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: The Lord Weird Slough Feg – Traveller Supplement 1: The Ephemeral Glades [EP]

THE LORD WEIRD SLOUGH FEG is one of the few bands carrying high the flame of traditional heavy metal. There, I said it. Add in an equally gonzo dose of love for THIN LIZZY in the guitar tone, and everything from Greek and Celtic mythology to primate overthrow to classic sci-fi to a wee band of shoulda-made-it-bigger-but-never-dids called HORSLIPS, and we got ourselves a keeper! After releasing three wallopers leading up to and ushering in the new millennium, Cap’n Scalzi hunkered down for a bit, only to return with what some would say is their benchmark album, Traveller. Now, 22 […]

Album Reviews

Album Review: Iggor Cavalera / Shane Embury – ‘Neon Gods’ / ‘Own Your Darkness’

Do you even remember 1990? Cold Spring Records does and, almost from birth, it became a place to go for industrial, ambient, and outsider electronica when the dancey-dance of MY LIFE WITH THE THRILL KILL KULT and its ilk just wasn’t gonna cut it for the pervading sense of grime and decay that swam in the undercurrent of Generation X. EINSTÜRZENDE NEUBAUTEN and SKINNY PUPPY were there, and others, sure. But that the label has stayed true to its original path for over three decades makes it one of “those” labels, evermore a rarity; the kind where – even if […]

Album Reviews

Album Review: Caustic Phlegm – Purulent Apocalypse

It’s no secret that I’m a lover of all that is icky, repulsive and sickening when it comes to metal. I regard most instances of “sick” death metal as a challenge. One thing I insist on, though: a song can be grisly but it still has to be a SONG. As long as I can detect an interesting structure, there’s no limit to how heavy I can go. And I know I’m not the only one to feel this way. CAUSTIC PHLEGM is a one-man wrecking crew helmed by a UK guy named Evan Vasilakos and he wants to create […]

Album Reviews

Album Review: Negative 13 – Recover What You Can

‘The Desolate’ does the rare thing that intros actually do, which is set the listener up for what’s in store. In this case, a plodding rumble/riff join forces to tumble us headlong into the SIXTY WATT SHAMAN-ic swinging groove of ‘Casket Trail’ {Scott] Fisher retains the hardcore-tinged snarl that’s suited him well as far back as the NEGATIVE THEORY days, and the band has more than a bit of My War-era BLACK FLAG in its sense of the disjointed when it comes to putting a song together, then nearly wrecking the whole thing so as to make it seem it’s […]

Album Reviews

Album Review: Slow Burn Drifters – Golden

Any PR one-sheet that compares its subject to TINDERSTICKS immediately has my interest, so let’s just get that out of the way. Formed as the wave of what passed for “alternative rock” was reaching its crest in 1991, the Brits were an anomaly in the same way (though not in the same style) as THE AFGHAN WHIGS, more akin at times to explorations of soul music or late ‘60s R&B than the “loud-for-loud’s-sake” bands of the time. But this isn’t a TINDERSTICKS review, so let’s throw that line of thought on the fire…for now. Though 12 albums deep into his […]

Album Reviews

Album Review: Sanhedrin – Heat Lightning

After three absolute bangers in the hard rock / trad-metal field (you want some elitism? Any diehard MANILLA ROAD fan will give the most panda-painted supporter of [Insert Black Metal Band Name Here] a run for their money when it comes to what is or is not Metal, SANHEDRIN returns with Heat Lightning. Salivating with anticipation, ‘Blind Wolf’ begins, soon thrusting into a choppy, syncopated machine, Erica’s [Stoltz, vocals/bass] as clear yet fierce as ever. Her tone may not be as road-raggedly “queen of the mountaintop” as Doro Pesch, nor as operatically weak-livered as the corseted “symphonic” dame of the […]

Album Reviews

Album Review: Karla Kvlt – Thunderhunter

This German power trio keeps it in the family on their debut record. Markus E. Lipka of the cult band EISENVATER is the Dad of group, holding down guitar duties, while his son Johann Wientjes pounds away on the skins and daughter-in-law Teresa Curtens handles bass and lead vocals. That must certainly make for some unique dynamics in the studio. KARLA KVLT’s sound is also unique and takes some time to appreciate. I really know little of EISENVATER so I can’t say how much KK sounds like that band. If I had to describe KARLA KVLT briefly, I’d say it’s […]

Album Reviews

Album Review: Scour – Gold

In the wake of the FANTERA tribute arrival, Phil cranks up his sputtering engine once more. While VIKING CROWN, PHILIP H. ANSELMO & THE ILLEGALS, and pretty much the whole raft of rats on the ever-sinking ship that seems to be the U.S.S. Anselmo’s vocal range have blown chunks to varying degrees, the output from SCOUR so far has been solid enough and is one of the only projects involving P.A. – aside from DOWN and SUPERJOINT RITUAL – where it felt/feels more like a band than Ol’ Camoshorts himself preening before a mirror with a cast of blurred and […]

Album Reviews

Album Review: Fumes – Skeletal Wings Threshold

When a band releases an EP, video and live album before its debut, you already know the entities therein are not about to be bound by expectations, genre “constraints” of false authorities or even what the listener expects. Thus was born FUMES, spewing forth Skeletal Wings Threshold from the squalor and beauty of the streets of Mexico City. Grating tremelo scathe and scree bleeds us from the opening moments of ‘Stellar Ascension Infernal’, the worship of the riff key, and a tight, vibrant mix giving each instrument its rightful place, and when the last 0:11 combusts, there’s no amount of […]

Album Reviews

Album Review: Hirax – Faster Than Death

Mr. Katon W. De Pena is one of the true warriors of thrash metal. He’s been whipping up circle pits for about 40 years now, so his dedication can’t be questioned. Plus, he’s a hell of a good guy…I can personally attest to this. Despite that, HIRAX albums have been few and far between. Faster Than Death is only the sixth full length in all that time. Well, this one may very well be their rawest and most in your face outing since their classic debut, Raging Violence. They’ve been trying to live up to that brutal dose of mayhem […]

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