Where the hammer lies bleeding.

{mosimage}Swedish Hammerfall have been on top of heavy metal scene for more than one decade. We had a great chat with Oscar Dronjack, their guitar player, with time to talk a bit about everything: their new DVD and cover album, their little actions of mischief on tour, the leave of Stefan Elmgren from the band or how a motorbike accident affected him, having to rehabilitate his broken arm. A complete exclusive interview for the readers of FREE! 

I must confess I have had a weakness for Hammerfall since I saw them first time 11 years ago during their first European tour, opening for Gamma Ray and Jag Panzer in Madrid. A young Oscar looked astonishing on stage, all wrapped on leather. Now, more than 1 decade later, have the things changed a lot?

Well, everything has changed in a way, but in another way everything is pretty much the same. We are still recording albums, going on tour, making promotion. So it is a kind of cycle, but the way we think has not changed over the years; the way we write songs… The way we record has changed of course, before we had an idea in the middle of the night and we set the tape recorders, now we have Pro Tools and all that stuff to solve these things.

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You have just recently released a new DVD: Rebels with a cause plus the covers album Masterpieces. Why the release of this material just now?

Both releases were planned for last year, and for several reasons were postponed. Masterpieces is a good opportunity, we had done so many covers and we wanted to gather them together and add a couple of new ones, so the people do not need to go online and download them. Also the next studio album is not coming until 2009, so this time on summer was a good one.

The collection of covers there mix very famous bands with some others pretty unknown like Stormwitch or Roger Pontare. Is this mix made consciously?

Well, when we choose a song for a cover we choose it very carefully, something that we really like and we feel we can do “well” somehow. One of the reasons we choose unknown bands is that, for example, if we do an Iron Maiden´s cover, it would still always be compared to their original. It would be very hard to make it better even if you can make it different. Then we have other famous covers that we did for tribute albums. They come from many different eras of Hammerfall and many different times.

I was really surprised you include an Europe´s cover, taking into account you come from a black metal background. It gives a nice “glam touch”.

Well, if you were a Swede, it was impossible not to hear them in the 80s. Actually people gave them a lot of crap at that time, me included, not realizing how good they really are until the end of the 80s. The same kind of crap we got when Renegade came out and we became a little bit more famous. When I listen to Europe´s albums, especially the first two ones, they are really cool, pretty heavy metal. Then they added keyboards more.

You also sing in the cover of Breaking the Law…

Yeah, that one is included because we used to do the same at the end of every show, we were switching our instruments and I was singing, a kind of telling the audience “thanks for a great night”.

So following the title of the DVD, what causes make you feel like a rebel?

Hehehe… well, we play a bit with the words. As you can see, big part of the DVD is us breaking things…

Yeah, I was surprised when I watched it. Do you really break so many things when touring?

Well, not now. Back then it was like that. Well actually we never destroy something “major”. We never destroy back stages or mirrors or whatever. It is just little things.

Well, when bands like Manowar release a DVD, half of the time you see naked women. Here half of the time you can see the band stripping themselves!

Hehehe, maybe we are a bit of exhibitionists! The stripping part was quite funny. Anders had the audience just downstairs, and we were shouting:  do it do it! And then he finally did it. It was totally unexpected for us. I was there with the camera. So since we do not have pictures or videos or naked groupies, there we are ourselves! 

Stefan lived his dream for 11 years in Hammerfall, and now he goes to live his another dream” –Oscar commenting on the leave of Stefan Elmgren from the band-

Stefan Elmgren has left Hammerfall to become a pilot. What is your opinion about his reasons to leave?

Well, it was kind of sad and surprise, because I did not think that it happened at this point, but then we started to talk about it. All in the band knew that was his passion, he was already flying for a couple of years, very into that stuff. When he got the offer to become a full time pilot, we knew that it was quite fair that was what he wanted to do, so we had to take it and move on. He is still a good friend; we have played together for 11 years, so not bad blood there. He lived his dream for 11 years in Hammerfall and now he goes to live another dream, so I admire him for that.

Maybe then you can get free tickets when you have to go on tour…

Actually we said that if we would have a show or a festival close to an airport, it would be nice to fly all together, so we could rent a plane and he could fly us there and back.

But this time you cannot throw or break anything in the plane…

Hehehe, we have to behave! I do not want to get the captain angry at us!

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Oscar, you had an important motorbike accident few years ago, where you broke your arm. Were you worried about the consequences, if you would be able to perform the same than before after it?

Absolutely! I was very worried. 10 years earlier I broke my elbow too. Now this is my profession, so my job was compromised. My mother was pointing out to the doctors that I was a guitarist… I took very careful rehabilitation at the beginning. I have a bit of dissolute mind sometimes, but this took a lot of will power. It made me feel stronger to go through that, in a way. Sometimes I still feel my elbow stiff. I train a lot, for example I do taekwondo, to keep my muscles in good shape.

Being Finland so close to your country Sweden, what is your opinion when you come to play here?

Well, interestingly enough we have not played so many times there. I think we have been only 3 times in Finland. I think it has to do because when you go there you lose a day in the ferry going there and one day coming back. But being in Finland playing has always been great. First time was in 2003. There is a strong metal scene there. I don´t really know why we cannot go there more often than we do.

What plans do you have for 2008?

No touring, no shows except for one in Canada. Apart from that we are going to focus on working in the songs for the new album that will come out on February 2009. We will start to record it at the end of the summer.

Hammerfall´s discography commented by Oscar Dronjak

{mosimage}Glory to the Brave (1997): We did everything with best intentions, but I think nobody realized how professionally sounded until we went on tour. We did not have many expectations; it was the first album we recorded together and that tour opened the eyes of many people towards the band.

{mosimage}Legacy of the Kings (1998): Also very important. We wrote everything for it in a couple of months, working with the same producer and recording at the same studio. When you try to establish your style, it is important to have a couple of very good first two albums.

{mosimage}Renegade (2000): It is probably the most important album of our entire career in some ways, overall the coverage we got from the media.  We reached number 1 in the Swedish charts, so we got interviews from the general press, not only from the music media. 

{mosimage}Crimson Thunder (2002): Very exciting to record with Charlie. He is a very good producer and knows how to get the best from us. He is like one more of the family It features Wheels on Fire, probably our most famous song.

{mosimage}Chapter V (2005): I think this album is more important for me than for any other member, because it was the first one after I broke my arm. So for me it was a big step in my musical career.

{mosimage}Threshold (2006): I think that the most complete album we have done so far. All the songs are different, but still work together as an album.

{mosimage}Masterpierces (2008): It is a handful of other people´s songs played in a “Hammerfall way”, collected all over 12 years.

Texas Faggott – Kininigin

{mosimage}Finnish band that has been around since 1996 offering good doses of psychedelic trance music.

Not from Texas but from Finland comes this band led by Tim Thick and Pentti Slayer. Texas Faggot has been making tecno-trance music for more than one decade, playing not only inside the Finnish borders but also outside in countries like Japan, USA or Israel. Now they release a new album again with Exogenic Records, while at the same time they take care of their parallel projects Mandalavandalz and Flying Scorpions.

Not that I consider myself a great fan of trance music, but certainly the psychedelic atmosphere, far from the more hardcore bands in the genre, makes the album pretty easy to listen. Pretty recommendable to listen as background music when practicing some sport activity, Tim and Pentti certainly know how to put some high rhythm into your veins!

Rating 3/5.

Chrome Division – Booze, Broads and Beelzebub.

{mosimage}If you like bands like Motörhead, surely Chrome Division will find fast a place in your musical collection.

From Norway comes this new band, but far away from being composed by inexperienced musicians. Just the opposite, they are led by Shagrath, famous from belonging to Black Metal legends Dimmu Borgir. Together with him Lex Icon (from The Kovenant), Luna (from Ashes to Ashes) and Eddie Guz on the vocals (from The Carburetors) consolidate a solid project that comes back to the smell of burnt leather, cold beer and smoke of cigarette in a lost bar in the middle of a highway.

Listen to ravaging sounds like Booze, Broads and Beelzebub or Raven Black Cadillac, and be ready to turn on your CD while driving fast from town to town. If you like the spirit and the dirty rock of bands like Black Label Society or Motörhead, surely you are going to adore Chrome Division. I do.

Rating 4/5.

Hydrogyn – Deadly Passions

{mosimage}Hydrogyn comes stronger than ever to show that in Kentucky there is not only fried chicken, but also good hard rock.

Guitarist Jeff Westlake and vocalist Julie Westlake formed the core group of Hydrogyn, an American band not afraid of crossing the Atlantic to tour relentlessly around Europe. Surely the title of the album is well chosen, being a good proof the introductory track Rejection followed up by a superb On and On. Guitar riffs are cutting and the beautiful voice of Julie gives an stunning performance.

A mix between Evanescence and Vixen, if you like hard rock bands with astonishing female voices, surely you won´t get disappointed with Hydrogyn. Good lyrics where you can surely feel identified. Who does not have a deadly passion from time to time?

Rating 4/5.

Crimes of Passion – Crimes of Passion

{mosimage}Formed in 2005, English Crimes of Passion brings back some good guitar riffs and sleazy rock for nostalgic of the 80s!

Putting aside weird musical experiments from other rock bands, Crimes of Passion goes straight to the point that made hard rock great during the 80s, with the boom of so many great bands, many coming from USA. The formula is simple but not so easy to achieve: powerful and sharp guitar riffs, catchy melodies and a vocalist with charisma. The English band scores really a superb first studio album where all these elements are combined.  Dale Radcliffe´s voice is clean and powerful and Andy Lindsay´s guitar is constantly pushing the melodies to make you move your feet listening to every track.

As some highlights, try to listen the first breathtaking cut A Thousand Strong (maybe the best of the whole record), God Made Me Your Angel or Unbreakable. Added to this, the design of the album is really cool, with the members of the band pictured in the back cover in comic style with reminiscences of Frank Miller´s visual work, where the black and whites take a note of color with some bloody red.

The band was touring during 2008 in the great comeback tour of Great White, a good chance to enjoy good new and veteran rock bands playing music at its best!

Resuming, the band delivers a surprisingly good and fresh debut album. Let´s pay attention to what the guys will bring in the future!

Rating 4/5

Goodnight Monsters – Summer Challenge

{mosimage}Valtteri Virtanen and Matti Jasu feature their second studio album, full of positive energy and good vibes to have an unforgettable summer!

The guys from Turku started their musical career together in 2004 and after their debut album The Brain that Wouldn´t Die, here comes their second one. The record company behind them is the same one that takes care of pop-rock Finnish legends 22-Pistepirkko, Bone Voyage Recording Company, and you can certainly notice some similar features between both bands, such as the meticulous care for achieving a good musical experience, and the positive energy involving every composition.

From the initial track Black Labrador, followed by the catchy Hanging on to a Bad Dream, or the colorful guitar riffs of Keep me as a Secret, the entire album exhales a spirit of lightness in your heart. The title “Summer Challenge” could not have been chosen in a better way, since this is the perfect album you want to hear when driving your car and arriving to the place of your holiday destination. The feeling can be resumed similarly: this album is about relaxing, enjoying music and reminding us what is to have a good time. A positive attitude towards life that could be resumed in the 12th track: Better Times Comin´ Up.

If you are tired of too much melancholic spirit in Finnish music and you enjoy good pop-rock coming from the heart, surely Goodnight Monsters will be able to catch you instantly.

Rating 4/5.

Musicians down to earth

I had yesterday a nice evening at Tammerfest in Tampere. I visited the backstage to make an interview with Lovex, and ended up hanging around with the guys around the city until late at night (finally I felt tired to continue the after party and headed to my bed at 5 a.m…).

 

Lovex bass player Jason is a very friendly guy and we had interesting talks while enjoying some drinks together. I also had the chance to salute shortly Toni Wirtanen, the singer of Apulanta, because we had met for an interview last year in Helsinki.

During the past time, working as journalist and meeting many Finnish and international musicians, what you discover is that they are easy going people and very down to earth. Even a couple of days ago, meeting Jonne Aaron, the singer of Negative, I was surprised when he tells small details about his life like that he enjoys cleaning his house and washing his dishes, or that he was feeling jealous not to be able to go to Bruce Springsteen´s concert as I did because he had to record on studio that evening. {mosimage}

Maybe it has to do also with the features of Finnish people in general. They have a strong working class philosophy running through their veins, and they are in general humble to recognize their own successes. Also being foreigner can help to break the ice. During the time living in Finland and Estonia, the citizens are always curious and interested to hear what people from other countries who are living here think about them. It is always refreshing to see that after the stereotype we have of rock stars having a crazy life, they are in the end just human beings who feel curious about things around them and are eager for a nice conversation sharing some beers if you approach them with respect.

I am by nature a curious person, interested in getting to know all kind of people, so it helps when you forget their roles as public figures on stage, and just approach them with a honest attitude and respect for their personal lives. I just can say that I take my hat out for people like Lovex or Jonne Aaron, who made me feel so comfortable during the festival and have a good time there with them. In the end, they are just a group of young guys, like many of the readers of FREE!, who just enjoy sitting in a park taking advantage of the nice weather, sipping a cold drink and having a nice chat in a good company.

Little Steven – guest, DJ and guest DJ on Radio Helsinki

Radio Helsinki, owned by Finland’s biggest daily newspaper
Helsingin Sanomat, also managed to close a deal to broadcast Van
Zandt’s syndicated weekly radio show Little Steven’s Underground Garage. The show can be heard starting from August 10th on Sundays at 2 p.m. and will be repeated on Tuesdays.

Radio Helsinki can be heard locally on the air on 88.6 Mhz and worldwide via www.radiohelsinki.fi. The website also offers recordings of this week's shows and interviews with Van Zandt.

Markus Nordenstreng's interview with Little Steven can be heard from 1 p.m. local time on Sunday (13.7) on Radio Helsinki’s Rakkaudesta show.

Radio Helsinki (in Finnish, with several live streams)

Interview with Van Zandt on Helsingin Henki

Little Steven's Underground Garage

 

Tampere is a party!

{mosimage}Same than every year on summer, Tammerfest will be held in the middle of July, from today 9th until Saturday the 12th, in the city of Tampere. An unique occasion if you have nothing better to do to come here and enjoy with a huge selection with some of the best Finnish bands and musicians that make the city centre to become a huge party of music!

 

Tammerfest offers this year fun for everybody. It is easy to move from one venue to the other, since most are located in the city centre, and distances are short. You can easily go walking, and pray for a bit of good luck and the rain not “watering” the fun during the week. The main stage is place in the central square “Keskustori”, while the second main stage “Vuolteentori” can be found a few meters away on the other side of the river. All the most important clubs and pubs of Tampere are also involved offering concerts and special programmes, such as Klubi-Pakkahuone, Yo-Talo, Ilves, Laterna or Ruma.

{mosimage}If you like some good classics of Finnish music, you can enjoy the gigs of bands like YÖ or Kauko Röyhkä & Riku Mattila and Tuomari Nurmio. For the fans of hard rock and heavy metal the list is really extensive, highlighting formations like Mokoma, Negative, Stamina, Lovex or Apulanta. Also the successful folk-rock of Lauri Tähkä & Elonkerjuu will be present in town, together with the glamour of the Von Hertzen Brothers. And if you prefer the most intimate atmospheres of small clubs, we recommend you to pass by Laterna on Thursday and take a look at Messengers, the new Dave Lindholm´s project together with Joe Vestich.

If what you prefer is a female touch in your life, Tammerfest counts with some of the best (and prettiest) female singers coming to rock your boat: Jenni Vartiainen, Mariko or the sweetness of Idols mega star Anna Abreu. But if her show turns to be too full of sweetness for you, you can always aim your steps at Ruma and see some bad ass rock by Stalingrad Cowgirls on live.{mosimage}

There is space also for the youngsters and children during Tammerfest. For example, on Friday Negative´s gig has no age limit and hours before the little ones can also enjoy shows of clowns and different activities for free in Vuolteentori. Teenage metal sensation Sturm und Drang will be present at the festival too playing before Uniklubi, but paradoxically the age limit is 18 for their gig…

So if you don´t know how to spend this week and want to have a taste of the friendly city of Tampere drown by music in every corner, or you live here and you want to have more exciting experiences than just trying to forecast if there will be rain next day or not, walk the city, enter its clubs and choose the jam that floats your boat! There is music and fun for all kind of tastes!

For more information and full programme visit:

www.tammerfest.fi  

Björk and Julio Iglesias concerts in Finland cancelled

Iglesias earlier already cancelled a concert that was scheduled to take place in Tampere in 2003.

Refunds
Ticket holders for the Björk concert can return their tickets to Lippupalvelu or Tiketti ticket outlets.

People who have purchased tickets for the Julio Iglesias concert can
get their money back at Lippupalvelu or Menolippu or trade their
tickets for tickets for the Juanes concert at Helsinki’s Ice Hall on
September 14th.

Björk last performed in Finland during the Ruisrock festival in 1998,
her (then) third concert in the country. Iglesias fans have had to wait
since 1992 for their idol to perform in Finland again.

Euro champions!!!

Although this website focuses on culture in Finland and neighboring countries, I cannot less that put a patriotic note today telling: we won the football Eurocup! 

It was about time for our soccer national team to win something important. 44 years later, we finally were able to win the European Championship again. A title well deserved, with a team that played better than ever and finally was able to go through quarterfinals defeating Italy in penalties. Maybe I was expecting a bit more from Germany in the last minutes of the final, but they were totally over passed by Spanish midfielders. A championship that brings our national team again to a privileged place. We still have the pending subject of winning a world cup…but that is another story…

Spanish sport is living a sweet moment. Just some minutes ago Nadal won the final of Wimbledon in tennis after having got few weeks ago Roland Garros. Cyclist Alberto Contador won the Giro de Italia and we have chances to win the Tour de France this year. Our basketball team is the present World Champion, and we also have a strong handball team.

Olympic Games are getting close, starting the 8th of August, and I hope that the good strike of victories can continue. And overall, that everybody will enjoy and have fun in a nice atmosphere, out of political and violent issues. Because in the end, it is just about playing a game and having fun. 

Honest music in a selfish world

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Kinetik Control has been one of the nicest new surprises in the Finnish music scene during the past months; a band with a very personal style not afraid of provoking the audience with risky covers from old dance classics. Their first album has scored top high in the charts, and Tweak, one of the founders of the band, explains everything you need to know exclusively for the readers of FREE! Magazine.

Hello Tweak. Can you please explain a bit more about the formation of the band, Kinetik Control, and your personal past story in the music business?

I formed Kinetik Control in the beginning of the century with the aim of making music that would be totally honest and largely varied. The idea was to combine all kinds of music styles that have been important for me and not set any limits to what we could do. I've played in some extreme metal and rock bands in the past and done all kinds of music business related odd jobs, but now I'm 100% focused on Kinetik Control.

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There are tones of hard rock and metal bands in Finland nowadays, but when listening to Kinetik Control, I have the impression you have achieved quite a personal style, a bit more electronic and "dark" oriented. Which are your influences when creating your music (if we put aside the lack of divine inspiration…), and what do you think of the "boom" of heavy metal music in Finland nowadays?

I cannot hear darkness in our music, just light. The album title reflects the current state of the humankind; selfishness, materialism and superficiality, when it seems that people have abandoned their spiritual values. My influences vary; when I write the songs, I aim to tell a story. I do not write about my personal experiences but rather about things that I see and observe. I am merely an observer, not a judge. The boom of course helps in the sense that no one is scared for heavy guitars these days. I consider our music to be indie pop, the distorted guitar sound is the only thing we have in common with traditional metal bands. I do not either listen to metal that much anymore these days even if I did when I was younger. Frankly speaking, I am getting a bit tired of the metal boom. A lot of people get away writing uninteresting music simply by hanging on to the metal anthems. Freak singers can win the Idols because they say they are metal… I think it will all harm itself in the end.

Your second singles has as a title No one knows about us, but certainly that is not the case with the band, since although you are pretty new in the scene, your singles are hitting very high in the Finnish charts. Which are the reasons of this early success?

I don't know. We aim to make honest music with a lot of heart behind it, and I hope people can see that in today's impatient world.

Are the new members Medusa and Shades going to remain as permanent musicians in the band, or are more changes expected in the near future?

Shades has been clearly imprinted in the band and will remain as a permanent member. We also have a new guitarist to help me out: L-G, who used to play for a Swedish Spinefarm death metal act Arise.

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If I am not mistaken, you have worked with the recording of the album in the famous Finnvox studios, a place of reference for many well known Finnish and international bands. How was the experience there?

It was really learningful and the people there were friendly. I couldn't imagine us working anywhere else.

There is an interesting and curious cover in the album from Haddaway´s: What is Love. Who had the idea to cover this song?

Provocation. We chose a song that was a bit disgusting, and wanted to try the sense of humor of the listener. How low can you go? Do the limbo dance!

Are you able to focus your life just on your music now, or do you have other jobs/activities apart from Kinetik Control?<

We have no obligatory desire to focus solely on music. I love my day job and as long as it is possible to combine both, I will most surely do it. The other members have quite similar situations, but when the time comes, we are not afraid to put emphasis on the music.

I am getting a bit tired of the metal boom in Finland" -Tweak. Kinetik Control-

Is Helsinki the best place on earth to write depressing music?

Helsinki is a bit depressing in its own way, but I am originally from the north of Finland, Oulu, the most beautiful city of Finland. Oulu is a perfect setting for a melancholic frame of mind, but I tend to travel to various places inside my mind, and writing songs does not demand any certain type of feeling, atmosphere or place to happen.

In your official website we can still not find information about incoming gigs and tours. Is there anything already planned that you could share with us? Surely fans would like to know where to see you on live.

We are currently making rehearsal shows under secret name(s). The official tour will be published late this summer and performed during the autumn.

What are your future plans? Are you going to take advantage of the good welcoming of your first album to release soon a second one?

The only thing we are going to take advantage is the fact that I already have so many songs ready for the next album that we are kind of forced to do it so that we can move on, and I don't think you have to wait for a new album that long.

Anything else you want to add for the readers of FREE! Magazine?

Have a warm, music-filled summer and remember to lotion yourselves!

For more information visit:

http://www.kinetikcontrol.com

Isobel Campbell & Mark Lanegan – Sunday at Devil Dirt

{mosimage}Mixing the voices of Campbell and Lanegan in one single album is like mixing heaven and hell, ice and fire that turns into a new musical limbo.

The soft voice of Isobel Campbell (former member of Belle and Sebastian) teams up for second time with the gutural one of Mark Lanegan (ex Screaming Trees and Queens of the Stone Age) in their follow up album: Sunday at Devil Dirt.

It would have been difficult to imagine that these two so different personalities in the music scene could be able to collaborate together and launch an album, but after the first experiment with Ballad of the Broken Seas (2006), it was clear that the mix works more than fine. Here you can find a good collection of melodies, with the voice of Lanegan sometimes overacting in the poorest Johnny Cash´s style, to find its counterpart in the fresh breeze that Campbell is able to exhale every time that joins the duet.

An album to listen calmly enjoying the eclectic fusion in themes like Seafaring Song, The Flame that Burns or Trouble, while having a glass of some strong liquor to forget pities on one hand; pretty recommendable album for the lovers of strange musical delicatessens.

Rating 4/5. 

Messengers – Messengers

{mosimage}Dave Lindholm, one of the most legendary Finnish musician active, is back together with American Joe Vestich in this new project.

Talking about Dave Lindholm is talking about a live legend in Finnish music contemporary history. The man has collaborated and recorded with people such as Stanlingrad Cowboys, or Pelle Miljoona, apart from a long and notorious solo career.

Together with him, American musician Joe Vestich, who has collaborated with Lindholm for many years, starting at the 80s. The result of the new project is a new album with homonymous title for the band: Messengers. No doubt that the name goes straight to the point, since the album is a message for those lovers of good rock and bluesy melodies; a collection of new songs and covers in 10 explosive tracks. Try the introductory one: 1,Two, 3, Four and get caught in a musical experience with delicious cuts like Storm´s Catchin´Me Up, I Know What You´re Doin´ or C´Mon, Use Me.

Tunes about the old universal topics: love, sex, relations…  Songs that show once more that the old (Finnish) rockers never die!

Rating 4/5.

The Darjeeling Limited

{mosimage}American director Wes Anderson gets us immersed in a spiritual trip around India following the misadventures of three brothers.

I must confess that Wes Anderson must be probably my favorite one from the new generation of young American directors. His previous works are among my favorite movies ever, so I had big expectations for this The Darjeeling Limited. In many senses, I did not get disappointed: Anderson´s portray of the three brothers is made step by step using the colorful palette of India all over their trip by train and later by foot. The Indian landscape is lovely and excitingly present all over the movie, and the acting of Owen Wilson, Jason Schwartzman and Adrien Brody is well measured and rounded.

This is a movie 100% Wes Anderson´s, and his favorite features and trademarks like slow motion captures of the action or his personal sense of humor, always on the edge of became depressing, are here. Nevertheless, this is a darker movie than his previous ones, and the lightness and the comedy touches of films like Rushmore are not so present here. The product is much deeper and touches sticky topics like death, twisted family relations, loneliness and miscommunication.  I missed a bit more of interaction during the short encounter with the mother (Angelica Huston), and the film turned to be a bit too short in the end.

All in all, if you like Anderson´s previous works, The Darjeeling Limited will not disappoint you; script is meticulously developed into a fascinating journey to enlighten the souls, and same than in real life, things usually do not turn as planned and expected to be. Special mention also to the cameos by Bill Murray and Natalie Portman, who sexily appears also in the short-film that serves as introduction to the movie: Hotel Chevalier.

Rating 4/5.