Summery
The Monthy Digest is a place where the oppertunity to brieflly cover things that usually wouldn’t get covered otherwise. This creates the oppertunity to add more content without losing qaulity of the usual reviews and stuff.
Personal opinions and thoughs by Tommy Snöberg Söderberg
Films
Scream for Christmas – 2000
Horror/Comedy
Scream for Christmas is either a pure genius comedy which gives the middle finger to the whole slasher and horror film community, or it’s a really abysmal attempt at a genuine horror film. The saving grace for me is that it is, what I considder, unintentionally funny. But the script is all over the place, the effects are (mostly) very amateurish and it looks like it was filmed with an old VHS camera from the 1980s. If this is a project made together with a few friends for laughs I totally commend it, but if the intent is shock value and/or gore for the sake of it I’m just shaking my head.
Whose Line Is It Anyway – 1998-2007
TV-Show/Comedy
Whose Line Is It Anyway is an extremely uneven comedy show. It originates from a British show, which I have seen very little of so far. British humor tens to be very dry and this American version is somewhat more accessible humor-wise to me. The basics are the same though. Four people doing short improvs in different categories. From making up songs or raps on the spot to acting out scenes suggested by the audience. In the first ten seasons it was hosted by Drew Carrey. He’s not my favorite comedian so that is somewhat of a setback. Some of the others are hilarious though and it developed itself quite a lot over time. It’s quite noticeable that things weren’t really finished and thought-through enough at the very beginning but the concept evolved nicely and gets better and better with each season.
Attack of the Mayan Mummy – 1964
Horror
When I decided to start watching Attack of the Mayan Mummy, I thought that this would be a nice addition to the site, that it was a very unusual and nich movie that would really fit it. And it is, it’s very niche and I don’t think that there are too many people out there who have actually seen it, and even fewer has taken the time to review it. For good reason, I might add. It’s very uninteresting from the moment the movie starts until the very end. I failed in taking the time to analyze this properly and will settle for just mentioning it. Apparently is a zombie film edited from another Mexican movie and made English friendly with basically the same plot. This ancient Mayan mummy wakes up to protect what he thinks is an equally ancient princess, or something like that. It was hard to keep my focus.
Music
Iron Slaught – Metallic Torments – 2025
Metal
Metallic Torments lands somewhere between Heavy and Speed Metal I think. It’s both melodic and heavy, and something that my ears really like. There might not be that initial hit quality, but I think the album will grow quite a bit on me after spinning it a few times. What I have problems with (as usual) are the vocals. This also depends on the songs, as some use harsher vocals than others. I prefer the more cleaner-sounding vocals. Music-wise, it’s really good and a band I would like to hear more from.
J Temp 13 – America or Bust – 2023
Rock
To just describe America or Bust as Rock is to simplify things, but there’s not enough space in this forum to develop it further, let’s say it’s eclectic alternative rock. Most of it is pretty un-engaging for me but there’s nothing about it that I actually dislike. I think you need to be in the right mood to appreciate it.
Joe Lynn Turner – Belly of the Beast – 2022
Hardrock
Joe Lynn Turner proves that he still got it as a singer. Belly of the Beast has very powerful vocals that I would like to describe as operatic, even though it’s not an opera voice. It’s more an expression for the theatrical feel of the music. No immediate hits but as I said, very powerful, and overall very enjoyable.
Annihilation Text – The Order – 2022
Metal
The Order by Annihilation Text is an album in the Death Metal genre for sure. It’s fast, aggressive and growling. But there’s also a part where there seems to be some self-irony and almost some kind of Spoken Word weaved in. It might be quotes from other sources or original content, I don’t know, but for Death Metal it’s surprisingly melodic.
Rose Tattoo – Rose Tattoo – 1978
Rock
To be completly honest I wouldhave started to explore Rose Tattoo if the news of Angry Andersons death were all over facebook. Of course, I knew abou the band and had a quite good idea of how they sounded. I ofte skipped their albums in the record stores in my youth, they were not big in Sweden. Probably best live but the bluesy raw rock including slide guitar is really energizing.
Molly Tuttle – City of Gold – 2023
Bluegrass
It may be impossible to believe, but bluegrass is kind of a favorite genre of mine. I think it kind of some of the speed involved in the typical banjo and fiddles. But also the naked kind of attitude in the music. What you hear is what you get, there’s not that amount of production values that often can be the case in other styles.
Barbatoss – Rocking Metal Motherfucker – 2014
Punk
There’s attitude for sure. Some say it’s a mix between Black and Death Metal but I don’t really hear that. Sure, there might be riffs and similarities along the way but this is mostly a punch in the face kind of punk.
Eminem – The Eminem Show – 2002
Hip-Hop/Rap
You might say that it’s not fair for a metal-head such as myself to rate a hip-hop album. But the fact is that I am quite eclectic and apprecieta all kinds of music in som way, shape or form. This album sure has som cool songs, but as a whole it comes a bit too monotone for me.
Chris De Burgh – Man on the Line – 1984
Pop
I have not always had a softspot from Chris De Burgh, but once hi finally caught my intention I have liked his music quite a lot. It’s easy listening and I do like the earlier albums more. They have a little more storytelling and less clichés. This being from 1984 fall more in the latter category but still very nice. Includes the bit hit High on Emotion.
Duckwalk Chuck – Fired Up – 2021
Hardrock
During the first song I almost felt like this was a very relatable rock and roll album. But it evolves over time and the consolidated impression becomes something that’s between the classic AC/DC era with Bon Scott, something Motörhead-ish and pure classic hard rock. It becomes a bit tiresome by the end. The songs are good but as an album it’s a bit straining.
