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: Ensiferum – Winter Storm

That ENSIFERUM was on a downward slide between 2009 classic From Afar and ‘20s Thalassic still kind of hurts, given how reliable the band was for its first four albums. I’ve kept up peripherally with them since, always at least given each new release a spin, but have come away feeling disappointed, and never went back to see if there was anything I might’ve missed, because there was so much more to hear and give time to, even within the folk metal sub-subgenre. Intro ‘Aurora’ sounds like the loading screen for the flash game Crush The Castle, and ‘Winter Storm […]

Album Reviews

Album Review: Gaerea – Coma

Sticking with the pattern of releasing an album every two years since 2018’s aptly named Unsettling Whispers, Portuguese outfit GAEREA return with Coma. ‘The Poet’s Ballet’ glides into the ears, unhurried, yet with a sense of the near-liturgical, ALICE IN CHAINS vocal harmonies over peaceful keys and synths, the antithesis of what most have come to expect from GAEREA thus far – at least not to this degree. The true mark of quality here, among the many to be found over its catalog, is that, at just over 1/3rd of the way through the track, when treble flurries and the […]

Album Reviews

Album Review: The Wring – Nemesis

THE WRING’s last album, Spectra, was a genuine delight and immediately put this Canadian power trio on my radar. A fun and engaging piece of progressive metal that was more than a little reminiscent of a certain other progressive power trio from Canada. In fact, it was a tremendous mixture of Permanent Waves / Moving Pictures era RUSH and the early days of DREAM THEATER. With Nemesis, not much has really changed…including my enjoyment. The RUSH and DREAM THEATER comparisons remain, but THE WRING also have injected their own personality into things. The songs are punchy and to the point, […]

Album Reviews

Album Review: Deadform – Entrenched In Hell

DEADFORM’s self-titled EP didn’t so much “burst” onto the scene in 2022, unless speaking of a pustule oozing its infection out after the needle has pierced it to drain. Apparently the pus has returned, but instead of the surgical prick of a needle, the trio has decided to apply pressure until it ruptures of its own accord with Entrenched In Hell. What else would one expect from former members of STORMCROW, the mighty DYSTOPIA, and LAUDANUM? ‘Of Plagues’ quickly shifts from cave dweller drone to HELLBASTARD groove-laden crust, the rhythm section/dual vocalists battling to be heard over their own cacophony, […]

Album Reviews

Album Review: Barathrum – Überkill

Ah, the joys of simplicity in a complicated world! Something we can appreciate in just about any walk of life, but especially so when it comes to heavy metal. Finland’s veteran hellraisers BARATHRUM absolutely understand this principle and put into good effect on the smartly titled Überkill. This is pure first wave black metal with virtually no influence from the ’90s Norse brand. That means you expect a lot of catchy early BATHORY/VENOM/HELLHAMMER riffs in all their knuckle-dragging glory. BARATHRUM boasts two bassists and you can easily hear the extra “oomph” that lends to their barbaric tunes. The tracks here […]

Album Reviews

Album Review: Dark Tranquillity – Endtime Signals

While Gothenburg stalwarts DARK TRANQUILLITY were there at the start of the whole melodic death metal sound – and, in fact, had a hand in creating it – the band has never really “broke through” to mainstream consciousness on the level of IN FLAMES or AT THE GATES. Factor in that, post-1999’s Projector, DT fell victim to the ‘00s in a very real and recognizable way. While never quite going off the deep end into blatant courting of the Hot Topic set ala Jesper Stromblad & co., there’s no denying that founder Mikael Stanne has been playing it safe for […]

Album Reviews

Album Review: Mammoth Caravan – Frostbitten Galaxy

Following 2023’s debut, Ice Cold Oblivion, as well as the I, Megafauna EP released the same year, Little Rock, Arkansas’ MAMMOTH CARAVAN returns with the even more strangely named Frostbitten Galaxy. A jiggering of the lineup has occurred, a former drummer moving to guitars, a new guitarist. Just saying, I’ve been to Little Rock, and ain’t a single thing ice cold or frostbitten about the weather there at any point of the year. We’re talking galaxies here, though, folks, so… Opener ‘Absolute Zero’ slips in, taking its time getting where it’s hopefully going, a bed of synths beneath a soft, […]

Album Reviews

Album Review: Black Sites – The Promised Land?

Roughly three years after Untrue, BLACK SITES returns with fourth album, The Promised Land? Don’t let the fact that the band’s now trimmed to a trio worry you, as opener, ‘Descent’ sets the standard, robust and ready, the lyric “Cometh now the punishment for sins of yesterday / for those who lie, how many times betrayed?” laying a dark tone. Founding guitarist/vocalist Mark Sugar’s vocal range is firmly entrenched in the mid-range, so those in search of vocal gymnastics or histrionics may initially be put off, but for fans of equally melodic bands such as SOUND & SHAPE and Parallels […]

Album Reviews

Album Review: Wolfbrigade – Life Knife Death

Who needs coffee and energy drinks when WOLFBRIGADE is around? Hell, who needs cocaine?! This long running Swedish band is bone-breaking speed and power in concentrated music form. I was kinda shocked when I found out their new album would be on Metal Blade. I’m glad they’re on one of the bigger metal labels, but for a band with deep roots in the crusty Swedish punk scene, it’s a strange fit. Strange or no, they haven’t toned down one iota for this record. The press compares them to DISCHARGE, MOTÖRHEAD and old ENTOMBED, and that really hits the nail smack […]

Album Reviews

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 […]

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