Bear

What do people think of the first picture of Jared Leto's The Joker from Suicide Squad?
 
 
I think he looks godawful. It looks like some poor cosplay shit. A big fucking joke.

Snowpiercer (2013) : I wanted to see this one because I love me some dystopian future, sci-fi last-of-humanity -esque films. The cast is amazing and diverse, stretching across big names from America, Europe, and Korea. The action and suspense is well done, the fight choreography doesn't get boring or redundant (I could have done with less guns, just because you would think ricochet bullets or running out of ammo would be a major factor. But it is conveniently forgotten for the sake of pushing the plot.) A gripe I have is the character development feels like an afterthought, when I felt it should have been the driving force. There are also slight bits of comedy that are apparently director Joon-ho Bong's signature but don't sit well because the characters don't particularly have senses of humor (but the lack of humor suits this kind of film to me). So a few things may have been "lost in translation" but overall, if you want a film that's gonna make you eat that entire bowl of popcorn and cheer when certain characters reach their final destinations (see what I did there? XD) then this is a good movie for a night in with friends.
Trailer:
 
EDIT:
I meant to comment on that Leto picture too. LOL. I don't mind his look as much as I just hate his tattoos. They need to fire whoever thought that looked okay. OTL

It would be cool if people didn't embed too many videos here, as not everyonehas decent computers. Some might struggle with all the videos. Use spoilers, or just link to a song like I did.

More japanese metal goodies:

Gallhammer
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hs3fl_vrgY8

Gallhammer was formed by three chicks in 2003, none who knew how to play the instruments they'd end up playing in the band. It didn't take long before the band had gained a cult following both because of them being three japanese girls, but also because of their original approach to metal. The band sounds like a mix of Hellhammer and early Amebix with a strong Darkthrone influence to it. Crusty black/doom metal. Their two first albums and the compilation are top notch. They were a brilliant live band as well.

Zadkiel
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rrn1zyGKAGE

Raw black/speed metal in the vein of early Venom with lots of Motorhead thrown in. Both the EP and single are great releases.

Bellzlleb
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T0uJkyVTFLE

Wicked and theatrical heavy/doom and black/speed metal. I can't really think of many bands similar to this, but the dark, occult feeling of their first albums always gave me an early Sigh, Mystifier, Root and Rotting Christ-vibe despite not sounding anything like any of those.

Rosenfeld
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CY_D6IICbNg

One of the early, japanese visual thrash metal bands with a nazi image. Really cool band with some great demos and a masterpiece of an album in the discography.

Rommel
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PFuqAdriwck

Another early visual speed/thrash metal band with a nazi iamge. It's not quite Rosenfeld, but it's more than enjoyable in my ears. I really dig this band.

Mein Kampf
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zfhXou5CyCQ

The names says it all doesn't it? Less thrashier than the others, but this band was truly great. Traditional speed metal with a nazi image. Speeder is a speed emtal masterpiece.

Harkenkreuz
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=APCpa_cBV-0

You guessed it. Another visual nazi thrash metal band. They only have one demo and a split release to their name, bu the demo is really cool.

Sabbrabells
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3Tm6mnzFjEk

Traditional heavy metal with an occult feeling similar to early Mercyful Fate, King Diamond, Hell and Angel Witch. A truly great band!

White Hell
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JP-HsISFAKg

Early black/speed metal. Released one single, and I dig it.

Crowley
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_qQXkr9EH0E

Dark, occult heavy/speed metal fron Japan. One of my all-time favourite heavy metal acts. Both the EP and full lenghts are masterpieces. The band disbanded in the late 80's, but reformed in 2014. I don't have any great expectations, but looking forward to something new if they plan to release something.

Flower Travellin' Band
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t9FW0zMpCrI

Classic psychedelic rock/heavy metal with a strong doom metal-vibe to it. Clearly influenced by the likes of Black Sabbath, Led Zeppelin, Deep Purple and so on. Satori, which is their masterpiece, is really heavy for an early 70's release. 71 actually. You'll never hear anything like the masterpiece that is Satori.

Jurassic Jade
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=koFiYJ5xqHQ

Raw, female-fronted thrash metal. The classic album Gore is poorly produced, but it's a god damn great album. I'm not familiar with the band outside of Gore, but I know for a fact that Gore is totally worth checking out for thrash metal fans.

Arkha Sva
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6vtVSjAX3JI
 
Black metal with a strong 90's french vibe to it. Obviously inspired by the french cult scene (Vlad Tepes, Belketre, Mutiilation). Great music and even greater vocals. Lots of amazing falsetto going on here and there.

Avsolutized...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LV7Eh5pkdiA
Black metal band connected to Arkha Sva, but unlike Arkha Sva who's influenced by the french scene, this band is influenced by the swedish scene, especially Setherial whom they also cover.

Ningen-Isu
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CLoUY1kA4ZY

These guys formed in 87 and have released 18 full lenghts, some EPs and singles since then. They started out as a progressive rock band more inspired by Rush, Led Zepelin and Deep Purle, but over the years they've moved more towards a doom/heavy metal sound more similar to Black Sabbath but without leaving the progressive rock of Rhsh behind.

Casbah
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OncwKmzfwTI

Early thrash metal with a strong death metal-vibe to it. Their early singles and demos are great.

Terror Squad
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ipadglqnrAc

The debut is a crazy punky thrash metal album, while the second is more progressive. This band is amazing, and sadly overlooked. You won't hear anything like this band ever.

Aion
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C8dRdtjP8bI

Visual thrash metal, but this time without the nazi iamge (as far as I know). Released a couple of great thrash metal albums before moving into more power metal influenced territory. Released some good power/thrash metal albums before they started to suck as well. By the mid 90's they'd gone from awesome to embarrassing and we do not talk about later Aion.

Gonin-Ish
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sWqnofhRSLo

These guys started off as an Anekdoten cover band but only used a few years before evolving into something very unique and original. Extreme progressive metal. All their releases features Junichi Harashima of Sigh behind the drum kit too. Great, underrated drummer.

Hellchild
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CYy5AXfW1Oo

Old school death metal with a stong swedish vibe to it. Junichi Harashima played on a few albums for these guys as well.

Multiplex
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WwCMW1kglvc

Death/grind with a strong Carbonized and Abhorrence feeling to it. Released one album and some EPs and shit and the album is very good.

Satanic Hellslaughter
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xYQdp0gJ0M4

Released one demo and two splits, one of them together with Multiplex and another band. Fairly standard, but great, brutal death metal. The Thrashing Deathpower split with fellow countrymen Multiplex and Gibbed is truly great. All bands deliver music of high quality.

It's good to some some activity in this thread. I'll join in with some great bands that's not been mentioned yet.
 
Sabbat
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XfF1S4Ga-Zw
 
Cult black metal band formed in 1983, and one of my all-time favourite black metal bands. They're on of those bands that releases a shitload of useless compilations, splits, live albums and EPs all the fucking time and have a huuuuuuuuuuuuuge discography, but they've released 9 full-lenghts and 5 EPs that are must have's for any fan of black metal. None deserves a score worse than 9/10. A truly great band.
 
Magnesium
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U4pYugANabo
 
Formed back in 1992, but since then they've only released three demos, three splits, two live albums, a single and a compilation, so it's not all that to dig into. But the little they have released is great, and Time Tells No Lies / Over the Rainbow stands as one of my all-time favourite heavy metal releases. Passionate and real.
 
Abigail
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EvQtAcUuiEQ
 
I mentioned Barbatos in the OP, and Abigal is the main band of Barbatos' sole member Yasuyuki Suzuki. Started out as a standard black metal band, but after their debut, which is fantastic, they turned thrashier and kept playing black thrash until now.
 
Fastkill
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q0tj4Y64JJ0
 
Brutal thrash metal in the vein of old Kreator, Morbid Saint and Dark Angel. Straight-forward, brutal thrash metal with nothing new to offer, but what they do offer rules.
 
Doom
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OSYNPSJeQWE
 
Started out as a really unique progressive thrash metal before moving more towards the realm of avant-garde rock with later albums. Their first two-three albums are great.
 
Gnome
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N1093lRDqeo
 
Japanese black metal with a strong Burzum-vibe to it. Under the Black Moon is something beyond a masterpiece, and sadly one of the most overlooked gems in history of metal. Magnificent band!
 
Coffins
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ptl1BF6PDPU
 
Death/doom gods. They're like a mix of Autopsy, Winter and Celtic Frost. Brilliant band!
 
Transgressor
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NgE4Z5ZcOOo
 
Great band, and the debut album is a forgotten Autopsy and Death-influenced death metal gem. It's nothing original, but it's something very, very good.
 
Messiah Death
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VJjTchnTHBk
 
This band formed in 86, but only released three demos between 87 and 89 before they called the quits. Shame, because the demos are amazing. Raw death metal.
 
Anatomia
 
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m8bwPR9hp6c
 
Death/doom in the vein of Autopsy and Coffins. There's nothing original to be found anywhere in Anatomia's discography, but they're doing what they do really good so there's no need for originality.
 
 
 
 
Will come back with more later.

We have a punk thread so I thought we should have a metal thread as well. Post everything japanese and metal, old or new doesn't matter. General talk about japanese metal. Simple as that.
 
 
 


https://hellsheadbangers.bandcamp.com/track/satanik-holocaust-2
 
The rocking motherfuckers in Barbatos has a new album out soon, Straight Metal War, their first new album for 9 years. I'm a fan of Barbatos and their black/thrash/punk metal, so I am looking forward to this. It's more of the same, but when your usual output is great there's no need to change so who gives a fuck about that. I love the vocals on Goodbye High School Girls. Sounds like an improved Shigeyuki Koide (Gorgon) or something. Should be cool, and I hope we hear more of that on the album.
 
 
 

 
Sludge gods Corrupted has a new EP released a month ago called 喪失：Loss. Looking forward to hear this one, as it's always exciting with new material from these guys. Couldn't find any of the songs online after a quick search though.

We have a punk thread so I thought we should have a metal thread as well. Post everything japanese and metal, old or new doesn't matter. General talk about japanese metal. Simple as that.
 
 
 


https://hellsheadbangers.bandcamp.com/track/satanik-holocaust-2
 
The rocking motherfuckers in Barbatos has a new album out soon, Straight Metal War, their first new album for 9 years. I'm a fan of Barbatos and their black/thrash/punk metal, so I am looking forward to this. It's more of the same, but when your usual output is great there's no need to change so who gives a fuck about that. I love the vocals on Goodbye High School Girls. Sounds like an improved Shigeyuki Koide (Gorgon) or something. Should be cool, and I hope we hear more of that on the album.
 
 
 

 
Sludge gods Corrupted has a new EP released a month ago called 喪失：Loss. Looking forward to hear this one, as it's always exciting with new material from these guys. Couldn't find any of the songs online after a quick search though.

Dir en grey are best when they're at their most progressive and serious/grown up/what the fuck you want to call it IMO. Goes for both the old and new Dir en grey.

A Chinese Ghost Story - One of the most original and unique films I've ever seen. Ching Siu-tung, perhaps best known for the fantastic films Duel to the Death and The Swordsman II, directed this film back in 1987 with Leslie Cheung, Joey Wang and Ma Wu in the leading roles. The film itself is completely different from anything you've ever seen and will see. It's a perfect blend of horror, romantic comedy and high fantasy wuxia, and it plays really well on all these genres. It's sweet and romantic, it's funny, it's atmospheric and it's exciting with great fights. The actors does amazing, the creature design is great and it's an overall fantastic film. I find nothing to complaina bout here.
 

 
A Chinese Ghost Story II - Leslie Cheung returns to the sequel playing the same role, so does Wu Ma but he's playing a far smaller part in this sequel. Joey Wang returns as well, but as another character. Now, to the big question: does it live up to its predecessor? No, sadly it doesn't. The romantic comedy part feels less genuine and real, and the focus lies more on action, horror and special effects, which makes it lack that really unique touch from the first film. And the plot isn't quite as good either. Not even close. But the action is better. Really better, but then again the focus did not lie on the action for the first film. It's not a bad film, not at all, I love the film and I think it's amazing. It's just not on par with it's predecessor.
 

Amazing band. Solid State Survivor's easily my favourite YMO album. Rydeen!!!

Graveward revived the SIGH love in me; going through their older albums again and again.

I'm all for bands copying/ripping off/paying tribute to good bands/albums/styles, as long as it gives me good music on the table. As for Grieva, it's a band I really like and I think they're ripping off/copying/whatever you'll call it in a good, tasteful manner. I also feel like the style they were going for, especially in their early days (as I haven't heard their latest), that old school Dir en grey-style, was close to lost and forgotten so someone picking up the torch and carrying the flame of that sound is just awesome. Well, to me at least.
 
 
Also, there might be a shitload of bands going for the same, old school Dir en greyesque sound, but I am not very familia with the VK scenes these days so I wouldn't know. And I don't really give a fuck either.
 
 
 
PS: I'd love for it to come a couple of bands who copied/ripped off Kagrra. I'd fucking love it! It'd be amazing as long as they managed to write/steal and put together (hohoh!) good songs. The same goes for Sigh. And plenty of other, unique bands like no-one else out there. Yes, please!

I haven't heard that many albums from March, but the few I have heard have been very good. Dødheimsgard, Downfall of Nur, Inculter and Gouge all released great albums, but it's easy to choose three from the lot.
 

Dødheimsgard - A Umbra Omega
Dødheimsgard returns after 8 years with A Umbra Omega, an album consisting of 6 songs, clocking in at 67 minutes, where one is a short intro, which means the rest are rather long. The rest of the songs ranges from 11:21 to 15:14, and all of the songs are made up from a shitload of different riffs and parts, so it's a lot to dig into to be quite honest. A hard listen for sure, but it's more than worth the effort to get into it, because it is nothing short of breathtaking and more or less perfect. A true return to form for the avant-garde masters.
 
The Unlocking
 

Downfall of Nur - Umbras de Barbagia
Downfall of Nur is the debut album of the one-man project of 18 year old Antonio Sanna, and what a debut it is. Downfall of Nur lays a fom of atmospheric black metal with folk/pagan and depressive black metal thrown in. It's not original in any way, but it's got more than enough character to make up for its lack of originality.
 
II : The Golden Age
 

Inculter - Persisting Devolution
Straight-forward, dirty and crushing blackened thrash metal in the vein of old Destruction, Sodom and Kreator, as well as fellow countrymen Deathhammer. It's nothing you haven't heard several times before if you're into this type of music, but it's filled with great riffs from begining to end and cool vocals. In other words it has all you need as far as thrash metal goes.
 
Volcanic Swarm

I'm not sure, but there will be TV-series made for Jessica Jones, Iron Fist and Luke Cage as well, and these three, including Daredevil, will get a The Defenders TV-series later on. So we've got a lot to look forward to for sure.

I haven't heard that many albums from March, but the few I have heard have been very good. Dødheimsgard, Downfall of Nur, Inculter and Gouge all released great albums, but it's easy to choose three from the lot.
 

Dødheimsgard - A Umbra Omega
Dødheimsgard returns after 8 years with A Umbra Omega, an album consisting of 6 songs, clocking in at 67 minutes, where one is a short intro, which means the rest are rather long. The rest of the songs ranges from 11:21 to 15:14, and all of the songs are made up from a shitload of different riffs and parts, so it's a lot to dig into to be quite honest. A hard listen for sure, but it's more than worth the effort to get into it, because it is nothing short of breathtaking and more or less perfect. A true return to form for the avant-garde masters.
 
The Unlocking
 

Downfall of Nur - Umbras de Barbagia
Downfall of Nur is the debut album of the one-man project of 18 year old Antonio Sanna, and what a debut it is. Downfall of Nur lays a fom of atmospheric black metal with folk/pagan and depressive black metal thrown in. It's not original in any way, but it's got more than enough character to make up for its lack of originality.
 
II : The Golden Age
 

Inculter - Persisting Devolution
Straight-forward, dirty and crushing blackened thrash metal in the vein of old Destruction, Sodom and Kreator, as well as fellow countrymen Deathhammer. It's nothing you haven't heard several times before if you're into this type of music, but it's filled with great riffs from begining to end and cool vocals. In other words it has all you need as far as thrash metal goes.
 
Volcanic Swarm

Totally thought you were gonna link this, lol:
 


 
But the 'Hoff is cool too.

Mirai sure as hell didn't lie when he talked about how this album had plenty King Dimaond-insiration to it. There's lots of early King Diamond influences to be found throughout the album. Like, a shitload, and that's cool. After a couple of listens Scenario IV, Gallows Gallery and Hail Horror Hail comes to mind, as well as King Diamond. The heavy metal influence is strong in this one.
 
Sounds great so far, but it'll take some time getting used to the lack of Shinichi and the production. But it sounds like a grower, and I am sure this'll be among the best albums of the year when we hit the end.

I fucking mind it, you dick. Delete this thread ASAP!
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Nah, good work. I'd make one myself but people just didn't seem interested so I gave up on it. But since you've made the thread I'll contribuate later. I like these threads.

I fucking mind it, you dick. Delete this thread ASAP!
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Nah, good work. I'd make one myself but people just didn't seem interested so I gave up on it. But since you've made the thread I'll contribuate later. I like these threads.

I fucking mind it, you dick. Delete this thread ASAP!
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Nah, good work. I'd make one myself but people just didn't seem interested so I gave up on it. But since you've made the thread I'll contribuate later. I like these threads.

Nightcrawler

 
Directed & written by Dan Gilroy and starring Jake Gyllenhaal, Nightcrawler is basically a character study centred around its sociopathic lead character, Louis "Lou" Bloom. Gyllenhaal's proven himself to be a very capable actor in the past, but if there's one area in which I think he particularly excels, it's when he plays darker, more morally ambiguous characters (case in point, his performance in his previous feature length film Enemy). In that respect, this feels like a film tailor-made for him to take centre-stage, and he absolutely nails it. Lou is morally nihilistic, sociopathic thief turned nightcrawler - somebody that shoots footage of crimes and accidents in order to sell to news outlets. As you can probably guess, things get more and more disturbing as we see the lengths to which Lou will go, without showing any regards for ethicality or social norms, to get the best footage possible. What I love about this character and his portrayal, however, is not his disturbing mentality, but the fact that I was actually able to emphasise with him for large portions of the film. I think this is partly down to Gyllenhaal's performance, but also due to Dan Gilroy's script and directorial decisions.
 
Gilroy was, of course, a largely unknown quantity going into this film due to the fact that it marks his directorial debut, and for the most part I think he did a very good job with Nightcralwer. There are some subtle decisions that show that he possessed an intricate understanding of both what he wanted to portray with this film, and how to portray it. For example, whilst the film primarily centres around a person of questionable moral character, the film is rarely presented in a way that tried to force a particular impression upon you. A great example of this is how the movie score is utilised. Gilroy could have easily asked composer James Newton Howard to compose a bunch of dark, eerie sounding tracks for use during the film's more disturbing scenes, but instead, the score is often written and utilised in a way that instead emphasises how Lou himself would see a particular situation. For example (minor spoilers): there's a scene in which Lou encounters a scene of a tragic accident and decides to move a person's (presumably dead) body in order to get a more dramatic shot of the scene; rather than playing music designed to encourage a feeling of disgust from the viewer, the scene instead utilises a more uplifting piece of music, because as far a Lou's concerned, this particularly incident is a positive thing. It's sublte elements like this that allow the film to explore its central character's psyche in a very non-judgemental way, allowing the audience to interpret things how they wish.
 
Nightcrawler isn't perfect however. Despite everything I just said in the previous paragraph, there are some occasional moments where it tries to force-feed you with certain moral judgements in a way that feels rather awkward. Perhaps the most notable example of this is the existence of a particular character whose only role in the film seems to be to criticise the moral ambiguity of his co-worker's/boss' decisions. Pretty much any time she decides to use an edgy piece of film for a news broadcast, Mr White Knight feels the need to interject with "That's immoral!" or something to that effect. I understand what Gilroy was going for here, but I think most people would have come to this conclusion themselves without needing this character to explain it to them over and over again.  Even if they didn't come to that conclusion themselves, well... if anything that would have made discussing the film with others more interesting in my opinion. Either way, having a character in a film whose only purpose seems to be to blatantly tell the audience what they should think during a particular scene is just a case of sloppy writing in my opinion.
 
On the whole, however, Nightcrawler is a great film that's worth seeing, particularly if you like morally ambiguous character studies. It's not perfect, but I enjoyed it a lot and I'll definitely be keeping an eye on this director going forward.

Derp
 
to quote Bear's previous February topic (I hope you won't mind this one, eh?) :
 
 
Go go! (will post mine later)
 
 

Well I do have that one album, Gallows Gallery by Sigh. Very amazing experience listening to the album. Something out of the ordinary that you dont hear in a metal album. Also songs I love to jam to.
I swear very underrated album and even the band itself. People notice, but not much recognition.
Definitely a listen.
 
(their other stuff are amazing as well)

I'm all for bands copying/ripping off/paying tribute to good bands/albums/styles, as long as it gives me good music on the table. As for Grieva, it's a band I really like and I think they're ripping off/copying/whatever you'll call it in a good, tasteful manner. I also feel like the style they were going for, especially in their early days (as I haven't heard their latest), that old school Dir en grey-style, was close to lost and forgotten so someone picking up the torch and carrying the flame of that sound is just awesome. Well, to me at least.
 
 
Also, there might be a shitload of bands going for the same, old school Dir en greyesque sound, but I am not very familia with the VK scenes these days so I wouldn't know. And I don't really give a fuck either.
 
 
 
PS: I'd love for it to come a couple of bands who copied/ripped off Kagrra. I'd fucking love it! It'd be amazing as long as they managed to write/steal and put together (hohoh!) good songs. The same goes for Sigh. And plenty of other, unique bands like no-one else out there. Yes, please!

I'm all for bands copying/ripping off/paying tribute to good bands/albums/styles, as long as it gives me good music on the table. As for Grieva, it's a band I really like and I think they're ripping off/copying/whatever you'll call it in a good, tasteful manner. I also feel like the style they were going for, especially in their early days (as I haven't heard their latest), that old school Dir en grey-style, was close to lost and forgotten so someone picking up the torch and carrying the flame of that sound is just awesome. Well, to me at least.
 
 
Also, there might be a shitload of bands going for the same, old school Dir en greyesque sound, but I am not very familia with the VK scenes these days so I wouldn't know. And I don't really give a fuck either.
 
 
 
PS: I'd love for it to come a couple of bands who copied/ripped off Kagrra. I'd fucking love it! It'd be amazing as long as they managed to write/steal and put together (hohoh!) good songs. The same goes for Sigh. And plenty of other, unique bands like no-one else out there. Yes, please!