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: MEIN KOPF IST EIN BRUTALER ORT – Ton Steine Sterben

For a band who’s been around for a decade as of this year, to be referred to as “the German LAMB OF GOD” is likely not as flattering as one would think. After ten full years, shouldn’t MEIN KOPF IST EIN BRUTALER ORT (“My Head Is A Brutal Place”, for those who care) have at least taken steps towards developing its own sound? Its own identity? Now I understand full well that bands aren’t always to blame for their PR info, and sometimes such veers from slight exaggeration to all out untruth, but gotta shift them units, right? And in […]

Album Reviews

Album Review: Ufomammut – Fenice

When a band eight albums deep into a storied career has not only the honesty to look itself in the mirror and admit it doesn’t like what it sees but the boldness to admit such to its fans, that counts for something. And that’s exactly what UFOMAMMUT did during its thankfully brief hiatus over 2020. Some even wondered if there would be another album. Well, founders Urlo and Poia have returned, new drummer Levre in tow, and Fenice is the result. ‘Dust’ begins, distant waves, heartbeat pulse of rhythm, electronic blips, a band coming back from coma/hibernation, let us say. […]

Album Reviews

Album Review: Skull Fist – Paid In Full

Now on its fourth LP, Toronto’s SKULL FIST are true believers in the timelessness of heavy metal as it was in what so many of us geezers nostalgically refer to as “the glory days”, “back when…” or “before all this…”. The title track kicks off with all the energy of MTV-era GREAT WHITE and half the power, straight from that time when major labels were throwing heaps of cash at anything with a cucumber in its pants and a can of hairspray in a holster. Now don’t get me wrong, vocalist/guitarist Zach Slaughter has some pipes. It’s just that he’s […]

Album Reviews

Album Review: ABBATH – Dread Reaver

Black metal’s Uncle Buck returns to action and I’m not quite sure what to make of Dread Reaver. Yes, a lot of the ABBATH (and by way of osmosis, IMMORTAL) trademarks are here, but this has a different sound and approach than the man’s last two solo efforts. For one thing, the sound is rawer…a lot rawer. That’s not always a bad thing, to be sure, but the precision of previous ABBATH and also the last few IMMORTAL records is not here. Everything sounds a lot looser, almost like jamming in the rehearsal room, and the riffs don’t stick in […]

Album Reviews

Album Review: IZTHMI – Leaving This World, Leaving It All Behind

IZTHMI’s been practicing the dark arts for just over five years now, and yes, they’re from Washington state, but don’t let that mislead you into writing the quintet off as some WITR clone of the “Cascadian” black metal “scene”. After the whispered delivery of ‘Ever Beneath His Gaze (He Will Drown The World In His Tears)’, ‘The Shadows Of Our Disillusionment’ begins Leaving This World, Leaving It All Behind proper. The guitar tone immediately sets apart IZTHMI, being almost mechanical at times, yet shot through with super-clean lead phrases. While it’ll make a good many BM purists cringe or grouse, […]

Album Reviews

Album Review: Hurakan – Via Aeterna

France’s HURAKAN returns for the all-important third album, moving up to virtual abattoir of death metal, Czechia’s Lacerated Enemy Records. Via Aeterna from the start reveals a darker, more seasoned HURAKAN, ‘Imperium’ slowly but deliberately moving into our field of vision, a hulking being, orchestral arrangements courtesy of Philippe Parickmiler adding just the layer the foursome needed to move forward. And thus we do, into ‘Void’, which isn’t so much of an earworm as the prior track, but drummer Thomas Cremier seems to have fixed the slight thinness I thought I was hearing before. Unhurried yet not lazy, this seems […]

Album Reviews

Album Review: ORATORY – Inner Pyre [EP]

I won’t lie. As much as I pride myself on being musically openminded I expect truth in and from the musicians I listen to and strive to be authentic above all in my own work. You’ll never see me sporting a Harley Davidson shirt. You know why? I do not own a Harley Davidson. Don’t slap a Viking helmet on your dome and sing about Lindisfarne if you’re from bloody Croatia, and if your band members are going to wear CELTIC FROST and NEUROSIS shirts in your promo photos, I’d better hear you at least trying to inject some of […]

Album Reviews

Album Review: HALLUX VALGUS – Reflections Of Distant Dreams

Okay, so the cat got me. I mean, look. On the cover. It’s a cat. And it looks like my cat, for fuck’s sake. I’ve been going through a late ‘60s-early ‘70s psych/folk phase for the past year or two such as INCREDIBLE STRING BAND blended with monster ‘70s guitar rock ala CROW and RAM JAM, and the art of this first widely-available edition left me unsure what to expect, but intrigued enough to press Play. A hard-charging riff sets Reflections Of Distant Dreams off at a gallop, ‘Ghastly Reflections’ harking back to the days when thrash/speed was beginning its […]

Album Reviews

Album Review: Mirror – The Day Bastard Leaders Die

Look deep into this MIRROR and you’ll see the spirit of true heavy metal staring back at you. I thought the debut from this Greek band was fantastic and The Day Bastard Leaders Die is a more than worthy follow-up. The creation of SATAN’S WRATH bassist Taz, this band is 100% dedicated to the sounds of the New Wave Of British Heavy Metal and the darkest ’70s hard rock. MIRROR play a rather elegant, almost baroque style of true metal that has a strong flavor of ANGELWITCH, CANDLEMASS and MERCYFUL FATE. Singer Jimmy Mavrommatis has a great clear voice that’s […]

Album Reviews

Album Review: Vaamatar – Medievalgeist

And so it was that, after suffering through the utter dreck comprising HELL MILITIA’s newest half-assery, I needed the black metal version of a palate cleanse. Having no experience with VAAMATAR prior, but armed with the assurance that Iron Bonehead Productions is usually reliable for at least quality if not preference, we venture forth into Medievalgeist. The title track arrives, synth, screams and sacrifice giving way to equally orgiastic glee, and the first thing that stands out is the surprisingly robust production. No ‘Several Species Of Small Armored Pandas Together In A Cave A Mile Away And Grooving With A […]

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