Rebel Extravaganza

Heavy Metal And Other Occasional Musics And Cultures

Album Reviews

ALBUM REVIEW RATING SCALE:
**Please note that this rating scale serves as a reference for albums reviewed prior to 2023.
Numbered ratings will not be added going forward, in hopes that the writer’s impression of the work will suffice.
It will have to.** 

6 – Rarely bestowed. An honor reserved for undeniable classics (or those that should be). The Apex Predator.
5 – Impressive.
4 – Worthy of special recognition.
3 – A solid effort.
2 – The participation trophy.
1 – These are the albums that the 2s beat up on the way home from school.
0 – A waste of both our time and yours.

Album Reviews

Album Review: Agnostic Front – Echoes In Eternity

AGNOSTIC FRONT’s pedigree is impeccable, and its history and importance in heavy music in general, much less hardcore, cannot be overstated. Yep, as a matter of fact, if you’re of a certain age and haven’t heard the band, you’re probably lost on the internet, which is the way most people stumble across this site anyhow. Regardless, if – even nearly a half-century of the New Yorkers kicking global ass from basement shows to arenas later – you’re still not familiar, welcome to Echoes In Eternity, the band’s thirteenth studio record. No useless intro to wade through, as ‘Way Of War’ […]

Album Reviews

Album Review: Death Yell – Demons Of Lust

From the mists of the past comes a scream of defiance. DEATH YELL are among the oldest South American extreme metal bands. They emerged from Chile in the late ’80s, around the same time as PENTAGRAM, and were contemporaries of SEPULTURA, KRISIUN, SARCOFAGO and other beasts of ancient South American metal. They’ve hardly been a prolific band, as this is only their second full length, but their name has lingered in the memories of those times. Demons Of Lust is an absolute nostalgia trip, but one that’s fully justified because these dudes were there from the beginning. Everything about Demons […]

Album Reviews

Album Review: Gorleben – Menetekel

Though in existence for a decade and a half as of this writing, the first we heard from Dresden’s GORLEBEN was the 2021 EP containing ‘Sleepless’ and ‘Contaminated’, both songs well over the ten-minute mark, declaring the band as one comfortable with letting things play out naturally. Game Over followed, further sonic explorations ensued, and the sound seemed not so much “solidified” as “in flux”, but with a general idea of where the quintet wanted to go in mind. The keys of 85KR begin the ‘Countdown’, almost TANGERINE DREAM in their nearly hypnotic pulse, joined soon after by the syrupy […]

Album Reviews

Album Review: Sacred Leather – Keep The Fire Burning

‘Resurrection’ flows naturally into ‘Spitfire At Night’, which is rife with dual leads, snapmare rhythms, and the Turbin / early Belladonna delivery of vocalist Dee Wrathchild. Come to think, at the start this one shares a bit too much shade with ‘Deathrider’ for comfort; however, to the quintet’s credit, by the end we’re being fricasseed in the fiery blaze of SACRED LEATHER’s second go-round, and it’s getting hot in here. ‘Phantom Highway (Hell Is Comin’ Down)’ is divebomb after divebomb, dual lead after dual lead, and done well, Messrs. Owens & St. Michaels flying o’er the nightside streaker freeway, swooping […]

Album Reviews

Album Review: Withering Soul – Passage Of The Arcane

The best kept secret in Chicago metal is WITHERING SOUL. These guys should be mentioned in the same breath as CIANIDE, CARDIAC ARREST, USURPER and Chi-town’s other masters of the extreme. But instead there is silence. The band’s last album, Last Contact, was a Top Ten effort in 2021. And if anything, they’ve gotten even better with Passage Of The Arcane. They are masters of blackened death metal (or deathly black, take your pick),delivering true epics full of pounding aggression but also dense melodies and complex arrangements. They don’t really have that much in common with the other Chicago bands […]

Album Reviews

Album Review: Binah – Ónkos

BINAH’s never been one to shy away from lengthy explorations within its limited number of releases, – half of the actual songs found on 2012’s Hallucinating In Resurrecture debut passing the 7-minute mark – but when the band waited seven years after Phobiate to return with Ónkos, I knew we had something potentially intriguing on our hands. Composed of two pieces, each extending past 20 minutes, it’s obvious the band wants us to immerse ourselves in this experience, and thus, headphones ‘round my earholes, I began to ascend ‘Mount Morphine’. With two synth players in the ranks, and over a […]

Album Reviews

Album Review: Denial Of Life – Witness The Power [EP]

Look at the cover of DENIAL OF LIFE’s Witness The Power EP and can someone please tell me why basically a mash-up of two of the most recognizable album covers of one of the most recognizable bands in the history of metal seemed like a great idea? And thus, armed (or footed) with monkey boots and a length of chain, did I step boldly forward to wage unholy war against such flagrant abuse of…wait, I never really even liked SLAYER that much anyway, and – aside from the album after Those Two, for all I know or care, they more […]

Album Reviews

Album Review: Dead Heat – Process Of Elimination

Coming up on its 10-year anniversary, Oxnard’s DEAD HEAT returns. The band’s been consistently at it and consistently solid over this time, knocking out two full lengths, a live album, and an EP, moving from releasing its music independently to Boston’s largely hardcore Triple-B Records, and on through the more diverse roster of Tankcrimes, to reach its all-important third album – and Metal Blade debut – Process Of Elimination. Now, this how you start an album, folks! In lieu of some piss-poor, tossed together “intro”, a guitar piece touched with the classical gently welcomes us before the lid is ripped […]

Album Reviews

Album Review: Kostnateni – Přiliŝnost

The older I get, the more I realize I’m just not weird enough. Just being a fan of metal…even extreme metal…is not enough. I’m on the hunt for the truly outlandish…the fringe dwellers and musical outliers that subvert norms and come up with something new. This year, HAVUKRUUNU and ARKHAAIK have satisfied that craving. But with KOSTNATENI, I’ve reached another level yet. KOSTNATENI is one Mr. DL and I’ve been a follower of his ever since I heard the monumental Oheň hoȓi tam, kde padl EP about four years ago. DL is a man not content to follow well-trodden paths. […]

Album Reviews

Album Review: Arson Charge – A Dying Light

While Denver, Colorado remains one of the most underrated, underreported on and under the radar regional music scenes in the US, that’s in no way a guarantee that everything coming from the Mile High City is worthwhile, or even, for that matter, good. Therefore, when a PR sheet touts ARSON CHARGE as being made up of “former members of…”, this didn’t send me to Bandcamp or the socials plumbing the depths of the interweb so I could seem more “hip” or “in the know”. Because, when you get right down to it, a band stands on its own merit, no […]

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