Rambles about the wonderful world of wrestling.
Lamb of God are one of the biggest bands on the planet that most of the planet hasn’t heard of.  They’ve sold nearly two million albums in their home country, the USA, been nominated for Grammy’s and their last album shot to number 3 in the US Billboard charts and made the top twenty in the UK.  Yet this isn’t a music review, but rather a look at their recent documentary, As the Palaces Burn, which was directed by Don Argott.
Vampires have taken a bit of a kicking in the last few years, going from dreaded creatures of the night to sparkly things that fall in love.  Therefore, it’s refreshing to see Jim Jarmusch remind us just how cool vampires can be in his latest movie Only Lovers Left Alive.
In the last few years The Gaslight Anthem have been wheedling their way into people’s hearts with their big choruses and Springsteen tinged rock and roll.  Therefore, it’s not really a surprise that there has been a slight cash in on this popularity with the release of The B Sides a collection of, unsurprisingly, B sides.  The question then has to be asked whether this is worthy of inclusion in the Gaslight discography, or like many before them should this be a collection of B side that should have stayed in the vault.
The idea of humans falling in love with machines is not a new one in cinema, it’s a common trope of the sci-fi genre, but if anything the last few years have led to it hitting closer and closer to home. Â Advances in technology like the Iphone suggest a future where, while our computers may not get to think for themselves, they may well be able to trick you into believing they can.
Nick Frost has spent his career in the shadow of Edgar Wright and Simon Pegg. Â However, to purely consider him as a stooge to their talents is to give the guy a lot less credit that he deserves. Â Underneath that overweight outward appearance is an incredibly talented physical comedian and therefore it’s not surprising that the idea of him doing a comedy based around the idea of salsa dancing is on paper a recipe for success.
There is a track on Ghost Empire, German metalcore mob Caliban’s 9th album, called “I Am Rebellion”.  It starts slowly before delivering some chunky metalcore riffs and a big melodic chorus.  In other words, it’s about the least rebellious metalcore track you will hear this year.  Is that a bad thing?  Not necessarily.  If you take a stroll through the music section of this website you will find a lot of articles about metalcore bands, it’s a genre I have a lot of time for.  However, it’s also a genre that can hit it’s saturation point quite easily and there are a lot of Killswitch Engage clones out their.  Not all of them can claim to have been going as long as Caliban though, who actually formed in 1997 two years before Killswitch.
Skindred should be the biggest band on the planet.  I know I started my live review in the exact same way, but I’m going to keep saying it until it’s true.  With the release of their 5th album, Kill the Power, Skindred look to continue proving me right (spoiler: they have) and continue their quest to try and capture their live energy on record, with their supposed failure to do so the one criticism that tends to be launched their way.
I imagine most of the people who find their way onto my blog would remember Alcest from their post-black metal early albums.  Over the last few years however, much like a growing number of their contemporaries, Alcest have found themselves leaning closer and closer to the post part of their sound and in turn leaving the black metal far behind.  So if you are reading this due to your interest in black metal it might be better to look away now.  As in it’s wake they have become a shoe gazing post rock band, the likes of whom generate an aura of cool that I’ve never quite understood. Continue reading “Alcest – Shelter”
Dallas Buyers Club is the latest step in the ongoing McConaissance and is looking to be the one that will gain the man, once famous for leaning on his co-stars on the side of buses, that coveted Academy Award.  Directed by Jean Marc Vallee it is a movie that has been a long time coming, with names such as Woody Harrelson having previously been attached to it.
The fact that The Lego Movie has taken this long to appear is something of a surprise.  When you consider the amount of licenses that are held by Lego, it has surely always been only a matter of time until they all came together to create a movie.  The problem is that much like many spin offs of beloved toys and games, it is all too easy to create something substandard and poor, with the knowledge that fans that will come flocking anyway.  Therefore it was a relief when Phil Lord and Chris Miller stepped into the directorial seat, as their previously filmography suggests an ability to make gold out of something with the potential to plummet, mainly with 21 Jump Street and Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs.
