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: Coffin Torture – Blennoid

From the unexpected environs of South Carolina, land of Myrtle Beach, Hilton Head and a multitude of other lures for lovers of sun and beaches, Thorfinn and Blind Sampson return with their second full-length under the COFFIN TORTURE moniker, hoping to disgust our eardrums with Blennoid. ‘Ükhsen Uul’ begins this self-described “death sludge” effort with gooey riffs and a near industrial clang ‘n’ clamor to the rhythm section, but the whole affair seems processed, effects-ridden, and with neither the rabid ferocity of death nor the crawl through the sewer-swamp of sludge. While I’m sure the elongated intro to ‘Budo’ was […]

Album Reviews

Album Review: Caustic Casanova – Glass Enclosed Nerve Center

CAUSTIC CASANOVA’s decision to augment the long-standing trio by adding Jake Kimberly on guitars bears fruit from the start, opener ‘Anubis Rex’ robust and invigorating/-ed, kicking off with some hybrid of spaghetti western, cock rock and surf, a dual-string attack clearly suiting the band. Add to this the trident-pronged vocals, and the D.C. act arsenal’s chock-full o’ ingredients that should guarantee success. But can they put their tools to good use over the course of Glass Enclosed Nerve Center without wandering in the process? If ‘Lodestar’ is any indication, yes, and since the band’s always had rather an “everything up […]

Album Reviews

Album Review: Queensrÿche – Digital Noise Alliance

No sense in lying to you or to myself. It hurts when a band that meant so much in your younger years seems to have completely turned tail and run on the sound that undeniably both made them a household name in the cottage industry of metal but endeared them to yourself and othersin the process. For me, one of “those” bands was QUEENSRŸCHE. And I couldn’t care less about the legal battles, all of that, so if you want to rehash something that’s been decided (at least by the courts) long ago, might as well go somewhere else. I’d […]

Album Reviews

Album Review: Venom Inc. – There’s Only Black

A pretty bland cover on this one and the font for the band name is about as basic as it gets. But fortunately what’s within pulses with plenty of energy, as VENOM INC. continue to put out strong releases as if they are on a mission. And I think maybe they are… This is probably the fastest VENOM INC. album so far. Only the last two tracks ‘The Danse Macabre’ and ‘Inferno’ ease up on the pedal. Most of the cuts are quite thrashy and drummer Jeramie Kling proves his worth, knocking out rapid fire beats that old Abaddon could […]

Album Reviews

Album Review: I AM – Eternal Steel

Begun by vocalist Brandon Hileman in his 20th year, Texans I AM solidified their lineup in 2017, and have since put out a couple albums sparking a level of interest completely relative to the listener’s enjoyment of groove metal. While the Lone Star State has a plethora of fantastic metal bands, I’ll stand on Phil Anselmo’s ego and swear that PANTERA was never one of them. Yet still, their influence looms large, and thus we arrive at Eternal Steel, I AM’s third. ‘The Primal Wave’ is the grabbing of low hanging fruit from an orchard of already rotten fruit, Hileman’s […]

Album Reviews

Album Review: MADROST – Lost Lives Volume 1

Ah, the live metal album. To be honest, in my Top 20 Live Albums of all time aside from MANOWAR’s Hell On Wheels – Live and Live After Death by IRON MAIDEN there’s probably not a single one that could qualify as balls-out Metal ™. That’s largely because the metal show is so visceral, so in-the-moment that if you weren’t sweating it out in the venue – be it arena or basement show – no amount of audio trickery, snappy between-song banter or killer set list is going to make you feel like you were. Oh, there are exceptions. OZZY […]

Album Reviews

Album Review: Gematria – Gematria II: The Spindle Of Necessity

“Gematria” is not just another made up word used as the name of a metal band, but an ancient system of Jewish numerology that reduces words to numbers which reveal inner meaning. OK, that’s out of the way, how about the band of the same name? It’s a two-man combo that actually uses the process of gematria to put together their music, which can best be described as progressive instrumentals with elements of metal, jazz and electronica. Whatever magic or method they use, it works! Gematria II: The Spindle Of Necessity is a delightfully energetic romp of coherent instrumental music […]

Album Reviews

Album Review: ABHOR – Sex Sex Sex (Ceremonia Daemonis Antichristi)

Now eight albums deep into a 25+ year history, Italy’s ABHOR renew their commitment to the dark arts with the evocatively titled Sex Sex Sex (Ceremonia Daemonis Antichristi). With the core membership of Domine Saevum Graven and Ulfhedhnir (on guitar and vocals respectively) intact since 1995, one would be forgiven for assuming you know what you’re walking into with ABHOR. With the cover continuing the red/crimson theme of 2015’s Ritualia Stramonium and Occulta Religio of three years later, thoughts (among other things) arise of COVEN’s oft’ imitated Jinx Dawson, but this being ABHOR, there’s a snide swipe at the liturgies […]

Album Reviews

Album Review: Manic Abraxas – Foreign Winds

Okay, so you’re a three-piece band from Stephen King Country, and you’ve already shot your shot by naming your outfit MANIC ABRAXAS. Add the weight that your last album was called Speed Golem and where the fuck do you go from there?! Well, it’d help if you started Foreign Winds out with something equally snazzily titled, ‘Red Camo Rock’, let’s say. Bonus points if you throw a few COFFINS grooves and Thomas G. Warrior-patented “Unnnh!”s in also. There’s a tad of the early ’00s DARKTHRONE here, thinking The Cult Is Alive, when Fenriz got to stroke his punk hard-on to […]

Album Reviews

Album Review: Even Flow – Mediterraneo [EP]

EVEN FLOW has been active for a bit over two decades now, and yet Mediterraneo is only its fifth release (including two other EPs and as many full-lengths), so one would hope for quality over quantity, right? Opening with ‘Ocean Lies’ we’re immediately swept under the waves of crashing keys that seem to dominate the mix, the band clearly feeling the energy that this sort of prog-lite metal needs to carry it over. Don’t let the “lite” confuse you, though, as there’s plenty of heft to the vocals of Marco Pastorino, who has possibly the most pristine pipes I’ve heard […]

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