Rebel Extravaganza

Heavy Metal And Other Occasional Musics And Cultures

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HAMMERFILOSOFI announces new EP through ATMF

International black metal duo HAMMERFILOSOFI will soon unleash a new EP on Aeternitas Tenebrarum Musicae Fundamentum (ATMF). After their much-acclaimed debut album, The Desolate One, HAMMERFILOSOFI returns with a fiery assault on the senses, in the shape of an EP entitled Solus (Igne Natura Renovator Integra); four psalms of relentless, multi-layered, and hellish madness. “The EP is an inward journey of spiritual violence and cathartic soul-searching”, comments NKTFR, and adds “Both musically and lyrically, it picks up from where The Desolate One left off and continues in a bold leap into the dark unknown”.Behind the music is as per usual […]

Album Review: Glacial Tomb – Lightless Expanse

From the fertile musical soil of Denver, Colorado, GLACIAL TOMB returns with its second full length. Annoying keys and overblown effects lead us into the ‘Stygian Abattoir’, and oh, man, are these guys trying to sound like early Gothenburg here, at least in the music. The vocals haven’t changed much since the self-titled 2018 debut, nondescript as ever. I’m sure some may thrive on the frequent shifts from second-tier death metal growl to blackish bark, but to me, there’s nothing appealing. The trio seems to feel they’re a blend of sludge, black and death metals, but the tired-ass bridge in […]

LEILA ABDUL-RAUF: Calls From A Seething Edge, Fifth Solo LP By Vastum Member, Drops October 11th On Cyclic Law/Syrup Moose; ‘Crimes Of The Soul’ Video Premiered By BrooklynVegan + Preorders Posted

Multi-instrumentalist LEILA ABDUL-RAUF, acclaimed for her evocative and boundary-pushing soundscapes, presents her fifth, most ambitious solo album to date, Calls From A Seething Edge. The album will be released in October as a co-release between Cyclic Law and Syrup Moose, who today unveil the cover art, track listing, preorders, and an intense video for the lead single, “Crimes Of The Soul”, premiered by BrooklynVegan. LEILA ABDUL-RAUF has been a key member in dozens of musical entities since the 1990s, including Vastum, Ionophore, Cardinal Wyrm, Fyrhtu, and more in recent years, preceded by time spent in Amber Asylum, Hammers Of Misfortune, […]

Album Review: Hatchend – Summer Of ’69

In the world of death/grind, Polish label Selfmadegod Records has long been a bastion of quality output. Bands as far-ranging as AGATHOCLES and ENCOFFINATION call it home, the former firing off multiple split releases per year, the true scatterguns of grind, the latter patient-yet-passionate doom/death. Racing headlong into this fray comes HATCHEND. ‘Shackled Humanity’ pierces right out the gate, feral and uncompromising in its love of speed, speed and speed. What’s truly impressive even from the start is the strength of the riffs themselves, lashing out from the blistering blast, discernable and diabolical at once. With no time for such […]

New HERETIC Documentary Chronicles Career of Metal Legends

The story of a legendary metal band is finally being told thanks to a new documentary from an up-and-coming filmmaker. Don’t Turn Your Back: The Story Of HERETIC tells the story of the Los Angeles-based band’s humble beginnings, from forming Reverend in 1989 to ultimately disbanding and reforming once again in 2011. This is a story of perseverance through the world of heavy metal. The documentary marks the first-ever film by Tanner Poppitt, guitarist/vocalist for MADROST and host of the Poppitt’s Corner podcast. Poppitt comments on the film, Don’t Turn Your Back: The Story Of HERETIC is my debut film […]

Album Review: Pharmakon – Maggot Mass

After four albums on Sacred Bones Records (also home to releases by artists as disparate as the world-splitting KHANATE, the goth-proto-punk of LATHE OF HEAVEN and ZOLA JESUS’ electro-pop) cometh the Maggot Mass… Worry not, longtime fans of PHARMAKON, when we tell you that she’s experimenting with songs structured in a more “traditional” way. First, you must consider what one who has her past output would consider traditional, then you must put even that aside for this journey. ‘Wither And Warp’ ushers in the consecration, ceremonial in rhythm and intonation, a calling forth? Or to? Skitter-scritchings of insects, chattering, a […]

Detroit Melodic/Power Thrashers, AMONG THESE ASHES, Premiere Video for ‘Faceless War Machines’

Detroit (MI) – Melodic/Power Thrashers, Among These Ashes, in collaboration with Decibel Magazine, have premiered a lyric video for new single, ‘Faceless War Machines’. The song is taken from the band’s forthcoming new album (title and artwork will be announced at a later date). Watch the video for ‘Faceless War Machines’ AMONG THESE ASHES have completed their sophomore album, which will be announced and released later this year. The lead single, ‘Faceless War Machines’, chronicles the life of conscripted soldiers forced to a doomed fate by their tyrannical overlords. The lyrics are accompanied by the band’s colossal, machine-gun rhythms and […]

Atom Driver – Occupants [EP]

By my count Occupants is ATOM DRIVER’s sixth EP, despite the band being around since 2016 with nary a full-length to show for it. Doesn’t matter, though, as the title track immediately jettisons me back to the days of snagging 7” from record stores by bands that fired off a couple-few songs at a time, little sonic pioneers, out into the frontier of independent shops, squats and bookstores. Shades of SNAPCASE’s more accessible work, JAWBREAKER’s Bivouac shove us headlong into ‘Say Anything You Want’, the snarling guitar recalling the abrasion of CAVE IN, but again, filtered through the lens of […]

CASTLE: Bay Area Occult Doom Trio Cast A ‘Black Spell’ With New Song; Sixth Album Evil Remains Pre-Orders Now Available

Bay Area occult doom trio CASTLE is proud to present the second single, ‘Black Spell’ taken from their upcoming album Evil Remains, due out September 6 via Hammerheart Records. Fall under the ‘Black Spell’ “We’re really excited to share another song from the new album. ‘Black Spell’ is a straight-up, classic metal-inspired barn burner, a throwback to the music I started off playing in the ’80s,” says guitarist/vocalist Mat Davis. “The lyrics deal with the immortal tale of history repeating itself…this time against the backdrop of Egyptology; 5,000 years of doom as told through the eyes of the Great Sphinx. […]

Album Review: Hammerfall – Avenge The Fallen

Never let it be said that I’m not nostalgic. HAMMERFALL had the good (or bad) fortune to come along at a time when metal of all sorts was deep in the throes of an identity crisis, from which it took years to emerge. Still, MANOWAR was on a major label, and BLIND GUARDIAN, STRATOVARIUS and ICED EARTH were holding the banner high, our great and shining hopes for the future. By 1999, however, HAMMERFALL – at least to my ears – sang their creative swan song with the original material on the I Want Out EP. Renegade would follow with […]