Moonspell has been around for nearly three decades and its fans have anxiously been waiting for a first proper live record. The horrid Lusitanian Metal ten years earlier was a cheap way to cash in by the band's former label that released a lackluster performance that had been recorded more than four years before its release. Lisboa Under the Spell was worth the wait as it offers everything fans have been craving for. In my opinion, the band performed its three greatest studio albums live back to back in its hometown. The band offers twenty-nine songs with a running time close to three hours for the ultimate gothic metal experience. Wolfheart represents the band's very early years inspired by black and folk metal. Irreligious is an atmospheric and concise gothic metal milestone. Extinct is the band's most creative, diversified and energetic release since its first two studio albums.

Everything on this record is executed perfectly. The production is authentic and energetic yet one can clearly distinguish each instrument and hear all of the interactions and lyrics. The clean and harsh vocals are stunningly variable and refreshingly sharp. The guitar riffs are bittersweet and find the perfect balance between power and emotion. The rhythm section is the concise backbone of the performance. The keyboards add atmospheric layers at the right moments. The crowd is audible, enthusiastic and participating. The interactions between the singer and the crowd are very dynamic even though I can't understand all of them since the communication is done in Portuguese. A few select guest singers add some entertaining diversity at the right moments. The DVD and BluRay editions include some additional material in form of a documentary, making of and slide show which I don't need personally but add value for money. The cover artwork is absolutely gorgeous and completes this outstanding release visually.

Ironically, Moonspell has released one of the worst and one of the greatest live albums I have ever listened to. I will even go further and say that Lisboa Under the Spell is the best gothic live album that has ever been released. If you can identify with the gothic scene, you must purchase this stunning release. Enjoy this massive record to the fullest and be under the spell. Let's hope the band will release other live records of similar quality and maybe perform three other great records in a row.

Final rating: 100%

Krypteria was an imaginative symphonic gothic metal band that slowly faded away in the beginning of the decade. Four of the band members joined forces for a new group called And Then She Came. The eponymous debut released two years ago was already quite experimental with numerous genre influences such as alternative rock, gothic metal and groove metal as well as lyrics in English, French, German and Spanish. It's hard to believe that the band's sophomore release KAOSYSTEMATIQ is even more experimental but that's the case. While the previous album had massive hits and misses, this release has more misses in my book and can't be categorized as gothic metal anymore. And Then She Came offers a confusing mixture of alternative rock, contemporary pop music and even occasional rap elements. This new direction might attract a larger fan base but it certainly isn't my cup of tea.

The only thing I like about the new record are the melodic and passionate vocals by German-Korean front singer Cho Ji-in who is one of the most talented and underrated vocalists in the entire German rock genre. Her great vocals can't save this record however. The main issue is the song writing that is all over the place. Industrial metal song ''The Battle Rages On'' is followed by danceable pop song ''Come On, Come On''. Rhythm and blues track ''White Dog'' including odd rap passages leads into melancholic modern alternative rock track ''I Just Cannot Trust Myself''. Nothing fits together and the record lacks any type of structure, concept or coherence. KAOSYSTEMATIQ sounds like a compilation of eleven singles by eleven completely different bands fronted by the same singer. Even if the title of the record might indicate that this could have been the band's purpose in the first place, it doesn't justify the annoying final result.

On a side note, the weak production focused on vocals, samples and keyboard sounds is equally all over the place as the song material since the drums sound dry and robotic, the guitars powerless and uninspired and the bass guitar inaudible if there is any at all.

The band's new style is just as confusing as can be witnessed on the overloaded album cover and in several music videos in which one of the most beautiful women I have ever met in person looks like an eccentric extraterrestrial.

Even open-minded listeners can reach a point when an experimental approach simply becomes a confusing experience. This is exactly the case for And Then She Came's KAOSYSTEMATIQ. The numerous positive reviews of this odd album seem to be fake. I will give this release ten percent for the great vocals and another ten percent for its blind courage to combine anything with everything for a completely experimental approach. However, I would neither recommend this record to anyone nor listen to it again. While the predecessor showed lights and shades, this release is very disappointing. Let's hope Krypteria will reunite one day and release a coherent metal record at some point. Until this might or might not happen, I won't waste any more of my precious time giving And Then She Came a chance and you shouldn't either because it's not worth it.

Final rating: 20%

Tomie: Another Face isn't a feature film but three episodes made for Japanese television cut into one single movie. This film is much less intriguing than the first feature film and only interesting for avid collectors and fans of the franchise. While the second episode shows some promise, the first is just above average while the third is simply uninteresting.

The first episode is about a high school love triangle. Tomie was brutally murdered and her boyfriend is still deeply saddened by the tragic events. His former girlfriend wants to win him back and starts getting in touch with him again. One day however, Tomie is back at school as if nothing had happened. The fateful love triangle soon leads to another tragedy. On the positive side, this first episode is short and concise, has an intriguing atmosphere reminiscent of high school horror movies and ends with a creative twist. On the negative side, the acting performances are quite stiff and the camera work is equally static.

The second episode tells the story of a photographer who can't forget a beautiful woman he photographed ten years ago in his hometown. He has since become obsessed with the beautiful lady and returns to his town in order to find her. He is stunned when he meets a young woman who looks very similar to her in a shady bar and asks her to be his model and muse. The photographer realizes too late that something is amiss when he develops the pictures he took of the young lady as tragedy strikes on numerous occasions. The second episode was the most intriguing one of the three. It had diversified locations, a few mild horror elements and a few minor twists and turns. The opening minutes slightly overstayed their welcome and the acting performances were at times overacted.

The third episode tells the story of a naive man who is proposing to his girlfriend in a park when they suddenly get attacked by a man with an eye patch. The couple manages to escape but the fiancee asks the naive man to kill the perpetrator for her if they ever cross his path again. The man reluctantly agrees as his fiancee even buys a knife for him and menaces to leave him if he isn't able to protect her. He meets the man with the eye patch again and the mysterious man overpowers and kidnaps the naive man. He then tells him an incredible story about his fiancee. The protagonist must decide whom to trust and make a crucial choice. This episode is the least intriguing of the three. It has one minor twist towards the end but most of the story is quite predictable and at times even boring. Even though the acting performances are probably the best in this episode, the story itself lacks inspiration.

In the end, this short collection of three television episodes is entertaining and worth to be watched once for fans of the franchise. However, the episodes aren't too memorable and suffer from amateurish acting performances, a lack of scary moments and stiff camera work. Tomie: Another Face is only for die-hard fans of the franchise.

Heavy metal singer Blaze Bayley, acoustic guitarist Thomas Zwijsen and violinist Anne Bakker have collaborated on several occasions and built a quite great chemistry over the past few years. After the massive Infinite Entanglement trilogy, Blaze Bayley takes one step back to take two steps forward with this beautiful collaborative effort. His expressive vocals harmonize with the dynamic acoustic guitar play and occasional melancholic violin sounds in some select songs. Seven of the eight tracks are new songs and surprise with intriguing lyrics about Operation Overlord and the Miracle on the Hudson for instance. The passionate rendition of one of Iron Maiden's most underrated songs with the melancholic ''2 AM'' blends in perfectly. As an extra gimmick, the rare acoustic release Russian Holiday involving the same three musicians five years earlier, has been added to the release.

Unfortunately, the release opens with the weakest song in form of the slightly stressful ''Eye of the Storm''. The acoustic guitar riffs are too heavy and quick and Blaze Bayley's vocals sound too domineering and out of tone. The duo however quickly rights the ship and gets better as the album progresses. ''Miracle on the Hudson'' is a wonderful piece of campfire storytelling that easily helps you picture the dramatic events described in the song. ''December Wind'' is a heartfelt ballad performed with conviction and passion. My personal highlight is ''The Crimson Tide'' which is by far the longest new song but never gets boring with its slight changes and variations in the guitar play, emotional and gripping vocals and inspiring lyrics about one of the most important historical events of the past century.

The only downside is that this wonderful record ends much too quickly. I could have listened to the inspiring and almost spiritual acoustic rock songs with occasional violin sounds for hours and hours. If you like acoustic rock and flamenco, you will love this album. You should also give December Wind a chance if you like the works of Blaze Bayley and Iron Maiden or if you are interested in acoustic renditions of hard rock and heavy metal music. After the previous studio records that were quite overloaded and hard to digest, it's refreshing to see Blaze Bayley take a step back and release this heartfelt gimmick for the Christmas season.

Final rating: 82%

After the lackluster Lamentations - Live at Shepherd's Bush Empire fifteen years ago and the In Live Concert at the Royal Albert Hall that was plagued by technical issues eight years earlier, Opeth has released a streak of two rare but respectable live records that were released for rock and metal magazines. The energetic The Devil's Orchard - Live at Rock Hard Festival 2009 was released by Hard Rock magazine in Germany seven years ago and the atmospheric split with Enslaved in form of Live in Plovdiv  was released by Prog magazine last year. Would the charismatic Swedish progressive metal quintet finally release a solid regular live record available for fans all around the world this time around?

The answer is neither yes nor no. Garden of the Titans: Live at Red Rocks Amphitheatre is certainly more enthusiastic than Lamentations - Live at Shepherd's Bush Empire and doesn't suffer from technical problems like In Live Concert at the Royal Albert Hall but it doesn't have the energy of The Devil's Orchard - Live at Rock Hard Festival 2009 or the atmosphere of Live in Plovdiv.

Let's start with the negative aspects. The set list only includes ten songs which is quite short for a regular concert. The concert lasts eighty-eight minutes here but if you take off the numerous breaks and speeches, you might have roughly around eighty minutes of music which isn't exactly value for money. The flow of the show is interrupted by long breaks and many unnecessary speeches. In addition to this, band leader Mikael Åkerfeldt doesn't have much to say and swears half of the time. I have no problem with swear words but he seems to try to sound edgy on purpose and attempts to be like a cheap copy of Alexi Laiho. Coming from such an intellectual and introverted band, this seems to be quite a misfit.

On the other side, the sound of the show is quite good and finds the right balance between atmosphere and power. The set list is diversified and only includes great songs like the new hypnotizing stomper ''Sorceress'', the sinister ''Heir Apparent'' and the peaceful song-along song ''In My Time of Need''. The mixture of progressive death metal songs, progressive rock tunes and tracks with acoustic elements is quite balanced and an appropriate summary of the band's oeuvre and could also serve as an introduction to the group if you only followed it casually.

Still, at the end of the day, Garden of the Titans: Live at Red Rocks Amphitheatre feels like a somewhat missed occasion. Instead of breaks and speeches, the band could have played fifteen tracks and delivered an energetic performance at a unique location. As it turned out, this live record sounds exchangeable as it could have been recorded during any show supporting the last studio record. Opeth still hasn't exploited its full potential yet and that's why the quintet has to keep on going, Track down the rare live records mentioned above, ignore this one and cross your fingers that the band will one day release a great regular live release with value for money.

Final rating: 70%