Crows n Bones

Testament unveil new artwork

CnB — Wed, 16 May 2012 13:25:34 +0000

Thrash lifers Testament have released the cover for their upcoming album Dark Roots of Earth. The art is by Eliran Kantor (who has collaborated with Sodom, GWAR and Atheist in the past) and it rocks. I love the painterly feel and the Celtic Horned God. It’s metal as fuck, without being pretentious or ironic. I ‘m pretty confident that the Andy Sneap- mastered album will be worth the wait.

http://testamentlegions.com/site/?p=400

(-Dimitris Kontogiannis-)

Dead Can Dance reveal the title of their new long awaited album!!

CnB — Wed, 16 May 2012 09:10:19 +0000

Latest news from the Legendary Dead Can Dance, reveal the release date and the album title of their new -first in 16 years- album!! According to Brendan Perry the longawaited album is entitled ‘Anastasis’, an ancient Greek word and its meaning is connected to the notion of rebirth… The album is scheduled to be released on August 9th, the same day that the resurrected DCD open their world tour in Vancouver…. For more info on the tour dates and ticket reservations, refer to http://www.deadcandance.com/

Dimitris ‘Tyrant’ F.

Pretty Maids – It Comes Alive

CnB — Wed, 16 May 2012 07:08:56 +0000

Every time Pretty Maids release a new album there is only one thing to feel and that is excitement. The Danish act that have given to the world the superb “Future World” album strikes again, two years after the very good “Pandemonium” album, this time with a double CD/DVD live collection.

“It Comes Alive” is a hearty double live audio collection of songs from the bands entire career (see tracklisting below). The sound although it is edited, captures the crowd’s emotion and transfers it with authenticity to the listener. Just listen to “Please don’t leave me” when the crowd is taking over and you’ll under stand what I mean. The release also comes with a DVD capturing the band alive and filled with backstage footage and interviews with the band.

What a great way to celebrate 30 years of existence!

Tracklisting:
CD1:
Pandemonium (Pandemonium)
I.N.V.U (Pandemonium)
Hell on high heels (Anything Worth Doing Is Worth Overdoing)
Wake up to the real world (Wake up to the real world)
Destination paradise (Anything Worth Doing Is Worth Overdoing)
Another shot of your love (Wake up to the real world)
Scream (Sream)
Walk away (Sream)
It comes at night
Queen of dreams ((red hot and heavy)
Savage heart (Jump The Gun)
Clay (Carpe Diem)

CD2:
Yellow rain (Future World)
Rock the house
Back to back (red hot and heavy)
Rodeo (Future World)
Lovegames (Future World)
Future world (Future World)
Little drops of heaven (Pandemonium)
Please don’t leave me (Sin-Decade)
Red hot and heavy (red hot and heavy)

DVD Contents:
Pandemonium
I.N.V.U.
Hell On High Heels
Wake Up To The Real World
Destination Paradise
Another Shot of your love
Scream
Walk Away
It Comes At Night
Queen Of Dreams
Savage Heart
Yellow Rain
Rock The House
Back To Back
Rodeo
Love Game
Future World
Little Drops Of Heaven
Please Don’t Leave Me
Red Hot & Heavy

Label: Frontiers Records
Release date: EU March 23rd 2012/NA March 27th 2012

-manoc-

Gun Barrel – Brace For Impact (prelisten & download)

CnB — Mon, 14 May 2012 09:43:56 +0000

Release number ’6 for German traditional heavy metallers Gun Barrel. The album is entitled “Brace For The Impact” was released through Massacre records on March 23 and now you have the chance to pre-listen and download it (for a small price) through the record company!

Cool stuff,

-manoc-

Plankton For Mascot At London Olympic Games 2012

CnB — Thu, 10 May 2012 14:23:35 +0000

Who would have thought that Plankton (Mr Krabs and Spongebob’s worst enemy) would have been the official mascot for the upcoming London Olympic Games 2012?

Although, Plankton can’t seem to be able to steal the secret recipe for the Krabby Patty from Mr. Krabs in Nickelodeons TV Series, he managed to gain one of the main roles for the biggest athletic event in the world. Well done Plankton!!! Ofcourse, none of the above is real, but the similarity is creepy.

Or is it just an evil plan to steal the Krabby Patty recipe? Hhmm, we’ll see

https://mascot-games.london2012.com/

-manoc-

Nazi scum and the people who vote for them

CnB — Tue, 08 May 2012 21:03:56 +0000

So. Just when you think humanity can’t sink any lower, here comes the Greek national election. While it was amusing to see the Conservative party failing miserably to get a decent percentage and the Socialists getting a well- deserved kicking, this was also the election where the Greek people elected a Neo- Nazi party into Parliament.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2012/may/07/neo-nazi-golden-dawn-party-greece?newsfeed=true

Up until a year ago, the party of The Golden Dawn (no relation to Aleister Crowley) was a bad joke. A bunch of racist thugs that got their kicks by ingesting steroids, beating up foreigners and leftie students, joining the police and running protection rackets. But the financial crisis, the harrowing living conditions in the centre of Athens and the state’s indifference to the humanitarian disaster of illegal immigration changed public perception. The rhetoric of this election was increasingly focused on law and order, as the supposedly moderate, centrist parties railed tirelessly against illegals (who of course don’t vote). After ignoring the crime rate for years and failing to set up a functioning system of immigration control, the state decided that the hundreds of thousands of immigrants that were trapped in this country were a plague and promised to get rid of them. That their solutions to the problem were ineffectual to non- existent, or that Amnesty International and The European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control disagreed with them meant nothing. Similarly, few bothered to think that not all illegal immigrants were hardened criminals, but also desperate people, trapped in a bureaucratic nightmare and in need of asylum. Decency and common sense went out the window and this election time, the people could take their pick of three far- right parties.

Faced with so much choice, 440.894 of my compatriots chose the party with the actual Nazis in it. I guess if you are going to be a cunt, there is no point in half- measures. Which might explain why they voted for this:

And all this in a country that fought the Nazis in WWII. Yeah, I know that this is supposed to be a protest vote. 6% of the Greek electorate does not consist of actual fascists. They are simply illiterate cowards. Faced with scary- looking, dark- skinned foreigners outside their home, they didn’t take up arms and attack them. No. They voted for thugs to do it for them. And if that means that innocents will get hurt, well, that’s not their problem. They are just looking after their own.

This disgrace will not simply wash away. Those who voted the Golden Dawn thugs into the Greek Parliament have forfeited the right to dignity. Contempt and ridicule is the least that we owe them and I hope that they get a taste of the misery and despair that their vote will inflict on others.

(-Dimitris Kontogiannis-)

Ghost Rider Spirit Of Vengeance

CnB — Sat, 05 May 2012 18:02:12 +0000

I have some questions to make? One. Why production studio’s bother funding crappy movies?. Two. Why Marvel doesn’t respect it’s heroes? Three. Why people are wasting their time watching bullshit?

Ghost Rider, wasn’t my favorite comic book hero but It had the potentials to be. There where demons in, there where supernatural bullshit in, he had an awesome flaming bike, he was transformed to a fucking blazing skeleton – this hero had the balls to be a fucking rock n roller. The perfect mascot for Motorhead.

But, as it appears to be, Marvel doesn’t respect it’s heroes. “Ghost Rider – The Spirit Of Vengeance” is a really bad movie. If I was a fan of Ghost Rider I would have been really upset. There were no action scenes worth noticing, the special fx were the average b-movie style, Nicolas Cage….well who the fuck is Nicolas Cage, sorry but I prefer Raquel Alessi than Violante Placido and as for the scenario, probably would have worked fine for a comic book but not for a movie.

I didn’t like Ghost Rider #01 either but this one makes it look like a classic.

Avoid like the plague (as a friend once said)

-manoc-

Heavy Metal Art By Kim Holm

CnB — Fri, 04 May 2012 06:10:53 +0000

About Kim Holm (in his own words):

For more info about the artist check out:

http://denungeherrholm.smugmug.com/Art/Heavy-Metal-Concert-Art/15680871_Hn6vNF#!i=1175412026&k=My4uV

http://cartoonarchy.com/

I´m Kim Holm, cartoonist.

I´ve worked professionally for a few years now, barely getting by(Mostly due to my ability to live on thin air and nothingness, and sustain ever more debts). I´ve done comics and illustrations for Norwegian magazines such as Nemi, Bizarro, and Tusj, and done art for various local bands and other clients. My main accomplishment so far is the comic-book Dette Er Et Ran, which garnered some acclaim here and there.

Now for a bit of history:

Raised in Bergen, the most beautiful city in the world, I was allegedly born on the 3rd of July 1980 in Kristiansand, Norway, though rumours have it that I was either found in some bushes outside the police-station, or actually raised by wolves. Personally I can´t remember much anything of my life prior to the age of 3, so I just assume I was kidnapped by aliens and that my parents are lying to me because the CIA will kill my unknown twin if they tell me the truth.

I started drawing before I could speak, and drawing comics before I could write. But it wasn´t until I was 8 I knew that comic-books were my calling in life.

It happened when I read my first Frank Miller comic, an issue of Daredevil where the hero played Russian roulette with the villain Bullseye, who was laying in a coma. Interspersed with the main story was a tale that Daredevil told about a young boy obsessed with Daredevil, and the troubles that follow when Daredevil befriended him and found out about his corrupt lawyer father.

The whole tale was a typically unsubtle Miller yarn about violence in entertainment, responsibility, and the like. But for an 8 year old kid it was mind-blowing. It stirred up emotions in me that I had never before felt. And that day I knew I had to dedicate my life to create comics that could create the same revelatory emotions in other people.

For a while I was considering a side-career as either a rock-star or a member of G.I. Joe Action-Force, but I´ve had to put those two on a shelf due to time-constrains.

All through school I did nothing but draw or skip school to draw, to many a teachers frustration.

They tried to tell me “You have to go to school!”

To which I replied “Why?”

“Because it´s good for you”

“Why?”

“Because you´ll need it to get a job!”

“Oh, then you´re saying it´s OK that I draw, since I+m going to be a comic-book creator?”

“NO!! You need options!”

“Well, what can you tell me about being a rock-star or getting into the G.I.Joe Action-Force?”

“Go do your math!”

Yeah, I was an annoying little brat.

So… At age 15 I began self-publishing my vampire-comic “Mens Gud Sover(Whilst God is Sleeping)”, inspired by my own slightly less epic take on the role-playing game Vampire: The Masquerade. After a few years and 4 issues, the story had gone so far off track that I gave it up. I´m still hopefull that I will get to tell the real story one day.

After that it´s been unfinished project after unfinished project, plagued by a feeling of not being technically good enough to tell what I wanted to, and a growing suspicion against my dream of joining the commercial comics-arena.

So after degenerating into just playing video-games, smoking and drinking, and being a lazy fuck all day, I decided to check my mail one day and found a mail from an editor of a major Norwegian publisher who asked me if I wanted to send him my drawings in case I was right for a project. And so started my professional career. Hard work, my ass!

And now I´m sober and on Crete, trying to draw my way out of the fledgling commercial career.

Film Review: The Cabin in the Woods

CnB — Wed, 02 May 2012 12:36:16 +0000

Reviewing Drew Goddard’s and Joss Whedon’s comedy horror phenomenon is a pointless task. Sure, it’s perfectly possible to have a great time going to see it while knowing the basic premise, since it’s not like the plot hinges on some crucial reveal. But like The Descent, or Se7en, The Cabin in the Woods is one of those films that work best if you know nothing about what to expect. I will even avoid talking about the casting, as there are joyous surprises even there.

That doesn’t leave me with much to review. So be it. A few words then, about what this movie ISN’T. It’s not some hipster spoof of the horror genre. It was made by people who clearly love horror and are perfectly aware of its’ archetypes and clichés. Sure, the story is as metafictional as it gets and there are references to countless horror icons (MINOR SPOILER: fans of Lovecraft and Clive Barker, prepare to squeal in delight. END OF MINOR SPOILER), but the result is not some postmodern exercise in detached irony. This movie rocks on its own right. It’s funny, gory and FUN.

On the other hand, if you are not a horror geek, or if Whedon’s trademark smart- assed dialogue is not your thing, then perhaps The Cabin in the Woods is not for you. As far as I’m concerned, this is a major contender for movie of the year.

(-Dimitris Kontogiannis)

AtomA – Skylight

CnB — Fri, 27 Apr 2012 13:26:34 +0000

AtomA is a Swedish act that was born from the ashes of the doom, death metal outfit Slumber. Their debut album “Skylight” tells the story of two astronauts lost in space and traveling through planets, searching for a refuge.

Musically, Atoma, explores various soundscapes. If we are to set this band under a genre that will probably be progressive rock with influences from dark ambient, electro, magestic death metal and goth. Influences are all over, with main ones being acts like Tiamat from the “Deeper Kind Of Slumber” period, Katatonia, Opeth and Paradise Lost. The good thing is that AtomA take all the best elements from the aforementioned bands and deliver an album that easily stands on it’s own. The outer space thematololy links superb with the music managing to “beam” the listener to higher grounds while the hunting atmosphere and the beautiful melodies are this bands bible to make this first effort sound impressively humble!

Totally follow AtomA ,

“Skylight” was recorded during eight weeks in 2010 at The Panic Room and was created with AtomA’s official sound-engineer partner Thomas ‘Plec’ Johansson

Tracklist:
1. Atoma
2. Skylight
3. Hole In The Sky
4. Highway
5. Bermuda Riviera
6. Resonance
7. Solaris
8. Rainmen
9. Saturn & I
10. Cloud Nine

Release Date: 04/03/2012/Napalm Records

-manoc-