by Sebastian Kluth
The band name sounds like kitsch, the cover artwork looks like kitsch, the music sounds like kitsch but Magic Kingdom from Belgium eventually deliver some truly entertaining high quality symphonic power metal kitsch. The special edition of this record...
Krypteria has always been a complicated case for me. Each of the musicians has got a lot of talent. Let's just have a look at their epic tracks, their orchestral arrangements and their conceptual musical releases at the beginning of the band's career....
Far From The Sun is the weakest album in the strong discography of Amorphis. One can hear that singer Pasi Koskinen lacked passion and emotion and was about to split with the band. It's clear that the band didn't develop any further in the first time...
There are some things I don't understand in the metal world and one of those things is the popularity and the high ratings of this record. Let's say that the debut album of the Swiss metal legend is not bad at all. It has its own style but the record...
This beginning of an era and one of the most unique music projects of the twenty-first century is a very strong start to kick off a unique career. It's still far from being perfect but should nevertheless especially please to fans of gothic and industrial...
...and Beyond - Live in Japan, 2017 is another entry in Dream Theater's excellent Lost Not Forgotten Archives and a sequel to the series' first release Images and Words - Live in Japan 2017 that was released one year earlier. This effort here captures...
Bangkok Dangerous is one of the very best Thai movies to have ever seen the light of day. This melancholic gangster drama has stood the test of time and still impresses massively two decades later and counting. This masterpiece revolves around deaf-mute...
The Snake Girl and the Silver-Haired Witch is essentially a gothic fairy tale that should appeal to older children, teenagers and young adults who like gloomy, imaginative and surreal stories that walk off the beaten path. The story revolves around joyful...
Return of Daimajin is the second film in the trilogy about the great demon god that combines elements of period dramas and giant monster movies. In this shortest movie of the series, an evil lord menaces, destroys and conquers two neighbouring villages...
Ever since I started listening to metal music, I have come across Arch Enemy on numerous occasions. While the occasional song was much appreciated at different parties, I could never listen to one of the group's records from start to finish because the...
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...
Wallop is a German heavy metal quartet that existed for four years in the eighties, releasing two demos and one full length effort. Thirty-one years after its initial break-up, the band rose from its ashes and has been on an impressive run ever since,...
Rendezvous Point is a Norwegian quintet on the thin line between progressive rock and progressive metal. Dream Chaser is the group's third full length studio effort, includes eight new songs and clocks in at a reasonable thirty-eight minutes. The quintet...
Innocence, originally titled Gyul-baek, is a South Korean movie halfway between a drama and a thriller. It tells the story of a successful female lawyer who travels from the busy capital of Seoul back to her gloomy hometown to defend her own mother suffering...
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...
The Retreat is a Canadian horror movie shot in the beautiful province of Ontario. It tells the story of a lesbian couple from Toronto that wants to spend a romantic weekend in the woods. However, the hosts of their cabin have mysteriously vanished upon...
Records such as Pestilence's Levels of Perception are the reason why some people call death metal fans white trash. While I'm usually someone who defends sub-genres, I certainly can't support that dreadful release in any possible way. I wouldn't have...
River, originally known as Ribâ, nagarenaide yo, is a Japanese science-fiction movie with elements of comedy, drama, mystery and romance. The film takes place in Kifune, a calm mountainous town north of Kyoto, on an automnal afternoon. The main setting...
It's a mystery to me why Rebellion isn't a much bigger heavy and power metal band than it is. The band has been around for over two decades and plays music in the key of popular German heavy metal groups such as Accept, Grave Digger and Rage but it has...
Nothing Can't Be Undone by a Hot Pot, originally known as Mei you yi dun huo guo jie jue bu liao de shi, is a quirky Chinese comedy movie with a dynamic mixture of elements from others genres such as drama and thriller. The story revolves around four...
Most bands who have taken the decision to record beloved early records again have failed miserably. The worst cases in the metal scene might be the infamous re-recordings by heavy metal veterans Manowar. Harakiri for the Sky is one of the few bands that...
Sou Jiu, internationally known as Come Back Home or Polar Rescue, is an intense family drama from the People's Republic of China. It shows legendary martial artist Donnie Yen in a completely new role as this film doesn't feature any fight sequences at...
Di er shi tiao, internationally known as Article Twenty, is a Chinese courtroom drama directed by renowned veteran Zhang Yimou. This is the first legal-themed Chinese movie that focuses on the issue of justifiable defence. The movie aims to prove the...
I have never been a fan of Marvel's cinematic universe since the vast majority of its films are boring, predictable and shallow. If you wonder why I even bothered watching Madame Web, then I would like to let you know that I had to attend this film because...
Perfect Days is a slice-of-life combining comedy and drama elements directed by renowned German filmmaking veteran Wim Wenders and starring a selection of extraordinary Japanese actresses and actors. Shot in only seventeen days in Tokyo, this movie shows...
