by Sebastian Kluth
...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...
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...
Wrath of Daimajin is the third, final and best entry in the Japanese franchise about the ancient demon god who protects his disciples from cruel injustices. In this movie, a group of lumbermen have been kidnapped by the henchmen of an evil lord who is...
Bodies Bodies Bodies is a psychological thriller with satirical elements that entertains with swift pace and a dramatic series of events. The movie however doesn't only entertain but at times criticizes the habits of Generation Z in an exaggerated way...
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...
Ren Chao Xiong Yong, internationally known as End Game, is the remake of Japanese movie Key of Life that had already been remade as Luck-Key in South Korea. This means that this film is already the third version of the same story. Let's hope that Hollywood...
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...
Orphaned Land is a completely unique quintet from Israel that has been promoting understanding, peace and diplomacy for decades by now. The group offers a most fascinating mixture of epic heavy metal soundscapes, atmospheric doom metal passages and even...
Blacklight is another action thriller featuring a typecast Liam Neeson. This movie is exactly what you can expect and by the numbers. However, it convinces with great acting performances, interesting characters and solid pace. The story revolves around...
Challenging Progressive and Psychedelic Sounds with an Ominous Tone Less than a year and a half after the release of its predecessor, Japanese psychedelic rock, progressive rock, heavy metal, hard rock and doom metal trio Ningen Isu has released its fourteenth...
Psychedelic Flower Power Meets Tight Sweating Rock Japan's powerful trio delivers the goods once more on "Burai Houjou", Ningen-Isu's eighteenth studio album in only twenty-four years. The band convinces once more with its mechanical chemistry between...
One Take Only, also knows as Som and Bank: Bangkok for Sale, is a gangster drama from Thailand. Directed by renowned Oxide Chun Pang who would later on direct movies such as action films The Storm Warriors and Out of Inferno, horror films like The Eye...
Colour me surprised! For years, movies have been inspired by witty scripts, intriguing novels or even great video games but this is the first time I know of that a film has been inspired by a riverboat amusement ride. While the idea might sound puzzling...
The Paper Tigers is an intriguing action-comedy movie that convinces with its interesting characters and their dynamic relations. The story revolves around three middle-aged men who were trained by a martial arts master three decades ago. Now that their...
Voodoma is a gothic metal band from Düsseldorf that has been active for nearly two decades but that has been unfairly overlooked by large parts of both the gothic and the metal scene in Germany. Gotland is the group's seventh studio album and features...
Back in the early years of the millennium, progressive metal veterans Dream Theater honoured several of their favourite bands by playing their records from start to finish. These renditions include Deep Purple's Made in Japan, Pink Floyd's Dark Side of...
Hellryder is a side project by Grave Digger singer Chris Boltendahl and Grave Digger guitarist Axel Ritt. The quartet is completed by bassist Steven Wussow of Orden Ogan and Xandria fame as well as drummer Timmi Breideband who has played for Bonfire and...
Japanese female power metal quintet Lovebites has rightfully gotten quite some attention in recent years. The four ladies don't only have stylish looks but impress with technically appealing musicianship and fast execution that would even make groups...
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...
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...
Willy's Wonderland is an absurd, creative and surreal horror movie with a few comedic elements. The story revolves around a nameless protagonist who gets stranded in an isolated town after a car accident. Since he cannot pay for repairs, he is given the...
Geom-gaek, internationally known as The Swordsman, is an epic historic action drama from South Korea. The story revolves around Tae-yul, the best swordsman in Joseon who is unable to protect the king during an uprising. He decides to live as a recluse...
Quebec's cult quartet Les Cowboys Fringants has just released a surprise record in form of Les nuits de Repentigny, honouring the group's musical, geographical and cultural origins. The generous album includes twenty-three songs with a total running time...
Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets isn't only the best novel of the franchise but also the best movie along with the first entry Harry Potter and the Philospher's Stone. The story revolves around a mysterious dangerous presence at Hogwarts that paralyzes...
Horrors of Malformed Men is a quite experimental movie by veteran director Ishii Teruo that has been inspired by the tales of famous mystery and horror author Edogawa Rampo who had himself been inspired by Western authors such as Edgar Allan Poe. This...
