Rebel Extravaganza

Heavy Metal & Extreme Music And Culture

Album Reviews

Album Review: Nihil Nihil Nihil – Things Fall Apart As They Shall [EP]

‘Further Inwards’ beckons, hanging chords and LORDS OF THE NEW CHURCH vibe all over the place. Bits of Laura-era FIELDS OF THE NEPHILIM scattered through, but with enough of a sense of modernity so as not to seem stuck in retro-land. Alternately crawling and lashing, hypnotic – and at over 6 minutes, there’s time to be – we can tell even this soon that what we’re hearing isn’t some one-off toe-dipping in the pool to test the dark waters. The duo is diving in headlong. MISSION UK’s influence (think ‘Deliverance’) arrives in ‘Dance The End’, early SISTERS before Eldritch got […]

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BESVÄRJELSEN release and stream new album Atlas

Swedish forest rockers BESVÄRJELSEN have released their sophomore full-length, Atlas. BESVÄRJELSEN have previously released a three-part ‘The Making Of Atlas‘:Part I Part II Part III Order at THIS LOCATION BESVÄRJELSEN comment: “We celebrate the release of Atlas!”, singer Lea Amling Alazam enthuses. “We would like to use this opportunity to give very big thanks to everyone who helped make this beautiful piece of music come together. We also send huge thanks to our label Magnetic Eye Records and its manager Jadd as well as to Studio Gröndahl and Karl Daniel Lidén for the great sound. And last but never least, […]

Album Reviews

Album Review: Watain – The Agony & Ecstasy Of Watain

It’s funny to me how I still think of WATAIN as a “new” black metal band. With a recorded history longer than a good many of its fans have been alive, countless tours and now seven full-lengths to their credit, it’s not as if the members haven’t put in the work. That the original blackened trinity remains intact well over a decade after formation speaks to the dedication and perseverance if nothing else. But here’s the rub. For myself, WATAIN has just been, largely, there. Lawless Darkness was alright enough, The Wild Hunt tiresome, so I shrugged and stepped away. […]

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NILE Mastermind KARL SANDERS to Release New Solo Album, Saurian Apocalypse

NILE mastermind and multi-instrumentalist KARL SANDERS is thrilled to announce that the subterranean slumber of his Eastern-ambient Saurian series has finally ceased with the impending release of its dark third chapter, Saurian Apocalypse, out July 22, 2022 via Napalm Records. This segment of the hypnotizing saga arrives 13 years after the release of its predecessor, 2009’s Saurian Exorcisms, and nearly 20 after 2004’s equally lauded Saurian Meditation. Emphasized by unique instruments like the baglama saz (Turkish lute), Ancient Egyptian Anubis Sistrum, Dumbek (Middle Eastern goblet drum), glissentar and gongs, the album’s score weaves cinematic auras and deep grooves, accented by […]

Album Reviews

Album Review: Heart Attack – Negative Sun

The hype machine goes into overdrive for this French band on their press sheet, practically proclaiming them the new saviors of heavy metal. Well, while I wouldn’t go quite that far, HEART ATTACK created a surprisingly engaging and energetic record in Negative Sun that touches on several styles of metal. First off, this sounds as good as any major league release you’ll find. Everything pops, including bass and drums. That ticks an important box right there. In no way would I describe HEART ATTACK as a very original band, but they are very clever in how they weave different influences […]

Music News

New Fates Warning biography, Destination Onward – The Story Of Fates Warning’ by Jeff Wagner, to be released July 15th

After several years of work, noted author and journalist, Jeff Wagner, will release his third book on July 15, 2022. Destination Onward – The Story Of FATES WARNING is a 400-page history of the legendary prog metal band. Published by FYI Press and Radical Research, Destination Onward includes 176 b&w photos and 56 color photos, many of which have never been seen before. Culled from interviews with every member of FATES WARNING, past and present, Destination Onward covers the early days of the original members, the band’s formation in 1983 as Misfit, their commercial peak with 1991’s Parallels, right through […]

Album Reviews

Album Review: Falls Of Rauros – Keys To A Vanishing Future

Portland, Maine’s FALLS OF RAUROS, since its inception, has been searching. Not to say that the band is confused, haphazard or simply looking for its “sound”, whatever that means. More to the point, the band knows who and what they are after well over a decade of albums, keeping one eye on that path, but another wandering, almost scanning the sides of the way for bits of itself hidden under rocks, in leaf-veins – in places it wouldn’t expect commonality or kinship. FOR’s sixth opens with ‘Clarity’, a pristine, simple pattern quickly underpinned by staccato guitars and drums. While I’d […]

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ROCK AND ROLL HALL OF FAMER ARTIMUS PYLE SIGNS WITH GET JOE RECORDS

NASHVILLE, Tenn. – In keeping with its mission statement “to distribute world-class artists’ content,” GET JOE RECORDS announces the signing of legendary Rock and Roll Hall of Fame drummer Artimus Pyle (best known for his work with the iconic Southern-rock band Lynyrd Skynyrd) to the newly-formed, Texas-based label. Pyle, whose musical career spans a half a century, is currently back in the studio with members of the ARTIMUS PYLE BAND (now comprised of Scott Raines-guitar/vocals; Jerry Lyda-guitar; Brad Durden-keys/vocals; and Dave Fowler-bass), a group he established in 2010 to honor the music of Ronnie Van Zant’s Lynyrd Skynyrd. “Artimus is […]

Album Reviews

Album Review: Sadistic Ritual – The Enigma, Boundless

This has got to be one of the quirkiest and most entertaining thrash records I have laid ears on in a while. The band is from Atlanta, Georgia and their moniker had me thinking they would be a POSSESSED or KREATOR type band. Thankfully, they are more original than that and not easy to describe. The PR calls them “psychedelic” thrash, but the most psychedelic thing about the album is its cover art. I think fans expecting real hardcore psych influence might be disappointed. SADISTIC RITUAL does not fit into a neat little box. They aren’t a knock-off of either […]

Music News

DOWNFALL OF MANKIND’s Vile Birth Out Now on Lacerated Enemy Records

Lisbon (PT) – Lacerated Enemy Records has released Vile Birth, the full-length debut album from slamming symphonic deathcore band DOWNFALL OF MANKIND. Stream and purchase via Bandcamp HERE Hailing from Portugal, DOWNFALL OF MANKIND formed in 2019 creating their brand of Slamming-Deathcore Metal in the vein of Shadow Of Intent, Signs Of The Swarm, Lorna Shore, Mental Cruelty and the like. After releasing a successful EP, The Path Of Human Existence, the band established a strong fan base in Europe and received great reviews on their live shows. In late 2021 DOWNFALL OF MANKIND was ready to enter the studio […]

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