by Sebastian Kluth
German punk rock veterans Die toten Hosen have always been on the brave, creative and innovative side which helped them stay successful, relevant and energetic for four decades in a row. A punk double album, a single with French lyrics criticizing former...
The Witness is an excellent South Korean psychological thriller. The story revolves around a man who kidnaps a young woman who manages to escape but gets beaten to death in front of a modern apartment complex. A young family father witnesses the incident...
Metallica's Through the Never was a commercial failure but is a very interesting movie that would have deserved more recognition. The movie revolves around a roadie who is sent on a mission to fuel a stranded truck in order to deliver a crucial item for...
DragonForce's Extreme Power Metal is a quite misleading album title. Without abandoning its trademark guitar duels and keyboard sounds, this album is one of the easiest to digest in their discography. It offers several mid-paced tunes and a few quirky...
Ladies and gentlemen! I attended a very entertaining hockey game between the current Stanley Cup Champions Saint Louis Blues and Ottawa Senators last Thursday night. Even though only 9204 people were in attendance, the atmosphere was intense. The Senators...
I discovered Mongolian folk rock band Hanggai back in 2012 when I was particularly interested in Chinese culture, history and music. I managed to purchase a rare copy of their excellent 2010 record He Who Travels Far. I never expected to get the chance...
Ladies and gentlemen! Today, I have completed my epic ice hockey weekend by assisting the home opener of the Ottawa 67's against the Peterborough Petes. The game was very intense and enjoyable to watch despite a tough 3:2 loss by the home team. The crowd...
Opening act: Battle Beast Set list: 1. Unbroken 2. Straight to the Heart 3. The Golden Horde 4. Eden 5. No More Hollywood Endings 6. Bastard Son of Odin 7. King for a Day 8. Beyond the Burning Skies Second band of the epic night: Sonata Arctica Set list:...
Spinning Man is a quite unconventional psychological and philosophical thriller which has its positive and negative sides. The story revolves around a young cheerleader who has gone missing. Witnesses have reported seeing a car next to her work place...
Extreme Job is an entertaining action-comedy movie that has received massive critical acclaim in its home country and certainly deserves international recognition as well. The movie focuses on a team of detectives who have been running out of luck recently...
The Salvation is a Danish western and while this might sound surprising at first sight, The Salvation is easily the best western I have seen in many years and a solid candidate for western of the decade or even of the century. The story revolves around...
More Moonglow - The Rock Hard EP comes for free with German Rock Hard magazine and intends to promote new studio album Moonglow. With six tracks and a total running time just above forty-five minutes, this exclusive release offers value for money for...
It's incredible what new vocalist Rasmus Bom Andersen did to a band that seemed dead and gone and never managed to live up to its potential since its influential debut. The young Danish dynamite revitalized the old band that came back with a bang in form...
City of LIfe and Death is a Chinese drama about the Nanking Massacre when the Imperial Japanese Army tortured, captured and assassinated around three hundred thousand residents. The movie has a few unusual elements. It is shot in black and white which...
When I initially watched Overlord, I was expecting an average horror movie with a few shallow historical references. What I've got however is an atmospheric, gripping and mysterious horror film with appropriate references to the horrors of the Second...
Zhang Yimou's Coming Home is a thought-provoking, slow-paced and emotionally moving drama that tells the tragic story of a family torn apart by the Cultural Revolution. The movie is surprisingly critical of China's past, takes its time to introduce the...
Just a look at the great cover artwork recalls the works of Judas Priest three and a half decades ago and this is also exactly the sound Riot City is going for on its debut full length effort Burn the Night. The young quartet from Calgary offers eight...
Stahlmann is a Neue Deutsche Harte band in the key of Rammstein, Oomph! and Megaherz that has been around for eleven years now. The band has released six studio records in the past nine years and has played numerous festivals. The group's work ethic is...
Violent Cop is the first directorial work of comedian and television host Takeshi Kitano. He wasn't even supposed to do this job but when the initially hired director pulled out of the project due to scheduling conflicts, Takeshi Kitano took over and...
After a solid but overall less convincing fifth installment, the sixth entry in the psychological horror franchise is a step in the right direction without reaching the quality of the first four movies. The film has a strong moral side as the test subject...
Greta is a very good psychological thriller that convinces with excellent actresses, gloomy atmosphere and sinister tension from start to finish. The film starts very quickly and the main plot is introduced in the first five minutes already which is a...
Riverwood is an Egyptian quintet that plays progressive folk metal in the key of Amaseffer, Myrath and Orphaned Land. Fairytale is the quintet's debut record and already shows a lot of promise. Even though the folk sounds seem to come from keyboards,...
The Wandering Earth is a Chinese science-fiction blockbuster based upon the critically acclaimed novella of the same name by award-winning author Liu Cixin. The movie convinces with stunning visual and sound effects that bring a dystopian world to live....
Vietnamese septet Black Infinity offers an entertaining mixture of melodic death and gothic metal on its debut full length record 666 Metal. The group around lead singer Nguyễn Tiến Hưng plays a broad spectrum from elegiac gothic rock ballads such as...
DreadOut is an Indonesian independent survival horror game that convinces with its cultural, mythological and spiritual references, refreshingly grounded and sympathetic characters and an omnipresent gloomy atmosphere. Even though the game received average...
