I was introduced to this band by my father who described Lords of Black as a mixture of Helloween and Iron Maiden with long song structures and a talented singer. I couldn't have said it better myself. 

The Spanish quartet offers traditional melodic mid-paced heavy metal with occasional uplifting power metal melodies and rhythms without ever getting saccharine. 

The songs are at times very long and also slightly repetitive but the band surprisingly convinces most in its longest tunes. Clocking in at eight minutes, ''King's Return'' is a heavy metal epic that could also come from a band like Dio and impresses with stunning melodies and diversified vocals. ''All I Have Left'' is a power ballad evolving into a mid-paced heavy rock stomper with a length of almost twelve minutes that reminds of bands like Rainbow without ever sounding old-fashioned or tiring. 

Despite these great references, Lords of Black has its own style thanks to fantastic singer Ronnie Romero whose style is almost incomparable. The singer I know who comes closest to his style would be Jorn Lande who seems to have similar musical influences as this band. Ronnie Romero manages to find the perfect balance between a melodic approach and a slightly rough undertone. He sounds like a classic hard rock singer with the technical capacities of a heavy metal lead singer which makes him incredibly versatile. 

A special shout out goes to the fact that Lords of Black offer twelve songs with a running time of almost seventy-three minutes on the regular edition of this release alone. The limited edition includes two more original tracks as well as four cover songs, including a skilled rendition of Queen's ''Innuendo'' and a tight interpretation of Anthrax's hit single ''Only''. The Japanese version includes an excellent acoustic version of the band's own ''Forevermore'', shortening the song by almost half its length and transforming it into a playful folk rock ballad. This is how alternative versions should sound: creative, different and distinctive.

Despite a few fillers in here and there, Icons of the New Days is a record that should please both fans of epic hard rock and heavy metal from the late seventies to the mid-eighties and those who like the more grounded and mid-paced aspects of the European power metal genre brought forward from the mid-eighties to the mid-nineties. Lords of Black certainly is one of my greatest discoveries of the year and I would recommend to keep an eye on this creative and productive Spanish quartet.

Final rating: 80%

Bleeding Gods is a Dutch sextet that combines fast-paced death metal as well as atmospheric and blistering black metal with epic symphonic metal soundscapes. 

If compared to similar bands like Fleshgod Apocalypse or Wintersun, Bleeding Gods remains firmly rooted in the extreme metal genre at all times and the keyboards remain mostly in the background to add atmospheric layers to the band's conceptual records. Former Cradle of Filth keyboarder Martin Powell was responsible for the orchestral soundscapes on this release and he certainly did an expert job. 

The melodic side of the group is rather brought forward by the versatile guitar play with some convincing melodic leads and a handful of passionate solos. A few prolonged instrumental sections and acoustic interludes show the musicians' talent and the band's knack of flirting with progressive song structures. The few calmer passages in the longer tracks are welcome breaks that add atmosphere and depth.

The harsh side is brought forward with numerous cold, fast-paced, hypnotizing and at times even thrash metal influenced bass and guitar riffs. Versatile and often fast drums and percussive elements add to the energizing mayhem. The harsh vocals meandering between black and death metal influences are supported by George Oosthoek, formerly of gothic death metal pioneers Orphanage, on ''Hera's Orchard'' which is, along with the closing ''Hound of Hell'' that follows immediately after, the best track on this release.

The only downsides are a few longer tracks that overstay their welcome and the fact that some tracks end up sounding a little bit too similar in approach in my book and end up being somewhat exchangeable throughout this record's middle section.

The band's second studio album Dodekathlon reminds me of recent efforts coming from bands like Atrocity, Dimmu Borgir and Sepctiflesh which are certainly very good references. While Bleeding Gods doesn't revolutionize the genre, its dynamic mixture of black, death and symphonic metal with occasional progressive and thrash metal elements is entertaining over the course of one gripping hour and twelve songs. The lyrical concept inspired by Greek mythology along with the great cover artwork makes for an even more immersive experience. If you like intellectual extreme metal, you should give Bleeding Gods' Dodekathlon a few spins.

Final rating: 80%

Europe Raiders is a quite entertaining action-thriller with strong martial arts sequences that comes around with a major and quite efficient twist in its surprising conclusion. The movie revolves around an invention that makes it possible to track down terrorists around the world. This tool has however been misused by the Central Intelligence Agency and its inventor died in grief and regret. Many years later, the inventor's very intelligent daughter seeks vengeance and manages to steal a part of the invention. The inventor's former bodyguard and friend cooperates with his female colleague and love interest in order to bring the tool back for the Central Intelligence Agency. To achieve this goal, the duo must cooperate with the inventor's imprisoned son whose goals are quite shady. Quite soon, a family drama unfolds and leads to a brutal showdown.

There are many positive elements about this movie that reminds me of the glorious days of Hong Kong cinema in the late eighties and early nineties. First of all, the film has fluid pace and a perfect length. Secondly, the dynamic martial arts elements are performed in a very grounded way which give the movie a more realistic touch than similar efforts. Thirdly, the characters are quite interesting as one cares for the gentle yet determined bodyguard and his quirky yet charming colleague but also for the desperate daughter and mysterious son of the sympathetic inventor. Fourthly, the locations are quite interesting as the film takes place in numerous beautiful cities in Italy. Fifthly and most importantly, the film comes around with a twist that I didn't see coming but that made sense to me and ended the film on a very high note.

A few elements need to be criticized as well. There are too many artificially flavored special effects in this film. This still looks cool in the opening sequence that could come from the James Bond franchise but the final showdown ressembles a video game rather than an actual movie. The depiction of the Central Intelligence Agency members and their objectives remain relatively shallow as they are quickly stigmatized as bad guys without adding any depth to it. The plot seemed to be somewhat shallow until the final twist turned it around in a most positive way.

In the end, I can recommend the movie to those who like and miss Hong Kong action-thrillers of the eighties and nineties. Europe Raiders gives you everything you need from breathtaking fights over intriguing characters to a story with a major twist. Tony Leung convinces as cool protagonist while Tang Yan, who might have her breakthrough with this role, complements him with breathtaking charm and beauty. Ignore the negative reviews and enjoy the wild ride.

The Island is a mostly entertaining mixture of a survival drama with some social criticism, slapstick comedy and romantic elements. It tells the story of about thirty work colleagues who get into a heavy storm and strand on an isolated island. When nobody comes to their rescue, the group elects a military veteran as their leader who soon starts to abuse his power. The group splits into two camps when a clever businessman discovers a shipwreck with useful tools and convinces some of his colleagues to join his group. The story follows two unlucky brothers who soon realize that the military veteran is a sadist while the clever businessman is a liar and decide to live on their own. In order to feel superior just once in their lives, they successfully plan to play the two groups off against each other in order to become the new leaders. As time goes by, the two brothers need to decide whether they want to be leaders on an isolated island or ordinary people in a civilized world.

The movie starts very well with stunning special effects in a dramatic storm. The different characters are nicely developed and very distinctive. Every character has obvious strengths and weaknesses but living in the savage nature shows who the characters really are. The story is less interesting than the gripping character developments that have major impacts on the plot. The film finds the right balance between serious survival adventure with some social criticism related to the selfishness of mankind and some more light-hearted elements such as situation and slapstick comedy but also a romance between the older brother and one of the female co-workers.

The Island also has a few minor flaws. The movie is at least twenty minutes too long and the middle section is both repetitive and drifts at times off into the realm of fantasy instead of keeping the realistic survival story mode. The ending of the movie also feels stretched as there are additional scenes during and even after the credits. A more concise film would have been much more intense for the viewers. Personally, I didn't like Qi Shu's performance very much and don't understand why she is featured in so many movies these days. She is neither a particularly good actress nor a particularly beautiful woman that she often has to incarnate in my book. While other characters evolve mentally but especially physically on the island as they grow beards, long hair or get dirty and rough skin, Qi Shu's character always looks as if she came out of a beauty studio with perfect teeth, clean skin and smooth hair, even after having spent far over one hundred days on an isolated island. Her character simply feels misplaced and looks like a Barbie Doll in a cabinet of horrors.

In the end, I would still recommend The Island if you are looking for a quirky survival drama with intriguing characters. The story is somewhat shallow and the movie has its lengths but it's overall still very good thanks to outstanding acting performances, great camera work, exotic locations, poignant sound effects and impressive special effects as well as an interesting and mostly balanced mixture of different genres.

The Great Hypnotist offers an intriguing mixture of a psychological thriller and a mysterious drama. The movie convinces with a gloomy atmosphere from start to finish. With a length around one hour and a half without the credits, the film has solid pace and is coherent and consistent. The story is also very interesting and comes around with a few minor surprises and one twist that might be predictable for genre experts but that is still greatly executed because the movie offers many clues and details to the viewers. This immersive film is quite intellectual and offers some food for thought and debates long after you have watched it.

The story revolves around a famous psychologist who uses hypnosis to make his patients fight their inner demons. One day, the case of a troublesome woman who believes to see ghosts around her but doesn't understand their purpose is referred to the psychologist. It turns out that this isn't only going to be his most complex but also his most personal case.

There aren't too many negative elements to mention in this very good film. What bothers me a little bit is the fact that the two main characters are hard to symapthise with at first contact. The psychologist is full of himself while the patient acts in a hostile way. Some of these behaviors are explained towards the end and the last third of the film changes the initial perceptions completely. Still, the slightly antipathic characters make an initial approach to the film somewhat difficult. However, your patience will be rewarded by the end of the movie.

In the end, you should watch The Great Hypnotist if you like psychological thrillers or mysterious dramas. This movie stands out with its challenging story that requests the viewers to immerse themselves fully into a highly atmospheric film. Thanks to a gloomy atmosphere, this film is best enjoyed on a lonely night at home.