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: Cavernous Gate – Voices From A Fathomless Realm

At over three minutes, the layered choral intonations, bell-like chimes, ritual drums of ‘That Night’ are less “intro” and more a full piece of the DEAD CAN DANCE / CURRENT 93 variety, gently tolling into ‘Old Graves Stir’. ‘Twixt forlorn crags, yet of majestic height we travel, summoned into the realm of death, stumbling over jagged riff, loss howling its fetid decay into our face in form of winds. Sebastian “S.K.” Körkemeier in his other roles, other bands has proven himself well versed in all shades of light and shadow, seeming to fully embrace the chance here to truly shine […]

Album Reviews

Album Review: The Necromancers – Where The Void Rose

Almost feels as if we’ve stumbled into some shady downtown bar mid-song, ‘Sunken Huntress’ wasting no time in reminding old friends and informing newcomers what THE NECROMANCERS is on about. There’s a bit of Magnus Pelander in new vocalist Basile Chevalier-Coundrain’s pipes, more complimentary than carbon copy, shades of the much-missed Michael Grant of CRESCENT SHIELD, and neither a bad thing. Musically, there’s a delightful blend of doom, SLOUGH FEG-styled rave-ups and even a sense of experimentation ala MASTODON’s post-Leviathan work on offer here. Certainly the most overtly Metal of the bunch, ‘The Needle’ marries early JUDAS PRIEST to a […]

Album Reviews

Album Review: Balls Gone Wild – Stay Wild

Something tells me we’re not going to get a deep discussion of gnostic hermeticism from a band called BALLS GONE WILD. Now some wags might call them BALLS GONE MILD, but honestly, these guys are shooting for simple hard rock, not skull-crushing metal. With that being said, this is a pretty forgettable release. The press sheet describes them as “AC/DC meets MOTORHEAD” but BGW doesn’t have anywhere near the grittiness of those two bands. It’s not even on the same planet, although the basic riffs do bring AC/DC to mind on occasion. But to me, it sounds like AC/DC filtered […]

Album Reviews

Album Review: Blut Aus Nord – Disharmonium – Undreamable Abysses

Gurgling as expected, yet briefly before the maelstrom ensues, ‘Chants Of The Deep Ones’ instantly evokes themes Lovecraftian, shrieking keys and tempestuously cataclysmic rhythms, at once regal and rabid, unspeech slithering amid the cacophonic whirlwind of dementia. ‘Tales Of The Old Dreamer’ moves, swirls, hanging chords and patterns in the atmosphere, weaving robes of starlight and supernova, of black holes and blubbering, ranting acolytes. Already, we are in a world not of our making, or formed by human hands or minds. Roiling, reckless, ravenous, ‘Neptune’s Eye’ opens, drawing us deeper into the chaos brought into corporeal form in 1890 Rhode […]

Album Reviews

Album Review: Panzerfaust – The Suns Of Perdition – Chapter III: The Astral Drain

‘Death-Drive Projections’ begins the third installment of the Suns Of Perdition tetralogy, and wastes no time, overpowering before the first syllable is uttered, towering, scaling heights also ascended to by only few, CULTED and IMPERIAL TRIUMPHANT coming to mind in the sheer breadth of sonics involved. For those who’ve been following this project since ‘19s TSOP – Chapter I: War, Horrid War, this is a near-seamless transition, almost as if all albums thus far were in succession, 3 weeks instead of three years passing. After the first of 4 interludes, ‘B22: The Hive And The Hole’ rolls in, methodical, purposeful […]

Album Reviews

Album Review: Mantar – Pain Is Forever And This Is The End

Every few years these guys pop up and the more hipster division of the metal press loses their shit over them. Then they soon disappear without a ripple again. Well, it’s time for MANTAR to surface again, this time on Metal Blade with an album title that sets itself up for parody right away. Or maybe it’s getting too close for comfort… Anyhoo, let me dive into it. How to describe MANTAR? Well, they certainly are not what I would call death, black or thrash metal, but they are quite heavy and morose. Their deceptively simple and basic style seems […]

Album Reviews

Album Review: Spiritus Mortis – The Great Seal

Calling forth from the reservoir of vast knowledge (the internet in this case), ‘Puputan’ translates from Indonesian into “bellows” or “blowing”, but also relates to the Japanese act of mass ritual suicide. Either way, either meaning, SPIRITUS MORTIS certainly kicks things in the arse from the start here, new vocalist Kimmo Perämäki shredding both eardrums and his throat, a more rough ‘n’ ragged Robert Lowe, his allowance to let things “slip” from perfection from time to time infusing this TROUBLE-influenced circa ’90 jam (think Trouble) with a sense of urgency. Conjuring latter-day NEVERMORE in the riffing of ‘Death’s Charioteer’, Maijala […]

Album Reviews

Album Review: Moribund Dawn – Dark Mysteries Of Time & Eternity

From the get go, I nodded my head and I was pleased. From start to finish I was taken back in time to my youth, first discovering black metal and being shown EMPEROR’s In The Nightside Eclipse. Now don’t get me wrong, its nice to hear new BM and to see the twists and turns of the genre, but O what a pleasure it is to be taken back to the good ol’ days. As an album, Dark Mysteries Of Time & Eternity flows really well. The addition of acoustic and organ does wonders, and even the clean vocals are […]

Album Reviews

Album Review: Wake – Thought Form Descent

‘Infinite Inward’ slowly rolls into our vision over the horizon, an incoming tide lapping at the shore, and it’s clear WAKE is seeking something grander here. Soon enough, though, the softly swirling waters become waves of destructive proportions. Much like HAUNTER’s past few albums, I’ve become interested in what happens when screamo and/or grind bands veer hard left into metallic lands. For both bands, the move has actually made me take notice, as their approach to and way of looking at metal are wildly different than the norm. Encompassing, this opening benefits greatly from a pristine production, accentuating every nuance, […]

Album Reviews

Album Review: Pharmacist – Flourishing Extremities On Unspoiled Mental Grounds

Where on Earth do I start with this one? How about this…record of the year? The band CARCASS has inspired a ton of other metal bands over the years. There used to be quite a flourishing scene of bands imitating the gruesome grind of their first two albums. And you can say that arguably the entire melodic death metal scene was kickstarted by Necroticism: Descanting The Insalubrious and its followup Heartwork. I will be honest. Necroticism is in my opinion the greatest death metal album ever recorded. Now we have PHARMACIST and what this band has done is almost beyond […]

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