Kivimetsän Druidi – Shadowheart

Kivimetsän Druidi - Shadowheart

At first glance, female fronted Finnish folk metal may come to mind (say that three times fast), but that’s not quite an accurate description for Kivimetsän Druidi’s music.

Cradle Of Filth – Godspeed On The Devil’s Thunder

Cradle Of Filth - Godspeed On The Devil's Thunder

Godspeed On The Devil’s Thunder is Cradle Of Filth’s eighth full length studio album (and 13th release overall).  As has been the case for all but Bitter Suites To Succubi, this isn’t the exact same lineup as before, with Martin Skaroupka sitting behind the drum kit this time, replacing Adrian Erlandsson.

Signs Of The Apocalypse: GNR vs. Dr Pepper

In another fine example that the lawyer will join the cockroaches after the fallout has settled, Guns N’ Roses has taken aim at Dr Pepper, claiming that the Dr Pepper Snapple Group failed to make good on its promise to give away Dr Pepper if Chinese Democracy was released this year.  Axl Rose seemed to not mind when it was announced, offering up words of support at the time.

The album was released and the company does intend to do what they said they would.  Unfortunately, they weren’t prepared for the overwhelming response and the website buckled under the strain, forcing Dr Pepper to extend the window of availability.

But the laywers are claiming that the promotion hurt the launch of Chinese Democracy and goes on to say that GNR’s rights were violated in the process.

WTF?

Isn’t there anything better to do than go after a soft drink maker?  And over this?

Guns N’ Roses – Chinese Democracy

Guns N' Roses - Chinese Democracy

After several false starts and rumors for the past few years, the album that no one thought would ever see the light of day has finally been unleashed.  At a cost of at least $13,000,000 (plus whatever Axl had to pipe into its creation after Geffen took the checkbook away), Chinese Democracy has been a work in progress since 1994.

Half-Life: Ten Years Later

Ten years ago today, Half-Life was released.  And things haven’t been the same since then.

First seen in 1997, Half-Life was made by a group of former Microsoft employees who were given a shot by Sierra after being turned down by other publishers.  The end result is one of the most significant games to be released, and not limited to just the first person shooters.

Fallout 3

Fallout and Fallout 2 are usually regarded as some of the best RPG’s to ever grace the PC, often without mention of genre.  While not without some issues, the first two games in the franchise are an expert blend of action, strategy and atmosphere that have earned their praise. 

It was unknown whether Fallout 3 would ever see the light of day.  Black Isle began working on Fallout 3 under the name of Van Buren, but the game was cancelled in 2003 and Black Isle employees were laid off.  Bethesda acquired the rights to Fallout and began development in 2004.

After four years, the results are here for us to see.