by Sebastian Kluth
Alan Wake is a Finnish video game that was first released all the way back in 2010. The action-adventure game with horror elements quickly became a favourite, receiving positive reviews and obtaining the first spot in Time magazine's list of the top ten...
Godzilla vs. Hedorah is the eleventh entry in the franchise and certainly one of its most experimental and memorable films. New director Banno Yoshimitsu incorporated quite a few ideas into the film that were on the pulse of time in the early seventies...
Maze Runner: The Scorch Trials is the second part of the dystopian trilogy about a group of teenagers immune to a virus that has decimated humanity who are hunted by a shady organization. This great second part is an improvement over the solid first movie....
I have often come across the name Visions of Atlantis but never bothered to check out a record so far. If I had to describe the band's style briefly, I would say it's the type of female-fronted power metal with symphonic elements that was all the rage...
IT offers an excellent mixture of a coming-of-age drama and a supernatural horror movie. What I like about this film adaptation is how the film respects both sides on a perfectly balanced level. We are introduced to the lives of outcast teenage boys and...
Kna'an is a collaboration between Israeli Middle Eastern folk metal groups Amaseffer and Orphaned Land. The goal was to write a soundtrack for a German theater play about Abraham's journey to Canaan. Even though this initiative originally came from a...
Amorphis hasn't released a physical greatest hits compilation in more than thirteen years when ''Chapters'' had been published. Since then, Amorphis had an important line-up change with the chasrismatic and versatile Tomi Joutsen taking Pasi Koskinen's...
Hwimory is a power metal band from Incheon, South Korea that’s been around the local scene for the last decade or so, and in 2010 released its first self-titled release. Guitar player Lee Jae-Wook also plays for a heavy metal band from Seoul called Mir,...
On its third output entitled Symphony Masses: Ho Drakon Ho Megas, Therion slowly starts to sound the way that most fans of the band are used to. This album still features some death and gothic metal influences however, especially in the form of powerful...
Gamera, the Giant Monster was Daiei's answer to Toho's Godzilla franchise. Despite a low budget that also explains why the movie was still shot in black and white in the mid-sixties, this first film of the franchise was crafted with care, imagination...
American punk rock quartet The Offspring has taken nine years to release its tenth studio album Let the Bad Times Roll due to label issues, line-up changes and other activities such as singer, pianist, guitarist and bassist Dexter Holland becoming a doctor...
Ladies and gentlemen! Please trust me when I'm telling you that punk's not dead! Before I started discovering the gothic and metal scenes when I was fifteen years old, I had been listening to punk rock music for many years. German legends Die toten Hosen...
The Street Fighter is a Japanese martial arts film that stands out with its rough fights and graphic brutality. Main character Tsurugi Takuma is a tough guy with quite a temper who is able to rip out his opponent's eyes, testicles and vocal chords. The...
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....
Eluveitie is a folk metal band that has had its ups and down and experiments in the early stages of its career. The horrendous debut extended play Vên with its unbalanced genre mixture and terrible production was followed by the much smoother and more...
Ladies and gentlemen, On the thirteenth day of my trip across Eastern Canada, I arrived in Argentia, Newfoundland and Labrador and drove all the way to the province's capital Saint John's. I immediately fell in love with the savage, isolated and colourful...
Before I Fall is best described as a contemporary feminist take on Groundhog Day. It tells the story of high school student Samantha who seems to have a quite normal life. She lives with her friendly parents and her good-spirited little sister. She has...
I have been a fan of the Tomb Raider franchise for more than twenty years which means more than two thirds of my lifetime. I have played all the video games and watched the previous movies with Angelina Jolie. The first one was a little bit shallow while...
Eight years ago, the French-Canadian action-comedy movie Father and Guns was a massive blockbuster. While a similar movie like Good Cop, Bad Cop managed to reinvent itself for a stunning sequel, the makers of Father and Guns decided to stick to the exact...
“Bruchstücke – Zehn Raritäten aus der In Extremo-Privatsammlung“ is a short compilation issued with the German Metal Hammer magazine in support of the "Kunstraub“ record and includes ten rare or unreleased tracks. While this collector’s item is a nice...
There are many things that could be discussed regarding Avenged Sevenfold's seventh studio record The Stage. I might mention that the band released this record without any big announcements and promotions and kept their upcoming release a well-kept secret...
Metallica’s black album lacks so much originality that it isn’t even worth a proper name. The band kept only the worst parts of the great predecessor “…And Justice for All”, namely a very clinical production and the groove metal influences. Instead of...
The Survival Family is a very intelligent movie that mixes dramatic and humorous elements in a balanced way. The film tells the story of a slightly estranged family consisting of a busy father, a lonely wife, an overtly sensitive daughter and an isolated...
On an objective level, both critics and fans don't seem to know what a good movie is anymore. "Mad Max: Fury Road" may be filled with nearly two hours of breathtaking non-stop action sequences and a couple of great special effects, settings or locations...
In Extremo is not only the most popular “medieval rock” band, but also my favorite German band. I’ve been a fan since I first heard the successful “Küss Mich” single from the album Sieben eleven years ago. Today, I have seen them three times live, have...
