Ladies and gentlemen!

It's time to take a look at the group of defending world champions Germany today. I'm quite busy these days, so pardon me if there are any mistakes in my descriptions. Do you agree with my predictions? Leave a comment if you like and enjoy the 2018 FIFA World Cup in Russia!

Team: Germany

Strengths: Germany are the reigning world champions. Die Mannschaft has also won last year's 2017 FIFA Confederations Cup with a reserve squad. The last time Germany hasn't at least reached the semi-finals of a World Cup was twenty years ago. Joachim Low is by far the longest-serving head coach of the tournament and knows his players very well. The team consists of a balanced mixture of experienced veterans like captain and goalkeeper Manuel Neuer of Bayern Munich, defensive midfielder Sami Khedira of Juventus F.C. and striker Mario Gomez of VfB Stuttgart but also exciting youngsters like Bayern Munich's full-back Joshua Kimmich, Bayer Leverkusen's wide midfielder Julian Brandt and RB Leipzig's striker Timo Werner. In addition to this, Real Madrid's midfielder Toni Kroos is the heart and soul of this team.

Weaknesses: Germany has only won one of its last six exhibition games, losing to Austria for the first time in three decades. Germany only won by one goal against Saudi Arabia at home one week before the start of the World Cup. There has also been some tension around the team because German-Turkish midfielders Mesut Ozil and Ilkay Gundogan took controversial pictures with Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdogan. Sandro Wagner who was in the provisional squad wasn't chosen for the tournament and decided to retire from the German national team and made some controversial statements. The fact that Manchester City F.C.'s midfielder Leroy Sané didn't make the final squad was also discussed controversially in public even though the player reacted very professionally. There just seem to be a few too many controversies, discussions and distractions around the team these days

Prediction: Germany will win this group and reach the semi-finals again but this year's squad doesn't have the same team spirit as it was the case four years ago. I predict Germany to finish in fourth position.

Team: Mexico

Strengths: Mexico has participated in every of the last six World Cups and always been eliminated in the round of sixteen. The team has a lot of experience, Liga MX is still easily the strongest in all of Central and North America and a somewhat aged squad is complemented by youngsters like PSV Eindhoven's striker Hirving Lozano, C.F. Pachuca's midfielder Éric Gutiérrez and Club América's defender Edson Alvarez.

Weaknesses: There has been quite a controversy around El Tri before the start of the tournament. It was reported that all but one player of the squad participated in a wild sexual orgy with thirty prostitutes to celebrate West Ham United F.C.'s striker Javier Hernandez' thirtieth birthday. No matter to what point the rumors might be true, it has certainly put a lot of pressure upon the squad and harmed its reputation at home.

Prediction: Mexico will finish in second position behind Germany. However, Mexico is likely to meet Brazil in the round of sixteen and won't go any further.

Team: Sweden

Strengths: Sweden has eliminated four-time World Cup champion Italy in its qualification play-off match which was a big surprise. After the departure of star player Zlatan Ibrahimovic, Sweden has developed a strong team spirit. The team has a balanced squad with players who are between twenty-three and thirty-one years old. 

Weaknesses: Sweden has only won one of its six last exhibition games, losing against Chile and Romania while drawing against Estonia, Denmark and Peru. The team has only scored three goals in these six matches. Sweden has a solid defense but is lacking creative midfielder and strong strikers. The squad's best striker is currently Marcus Berg from United Arab Emirates' team Al Ain who has scored eighteen goals in fifty-seven games.

Prediction: A clever head coach, great defense and strong team spirit have helped Sweden surprise a weakened Italian side. This trick won't work twice. Sweden's squad is too weak to compete with international heavyweights like Germany and Mexico. The team won't survive the group stage this year.

Team: South Korea

Strengths: South Korea has managed to surprise the world once when it finished fourth at the 2002 FIFA World Cup it co-hosted with Japan. South Korea still has several elements nowadays that made this unexpected success happen. This resilient squad never gives up. It has a strong team spirit thanks to a homogeneous squad. Tottenham Hotspur F.C.'s striker Son Heung-min is one of the best football players this country has ever had.

Weaknesses: Head coach Shin Tae-yong has only been in charge for a year and has only won six out of eighteen matches. The team could only win three of its nine exhibition games this year, losing against Northern Ireland, Poland, Bosnia and Herzegovina and Senegal. Most players don't have much international experience as they are playing in the weak K League 1. In the past five years, only one South Korean team could win the AFC Champions League.

Prediction: Resilience and team spirit are important elements but can't compensate the lack of depth and talent when playing against teams like Germany and Mexico at group stage. South Korea will be eliminated after three matches.

Ladies and gentlemen!

It's time to take a look at the group of defending world champions Germany today. I'm quite busy these days, so pardon me if there are any mistakes in my descriptions. Do you agree with my predictions? Leave a comment if you like and enjoy the 2018 FIFA World Cup in Russia!

Team: Germany

Strengths: Germany are the reigning world champions. Die Mannschaft has also won last year's 2017 FIFA Confederations Cup with a reserve squad. The last time Germany hasn't at least reached the semi-finals of a World Cup was twenty years ago. Joachim Low is by far the longest-serving head coach of the tournament and knows his players very well. The team consists of a balanced mixture of experienced veterans like captain and goalkeeper Manuel Neuer of Bayern Munich, defensive midfielder Sami Khedira of Juventus F.C. and striker Mario Gomez of VfB Stuttgart but also exciting youngsters like Bayern Munich's full-back Joshua Kimmich, Bayer Leverkusen's wide midfielder Julian Brandt and RB Leipzig's striker Timo Werner. In addition to this, Real Madrid's midfielder Toni Kroos is the heart and soul of this team.

Weaknesses: Germany has only won one of its last six exhibition games, losing to Austria for the first time in three decades. Germany only won by one goal against Saudi Arabia at home one week before the start of the World Cup. There has also been some tension around the team because German-Turkish midfielders Mesut Ozil and Ilkay Gundogan took controversial pictures with Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdogan. Sandro Wagner who was in the provisional squad wasn't chosen for the tournament and decided to retire from the German national team and made some controversial statements. The fact that Manchester City F.C.'s midfielder Leroy Sané didn't make the final squad was also discussed controversially in public even though the player reacted very professionally. There just seem to be a few too many controversies, discussions and distractions around the team these days

Prediction: Germany will win this group and reach the semi-finals again but this year's squad doesn't have the same team spirit as it was the case four years ago. I predict Germany to finish in fourth position.

Team: Mexico

Strengths: Mexico has participated in every of the last six World Cups and always been eliminated in the round of sixteen. The team has a lot of experience, Liga MX is still easily the strongest in all of Central and North America and a somewhat aged squad is complemented by youngsters like PSV Eindhoven's striker Hirving Lozano, C.F. Pachuca's midfielder Éric Gutiérrez and Club América's defender Edson Alvarez.

Weaknesses: There has been quite a controversy around El Tri before the start of the tournament. It was reported that all but one player of the squad participated in a wild sexual orgy with thirty prostitutes to celebrate West Ham United F.C.'s striker Javier Hernandez' thirtieth birthday. No matter to what point the rumors might be true, it has certainly put a lot of pressure upon the squad and harmed its reputation at home.

Prediction: Mexico will finish in second position behind Germany. However, Mexico is likely to meet Brazil in the round of sixteen and won't go any further.

Team: Sweden

Strengths: Sweden has eliminated four-time World Cup champion Italy in its qualification play-off match which was a big surprise. After the departure of star player Zlatan Ibrahimovic, Sweden has developed a strong team spirit. The team has a balanced squad with players who are between twenty-three and thirty-one years old. 

Weaknesses: Sweden has only won one of its six last exhibition games, losing against Chile and Romania while drawing against Estonia, Denmark and Peru. The team has only scored three goals in these six matches. Sweden has a solid defense but is lacking creative midfielder and strong strikers. The squad's best striker is currently Marcus Berg from United Arab Emirates' team Al Ain who has scored eighteen goals in fifty-seven games.

Prediction: A clever head coach, great defense and strong team spirit have helped Sweden surprise a weakened Italian side. This trick won't work twice. Sweden's squad is too weak to compete with international heavyweights like Germany and Mexico. The team won't survive the group stage this year.

Team: South Korea

Strengths: South Korea has managed to surprise the world once when it finished fourth at the 2002 FIFA World Cup it co-hosted with Japan. South Korea still has several elements nowadays that made this unexpected success happen. This resilient squad never gives up. It has a strong team spirit thanks to a homogeneous squad. Tottenham Hotspur F.C.'s striker Son Heung-min is one of the best football players this country has ever had.

Weaknesses: Head coach Shin Tae-yong has only been in charge for a year and has only won six out of eighteen matches. The team could only win three of its nine exhibition games this year, losing against Northern Ireland, Poland, Bosnia and Herzegovina and Senegal. Most players don't have much international experience as they are playing in the weak K League 1. In the past five years, only one South Korean team could win the AFC Champions League.

Prediction: Resilience and team spirit are important elements but can't compensate the lack of depth and talent when playing against teams like Germany and Mexico at group stage. South Korea will be eliminated after three matches.

This was Montreal Impact's first convincing victory of the season and I was there!

Three things I've learnt from this game:

1. MVP - Krolicki! 

2. Raheem the dream!

3. Raitala still sucks though.

I didn't expect much from this release knowing it would be promoted and released by Frontiers Records that have a roster consisting mostly of old-fashioned bands or exchangeable supergroups. Singer Amanda Somerville has also proven to value quantity over quality in the past as she has been involved in numerous bands and projects that didn't impress me very much. Since I like to listen to symphonic metal and think Somerville actually has a quite powerful voice and since this group also includes former After Forever guitarist Sander Gommans, I still wanted to give Trillium's Tectonic a chance.

It turns out the record is much better than I expected. Erik van Ittersum doesn't overuse the keyboards and employs symphonic soundscapes and a few electronic effects quite cleverly. The guitar play by Sander Gommans isn't extraordinary from a technical point of view but refreshingly heavy and simple. Somerville performs very well as she alwyas sounds powerful yet in control in the heavier tracks like the enthusaistic ''Hit Me'' but also the calmer ballads like the enchanting ''Eternal Spring''. Stylistically, this band sounds indeed close to After Forever without reaching that band's highest peaks yet. I hope the band will continue to perform regularly to improve its chemistry as the quartet has the potential to become one of the better heavy symphonic metal bands.

There are only two minor flaws to point out. First of all, the rhythm section is mostly unspectacular and especially the underused bass guitar doesn't add anything to the ten songs. Instead of letting Sander Gommans play this instrument, the band should hire a real full-time bassist. The second negative element is that the album is solid from start to finish but lacking a truly memorable or outstanding song. None and all songs at the same time would qualify as singles which speaks for a very cohesive album without any significant ups or downs.

To keep it short, if you like the heavier type of symphonic metal in the key of After Forever, you should definitely give Trillium's Tectonic a chance. On the other side, the band hasn't exploited its full potential yet as it needs a regular bass guitar player and improve its already promising songwriting.

Final rating: 70%

I wanted to give Chaostar a chance for quite some time now because I really like Christos Antoniou's main band Septicflesh, enjoy some darkwave music from time to time and liked the band's aesthetics such as this record's cover artwork. However, numerous negative reviews of the project made me doubt whether this project would be as good as it initially seemed to me. It doesn't happen quite often but I must admit that the majority is right about this project in my book.

Chaostar's The Undivided Light is a quite unique record with a multitude of different influences from smooth ambient sounds with experimental percussive elements over neoclassical inspiration in the versatile female vocals or cinematic symphonic backdrops and darkwave patterns in the few danceable and vivid passages. The problem is that this strange mixture of genres goes nowhere as the different inspirations don't blend together. The record sounds forced, plodded and stretched. After three songs and thirteen minutes of music I felt like I had already listened to the entire album and my experience wouldn't get any better.

If you like listening to a classically trained female vocalist with some random orchestral sounds, occasional folk instruments making their sudden appearances and disappearances for no valid reason and misplaced darkwave sounds as instrumental backdrops, you might enjoy this overtly pretentious release while enjoying a cup of imported liquorice infusion, wearing your kimono and discussing the latest David Lynch commercial. Anyone else should definitely stay away from this. 

While I like the different genres the project employs, the sum of its parts makes for a disappointing result. The release doesn't get a worse grade because the songwriting is still quite creative, distinctive and unique. One can also admit that the album has a somewhat spiritual atmosphere from time to time. However, Chaostar's The Undivided Light proves that being experimental and intellectual at all costs very rarely pays off. I will rather stick to Septic Flesh's song of the same name and the main band's more experimental releases in the late nineties.

Final rating: 20%