The Tides of War - Live at Rock Hard Festival 2016 is a wonderful extended play that any Blind Guardian fan should own.

The title track is a previously unreleased song, written and intended for the Nightfall in Middle-Earth album. This would have been one of the best songs on said album. It has an atmospheric mid-tempo pace, comes around with epic and gripping melodies and is particularly strong in the passionate vocal department.

The other five tunes are live tracks recorded at Rock Hard Festival 2016. The songs are all taken from the band's early records. The melodic ballad "Lord of the Rings" and the vibrant melodic speed metal epic "Journey Through the Dark" weren't included in the set list of phenomenal live album Live Beyond the Spheres. The band has perfect chemistry here and sounds stronger than ever before.

The other three songs are classics and regularly performed by the band. "Majesty" still has one of the band's most epic choruses in the band's history, acoustic folk ballad "The Bard's Song - In the Forest" sends shivers down the spine with phenomenal crowd participation and the closing "Valhalla" shows impressive interactions between lead singer Hansi Kürsch and an enthusiastic crowd.

If you like Blind Guardian, you should do everything you can to get your hands on this record. Especially fans of the band's early years in the eighties and nineties can't get around this record. Since it showcases the band's ambitious studio work as well as the group's passionate live shows, varies between acoustic folk ballads and epic speed metal anthems and introduces conceptual pieces as well as stand-alone tracks, this release would also be an excellent introduction to the band for new or occasional fans. The detailed exclusive cover artwork is the cherry on the melodic metal cake.

Final rating: 95%

Batushka is certainly one of the most intriguing black metal bands in recent memory and the hype around the Polish group seems justified in my book. The group combines blistering black metal, more atmospheric mid-paced passages and mysterious orthodox chants. Some people have described the band as an extreme metal version of Ghost and I do understand the reference but Batushka tries to be atmospheric and obscure in the first place and not necessarily entertaining and extroverted. It's a mystery whether the band actually sympathizes with or criticizes religion. The listener is invited to make up his own mind which is quite intriguing. It's respectable that the band judges its fan base to be intelligent enough to draw its own conclusions.

The group's first album Litourgiya oozes with sacral atmosphere from start to finish. You can almost smell the incense, picture the majestic churches and watch the choirs sing during a mess. In order to keep things diverisfied, some tracks have slower pace reminding of timeless ambient influences and traditional doom metal while others quicken up the pace and remind of Scandinavian black metal from the late eighties and early nineties. Hypnotizing sacral chants meet bitter black metal shrieks that are employed with care. Occasional percussive elements such as bells and chimes increase the record's atmosphere.

Black metal purists might criticize the record for being too slow, too melodic and focusing more on sacral music than actual extreme metal references. These are however precisely the reasons why this band is so unique and has become the most interesting black metal band in the past three years. This is also the fascinating thing about metal music. Even though this genre has been around for roughly five decades, it still manages to surprise and reinvent itself. If you have an open mind for something new, you should give Batushka's Litourgiya a chance. Extreme metal fans will like the fast and frosty passages while fans of other metal subgenres might admire the hypnotizing and warm sacral elements. On a closing side note, I would like to thank the open-minded person who introduced me to this intriguing band.

Final Rating: 90%

Man of Will is a historical drama that tells the story of Korean rebel Kim Chang-soo who murdered a Japanese assassin whom he suspected to have assassinated the Korean empress Myeongseong. He proudly admits the crime and is sentenced to death during a fake trial organized by the Japanese invaders. While being on death row, he is sent to a prison in Incheon where inmates have to do hard physical labour. In the beginning, the free-spirited patriot clashes with other inmates. However, he soon uses his skillful writing to send petitions that improve the lives of other inmates and even their guards. Those who are in charge of the prison and influent Japanese politicians want to see him dead however.

Despite a patriotic note, Man of Will is a rather authentic historical drama that shows the ordeals Koreans had to go through in the late nineteenth and early twentieth century. The characters, costumes and locations bring those dark days back to life. The protagonist is a proud rebel with a heart of gold and it's easy to empathize with him. The side characters are equally intriguing. The most charming thing about the film is how the protagonist is initially seen as an outcast before gaining the respect of other inmates and ending up giving hope to the hopeless.

If you are interested in Asian culture and history, you should definitely watch this authentic historical drama. The story based upon true events is inspiring, the settings are authentic and the actors become one with their characters. Thanks to the dedication of everyone involved, the complex topic becomes easy to digest without ever being superficial. The movie is entertaining from start to finish, has emotional and philosphical depth and even teaches you about the Independence and later on reunification activist Kim Koo.

RV: Resurrected Victims is a supernatural South Korean drama and thriller. It convinces with a creative story line, sinister atmosphere and intriguing characters. The film however suffers from being too melodramatic and lacking realism.

The movie tells the story of a young prosecutor whose mother was killed in an armed robbery seven years ago. The prosecutor has become a bitter man who often recommends the death penalty instead of believing in redemption. One day, his sister calls him to tell that their deceased mother has come back home. The prosecutor hurries home in disbelief and gets attacked by his own mother. He learns that she is a resurrected victim that wants to avenge her own death. The prosecutor fails to understand why his mother attacked him in the first place. He starts digging in his own past in order to clear his name and give his mother peace of mind.

On the positive side, the unusual story line is filled with unpredictable twists and turns that keep the movie interesting from start to finish. The characters also have certain depth as we learn more about the prosecutor's past and the mother's motivations. The film has an eerie and uneasy atmosphere between the mystery and horror genres even though the movie remains a supernatural crime investigation at heart.

However, the movie has a somewhat dull pace in the middle section. The opening sequence is memorable and the conclusion is very emotional but everything in between has considerable lengths. The movie is also highly emotional and at times quite melodramatic. It attempts to be a tearjerker but goes a little bit overboard at times which can actually be observed in many Korean movies. The fact that the movie tries to connect human emotions with supernatural spirits sometimes seems like a contradiction. It's an unusual approach which makes it difficult to find an emotional connection to the story, especially since the mother turns out being not the only resurrected victim in the story.

If you like supernatural dramas with surprising stoy lines, you should certainly watch this movie. If you don't like emotional movies with philosphical depth, you might find that film annoying. RV: Resurrected Victims has a quite unique style but attempts to accomplish too many things at once in my opinion. It was entertaining to watch but hard to digest. I don't regret watching it at all but wouldn't watch it again.

The Empty Hands is a slow-paced film about an unlucky young woman who inherits the karate dojo of her deceased father that she needs to share with a former student who has just come out of prison.

The story features profound characters, the diversified story is filled wth promising ideas and the few fighting scenes are entertaining. The protagonist has lost her passion for karate after losing a fight in a tournament as a child, doesn't get along with her stubborn father before his death and has a complicated romantic relationship with a local radio celebrity who hides her from his wife and family. The student that inherits fifty-one percent of the karate dojo had ties with a crime syndicate but decided to beat his boss and two of its associates to pulp when they were planning on raping an innocent teenage girl which led to his prison sentence. When they inherit the dojo, their lifestyles, opinions and tempers clash. The former student wants to improve the dojo's reputation and save its legacy while the daughter wants to get rid of it and make it a real estate project. Since she only owns forty-nine percent of the dojo, she initially has to accept her partner's decision to continue to give karate classes but they soon make a deal: if the daughter accepts to take part in another tournament and manages to be still standing at the end of the fight, her partner is willing to retreat and give the entire property to her. The daughter accepts and the fight in the tournament is indeed the film's climax and highlight.

The biggest downside of the movie is its dull pace despite an already short running time. Static camera work, slow movements by the actresses and actors and repetitive settings try to give the film an arthouse style but end up dragging it down. The movie is sometimes advertised as an action film but it's actually a drama. The film sometimes doesn't live up to its potential as several story lines remain incomplete such as the fate of the radio celebrity. The movie only features two fighting sequences while an intriguing third one only happens off screen. The fate of a Japanese immigrant to Hongkong and later on China would have deserved a more complex story line as well.

The Empty Hands is worth to be watched if you are looking for a slow-paced drama with interesting characters. If you are intrigued by the context of a karate dojo or the fate of Japanese immigrants in China, you will find this movie boring. In the end, The Empty Hands has a quite unique style but almost as many downsides as positive elements. I don't regret watching it at all but wouldn't watch it again anytime soon.