out one day early!
 
http://perturbator.bandcamp.com/album/the-uncanny-valley
https://blood-music.bandcamp.com/album/the-uncanny-valley-bonus

The new Vektor is crazy good, guys. They've taken the best elements of their previous albums and mixed them with newer elements, making it miles better than previous releases. The riffs are better, the songs tighter and everything just flows better. The progressive elements are toned doqn quite a bit and feels much more natural and less forced. Easily their best album till now, and I will be surprised if this isn't among my top 10 at the end of the year. God damn, they finaly got their massive potential out. Brilliant!

Like I said in my previous post I actually havea lot of albums to choose from this time around, and I've actually had a hard time picking out three of them.
 
Ithaqua - The Black Mass Sabbath Pulse
Graveyard - ...for Thine Is the Darkness
Reptilian - Perennial Void Traverse
Woman Is the Earth - Torch of Our Final Night
Barbarian - Cult of the Empty Grave
Blizaro - Cornucopia della morte
Occult Burial - Hideous Obscure
Desaster - The Oath of an Iron Ritual
Moonsorrow - Jumalten aika
Wytch Hazel - Prelude
Uada - Devoid of Light
 
All the five bolded out deserve a spot on my list I think, so choosing only three is hard. I'll just pick three releases now, but tomorrow the list would've been different. It's that close.
 

Ithaqua - The Black Mass Sabbath Pulse
These Greek black metallers released a demo in 2015 that ended on my top 10 for the year, and their follow-up EP isn't any worse. Like their demo this sounds like a lost release from 1993, and I am not even joking. If someone claimd it was no one would raise an eyebrow. It sounds that authentic. This is Hellenic black metal like it was played by classic black metal bands like Rotting Christ, Varathron, Necromantia and Though Art Lord in the early-mid 90's. This is  short two-track EP clocking in at only 16 minutes, but it's 16 brilliant minutes. The riffing, drums, synth, vocals, production - everything sounds like anicient Hellenic black metal. True to its spirit and classic in sound. If you like older Greek black metal bands like Rotting Christ, Varathron, Necromantia, Though Art Lord, Kawir, Agatus, Zemial and so on, then this is for you.
 
Listen
 

Wytch Hazel - Prelude
Uplifting, christian hard rocking heavy metal. I find this band hard to describe, but I guess we could say they sounds a bit like Pagan Altar and Angel Witch meets Thin Lizzy and Uriah Heep meets Jethro Tull and Wishbone Ash. Catchy and uplifting as hell, and I think this is an album that will gets the job done in the light of day and warmth of the sun with a six pack in hand. Great vocals, fantastic leads and just superb riffing and atmosphere.
 
Listen
 

Occult Burial - Hideous Obscure
After a few truly great demos and a split Occult Burial finally gives us their debut album, and what an album it is! Thrashing black metal in the vein of old Bathory, Sodom, NME, Tormentor, Sabbat, Mefisto, Vulcano, Poison, Treblinka, Sarcofago, Bulldozer and so on. In other words, this sounds like a proper first wave of black metal release. This could easily have been released in 1985-86, and if anyone claimed it was in fact a release from 1986 no-one would raise an eyebrow. It sounds that authentic. The rawness is there, the occult feeling is there, the riffing is there and the production is there. Everything is there. A fantastic debut album!
 
Listen
 
 
 
 
Honorable mentions (the two other albums that should be a part of the list):
Blizaro - Cornucopia della morte
Blizaro mainman John Gallow is a huge fan of horror films, doom metal and progressive rock, and he mix the best qualities of all three things in to a fabolous mix of progressive rock and doom metal. While there's elements of classic doom metal like Black Sabbath and the likes, John Gallow's Blizaro have always been on the Italian side of things, and his music oozes of classic italian horror soundtracks (especially giallo soundtracks) and bands like Goblin, Paul Chain (Violet Theatre), Black Hole, The Black, Zess, Requiem, Arpia and so on. The debut album was great, but it's always the demo material I've listened the most to from these guys, as the debut album, City of the Living Nightmare, was a little unfocused in the way it was put together. A bit all over the place and more like a compilation. This however sounds more like a proper album. It should also be noted that this album leans more towards tradition doom and less towards progressive rock than before, but the proggy elements are still present.
 
Listen
 
Moonsorrow - Jumalten aika
After a very good, yet disappointing album, Moonsorrow returns to form with an album that sounds like a natural follow-up to 2008's fantastic 30 minute song/EP Tulimyrsky. This is less folky than Varjoina kuljemme kuolleiden maassa that saw the band take a few step back towards their two first albums in sound, and instead continue the black, dark, epic and progressive path the band started to walk with the masterpiece that is Verisäkeet, and continued with the masterpieces V: Hävitetty and Tulimyrsky. This album sounds massive, it's challenging and it's bloody fantastic.
 
Listen
 

I'll join in later this week. I actually have no less than 11 contenders this time, which feels weird as I've struggled to get to 3 releases in the past months.
 
Funny you'd mention Uada, Jiggy. I took notice of them some months ago because of their fantastic Kris Verwimp cover art, as well as cool band picture. I kinda get the feeling Verwimp has looked back at his classic 90's cover arts and found some sorely needed inspiration for that cover. As far as the music goes I've only spun it like 3-4 times, but it sounds very good. Kinda sounds like a mix of Dissection, Dawn, Mgla and Weakling or something in those lines. Looking forward to dig even deeper into the album.