• Dear readers,

    The end of the year is not only a good opportunity to look back at what has happened throughout the past twelve months but also to look forward to things that might be happening in 2022. I have compiled three different lists of fifteen items each, detailing my most anticipated movie, music and video game releases in 2022. Enjoy!

    Movies to look forward to in 2022:

    1. The 355 (January 7th 2022)

    2. Operation Fortune: Ruse de Guerre (January 21st 2022)

    3. Orphan : First Kill (January 28th 2022)

    4. Gasoline Alley (February 2022)

    5. The Black Phone (February 4th 2022)

    6. Death on the Nile (February 11th 2022)

    7. Uncharted (February 18th 2022)

    8. The Lost City (March 25th 2022)

    9. Bullet Train (April 8th 2022)

    10. John Wick: Chapter 4 (May 27th 2022)

    11. Nope (July 22nd 2022)

    12. Dark Harvest (September 9th 2022)

    13. Distant (September 16th 2022)

    14. Mission: Impossible 7 (September 30th 2022)

    15. Violent Night (December 2nd 2022)

     

    Music albums to look forward to in 2022:

    1. Billy Talent – Crisis of Faith (January 21st 2022)

    2. Sonata Arctica – Acoustic Adventures: Volume One (January 21st 2022)

    3. Evergrey – Before the Aftermath (Live in Gothenburg) (January 28th 2022)

    4. Jethro Tull – The Zealot Gene (January 28th 2022)

    5. KoRn - Requiem (February 4th 2022)

    6. Amorphis – Halo (February 11th 2022)

    7. Cult of Luna – The Long Road North (February 11th 2022)

    8. Voivod – Synchro Anarchy (February 11th 2022)

    9. Dagoba – By Night (February 18th 2022)

    10. Midnight Oil – Resist (February 18th 2022)

    11. Star One – Revel in Time (February 18th 2022)

    12. HammerFall – Hammer of Dawn (February 25th 2022)

    13. Scorpions – Rock Believer (February 25th 2022)

    14. Sabaton – The War to End All Wars (March 4th 2022)

    15. James LaBrie – Beautiful Shade of Gray (May 20th 2022)

     

    Video games to look forward to in 2022:

    1. Sifu (February 8th 2022)

    2. Martha Is Dead (24th February 2022)

    3. Elden Ring (February 25th 2022)

    4. Vampire: The Masquerade – Swansong (May 19th 2022)

    5. Saints Row (August 23rd 2022)

    6. Starfield (November 11th 2022)

    7. A Plague Tale: Requiem (TBA)

    8. A Quiet Place (TBA)

    9. The Dark Pictures Anthology: The Devil in Me (TBA)

    10. Ghostwire: Tokyo (TBA)

    11. Goodbye Volcano High (TBA)

    12. Hogwarts Legacy (TBA)

    13. The Outlast Trials (TBA)

    14. Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time (TBA)

    15. Skull & Bones (TBA)

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  • Dear Readers,

    A few groups come to mind when I'm thinking about bands that have decreased in quality over time.

    Manowar should have concluded its career with commercially successful Warriors of the World and its subsequent tour, perhaps followed by a series of farewell concerts. Instead of pulling the plug back in 2004 and leaving as legendary band that has influenced many others, the group recorded dreadful new albums, rerecorded parts of its classic albums and flooded the market with pointless live records while the band's imagery and lyrics have aged dreadfully. To make matters worse, their former drummer committed suicide and their former guitarist was arrested for child pornography possession. It's hard to imagine a worse downfall than what Manowar has experienced throughout the past decade and a half.

    Six Feet Under was never a decent band but its first few albums were still tolerable. The group should have pulled the plug back in 1999 because once it started its dreadful Graveyard Classics series back in 2000, the band has become the metal genre's laughing stock, releasing one dreadful output after another. Founder and singer Chris Barnes is obviously not taking care of himself and his vocals have declined steadily with every single output. Bands like these are the reason why some people still believe metal is just disorganized noise and one can't fault people to think that way when listening to Six Feet Under.

    Running Wild was an influential heavy metal band inspired by pirate imagery that has released some classics back in the eighties and in the nineties. Founding member, guitarist and vocalist Rock 'n' Rolf pulled the plug back in 2009. However, he revived the band only two years later, released a lukewarm comeback effort followed by three incredible stinkers. Sometimes dead is better as Running Wild should have rested in peace throughout the past twelve years.

    Within Temptation once started as commercially successful band meandering between symphonic metal and occasional folk inspirations with releases such as Mother Earth, The Silent Force and The Heart of Everything. After successful experiments with orchestral and acoustic versions, the band should have pulled the plug back in 2009. Instead, it continued and shifted towards completely forgettable mellow pop rock music, covering the likes of David Guetta, Enrique Iglesias and One Republic. Collaborations with Xzibit and Jacoby Shaddix and the likes followed. The band doesn't have anything in common with the group that impressed so many in the early years of the millennium.

    Korrozia Metalla was once a pioneer speed and thrash metal band from the Soviet Union, playing legendary concerts and publishing rough demos throughout the eighties before releasing a series of energetic studio records in the early nineties. In the mid-nineties, the band suddenly shifted towards odd underproduced industrial metal sounds with dreadful far-right lyrics with albums like Computer-Hitler, White Wolves and Goddess of the Morgue. This band should have pulled the plug all the way back in 1993.

    Dishonourable mentions go out to lame-ass hard rock band Böhse Onkelz who should have stayed disbanded after its farewell shows in 2005, Nightwish that has become more and more bloated as time went by and should have called it quits after releasing its own film Imaginaerum back in 2012 and Metallica who are still playing decent live shows but whose recent material was either completely unimaginative or consisted of horrible experiments gone wrong as the band should have retired after its movie Through the Never back in 2013 without ever collaborating with Lou Reed beforehand.

    However, some bands have also had surprising recoveries after long draughts. This goes to show that one should never lose hope and hold on to the dreams. Keep listening to new music to have an open mind and support the artists that you admire in these difficult pandemic times.

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  • Dear readers,

    I know that I have at times unusual preferences but that's the way it has always been and I'm simply being myself without trying to be controversial or contrarian.

    For instance and in order of preference, I genuinely admire Iron Maiden's The X Factor as its gloomy atmosphere has always struck a chord with me.

    Another controversial record that I love is Judas Priest's Jugulator, once again because of its sinister atmosphere, unexpected approach and explosive fury.

    I think Annihilator's Feast is the band's best record because it finds the perfect balance between raw thrash metal anthems, a cool collaboration, one astonishing ballad and a few more adventurous epics.

    Another favourite of mine is Metallica's St. Anger because of its liberating energy in combination with its raw production. It didn't click with me immediately but once it did, it became one of my favourite Metallica records along with Ride the Lightning as well as ...And Justice for All.

    Septicflesh's Revolution DNA is my favourite output of theirs as the combination of gothic metal soundscapes with science-fiction vibes is quite unique and combines two things that I enjoy a great deal.

    Lots of people despise contemporary In Flames and I haven't been a fan of the band's last two studio outputs either but I sincerely appreciated A Sense of Purpose, Sounds of a Playground Fading and Siren Charms because they offer a highly entertaining mixture from alternative rock to melodic death metal and everything in between.

    Something similar could be said about contemporary Sonata Arctica that are loathed by many but despite a few too many ballads, there are actually quite a few atmospheric, epic and inspiring songs to be found on The Ninth Hour and Talviyö for instance that walk off the beaten path.

    I'm a fan of Morbid Angel's Illud Divinum Insanus and its remixes because I appreciate gothic and industrial metal much more than traditional death metal. I can understand why fans of old days might feel offended by these outputs but I thought they were mostly entertaining, except for the few more traditional death metal tunes that just didn't fit in but which were unsurprisingly identified as highlights by fans of the early years.

    There are also several albums outside metal genres that are loathed by many but appreciated by me. I love Mike Oldfield's Heaven's Open and think that he has a great singing voice that blends in perfectly with his unique guitar play. My favourite Red Hot Chili Peppers record remains One Hot Minute because it combines relentless heaviness and weird experiments fuelled by excessive drug use. One of the most despised albums in recent years, Suicide Silence's self-titled effort, is my favourite record of theirs as I appreciate the record's raw sound, spontaneous songwriting and desperate vibes.

    To keep it short, it's important to stick to your own preferences, no matter what others might think about it. These preferences make us unique and we should never feel ashamed to declare them. In addition to this, it's always important to support people and groups who inspire you in one way or another, especially in difficult times like these.

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  • Dear readers,

    These are my top ten non-metal albums of the year 2021:

     

    1. Greta van Fleet - The Battle at Garden's Gate (progressive rock)

    2. Bader Nana - Wormwood 2 (progressive rock)

    3. April Rain - Mirror of Ether (post rock)

    4. Rob Zombie - The Lunar Injection Kool Aid Eclipse Conspiracy (industrial rock)

    5. Thurnin - Menhir (neofolk)

    6. Les Cowboys fringants - Les nuits de Repentigny (folk rock)

    7. Die Ärzte - Dunkel (punk rock)

    8. Alien Weaponry - Tangaroa (alternative rock)

    9. Rise Against - Nowhere Generation (punk rock)

    10. Éric Lapointe - Entracte (acoustic rock)

     

    More extensive lists detailing my favourite records and movies will be following shortly.

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  • Ladies and gentlemen!

    As the days are getting shorter, darker and colder, so does the music released throughout the month of November. This month's playlist focuses mostly on extreme metal genres such as doom metal, industrial metal and melodic death metal. However, there are also a few surprises here with two ambient tracks and an uplifting power metal tune to bid farewell to Japanese power metal heroines Lovebites. Click on the following link to discover my latest playlist: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/4Z93ipHDAwuHD5RIKxKsEB

    1. Swallow the Sun - Moonflowers Bloom in Misery

    2. Khemmis - Avernal Gate

    3. The Halo Effect - Shadowminds

    4. Hypocrisy - Children of the Gray

    5. Tony Iommi - Scent of Dark

    6. Aquilus - Lucille's Gate

    7. E-Force - Hellucination

    8. Dagoba - The Last Crossing

    9. Lovebites - Nameless Warrior

    10. If Anything, Suspicious - Farewell

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