Portuguese gothic metal band Moonspell tried out quite a few things at once on twelfth studio record 1755. First of all, this is a conceptual record about the great Lisbon Earthquake and its negative and positive short- and long-term consequences. Secondly, this is the band's first album that only features Portuguese lyrics. Thirdly, this record can be considered a symphonic extreme metal album which relies on the massive use of choirs and orchestras. As if those things weren't enough, 1755 was originally supposed to be only an EP and evolved into a full length release, featuring a revamped version of ''Em Nome do Medo'' from the Alpha Noir / Omega White release five years earlier to open the album and a cover song of Os Paralamas do Sucesso's ''Lanterna dos Afogados'' to close the record. Even the bonus track for limited editions is everything but common since it's a Spanish version of the new song ''Desastre''.

One has to applaud the band for this courageous experiment, especially in times when many genre colleagues keep things safe and simple and the few experimental bands tend to get slammed from critics and fans alike. However, be forewarned. It takes quite some time for this album to open up and make sense. I disliked my first listening experience because this album doesn't have too much in common with any other Moonspell record. The second try was a little bit more positive as the album started to grow on me. After letting things sink in after a third try, I can say that 1755 has its strengths and weaknesses and is ultimately neither among the band's weakest efforts, nor among its strongest outputs. To be honest, it's overall a below average effort for a pioneer of the gothic metal genre.

Let's start with the positive points. First of all, the dramatic orchestral passages, the epic choirs and the few folk elements add a cinematic touch to the record that does its complex concept justice. The album certainly has an apocalyptic atmosphere. Secondly, the record positively recalls other experimental extreme metal bands like Melechesh for its mixture of vivid aggressiveness and intellectual progressiveness, Orphaned Land for its few Middle Eastern folk elements and tribal drums as well as Septicflesh for its massive use of classical elements. Fans of folk metal band Myrath and symphonic black metal band Dimmu Borgir might also be positively surprised about this release. Thirdly, the record's second half sounds appropriately balanced between new choral and orchestral elements and classic trademarks of the band such as variable vocals and haunting guitar melodies. It almost sounds as if the first half of the album were an experimental test for the band's new genre while the second half perfectly fusions old and new influences. ''1 de Novembro'' is the record's most vivid track with its galloping rhythms, the extremely playful and varied ''Ruinas'' might be the record's most diversified song and ''Todos os Santos'' is an apocalyptic epic that should have closed the album and which was rightfully chosen as first single because it represents the mixture of old and new soundscapes best and is also among the catchiest tunes on an otherwise complex release.

Here come the negative aspects. First of all, the omnipresent use of orchestral passages and pompous choirs is at times quite tiring. Several songs feel overloaded and sound much longer than they actually are. This is a phenomenon that can also be observed on recent Dimmu Borgir and Septicflesh albums. Less would have been so much more. This leads to the next problem. While the symphonic elements are omnipresent, the metal influences sound a lot less inspired than usual. Especially the first half of the album lacks emotional guitar solos, gripping and original riffs and interesting rhythm variations. Moonspell tries to spice things up with some tribal drum patterns or calmer instrumental breaks with more audible bass sounds here and there but these passages rarely sound coherent, consistent and integrated. It's not enough to show off the technical capabilities of the rhythm section for a few seconds, just to bury them under a wall of symphonic sounds right after. This leads us to another problem. The production is quite overloaded and loud. A more organic production with less instrumental tracks would have made the overall listening experience even more enjoyable. Another issue are the vocals, especially in the weaker first half of the album. Fernando Ribeiro is usually a quite diversified and skilled vocalist who can whisper, scream, shout, sing and speak in many different ways. Instead of varying his approaches, most of the album consists of his extreme metal screams and shouts. Gone are his haunting baritone clean vocals or his mysterious whispers and spoken word passages. The vocals sound quite one-dimensional. Finally, opening the record with a revamped version of ''Em Nome do Medo'' wasn't a bright idea. The aggressive and spooky original track was one of the highlights off Alpha Noir / Omega White. The new version has lost the uniqueness of the original and has instead become a quite pompous symphonic metal track that is more than a minute longer than the concise original track. It's impossible to not compare both versions and the original song is better from any point of view. Starting the record with such a revamped track fails to build up any momentum. Closing the record with another cover song isn't too brilliant either, especially since it doesn't do the dreamy original pop rock track justice but at least the band didn't copy itself here.

In the end, positive and negative elements are quite balanced on this album. 1755 is still an ambitious, entertaining and unique record but by Moonspell's standards, it sounds overlong, unbalanced and unusual. I think it would have been better to focus on the greatest tracks of this album and release an EP instead of a full length record. In the end, symphonic extreme metal fans, those interested in experimental, exotic and sophisticated metal albums as well as faithful Moonspell supporters should purchase this album. Occasional listeners might have quite some problems to digest this release. They should either arm themselves with a lot of patience or simply pass on this one. What could have been a highlight in Moonspell's career has turned out to be one of the band's most inconsistent releases.

Final rating: 66%

Hidden Agenda is an interactive game for Playstation 4 that requests the additional use of a mobile device or tablet. You will need to download an additional free PlayLink application to be able to play the game. You won't be using the regular controller. The game is based upon quick time events and so-called ripple effects where specific choices can determine different outcomes of the game. The game can be played by up to six people who have to collaborate to make what they think could be the right choices. In addition to this, certain players will receive additional tasks known as hidden agendas. They will have to influence decisions in order to make certain things happen and gain points. Other players can try to uncover the player with a hidden agenda. Basically, Hidden Agenda is like a mixture of a board game for multiple players and a movie where the players watch the story unfold and only react to some quick time events and make choices. There almost isn't any gameplay.

Hidden Agenda tries to come around with a few fresh ideas but the overall execution is below average. First of all, it took me hours to download the app. I needed to create a Google Account, had to update my Playstation and it took me twenty minutes just to download the application and another ten minutes to make it work because both the Playstation and the Hidden Agenda application need to be connected on the same WiFi hotspot. Just getting this game started was frustrating. Supermassive Games should at least have given single players the opportunity to use the regular Dualshock controller.

Another big issue are the games' numerous glitches. The cut scenes are often abrupt and harm the game's fluidity. The player spends too much time looking at black screens or other graphic failures in between scenes. After having played the entire game twice, it happened already twice that the game was interrupted due to major glitches and I had to replay certain passages. It's hard to accept that such a short game that involved so many programmers has so many glitches.

Another serious problem is the game's length. Depending on your choices, it takes between eighty and one hundred twenty minutes to play the game. I knew this game was going to be shorter than a regular game, but playing this game for about eighty minutes is shorter than playing any elaborate board game I could possibly think of.

The game's only saving grace is the complex story with its multiple choices but once again, Hidden Agenda is far from perfection here. You can't save the game and go back to modify your choices, even though the game is subdivided into three parts as well as an introduction and a conclusion. It's possible to stop the game and continue playing the rest of the game at a later moment but you can't replay specific chapters. In addition to this, the story doesn't always make sense. In one case, an important witness pointed out the job the actual murderer might have but instead of investigating this lead, the characters of the game focused on a completely different possibility which led to an unfinished open ending that wasn't quite satisfying.

Even though I enjoyed the game for its main idea, there are too many problems about it, including a complicated application, numerous graphic glitches and the very short length. Ironically, the credits at the end of the game are so long that they make for about ten percent of the entire game which isn't even the case for short movies. My suggestion is to avoid this game and watch a great crime flick instead or play a board game with your friends. Supermassive Games tried to innovate gameplay but ended up failing miserably.

Detailed rating:

Atmosphere: 7/10

Challenge level: 7/10

Controls: 6/10

Game flow: 3/10

Graphics: 7/10

Length: 4/10

Long-term fun factor: 4/10

Sound: 6/10

Soundtrack: 6/10

Story: 8/10 

Total score: 58 /100