Rebel Extravaganza

Heavy Metal And Other Occasional Musics And Cultures

admin

Album Reviews

Album Review: Vomitory – All Heads Are Gonna Roll

Ain’t nothing like the real thing, baby. And when it comes to classic Stockholm death metal, VOMITORY is as real as it gets. Very glad indeed to see these old school OGs wielding their axes again; they live up to the album title and more! The first two tracks hit with all the subtlety of a pit bull on Fentanyl! This is laser focused destruction that reminds me a lot of fellow Swedes DEFLESHED in terms of economy and ferocity. VOMITORY have come up with a kind of paradoxical sound that is raw in true Swe-death fashion, yet it’s also […]

Music News

Progressive Tech Death from the frozen North; Canadians Widow’s Peak unleash debut album Claustrophobe

Seven years since the creative force that is WIDOW’S PEAK first began to take shape in the basements and backstreets of Calgary, the band’s first full length album is ready to be unleashed – and the development from those first faltering steps has been little short of staggering. The eleven pieces of disconcerting destruction that together form Claustrophobe, this magnificent debut album, are characterised by blinding technical ability and formidable power, but also all encompassing atmosphere and a truly alien individuality that sets the band apart from the pack. Standing alone outside the accepted parameters and expected tropes, they deliver […]

Album Reviews

Album Review: Lunar Chamber – Shambhallic Vibrations [EP]

Scattered from the Quebec metal stronghold of Montreal, to the eldritch darkness of Rhode Island, to the somewhat unlikely sun-scorched humidity of an Atlanta suburb cometh forth LUNAR CHAMBER and Shambhallic Vibrations. Add to this concoction the members’ chosen monikers of They, Who May Not Be Perceived, Timeworn Nexus and Æther Lotus, and it’s a recipe for either a mind-altering experience or a complete and total wankfest. There really can’t be a middle ground here, you know? The intro/title track sets the scene, already eliciting an Eastern (pardon the pun, or don’t) vibe, and there’s something about a fretless bass […]

Music News

The River release the sublime post-doom dream of A Hollow Full Of Hope through Cavernous Records

It’s been four years since THE RIVER’s critically acclaimed Vessels Into White Tides quietly claimed its place in the hearts of fans of measured, reflective songs. Since then the gradual metamorphosis of the band has continued, leading them to new album, A Hollow Full Of Hope, where flickers of sunlight and birdsong have found their way into the darkest corners of the band’s once dense and impenetrable sound. While the juxtaposition of weight and fragility that first drew fans to THE RIVER’s unique music remains – that play between delicate vocal lines and deep, powerful guitar progressions – a whole […]

Album Reviews

Album Review: Melt Motif – Particles. Death Objective

Blended Brazilian / Norwegian combo, MELT MOTIF quietly (or, maybe not so) crept into my Top 10 List for 2022, A White Horse Will Take You Home’s otherworldliness and simple refusal to be beholden to any “scene” or single genre alluring from first listen. The debut got comfortable over repeated listens but, to this day, will occasionally reveal some previously-hidden glitch, beat or melody, the mark of a truly good album. How, then, to top this? I have come to believe the often-documented “sophomore slump” – which also plagued GUNS ‘N’ ROSES after Appetite For Destruction – is at least […]

Music News

THE MOTH: German Doom/Sludge Metal Trio Signs To Exile On Mainstream; LP Due This Fall

Exile On Mainstream welcomes fellow Germans THE MOTH and their groove-heavy brew of doom/sludge metal to the label for their impending LP. Label owner Andreas Kohl states, “Just as a good friend recently put it: ‘This band, with this lineup and this sound – it was just a question of time until they land at your shores. They just belong to Exile On Mainstream.” The friend, Germany’s renowned Metal radio icon Jakob Kranz, envisioned what we kinda felt but didn’t know. So did we finally achieve becoming a label that defines through a certain sound? Have we become so predictable? […]

Album Reviews

Album Review: Dawn Of Ouroboros – Velvet Incandescence

‘Healing Grounds’ wafts into the consciousness, vocalist Chelsea Murphy gossamer, almost too light for air over ethereal jazz that imagines Johnny Mercer doing a set in the outer reaches of the cosmos. When the metal shows up (and it does), it’s ultra-melodic and equally of space, but this is more a testament to the instrumentalists’ skill and ability to conjure a mood than anything else. Murphy’s siren song becomes shriek, the Baker/Thomas guitar duo displays a familiarity with their craft many could take a lesson from. Don’t think you’re in for some fey ride through lightweight lands for long, though, […]

Music News

NMB (The Neal Morse Band) announce An Evening of Innocence & Danger: Live in Hamburg, out 14th July 2023

NMB (The Neal Morse Band) present An Evening Of Innocence & Danger: Live In Hamburg, a live recording of their 2022 tour in support of their most recent studio album. Recorded live in Germany, this 3-disc release captures the band in fine form, presenting Innocence & Danger & more over nearly 2 and a half hours of music, and will be released on July 14th, 2023. Neal Morse, Mike Portnoy, Randy George, Eric Gillette & Bill Hubauer demonstrate a chemistry like no other on this musical document of that tour, supporting their fourth studio album, released in 2021. “NMB’s Innocence […]

Album Reviews

Album Review: RADIEN – Unissa Palaneet

I dunno, I must have a different idea of what “devastatingly heavy sludge” is than RADIEN and the folks who write their press. Sludge metal to me is an attack of thick, gooey bass heavy riffs that proceed in slow or medium pace, usually accompanied by pained vocals and thudding drums. I think of bands like ELECTRIC WIZARD, CROWBAR, WEEDEATER, BRAINOIL, etc. That description doesn’t seem to fit this Finnish act at all. Half of Unissa Palaneet isn’t even what I’d call metal, and the heavier parts seem much closer to what I think of as “post metal” (although a […]

Music News

Gabríel Ólafs Shares New Single ‘Bambaló’, New LP Lullabies For Piano And Cello Out June 9

Icelandic composer GABRIEL ÓLAFS debuts the single, “Bambaló.” The track is from his upcoming album, Lullabies For Piano And Cello, set for release on June 9 via Decca Records US. Listen to ‘Bambaló’ Watch the Official ‘Bambaló’ Live Performance Video via YouTube ‘Bambaló’ is rooted in the history and mythology of Iceland and its pure simple melody is an instant connection to the lullaby that has been shared for generations. Of the track, Gabríel shares, “The Icelandic version of the words ‘Rock-a-bye, baby’ is ‘Bambaló’ and so my piece for piano and cello is based on the lullaby. It is […]

Older Posts