Was habe ich vergangenen Mittwoch aus meinem freien Tag gemacht? Eine ganze Menge, wie die folgenden neunzehn Bilder zeigen!

Weihnachtsbaum im Centre Rideau in Ottawa.

Weihnachtsdekorationen im Geschaft Nordstrom

Blick auf die Dekorationen in den freien Raumen zwischen erster und zweiter Etage des Einkaufszentrums

Leuchtturm vor dem kanadischen Naturwissenschaftsmuseum

Eine Lokomotive vor dem kanadischen Naturwissenschaftsmuseum

Eine Art Satellit oder Sender vor dem kanadischen Naturwissenschaftsmuseum

Eine Art Turbine vor dem kanadischen Naturwissenschaftsmuseum

Ausstellung zu Fortbewegungsmitteln mit Autos, Fahrradern und Schneemobilen

Ausstellung zur Geschichte der Musikaufzeichnung

Blick auf eine Ausstellung uber verschiedene Metalle

Ein Blick auf das erste kanadischen Automobil

Ausstellungshalle uber die funf Sinne

Eine Vitrine voller typisch kanadischer Artefakte 

Ein Blick auf das neu eroffnete kanadische Naturwissenschaftsmuseum

Der Eingang zum Bronson Centre

Uncured, Progressive Metal aus den Vereinigten Staaten von Amerika

Lost Society, Thrash Metal aus Finnland

Carach Angren, Symphonic Black Metal aus den Niederlanden

Children of Bodom, Melodic Death Metal aus Finnland

Explosion is a sinister mixture of a desperate action film, an emotional drama and a conspiracy thriller. The movie tells the story of a blast technician who has once been to prison for having developed and sold explosives. As he now tries to live a normal life using his talents in mines and supporting his pregnant wife who owns a tiny restaurant, he gets involved in a conflict between two pitiless businessmen. He nearly gets killed in an explosion that brutally kills four coworkers and wants to find out how this disaster could happen. As he investigates, he becomes both the prime suspect of having caused the explosion on purpose and is seen as a menace by the two businessmen who want to hide what really happened in the mine. The blast technician soon has to clear his name, face powerful enemies and must protect his wife.

Explosion convinces on many levels. First of all, the movie has a truly sinister atmosphere. This is especially due to the settings. It's often raining or snowing, many scenes take place at night, the viewers get to explore abandoned or destroyed factory halls and mines and several places show dirt and pollution. The movie shows the dark side of China's industrial boom which gives the film a realistic touch which is far away from many idealized films of that country with strong propaganda elements. The film recalls Black Coal, Thin Ice but the locations are less static and more diversified which makes Explosion easily the superior movie.

The mixture of genres is another strength of this film. Observing the main character trying to clear his name, reorganizing his life with his pregnant wife and facing his childhood friend and police officer who is torn between helping and arresting him give the movie a humanistic touch despite all the grey settings. These dramatic sequences meet a conspiracy thriller involving two businessmen fighting each other by any means necessary. The film shows corruption, greed and vengeance as powerful motives leading to a few twists and turns. The film's solid atmosphere is often interrupted by realistic pursuits, gun battles and of course numerous explosions.

The film also has an interesting plot. The movie has a very short exposition and literally starts with a bang. From then on, the main character's personal investigation is a tense rising action. This leads to a first climax where several character get assassinated and the main character has to go into hiding. The resolution shows how the blast technician tries to find a way to clear his name and start a new life which turns out to be impossible. This leads to a final showdown and resolution in an abandoned factory hall where all three genres meet in equally balanced and strong proportions. The finale is filled with action, emotion and tension.

The characters are also quite convincing. The unpretentious main character is a desperate and quiet man who simply desires to live in peace and dreams of a better future. His desperate wife's struggles are authentic enough to make the audience really care for her. The police officer being torn between arresting and helping the accused might be the movie's most vivid character which gives the film a solid dose of energy. Even the clever villain has his very personal motives to go on a killing spree and one almost empathizes with him. Even the side characters including resilient contract killers, hectic chiefs of security and a brutal businessman are quite interesting.

There aren't many negative aspects concerning this movie. Parts of the plot were somewhat predictable and reduced the tension at times. The unusual ending felt somewhat underdeveloped in my book but was at least somewhat original.

In the end, if you like movies with a gripping, realistic and sinister atmosphere, you will most definitely enjoy this profound action, crime and drama movie. Explosion has intellectual depth without being static. This movie represents what the critically acclaimed Black Coal, Thin Ice should have been like if the director had been less pretentious. Explosion certainly deserves more attention and praise than it currently gets. Give this great film a chance at your local cinema or purchase it once it's going to be released on BluRay and DVD.

There are bands which protect their integrity and realize their full artistic potential by broadening their horizons in spite of disappointed fans, negative critics and lukewarm sales figures. These bands might have to stand their ground to face the negative external influences but at least these band members don't have their ass stuck in their manager's butt and don't feel like vomiting when they look at themselves in the mirror in the morning. Integrity is worth more than any fame and money in the world.

Only few bands have carried the torch of this free-spirited approach throughout their careers. Many of them have tried out different things in experimental phases but decided to keep things safe in their late careers which is acceptable at that point. This is the case for many famous bands from Iron Maiden over Judas Priest to Metallica. The only band I could think of that still surprises with each new record and does what it feels is right for it would be In Flames. A German proverb says: the more danger, the more honor. It means that if you get massive negative feedback, you're doing something right because you're moving people in one way or another.

Morbid Angel have done exactly that. The band had already experimented with industrial music in the nineties but the band's last output Illud Divinum Insanus was a radical step forward to cover new ground after eight years of silence. Obviously, capitalists, critics and fans passionately despised this output but it seemed to be the right release for the band at the right time.

Six and a half years later, the previous release turns out to be only a storm in a teacup. Kingdoms Disdained is the band's mea culpa and represents a solid loss of credibility. Morbid Angel has gone through numerous line-up changes during the past few years, almost doesn't play any songs from the last record live anymore and desperately tries to go back to its technical death metal roots on this bland, repetitive and soulless output.

Kingdoms Disdained isn't particularly bad or good, it's actually worse because it's painfully average, exchangeable and predictable. Generic grunts meet senseless blast beat patterns, worn-out riffs, uninspired guitar riffs and powerless bass guitars. To suggest an illusion of diversity, overtly fast passages are occasionally interwoven with chugging mid-tempo parts. This kind of music might have been emotional, exciting and original three decades ago but today any amateurish high school death metal group comes around with more interesting ideas. Not one single songs sticks out among the eleven new tracks. In a few years, nobody will remember any of those tunes as even the band's most faithful fans will always prefer the idealized old days due to some misplaced nostalgia reminding them of the days when they still felt young, wild and free and weren't wearing suit and tie at their office from nine to five before coming home to their distant wife and spoiled children.

Grow some balls and listen to something exciting once in a while. Morbid Angel's new coaster is everything but exciting. The band should stand its ground and do what it thinks is right instead of playing charades among band members to assemble a group of exchangeable yes-men without any own artistic vision that copy their idols of yore in the case of the drummer and guitarist or themselves in the case of the two older members. Kingdoms Disdained is a headless assimilation to nostalgia. This isn't death metal but dead metal. Shame on you. This faceless release only deserves the most average rating possible.

Final rating: 50%