My 1st Evanescence Experience

March 28, 2018. A date and a day that will remain forever etched in my memory. Because it's the day I finally could see a group in concert that I wanted to see for so many years ..... Evanescence, the only and one, a legendary band.
I remember the first time I heard Evanescence in my life. I was ten or eleven, I was in car with my family, and my mother turned on the radio. There was the song "Going Under" playing at this moment and I remember I liked it.
The concert was a bit special because Evanescence was accompanied on stage by a symphony orchestra. The grandeur and luxury of the concert hall, I almost believed myself in an opera.

There was no opening act band, but for the opening, the orchestra first played alone and played some classics. I even recognized mozart and beethoven. I do not listen much classical music but I can recognize the great classics when I hear them. It was interesting and especially a little funny when you know that the audience was composed of fans of rock and metal. But after all, rock and classical music has always been well mixed.

And finally, they arrived. Evanescence. When Amy Lee finally appeared and I finally saw her for real, my heart made a huge leap in my chest. She is even more beautiful in reality, and her voice ..... Her voice ..... For me one of the most beautiful voices in the world .... The voice of an angel sent to earth to sing for the rockers and metalheads. Those who say she has grown too old and her voice is no longer top ..... Bullshits! She is only 36 years old, and her voice has remained magnificent. I rarely had so many thrills at a concert. I have not seen the time pass and it is very quickly pass unfortunately :( Evanescence I miss you already!

I left the room, smiling, with a t-shirt and a poster in my arms, and of course the few photos and videos I made in memory of that day.

Evanescence setlist:

Overture

Never Go Back

Lacrymosa

End of the Dream

My Heart Is Broken

Lithium

Bring Me to Life

Unraveling

Imaginary

Secret Door

Hi-Lo

Lost in Paradise

Your Star

My Immortal

The In-Between

Imperfection

Speak to Me

Good Enough

Swimming Home

Mathias, the Killmaster

Fire and Blood \m/ 

Villain of the Month - Edition N°19

Hellcome followers, for the new edition of the Villain of the Month. This month, go back in a galaxy far far away, to discover one of my (personal) favorite villains in the Star Wars universe: He's the supreme leader of the First Order: Snoke.

There are many theories about Snoke, for example, some think he would be the first Jedi, having shifted to the dark side, others think he is Darth Plagueis, the former master of Sidious and supposedly dead. Well, it's unlikely, because Snoke is described as not being a sith but a powerful being on the dark side. The origins and race of Snoke are unknown, he is described as a humanoid, bald, with a disfigured face and very old appearance.

The goal of Snoke is to see the new Jedi order disappear, and for that, he will not hesitate to corrupt Ben Solo, son of Han and Leia and apprentice of Luke, so that the latter switches to the dark side and destroy the new Jedi temple. Snoke will train Ben on the dark side and give him a new name: Kylo Ren. Snoke will then try to find Luke Skywalker, the last Jedi master in all the universe and will also show an interest for a young human woman, Rey, from unknown origins, discovered on Jakku and having a great connection with the Force.

Rey will be brought by Kylo Ren to Snoke in his throne room, and Snoke will not fail to show his mastery of the Force, and will not be intimidated by Rey's toughness against him, on the contrary, he laughed about. Unlike palpatine who wanted to find a more powerful apprentice, Snoke shows no interest in Rey's power and even demands that Kylo kill her, showing a very (too much) great confidence in his power. This is what will cause his loss as he once again showed his skills for the mastery of the Force, Kylo Ren takes the opportunity to activate the lightsaber of Rey, which was placed on one side of the throne, which pierces Snoke and cuts him in two. The great leader collapses on the ground, having been deceived by the one who was his apprentice and determined to take his place as supreme leader.

For my part, I was very shocked (and even disappointed) that Snoke died so fast. Played by the excellent actor Andy Serkis, a badass style, a clearly visible power, Snoke is an already iconic villain who deserves better. For my part, I choose to believe that he is not totally dead. If the Jedi can return as spirits of the Force after death, it is confirmed that Dark Side Adepts can too. Snoke could then come back as a dark side spirit, even more powerful than when we was alive, and could haunt Rey by trying to corrupt her to the dark side and push her to kill Kylo Ren. Snoke could even mention Rey's parents to stir up her anger.

Mathias, the Killmaster

Fire and Blood \m/ 

Hero of the Month - Edition N°23

The universe of Lord of the Rings has given us a multitude of legendary and iconic characters that we love or hate, but have made a name for themselves and marked the spirits. And here is one of them, and personally, one of my favorite Tolkien characters: Boromir.

Born in the year 2978 of the Third Age, Boromir is the eldest son of Denethor II, the steward of Gondor, and Finduilas of Dol Amroth. His younger brother, Faramir, was born five years later. The two brothers lose their mother very young. They have excellent relations (Boromir protecting Faramir and Faramir admiring Boromir), not at all tainted by jealousy, despite their opposite temperaments and Denethor's preference for his eldest son.

In June 3018 AD, when the armies of Sauron attack the ruins of Osgiliath, Boromir, captain of the Gondor, is sent to defend the city. Overwhelmed by numbers, the Gondorians must retreat behind the Anduin, after having shot down the last bridge over the river; among the last defenders, only four manage to escape, among whom Boromir and Faramir. 

One day, Boromir, representing the Gondor, went to Rivendell, to attend the council of Elrond, to decide the fate of the Ring of Sauront that was found. 

During the council, Boromir does not hesitate to express his fascination for the ring, going so far as to say to use his power against Sauron, but his idea is quickly rejected. Boromir shows himself at first as someone very sure of himself. He becomes one of the members of the Fellowship of the Ring. On another occasion, during the ascent of the mountain, he again shows his desire for the ring, but changes his mind and returns it to Frodo, Aragorn having been ready to use his sword against the Gondorian.

But during the trip, Gandalf falls into the chasm of Moria, and broken, the Fellowship must take refuge in the Lothlorien. In front of Galadriel, Boromir feels very bad and the elven witch shows him a terrifying vision: Minas Tirith in flames, ravaged by the armies of Sauron. Boromir will later confide in Aragorn and the latter, as a friend, will support him.

After their rest with the elves, the Fellowship resumed its journey on the river Anduin and made a halt on the bank of a forest. Frodo having gone away to be a little lonely, cross the road to Boromir, gone to fetch wood. The discussion ignites very quickly and Boromir, like possessed, tries to take the ring by force but fails. Realizing what he has just done, Boromir tries to be forgiven, but too late.

Later, while an Uruk troop attacks, Boromir intervenes to help Merry and Pippin against the attackers. Boromir once again shows his soldiering skills and kills several enemies, but is sadly struck by an arrow sent by the Uruk leader, Lurtz. Despite the injury and pain, Boromir remains standing and continues to fight, killing several uruks despite his injury. Two more arrows hit him, immobilizing him on his knees. Aragorn arrives, kills Lurtz and finds Boromir, dying, three arrows in his chest.

Broken, Boromir accuses himself of all the misfortunes that happened to the Fellowship, no longer recognizing himself, but Aragorn comforts him, telling him that he fought bravely and that his honor is safe. It is with the broken heart that Aragorn attends Boromir's last breath, after he called Aragorn "My brother" and "My King." So were the last words of Boromir, one of the greatest warriorsof the middle-earth.

His corpse is put in one of the elven boats for a funeral. Aragorn will sing for the memory of the late Gondorian. The boat drifted slowly down the river to the waterfalls, carrying the boat and Boromir's body away. 

Mathias, the Killmaster

Fire and Blood \m/ 

My Disney Theory - Fire wizards in the Frozen's world?

This theory joins the one I made about Elsa and assuming she was a child adopted by the royal couple and not their biological daughter, that Elsa was actually a child born to a couple of magicians, too practicing the magic of ice, and who would have been forced to entrust their baby to protect her from a terrible evil that pursued them. (the link of this theory will be below the text)
The world of Frozen contains magic, like Elsa and her powers, but also the trolls. Would it be possible then that there existed humans able to manipulate the elements, such as ice, fire, wind, etc ..... Elsa would be one of them, maybe even the last in the world.
Imagine ....
Long ago, long before the kingdom of Arendelle was founded, the kingdom was ruled by tribes of magicians, each people controlling an element. But the peoples were in perpetual war for the supremacy of their element and decimated themselves little by little over the centuries. The last and rare survivors of the last two remaining clans, the clan of ice and fire, would have dispersed throughout the kingdom to live in peace, and would have retreated to remote areas or mountains, where no one would not go looking for them. With the disappearance of the magical peoples, ordinary humans have arrived and thus founded their own kingdom: Arendelle.
Living in peace in the mountains of the far north, the ice people would have gradually declined, because of the harsh living conditions, the scarcity of food supplies and the over-presence of humans that forced them to stay hidden. The last ones died, until only two survivors remained: a man and a woman, the king and the queen of the Ice people, who would later give birth to a little girl, whom they named Elsa.
But hardly had Elsa been born that her parents felt a danger coming that they thought they would never see again: a very powerful magician of the fire, perhaps the last one of his clan, arrived and swore to eliminate the last representatives of the Ice people. While the mother was protecting Elsa in her arms, the father fought with his last strength but the younger fire-man was stronger. The parents were forced to flee their hiding place after having managed to make collapse the entrance of the cave in front of the fire mage, to block him a few moments and save time. Thus, Elsa's parents had fled to Arendelle Castle, and to protect their daughter, would have entrusted her to the king and queen and then left to attract the attention of the fire magician on them.
Which would explain why Elsa is the only one of her family to have powers, that she can not control them properly because she has not received the training for, that she does not know who her real parents are because the king and the queen would have vowed to keep the secret to protect her, and also that at the moment Elsa unwittingly unveils her powers, people are terrified because they have never seen this before, maybe even legends about magical people described them as ruthless monsters.
In Frozen 2, the fire mage responsible for the flee of Elsa's real parents could be back, having managed to trace Elsa. He could threaten to destroy Arendelle if the people do not give Elsa to him, in order to turn them against her. Or to reveal to Elsa her true origins, the identity of her true parents and whether they are still alive, or not.... Or even, would he propose to Elsa to join him, so that together a new generation of magicians would be born and so the kingdom would become theirs again....
Once again, this is just a theory born of my imagination.


Disney theory - Elsa is she an adopted child?

DiscoveRock Edition N°29 - Wind Rose

The DiscoveRock articles were absent for a little while, but are coming back today for the 29th edition. For this edition, back in the Power Fantasy metal, with a group that I discovered today but I already enjoy the music and theme: Wind Rose.

Italian group formed in 2009, Wind Rose reflects for me the spirit of the epic mix of Medieval and Metal music. Dressed in their armors and their fur capes, axes in hand, like dwarves, gathered around a fire in the middle of the night in the forest, this group plunges us into the fantastic world of armor, swords and orcs . And all this of course accompanied by their melodic and epic Folk / Power metal music and their chants that gave me chills at first listen. One of their songs even mentions Erebor, the famous dwarf city of Tolkien's universe. But my favorite song of them remains for now "The Returning Race" that I listen without getting tired.
For now, the band has a demo released in 2010, and three official albums: Shadows over Lothadruin, released in 2012, Wardens of the West Wind released in 2015, and Stonehymn released in 2017.
If you like the epicness of medieval and the power of metal, this group is for you.

Members:
- Francesco Cavalieri (vocals)
- Claudio Falconcini (guitars)
- Federico Meranda (keyboards)
- Cristiano Bertocchi (bass)
- Daniele Visconti (former drummer) (left the band recently)

Mathias, the Killmaster

Fire and Blood \m/ 

Comic Con Paris - A week-end in the geek's universe

This weekend, October 28 and 29, 2017, I went, with my sister, to Paris, for a festival of geeks already very popular all over the world, but whose French edition is only present since three years: the Comic Con. For my sister and me, it was a great opportunity this year, not to mention that there were guests who caught our attention.
Here is a summary of my first Comic Con experience, which will remain etched in my memory until the end.

The morning of the first day, I was excited, and when I arrived, I was even more excited. The number of people waiting in front to enter was impressive. A lot of cosplays also necessarily, whether in the Star Wars universe, Game of Thrones, Marvel and DC comics, etc .... Some costumes were really beautiful, for example, a guy was wearing an Iron Man armor almost similar to the real. The number of stands was also varied and the number of items, figurines, t-shirts, and other goodies made me want to buy them. There were also animation stands, for example, an apprenticeship in handling the lightsaber. I had already tried this experience at Paris Manga last year at a similar booth. There were also virtual reality stands, others for quizzes. I remember trying my luck for a quiz, and even if I found some answers, I was not chosen. Too bad, but that's the game. 

For the guests present, there was the exceptional presence of three actors from the Stranger Things series, for the promo of season 2. There was also Don Rosa, a very popular cartoonist in the Disney world, especially for his work on the characters of Donald Duck and Scrooge McDuck. My sister had come for actor Finn Jones, aka Loras Tyrell in Game of Thrones, but I had come for the English actress Poppy Drayton, who plays the Elf princess Amberle Elessedil in the Shannara Chronicles series. I'm a fan of this series since no long, but the character of Amberle is one of my favorites, and to meet the actress was a dream for me. The first day, I had a autographs section with her. In the queue, I was the third. When Poppy Drayton arrived at the booth, and when I finally saw her for real for the first time, my heart jumped, but I stayed calm. I made her sign my Shannara Chronicles Season 1 DVD, and she wrote "To Mathias, keep believing in magic." A really adorable autograph. Poppy is really cute, she is humble, very smiling, I love her accent when she speaks French. I talked a little with her and even if it was not long, it was a very good time. She even accepted, while normally I was supposed to have only an autograph, to make a selfie with me. We said goodbye and I told her that the next day I had a photo planned with her. 

 On the second and last day, a few hours before the photo shoot, I went to a conference about the Shannara Chronicles, with Poppy Drayton to answer the questions and a translator. I managed to put myself in the front row, and Poppy even noticed and recognized me, and gave me a big smile. The conference was really interesting and when everyone applauded, Poppy was really moved, it was cute. Poppy recounted her journey, the fact that she had always dreamed of becoming an actress, the chance she has of being in a united family and supporting her from the beginning, how she started in the domain and how she got the role of Amberle in the Shannara series. It was really interesting. I would have liked to ask her a question, but I was not selected from those who raised their hand. I must be cursed for that, I'm never chosen lol.

Me with Poppy Drayton

But the strongest moment is and will remain for me the moment I entered the studio to make my official photo with Poppy Drayton. She recognized me again, we asked each other if we were fine, and after the photo, I said goodbye to her like a gentleman with a hat gesture, and that made her smile. Poppy is one of my favorite actresses, she is smiling, kind, humble, and she deserves a lot of respect. I could never thank her enough for this dream come true that she made me live.

Comic Con is not just a festival, it's an experience to live at least once in a lifetime. You really feel like in another world, a paradise for geeks. No matter where you look, you'll see something related to a movie, a series, a comic, a video game, etc.

The dates of the next year's edition have already been announced, but I'm waiting to see the guests that will be announced, but in any case, I will return with great pleasure.

Mathias, the Killmaster

Fire and Blood \m/ 

Hero(es) of the Month - Edition N°22

For this new edition of the hero of the month, I will do a special edition 'cause this time, two heroes are honored at the same time, and for good reason, they are twins, and form a beautiful duet, their story is very touching: The Maximoff twins, Pietro and Wanda, known as Quicksilver and Scarlet Witch.

Wanda and Pietro are from Sokovie, a country in Eastern Europe. When they were children, a shell destroyed the building in which they lived with their parents. Their parents were killed, but the twins survived, stranded for a day in the rubble, and one meter away from them, another shell that had not exploded. On this missile, they saw the name of the one they were going to hate after: Tony Stark, aka Iron Man. 

Driven by the desire for revenge against Tony Stark, Wanda and Pietro volunteered for the experiences of a man, Baron Strucker, a member of the terrorist organization Hydra, for the purpose of an experiment to create capable superhuman beings to compete with the Avengers. Wanda and Pietro were the only ones who survived Strucker's horrific experiences and gained powers. Pietro had the power to run at lightning speed, and Wanda had acquired the ability to manipulate minds and reality.

One day, the avengers managed to stop Strucker and shut down his weapons lab, but the twins fled, not without giving Hawkeye and Iron Man some trouble. Wanda and Pietro then teamed up with a robot, Ultron, Tony Stark's creation and wishing to annihilate the avengers, but what the twins did not know was that Ultron also had the plan to provoke a global genocide, in order to allow to the earth to start a new era. Wanda will eventually discover it by probing the spirit of the new body that Ultron plans to inhabit, the body that will later become Vision. Wanda discovers with horror the true plan of Ultron and fled with Pietro. A little later, the twins arrive to help Captain America as he fights against Ultron on a train. Ultron causes the derailment of the train, but the twins save the situation, Wanda using his power to stop the train and Pietro by saving people about to be hit by the machine. The twins will help the avengers against all odds to stop Ultron. 

During the battle against Ultron's army, Wanda and Pietro stand out and use their powers, Pietro destroying dozens of robots in seconds with his speed, and Wanda, at first shocked, takes on herself and unleashes its powers on machines to reduce them to pieces. Towards the end of the battle, Ultron takes the ship of the Avengers and uses the weapons to shoot Hawkeye. Pietro, seeing this, sacrifices himself by walling with his own body and is riddled with projectiles under Hawkeye's eyes. Sensing the death of his twin brother with her powers, Wanda sinks into sadness and anger. Among the ruins, she finds Ultron, dying in a train carcass. Guessing that he is responsible for Pietro's death, she uses her power to tear the heart out of Ultron and decides to let herself die here. But while the part of the city is about to explode to pieces, Wanda is saved by Vision, who comes to pick her up, takes her in his arms and flies with her in the sky. Wanda, now alone, decides finally to join the avengers and becomes a member of their group.

Mathias, the Killmaster

Fire and Blood \m/