Podcast Interview: Ronnie Atkins

Legendary Pretty Maids singer Ronnie Atkins chats with Rags about his latest project: Nordic Union.Singer Ronnie Atkins (Pretty Maids) stops by to talk with Ragman about his collaboration with Erik Martensson (Eclipse, W.E.T.) known as Nordic Union. So join TRTR for a little tête-à-tête about the new melodic hard rock album as well as his plans for Pretty Maids.

And don't forget to look for Nordic Union's self-titled new album which is available from Frontiers Music. HORNS UP!

Featured Tracks: Pretty Maids - Loveshine; Nordic Union - Hypocrisy, The War Has Begun, Every Heartbeat, Wide Awake; Pretty Maids - Hell on High Heels

Ronnie Atkins Interview

The Mutilator

The Mutilator, is one of those lost films, from the 80's, that didn't receive the accolades that it deserved, but thanks to Arrow Films, it will finally get its due, well maybe.  This film is a cookie cutter 80's slasher movie.  It includes bad acting, and of course the slasher as well as a pretty decent story line.  With the success of films like Halloween and Friday the 13th, films like this came out by the droves.  It is unfortunate that many of these films, have been forgotten, because there are truly some gems out there.

The Mutilator is about a group of teens that go to pack up one of their friends beach house, for the winter.  Little do they know, that there is a predator waiting in the wings to mutilate them.  Like I said, this is something right out of the Friday the 13th play-book, but it still works, without being a rip off.  Once I got passed the bad acting, I really got into the story as well as the special effects.  This movie seemed low budget, but the special effects were phenomenal.  I think at one point, it got so gory, I almost had to look away.  All I'm gonna say is meat hook, in an uncomfortable place.  OUCH!  The realism of some of the kill scenes, sent this one over the top for me.  Great movie.

Bottom Line: A typical slasher film, but with great special effects, especially for 1985.  The transfer to Bluray looks awesome.  Grab some popcorn and turn down the lights, and be prepared to be entertained.

-Ragman had some mini-puke during this one.

Podcast Interview: Torsten Ihlenfeld

Guitarist Torsten Ihlenfeld of Brainstorm sits in for a great interview about his band's new album.German power metal stalwarts Brainstorm owe their sound in part to guitarist Torsten Ihlenfeld for a great interview about what the band's up to, their latest album, and touring the world. So open a nice German beer (may we humbly suggest a nice Weihenstephaner?) and pull up a chair.

And please be sure to check out Brainstorm's latest album Scary Creatures, available from AMF Records! HORNS UP!

Featured Tracks: Brainstorm -  Entering Solitude, Sky Among the Clouds, How Much Can You Take, How Much Can You Take, We Are, Scary Creatures, and Recall the Real

Torsten Ihlenfeld Interview

Draconian - Sovran

Swedish doom metal masters Draconian do it again - this time with newcomer Heike Langhans's ethereal stylings.I maintain that one of - if not the best ways to hear doom metal is with a female vocalist. In this case, Swedish doom purveyors Draconian, whose melodic death metal sound has gradually become more black and doomy over the years, have released their latest album Sovran with newcomer Heike Langhans. And what a sound she lends to the gothic mood. Her look is even a good match, looking in promo photos like a dark earth mother/goddess with the rest of the crew surrounding her like musical priests. It's something.

Of course, the music has to serve the overall sound and it does that very well. Not all of the tunes on Sovran are doom dirges; tunes like No Lonelier Star and Stellar Tombs start out more like something from the band's melodeath origins before mellowing out to their morose conclusions. But, as it turns out, slower tunes like Pale Tortured Blue compliment Langhans' ethereal voice, who comes off like a dark reflection of Enya through a looking glass world of melancholia - and an effective counterpoint to Anders Jakobsson's gutteral vocals. Since mood accounts for most of the meat in this genre, it's clear Draconian has that covered just fine. the sludge of so much low end is often too muddy to appreciate for the music's nuances, but not so with this band, so kudos to the producers.

The Bottom Line: Gothic doom metal has its place, and few do it better than those crafty Swedes. Draconian's latest album mixes the vocal stylings of two very different singers to great effect with Anders Jakobsson's gutteral menace balanced by Heike Langhans' ethereal beauty. Nice work.

- Genghis really digs the doom metal from time to time...

Emil Bills - XX

German numetallers have shown their poppy side for their "candlelight" version of their greatest cuts.To celebrate their 20th year, German alt-metal band Emil Bulls has re-recorded new, or "candlelight", versions of their most popular songs for their latest release, XX. This is where, if only in the interest of intellectual honesty, I have to say this is some impressive stuff. It's easy to dismiss most a lot of nu metal and the like as angry guitar bashing and screaming about trite topics that everyone agrees are the bane of modern life. But to go back and re-arrange those songs into nuanced poppy anthems if a musical feat.

Tunes like Here Comes The Fire get polished to a mirror finish that would seem totally at home on a pop diva's next release. Sure, there's a bit of a disconnect between the mellow feel of the music and the incindiary lyrics.], but to turn your own work on its head, in a genre that is often maligned for its lack of innovation or depth, belies a certain self-awareness that puts the material a cut above the din. Not too shabby.

The Bottom Line: Fans of nu metal's Emil Bulls may have their minds blown when they hear the band's prime cuts transmogrified into tasty pop morsels - for better or for worse, you be the judge. But the mere fact of pulling it off this well should impress you as a music fan nonethless.

- Genghis was tapping his toes a bit to some of this stuff (is that allowed?)...