I read that this is neo-Krautrock and chill-rock. Low to mid tempo, head nodding, knee swinging, but still background music. Good for work.
Immersion – Sleepless
Mark of the Ninja
This game had very nice artwork with great atmospheric music and just enough action-puzzle platformer gameplay. I wouldn’t go for all the extra material and achievement hunting but the 10 hours was well worth the playthrough. One thing bonus was the ending: I totally didn’t see this beautiful piece of art coming at the conclusion of the story. That I would replay a few times just to look at it.
JASSS - Weightless
Experimental, electronic, slow techno, some industrial flavor, and probably the best new stuff I came across along these lines this year (although it is from last year).
Zeal & Ardor – Stranger Fruit
Zeal & Ardor hit extremely hard when it arrived with its blues rock meets death metal flavor. I couldn’t even imagine how they can follow this up with a second album. Maybe it is something that works like a concept record and should not be followed up. But then they announced a sophomore and I was cautious. They could have done something totally different and I might not like it. Or they might have become too famous with this too fast and have gone into some more compromising ways.
And now the album arrived and I am relived. This definitely isn’t the smasher the first one was simply because we have already seen the trick, but still it is completely okay and works just fine. Even at some points I feel like the guys were pushing the shrieking edge a bit too much to compensate for other parts or the feared expectations they felt people might have.
Anyhow, this is good. Works after several plays, too.
I came accross a bunch of artists opening up the whole Afro-Caribbean electronic music scene for me. Africa meets Latin-America on the club dancefloor. Funny thing, what made me discover all these artists were their spectactular album covers that I just kept clicking.
Ghetto Kumbé – Soy Selva
Nación Ekeko – La Danza
King Coya – Tierra de King Coya
Dengue Dengue Dengue – Son de los Diablos
Evil Blizzard - The Worst Show On Earth
Wow, just got to know this band and wow. I feel resemblance to the Killing Joke with touches of industrial to its alternative rock. Such awesome tunes and moods and takes me to places. Definitely top list material at year’s end. And that cover.
E3 2018
Feeling psyched for a bunch of stuff. It is completely insane what is achiveable realtime in-game. Below are some notes in order of the volume of cheers.
Cyberpunk 2077 is a waiting for ages that I don’t mind. I so don’t want to rush this. Although I am quite surprised of this first trailer, it is much more cartoonish than I expected. On the one hand that’s an interesting take and turn that I may not mind. On the other hand I was expecting something more dark and sharp. Anyhow I think this will change quite a bit until its release so we shall see, long way to go.
Ghost of Tsushima seems like the Witcher 3 in Japan. Everything said. (I clocked 175 hours in the Witcher 3, not a second I regret.)
Beyond Good & Evil was one of the most important gaming
impressions of my younger years, it carved some memories and moods into
my mind. Seeing this getting a sequel and in this quality and change in
tone, well, that’s something that leaves words stuck in my throat. I just hope it makes such an impression on the current generation as it did on me back then.
Anthem still cannot make a mistake, it gives me goosebumps with everything it throws at me. The whole universe and all its features make me excited.
Starfield has this oldschool sci-fi tone to it, which triggers a shut-up-and-take-my-money on me. Somewhere in the corner of my mind also brings up memory of Interstellar Marines, which had the same effect but failed so miserably. Although not a real comparison, IM was an indie endevaour so… Anyway, looking forward to what this will actually be about.
Dying Light was the strongest atmosphere in a game after Witcher 3 in the past years that I kept going back for. Seeing such a generative world building aspect to it in Dying Light 2 just blows my mind, can’t wait.
Rage 2 is the latest DOOM with a Mad Max skin on it. I don’t think it’s much more than that but that is just enough to make this list of mine.
Last of Us 2′s stealth moving around schools even the latest Tomb Raider by a ton of miles. It is absolutely amazing, like watching a movie.
And lastly: DOOM Eternal. That latest DOOM was a smash in the stomach. Once I upgraded my rig for the latest games’ ultra graphics level this was my first test field – and it just smashed. Such brutal speed and action that you can only get from a DOOM game. I am a bit wondering though if they can pull this off two times in a row. We shall see.
PS:
Soulcalibur 6. 🙂
Svalbard – It’s Hard To Have Hope
Post-hardcore metal album from Bristol, and I’m surprised it is not coming from somewhere more up north. Sounds like many others but still I liked this record much more than a lot of others.
Halestorm – Into the Wild Life
Save for the few occasions when this goes too much pop it is a powerhouse of rock and roll. Stumbled upon it with the new single Uncomfortable so now looking forward to the new record.
The Death Wheelers – I Tread On Your Grave
Few stoner rock on my playlist lately, but this one’s good. Probably the talk segments help to make me like this one.