by Sebastian Kluth
Just like their genre colleagues Katatonia, gothic metal pioneers Paradise Lost have decided to play a concert without audience during the ongoing pandemic, in this case at The Mill Nightclub in Bradford, West Yorkshire. The band has decided to play sixteen...
Gone with the Bullets, obviously a pun on Gone with the Wind, is a Chinese comedy-drama with romantic undertones, originally known as Yi Bu Zhi Yao. This film is the second part of a trilogy that started four years earlier with Let the Bullets Fly, originally...
Few bands have gone through as many line-up changes as Annihilator. The first four studio albums alone featured four different lead vocalists. This is why it's not a bad idea at all to record some of the classics again with one single line-up as a potential...
Whenever Dutch innovator Arjen Anthony Lucassen releases a new record, it's a celebration day for progressive rock and metal fans around the world. At the age of sixty-one, the Dutch giant currently experiences a second spring as could be witnessed with...
Guidance is an intriguing international science-fiction drama by Iranian director Neysan Sobhani shot in Mandarin with only four young actresses and actors. The film revolves around a young couple that retreats to a modern cottage in the mountains as...
German groove metal quartet Hämatom had finally shown off its true potential earlier this year, when releasing Berlin (Ein akustischer Tanz auf dem Vulkan), an acoustic record inspired country, folk, jazz and swing sounds of the twenties and thirties...
Perennial Quest is a power metal band from Boston that is clearly influenced by European bands and most obviously by DragonForce and its first four studio albums. Seven musicians were involved in the release of this ambitious demo that includes six songs...
Freaks is a fresh contemporary American-Canadian science-fiction drama. The story revolves around a seven-year old girl whose mother died in her early childhood and whose paranoid father overprotects her. As she grows older, she starts questioning her...
Kung Fu League is a quirky Hong Kong action-comedy movie that goes back to the genre's golden era in the late eighties and early nineties. You will only fully appreciate this film if you are familiar with those movies as the four characters from the past...
What do Johnny Cash, Gravity Kills, Sammy Hagar and Marilyn Manson have in common with Def Leppard? That's right, they have all covered Depeche's Mode ''Personal Jesus''. Def Leppard's version is actually one of the most decent cover versions because...
Gretel & Hansel is loosely based upon the German folk tale Hänsel & Grethel by the Brothers Grimm. It tells the story of an independent sister and her childish brother who leave their hometown behind to join a group of woodcutters to get some work and...
April Rain is a post-rock quartet from Saint Petersburg that has just released its eighth release in only five years with the stunning Mirror of Ether. The album includes ten songs with a total running time of fifty-nine minutes. Right from the start,...
Lords of Black is a Spanish heavy metal quartet that deserves more acclaim, approval and attention than it has gotten so far. All four members have been or are still involved in numerous interesting bands and projects. Bassist Daniel Criado was once involved...
Random Acts of Violence is a highly experimental low budget pseudo-documentary satire that I've picked up for three bucks some time ago. The story revolves a young adult of British origin living in New York City who is getting tired of gentrification....
Satan Kindergarten might sound like a slightly amusing band name but the Mexican quintet actually offers solid symphonic gothic metal on its debut El significado del dolor y su belleza which translates to The Meaning of Pain and its Beauty. The band convinces...
Belfast is a sincerely humane drama that deserves all the acclaim and attention it has recently been getting. Inspired by director Kenneth Branagh's own childhood memories, this film tells the beginning of The Troubles, an ethno-nationalist conflict in...
The King's Man is a prequel to the successful Kingsman movie series revolving around quirky spies defending the United Kingdom against all sorts of extraordinary criminals. This film here takes place around the First World War and includes numerous infamous...
Raiga: The Monster from the Deep Sea is a Japanese monster movie that follows the dreadful Reigo: King of the Sea Monsters released roughy four years earlier. While the latter was disappointing regarding production values, plot and acting performances,...
Assassination Classroom: The Graduation is the second and final part of the science-fiction live action duology that had started with Assassination Classroom one year earlier. The transition between the two movies is very fluid and it's mandatory to watch...
With the seventh entry in the franchise, entitled Ebirah, Horror of the Deep, the Godzilla movie series definitely enters adventure film territory. The beloved lizard also moves away from being considered a dangerous antagonist and becomes an earthly...
Throne of Blood is an epic historical drama by renowned director Kurosawa Akira and with charismatic lead actor Mifune Toshiro. The plot revolves around betrayal, conspiracy, greed, honour and megalomania. It is inspired by William Shakespeare's Macbeth...
The Captain is a Chinese action-drama inspired by real events that occurred less than a year and a half before this film was released. One has to admire how quickly, professionally and precisely the three production companies have written a tight script,...
Light & Shade is more than your ordinary power metal band. It's the project of four skilled musicians from Germany, Italy and the United States of America. The quartet plays power metal with heavy riffs interwoven with symphonic and progressive keyboard...
Brothers is a mixture of a historical drama and a military action movie. Based upon true events, it tells the tragic story of two brothers. The older brother protected the younger from a ruthless criminal whom he killed. He had to spend ten years in prison....
Who would have thought that British heavy metal veterans Judas Priest would release such an amazing record as Invincible Shield six years after very strong predecessor Firepower? It's no exaggeration at all to claim that this is the quintet's greatest...
