(review) Cradle Of Filth – ‘Trouble and Their Double Livcs’ (Napalm Records)

Cradle Of Filth have been one of my favorite bands since I listened to their ‘Dusk And Her Embrace’ and ‘Cruelty And The Beast’ many moons ago. They grew old like fine wine, delivering albums filled with their melodic vision of dark gothic black metal with lots of symphonic and dramatic pathos to the songs and recognizable voice by charismatic frontman and only original member Dani Filth.

This time, Cradle released live album, first one after twenty years combining all the classics with fan favorites and blinding good setlist but also containing two new studio songs, being ‘Demon Prince Regent’ being fast and dramatic yet also melodic song, like we are used to from Cradle on last two albums. ‘She is a Fire’, second new song, was chosen as single announcing the album and has such contagious melody that made me listen to over and over again with all the gothic darkened vampiric drama that only this band can provide. Definitely, my favorite of the two. New keyboardist/backing female singer fit into band perfectly and I think that this current line-up is possibly one of the strongest line-ups of this band ever, especially drummer Marthus who is one of the best drummers in extreme metal in my humble opinion. Considering live songs, hits like ‘Born In A Burial Gown’, ‘Nymphetamine’ older ‘Haunted Shores’ and part of ‘Cruelty And The Beast’ set is sure to win you over if you are a fan. Sound is perfect and this one captures the eternal greatness of this legendary band.

8,5/10

(movie) Children of the Corn(2020) – jedan od rijetkih Shudderovih promašaja

Kada sam vidio da je Shudder preuzeo produkciju i izdanje novog izdanka Children of the Corn serijala, ni sam ne znam više koji je po redu to film u kvazi serijalu još tamo od 1984.i prvog filma koji je zapravo bio spooky i najviše se naslanjao na odličnu kratku priču Stephena Kinga koju još nijedan iz serijala, remakeova i rebootova nije uspio premašiti u jezi i atmosferi, mada je prvi film bio nekako najbliže. Dakle, ovaj najnoviji film služi kao miks između nekog reboota i prequela, odnosno autori su nam željeli pokazati kako je došlo do masakra odraslih u malenom gradiću u Nebraski od strane djece i kako su ista preuzela vlast u tom gradiću.

Film počinje kada mladić počini masakr odraslih u domu za siročad kraj kukuruznog polja u gradiću u Nebraski, no šerif kako bi riješio talačku krizu iskoristi plin koji ubije i napadača i nekoliko štićenika doma. Sve to gleda mala djevojčica Eden. Par godina poslije, zbog nepažnje odraslih, kukuruzni usjevi su uništeni i trunu, a odrasli se sastaju u gradskoj vijećnici i odluče uništiti i izvaditi sve usjeve i pokušati nešto drugo. No, nešto se čudno dešava i djeca koja se igraju u polju i oko polja krenu u akciju i počnu ubijati odrasle kako bi nahranila Onog koji hoda između redova i kako bi kukuruz opet bio moćan. Ovo je otprilike radnja ovog suludog i na momente jako dosadnog filma u kojem se ništa od važnosti ne počinje događati tamo do prvih 45 minuta, odnosno do polovice filma. U originalnoj priči i nekim od filmova bio je fascinantan taj kult tog Onog, nečeg čudovišnog što se kreće između redova kukuruza i mislio sam da će ovdje pošto se radi o prequelu biti bolje objašnjeno o čemu je riječ i što to je zapravo. No, ćorak. Likovi su katastrofalno napisani i odglumljeni. Scenarist i redatelj Kurt Wimmer je u karijeri napisao neke odlične filmove kao što su Equilibrium i Law Abiding Citizen, ali i promašaje kao što su Total Recall remake i Point Break remake. Očito da mu ti remakeovi/rebootovi ne leže i da bi se trebao držati originalnih ideja i filmova. Likovi su takvi da se ne možeš vezati uz glavnu junakinju Boleyn(Elena Kampouris) i simpatizirati s njom, jer ti je sasvim svejedno. Jedino što je dobro od glumačke ekipe je pojava kultnog Brucea Spencea kao pastora, ako se sjećate on je bio onaj ekscentrik s helikopterom The Gyro Captain u Mad Max:Road Warrioru, pa mi je bilo drago da ga vidim nakon tolikih godina.

Gore efekti: 7,5/10 sjekira – nema ih puno, zapravo jako malo, no kada se pojave su dobro napravljeni, isto tako i Onaj koji hoda između redova kreatura je dobro napravljena kao i završni štos u filmu koji jedino vrijedi od gledanog.

Gluma: 5/10 sjekira– nategnuta ocjena samo jer mi je drago da sam opet vidio Brucea Spencea.

Zaključak: 3/10 sjekira – ovu katastrofu i jedan od rijetkih promašaja Shuddera potrebno je zaboraviti čim prije i zakopati ovaj serijal tamo gdje i pripada, u povijest horrora.

(review) Metallica – ’72 Seasons’

Thrash metal giants, one of the Big 4 of thrash metal are back! Metallica is back with new studio full length album, first one since 2016 and ‘Hardwired…’. This one contains twelve songs and I was a bit sceptic upon hearing they will deliver new music, but now I am totally convinced that Metallica still got something to say. If I must compare some older albums to this one, it would be a mixture of ‘And Justice For All’ and ‘Metallica’, being a thrash metal bomb yet still retaining that old spirit of Metallica history. The title song has such contagious chorus that I listened to over and over again. James’ voice is convincing and strong and although album has some weaker points it shows mainly some strong songwriting and sense of drama, melody and harshness. There are couple of more mid tempo songs on there, but also some really thrash metal speed jewels and I am glad that band returned in couple of songs to that kind of songs and not only long and epic progressive thrash metal that they applied on couple of last albums. Also, guitar solos are back, with all that wicked melodies and hooks. Although there is one very long song, over eleven minutes, called ‘Inamorata’ which closes the album and if you listen to it closely and carefully, you will hear how great that one is. One other song that I must also highlight is ‘Lux Aeterna’, short anthem in the vein of NWOBHM old school influenced style. My other highlights on this album are ‘Crown Of Barbed Wire’ and ‘If Darkness Had A Son’ being two standouts for me. This is an awesome come back and I am glad that Metallica can still make a killer album!

8/10

The Power Of The Underground