Art in its Blackest form
1. Circumpolaris
2. Floe
3. Venus Claws
4. Hyperion Under Glass
5. Filigree
6. Remanentie
Dirge were formed back in 1994 in Paris, France. Their music is progressive post-metal, partly with an industrial approach. They somewhat reminds of bands such as Isis, and delivers a massive wall of slow groovy atmosphere. ‘Hyperion’ is their sixth album since the beginning, and we must say that this album is a true display of monumental power.
The album was released March 14th, 2014 on Debemur Morti.
A few years ago, Marshall Headphones released their Pitch Black models. The headphones are, as the name says, completely colorless, and we must say they simply looks amazing. We haven’t tried them yet, but with Marshall being known for quality, we’re sure they sounds good as well.
For more information, reviews and ordering, check out the link below:
http://www.marshallheadphones.com/product/major-pitch-black
Major Pitch Black
© Marshall Headphones
Minor Pitch Black
© Marshall Headphones
Major Pitch Black
© Marshall Headphones
Minor Pitch Black
© Marshall Headphones
From March 28th until August 3rd, Galerie hlavního města Prahy will be hosting the exhibition ‘Tim Burton and his world’. The exhibition will contain over 500 pieces of personal and conceptual art from Tim Burton‘s more famous works, movies like ‘Batman‘ (1989), ‘Edward Scissorhands‘ (1992) and ‘Nightmare before christmas‘ (1993). Tim Burton is also known for his gothic and melancholic artistic style, and is a big fan of the legendary actor Vincent Price, which we wrote about a short while ago. On the opening day, there will be a signing session with the man himself, which unfortunately were sold out in only three seconds.
For more information, images and prices, click below:
http://www.ghmp.cz/cs/web/guest/vystavy/-/vystavy/vystava/135960
© Tim Burton
© Tim Burton
© HBO
We were thrilled to hear that Woody Harrelson and Matthew McConaughey had been casted for this new HBO series. We didn’t really know what to expect back then, but we instantly knew that it would be great! True Detective is written and created by Nic Pizzolatto (The Killing). The finale of season one just aired, and we are really amazed by what we’ve seen.
The plot of the series does mainly take place in Louisiana, 2012. The two State Police Detectives Rust Cohle (McConaughey) and Martin Hart (Harrelson) are brought in to revisit a homicide case they worked in 1995, involving some bizarre ritualistic murder. This way the series jumps elegantly back in forth on the timeline, to reveal their back story, and the case they had been working on. The narrative structure of the series works perfectly in its way to tell the story.
© HBO
As mentioned, the plot is set in Lousiana, and I must say that the production crew has done a terrific job picking the scenery. The large fields, forested and sometimes industrial environment makes a perfect set for such a gloomy plot. The vast uninhabited desolated swamplands, except from some idiosyncratic white trash trailer park kinda places, leaves the viewer with a claustrophic, dismal and eere feeling. A feeling that is already set when the amazingly crafted vignette starts.
And rise with me forever across the silent sand,
And the stars will be your eyes and the wind will be my hands.
Handsome Family – Far From Any Road (lyrics)
Being a crime series, the most intriguing part is not the solving of the crimes themselves. The most interesting part is the relationship between two completely different personalities. Marty is an extroverted hypocrit of a christian with an almost primtive attitude, but at the same time it’s impossible not to get sympathy for him. Rust on the other hand is an introverted, almost annoyingly self-controlled nihilist, with an almost authistic view for details. Despite the differences, they fulfill each other perfectly as partners, and it’s impossible not to love both characters. They are a perfect example of the diversities we see in people in general, and it’s really quite an interesting journey from a social anthropological point of view.
©Jim Bridge/HBO
It’s hard to find something in a man who rejects people as much as you do.
Marty to Rust
I haven’t seen such an amazing series since last years Top of the Lake. Even though the latter doesn’t really reach the same level as True Detective, it kinda has the same gloominess and might appeal to the same audience. I feel that the psychological part plays a bit larger role in True Detective, and is probably what amazes me the most. The series is filled with heavy use of symbolism, making it fascinating to inpret their meanings. Probably needless to repeat how good this is. Just check it out. Now!
More information:
http://darknessbecomesyou.com/
http://www.hbo.com/#/true-detective
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2356777/
A few week ago we went to the cinema to see the sequel of Dead Snow, a movie we thought was really awesome back i 2009. The first movie was created by a group of friends, that also did the Norwegian low budget cult movie Kill Buljo, which obviously was a parody on the famous Tarantino flick Kill Bill. I’ve watched both the mentioned movies, and really enjoyed them both, so I kinda had in mind what to expect from Dead Snow 2. The crew behind Dead Snow, received a lot of attention from the first one. It was even nominated to the MTV Scream Awards for “Best horror movie” and the epic category of “Most memorable mutilation”, which the first Dead Snow movie had plenty of.
Dead Snow 2 continues where the first one left off. The main character, Martin, is the only survivor from the zombie attack in the first movie, where all his friends were slaughtered on a holiday trip in the Norwegian wilderness. The zombies, with their leader Herzog, is now on their way down from the mountains. Their goal is to fulfil their old German debt, and to conquer the world, as their zombie army is slowly growing bigger.
Since, the first movie, the director Tommy Wirkola has been busy with larger Hollywood productions like Hansel & Gretel: Witch Hunters. This didn’t exactly put a damper on our expectations for this movie. We knew that Dead Snow 2 would be a larger production than the first one, but we surely didn’t expect it to be this good. It’s a cliché that sequels doesn’t live up to their predecessors, but I must say that this one surely did. Unlike a lot of other Norwegian movies, this one is even on a par with international zombie movies.
Ørjan Gamst (Herzog)
It’s not a secret that the crew of Black Forest Magazine are huge fans of darker forms of music. Metal to be more precise. Therefore we had to get in touch with Ørjan Gamst which played Herzog, the nazi zombie leader, and actually has a background in metal music. We wanted to know if his musical interests has formed him as an actor:
Well yes, i think it has. Especially when playing a villain like Herzog. I even had a theme song, Death Walking Terror by Cannibal Corpse, in my head while playing him.
And you have certain metal attitude that often gives you an edge when these sort of characters are brought to life. Also the experience from standing on a stage as a vocalist helped a lot. Does it even make sense? Its hard to explain, but i feel it has helped me alot.
For us zombie fans it’s pretty absurd to see how successful the genre has become, with movies like Dead Snow, and series like Walking Dead. And not to speak about all the games. We had to ask Ørjan why he thinks the genre has had its renaissance:
Well, the whole Walking Dead hype is somewhat to blame of course. And since the early 2000 we’ve had a revamp of the genre with remakes of classics, zombie comedies (Shaun of the Dead, Fido etc.) and so on. The whole zombie niche has gone mainstream. And the horror-guilty pleasure watching zombies getting the wrong end of a shotgun, or the ever popular ‘stupid teenagers getting ripped to pieces’ still works for me atleast.
We surely can’t do nothing but agree with Ørjan, and must say that this recipe works flawlessly in Dead Snow 2. We’re not going to spoil anything, but I must say that I haven’t seen such a creative use of intestines before. All in all, the movie was really worth the watch, and is recommended for everybody that’s into splatter movies. It is obvious that the production was a lot more professional this time, and it was great to see such high profiled actors in this kind of setting as well. Ørjan’s character Herzog is probably the most noticable, and his appearance is simply frightful. Ørjan did a great job playing this character, and we will be looking out for him in the future. We can even announce that he has been picking up his music career again:
I just joined a new band, Landmenn, and I’m doing vocals for some new tracks later this month. I’m excited to be part of this project, it’s very different from my former band Slogstorm. Its good to be back as a vocalist, I’ve missed it.
The acting on the other hand, I’ll guess I’ll just see what comes my way. I never planned a career in acting, but if the opportunity presents itself.. My dream role would be the next Darth Vader, being a star wars nerd. But any villain would be awsome. Fingers crossed, you never know what happens next.
Now watch the trailer below:
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Paper Canyon (2009)
The English band Codes In The Clouds from Kent are playing post-rock, and we were really amazed by their debut album ‘Paper Canyon’ back in 2009. They also released another album in 2011 entitled ‘As the Spirit Wanes’.
Since then, they’ve been playing live and doing festival shows. Late last year the band posted on their Tumblr that they are currently working on an upcoming album. We are excited, and will definitely look out for it!
The band just released an official video for their song ‘Don’t Go Awash in This Digital Landscape’ to celebrate the 5th anniversary of their debut album.
Watch the video below:
A couple of weeks ago I wrote about I Am Heresy, and their upcoming album “Thy Will”. In just a little under a month from now, the album will be released on Century Media (March 3, 2014 in Europe/Australia/NZ and March 4, 2014 in USA/Canada).
On February 7th, they released a video for their song “March of Black Earth”, that will feature on “Thy Will”. See it below.
I stumbled upon the work of Sera Timms from Los Angeles, US when I saw that her band, Ides of Gemini, was warming up for Ghost on their US tour. She also used to play in Black Math Horseman. Later on I found out that she has her own solo-project, called Black Mare. Her first album ‘Field of the Host’ is due to release February 24th, 2014 by Human Jigsaw Records, and The Crossing will be releasing a limited edition LP of 300 copies, March 20th.
When I first heard Black Mare, the voice of the chanting Sera Timms really drew my attention. In many ways it is radiating a pagan/folk atmosphere, but at the same time it has its own unique and honest approach.
– My intent with ‘Field of the Host’ was to express something very personal through the re-telling of timeless myths, and by my own symbolic stories within the lyrics. I have tended to write about larger philosophical themes and ideas in my other projects, and Black Mare seems to demand that I strip away the layers of intellect and reason, and allow the songs to be vulnerable, honest, and simple, says Sera.
Musicwise, the band is moving into several subgenres, with a veil of doom which is wrapping it all together into a wholeness. I am not surprised when Sera tells me that her music deals with and explores the human psyche;
– As always I hope that for the listener my music will open up a crack in ones psyche and lead them back to the underworld shadow realm within themselves-a realm that is not generally valued in our society. This is the place where I found my Black Mare songs. Understanding and illuminating this darkness is the only way to wholeness and peace within one’s self.
For most of the material on the album my biggest influence was my own experience, and exploration of my own subconscious. Musically, I wanted it to be have the heavily plodding earth bound foundation of the mare, with a fragile ethereal phantom rider pulling her sinuous reins into songs.
After hearing Black Mare, we can really imagine them being a live experience. Sera stated that they want to tour both Europe and US. We can’t wait, and are really looking forward to see where the Black Mare will be ridden.
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A few days ago I discovered a band playing grandiose instrumental post-rock/metal. The band was Audrey Fall from Latvia, a country which I didn’t associate with such music, until now.
Audrey Fall is a four-piece band from Jelgava, a city in central Latvia. Usually I think that the lack of vocals makes the soundscape a bit incomplete, but with Audrey Fall I hardly notice it. I even think that the lack of vocals, kinda improves their music, as it’s giving more room for the instruments.
– I think there’s still a lot of people that aren’t used to purely instrumental music without any vocals, so it might be a bit more challenging to appeal to that particular group of people. But for us going completely instrumental opened a lot of opportunities, vocals somehow restrict your style. We can experiment more and focus on various sounds, says Jurģis Narvils (guitarist, Audrey Fall).
Audrey Fall – Mitau
On January 14th, 2014, Audrey Fall released their first album entitled Mitau (actually means Jelgava in German) digitally, which has received a lot of attention lately. Jurģis of Audrey Fall, also mentioned that the album will be released as a physical CD digipak sometime next month.
For touring, he has this to say:
– We’ll be playing a couple of shows in our country, but there’s currently no bigger tour planned. We’ll see how everything goes.
Anyways, we can’t wait to be seeing Audrey Fall live, and will be keeping an eye out for them. You better do the same.
Also, remember to check out their video below, which the band actually made by themselves:
01. Blow Your Trumpets Gabriel
02. Furor Divinus
03. Messe Noire
04. Ora Pro Nobis Lucifer
05. Amen
06. The Satanist
07. Ben Sahar
08. In the Absence ov Light
09. O Father O Satan O Sun!
Behemoth has finally released their tenth studio album. When I first heard ‘Blow Your Trumpets Gabriel’, I was excited by the black metal elements they have included here, as most of their releases is dominated by death metal. The releases has been playing a few rounds, and I really like what I hear. So far, ‘Ora Pro Nobis Lucifer’ is my favorite track, but overall I would really recommend you to check the album out for yourself. Unfortunately, the digital distribution channels are very limited, if you’re not using Itunes. The only alternative is, as I write this, 7digital and Amazon (which is restricted to certain countries). I can’t believe that Nuclear Blast don’t add it to Bandcamp etc., for better availability. Because this album really deserves it!
[soundcloud url=”https://api.soundcloud.com/tracks/123049848″ params=”color=999999&show_artwork=false” width=”100%” height=”166″ iframe=”true” /]
Also, check out their video for ‘Blow Your Trumpets Gabriel’: