Ladies and gentlemen!

Here are some pictures from Tactik Paintball where I went last Friday. Not exactly my kind of thing but a quite unique spot anyway.

Midnattsol's The Aftermath is the first record of the German-Norwegian quintet since former Leaves' Eyes singer Liv Kristine joined her sister Carmen Elise Espenæs last year. I expected a clever use of the two distinctive vocalists but the new material didn't meet my expectations in that regard. 

However, this album has other notable strengths. It convinces with many slow, almost doom metal inspired passages that give the record a hypnotizing and mysterious atmosphere. In combination with occasional epic folk sounds and haunting piano melodies as well as dreamy vocals, The Aftermath has a truly unique style.

When I realized the band would cover Swedish medieval ballad ''Herr Mannelig'', I wasn't looking forward to hearing another version of this song that had been covered by many bands like Garmarna, Haggard and In Extremo. Midnattsol's version is however really unique with a length above nine minutes, developing an epic and hypnotizing atmosphere with smoothly employed melodies and the occasional use of mellow background growls.

The Aftermath is a record that unfolds if you are feeling relaxed and willing to spend some time to let this atmospheric, coherent and intellectual record grow on you. You will discover an album filled with lyrics in multiple languages, numerous folk melodies and inspiring tales of yore. This is the kind of record history teachers should buy.

Final rating: 75%

Based upon the novel by James Dashner, The Maze Runner is the first instalment in a dystopian trilogy that follows a group of youths as they fight for survival and against manipulation in a desolate world destroyed by heat and disease. This first movie follows a very young man who awakes in an elevator that transports him to a group of male youths that is living in a restricted natural environment surrounded by a gigantic maze. This society calls itself the Gladers. The young man doesn't remember his past and only recalls his name after a few hours of confusion: Thomas. He soon realizes that the other boys and men share his fate. They have established some basic rules to live together in peace and harmony as everybody has specific tasks to do. The most important group of people are the athletic runners who go inside the maze when it opens up in the morning and return late at night before the gates close again. The runners are trying to solve the maze to find a way out. However, there are mechanical creatures called grievers who live in the maze which can attack, kill or sting their human victims in a way that makes them go berserk. Thomas is a curious individual who doesn't like following rules and his appearance soon devides the group of youths. Some people support him as they believe he can help them solve the maze while others have gotten used to their lives in a restricted environment and consider him a nuisance. Things take a more dramatic turn when a last human being is sent up the elevator: a girl named Teresa who seems to know Thomas from the past.

There are several elements that make The Maze Runner stand out positively. The idea to live the story through the eyes of the charismatic Thomas who gradually tries to find out what is going on around him makes the film captivating, mysterious and suspenseful. The fact that the film takes place in a restricted environment soon leads to quite intense relationships which help the story move forwarde. Most viewers will identify with one character or another. If compared to similar dystopian films, this movie doesn't seem to overuse special effects which gives it a more authentic atmosphere. The final half hour is quite tense and violent and leads to a bittersweet finale. On one side, one finally gets some important background information that explains most of that happened in the first ninety minutes but on the other side, the new answers lead to even more questions as the movie ends on a cliffhanger which almost makes it mandatory to watch the second instalment as well. If you're not planning on watching a trilogy, don't watch this movie in the first place.

The story also has a couple of flaws. The background story seems surprisingly basic and is lacking many details. Some events in the story are illogical or simply left unexplained such as the Glader who got stung outside the maze which is never fully explained. The story obviously also has some similarities to other dystopian movies, especially concerning the bleak future of our planet and the basic main protagonists and antagonists. The movie's middle section is somewhat plodding and the movie could have been shortened by about ten minutes without leaving out anything essential.

In the end, you will like this film if you're a fan of other dystopian science-fiction movies with a set of young characters like The Hunger Games or The Divergent Series. The unique setting and the mysterious plot certainly make this movie stand out. If you are looking for a creative and unique experience, you might find the movie somewhat boring and predictable.

Despite obvious grammar mistakes in the lyrics, Metalwings' debut EP Fallen Angel in the Hell was a promising release thanks to grounded, natural and unique vocals and the use of viola sounds and Irish flutes in an epic symphonic metal context. The first full length release For All Beyond by the Bulgarian sextet is a step back in my opinion.

The viola and Irish flutes are only scarcely used. Only Stela Atanasova's skilled vocals remain to make the band stand out among the elevated number of similar symphonic metal bands like Within Temptation, Sirenia and Edenbridge. Occasional clean male vocals add some welcome dynamic diversity but they are also scarcely used. One positive element that can be pointed out is that Metalwings sounds much calmer than most genre bands. The song structures are often long and almost epic, recalling classical influences rather than metal sounds. The keyboard sounds are often as, if not more dominating than guitar melodies. Symphonic Wings would have been a more appropriate name for this band. People who like to listen to classical music or new age music will like this album while metal purists could easily feel bored.

In the end, Metalwings' For All Beyond isn't without its merits and convinces with elegant references to classical music and harmonious vocals. On the other side, the song writing is less creative, eclectic and exciting than on the better debut EP. Genre fans can give this album a try but occasional symphonic metal fans should rather check out the latest Leaves' Eyes album.

Final rating: 60%

How Long Will I Love U is a romantic comedy movie with supernatural elements and a few gloomy sequences. It tells the story of a real estate shark who plans on traveling nineteen years into the future to use this knowledge in order to expand his empire. However, the shift in the space-time continuum fails and opens a portal nineteen years in the past instead. It turns out that this portal is in the small apartment where the loan shark lived when he didn't have any investors and was about to lose his job. In present-day, a young woman who works in a jewelry store and dreams of getting married to a rich man lives in the same flat. One morning, she wakes up and is shocked to realize she shares her apartment with the unsuccessful property designer. In the beginning, she is distant to him and wants to get rid of him but their curiosity makes them bond as friendship soon becomes love interest. The young woman realizes she can't alter the past and the young man can't alter the future and attempting to meet their former or futures selves would lead to chaos. The young woman still travels back to the past to see herself as a child playing with her rich father who would soon die in a traffic accident. The property designer is curious about his future and stunned to see he has become a rich real estate shark. In present-day, the pitiless real estate shark realizes the past is about to shift and tries to convince the young woman to leave his former self and offers her the life she has always dreamed of. However, the young woman realizes the emotionless real estate shark is nothing like the sympathetic property designer but she has to make a choice that could alter past, present and future.

Let's start with the few negative elements about this good movie. First of all, the background story about time travelling is poorly explained as the script is lacking details in this part. The introduction of the young woman is somewhat confusing as one isn't quite sure what her real job is as she is mostly about to scam older men into marrying her in the beginning. Some parts of the movie are unnecessarily overacted, especially by lead actress Tong Liya who offers too many fake smiles and tears.

On the other side, the story is quite original and every loose end is solved and every question answered in the end. The movie's romantic side isn't too exaggerated and has a clumsy, juvenile, and sympathetic note. The film offers lots of situation comedy, especially when the property designer discovers the future and is amazed by food delivery services, mobile phones and virtual reality. The movie also has a gloomy touch related to corruption, greed and murder which obviously involves the mysterious death of the young woman's father. The film also has the message that money doesn't make you happy and shows how people in China are obsessed with fame, influence and money and leaving their communist culture behind for a world of steel, plastic and glass.

In the end, How Long Will I Love U is an entertaining movie that mixes romantic, humorous and dark elements in a balanced and unique way. Younger audiences in a relationship might even find this film even better than just good. If you can catch the film at a local cinema, don't hesitate to go for it.