All posts by vladkraykulla

Active member of alternative underground scene and culture since early 1990-ies. Underground is a way of life!
Various

(review) One Hidden Frame – I Am Not Here

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One Hidden Frame are hailing from Finland and have been around in the scene since 2002. They recently released their sixth full length album and it contains twelve songs of melodic hardcore punk, mainly fast and energetic with some technical skate punk influences here and there reminding a bit of Propagandhi like in awesome Watch Out For Your Head On Your Way Out. But, besides hardcore mayhem there are also some bombastic anthemic choruses like in Run To The Rescue With Love or Information Blackout. I missed them at Punk Rock Holiday although they played three times there, but I can only imagine how powerful these songs sound live, like punk pumping machine of You Are Free To Go. But, besides uplifting melodies, these songs also bring out kind of melancholy in me, like only Finnish bands can, whether in metal or punk, there is sort of melancholy and sadness in music, whether more silent or louder sadness, but it definitely exists. This is a great album, check this one out.

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Reviews, Various

(review) Acidez – In Punk We Thrash

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Mexico´s Acidez are back with a new blasting record. For those who don´t know, Acidez play hardcore punk that is fast, angry and furious to all of the poverty, injustice and believes in freedom and do what you want attitude, real punk as fuck band. The music is basically hardcore punk but there are much more thrash metal influences and d beat than for example in Exploited or The Casualties´ songs. There are 13 songs on this one with first one being kinda instrumental intro to all the mayhem and carnage that follows. Spanish language in some songs only adds to the energy, anger and make you wanna pump your fist in the air and go battle all of the governments and plagues that trouble this lovely planet. Musicianship is impressive, so is production of this record, in my personal opinion this is the best Acidez record yet. My personal favorites: Hasta La Muerte, In Punk We Thrash, Nightmare, El Punk Salvo Mi Vida.

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movie, Reviews, Various, Vaults of Hammer Horror

(movie) Dracula has risen from the grave (1968)

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Being an avid horror movie maniac and also collector, I enjoy watching movies in general, but horror is my first and greatest love. My favorite horror subgenre are golden era slasher 80-ies horror, found footage and all those Hammer Horror classics. This is one of those old school legendary house´s British horror movies featuring Christopher Lee in his most legendary role and for me being best Dracula with tight choice between Bela Lugosi and Gary Oldman, who are my top three besides Lee.

This is fourth installment in Hammer´s Dracula series and it revolves around story of a priest Monsignor Ernst who returns to Castle Dracula to perform an exorcism which would expell evil forever although Dracula is dead and gone. As it often goes, Monsignor fails, awakes Dracula who is very angry because of the cross left barring the doors of his ancestral home. Dracula wants revenge and follows priest to the town with help of disgraced local drunkard priest. Simple? Perhaps naive and thrashy? No matter, Hammer movies had charm, charisma, story and they did not depend on cgi effects like today´s horror do. Chris Lee is just fantastic and charismatic, but besides just staring and being evil, he also talks quite a lot in this sequel apart from the ones prior and after. I enjoyed the atmosphere of Transylvania, of old school horror and blood spilled from the most legendary vampire of all. The ending is kind of poetic but leaves place for further sequels. The one thing that I did not enjoy is kind of main good character, young baker Paul, portrayed by Barry Andrews, who went on my nerves with his every facial expression and sentence he said. Maybe it is just me, who knows.

6,5/10