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 OLD DEAD TREE – The End

Saying goodbye can be a difficult thing, but I believe goodbyes on good terms are much better than memories fading into nothingness. THE OLD DEAD TREE releases their final EP, The End, as a final chapter to celebrate a twenty plus year career, and it is definitely a satisfying but concise ending. This EP contains 5 tracks, all written around 1999, and all these tracks fit right in with their library of dark, beautiful and melancholic brand of progressive metal. The EP kicks off with ’Sorry’. A lite piano intro shifts into a very percussive riff, and then, breaks away […]

Album Reviews

Album Review: FEN – The Dead Light

Melancholic, mournful, furious and hopeful are all words that circled me in listening through FEN’s 2019 release, The Dead Light. This is the sixth full length album released by this atmospheric black metal war horse since their inception in 2006, and this is their most formidable album to date. Unlike previous releases, The Dead Light brings more prog elements to the table. This mixes well with the more typical soundscapes and blackened fury FEN is known for. The album opens with ‘Witness’ which really introduces you to what you should expect for the rest of the album. It starts with […]

Album Reviews

Album Review: Legendry – The Wizard And The Tower Keep

This is a real oddball release, and perhaps that is its greatest strength. With their 1982-era Dungeons And Dragons style artwork, Pennsylvania’s LEGENDRY looks like they might be another knock-off of NWOBHM and epic power metal. And indeed, you can find much of that style here. But there’s a lot more going on sonically here than can be described in one easy sentence. There’s a lot of ’70s love and worship in LEGENDRY. They have the kind of quirkiness that could be found in early SABBATH, RAINBOW, ’70s RUSH, even JETHRO TULL and KANSAS! They don’t restrict themselves to basic […]

Album Reviews

Album Review: Kilter – Axiom

In the interest of full disclosure, let’s be clear. I know as much about the inner workings of jazz as you do about what I had for breakfast, and, by and large, I feel that it’s a joke I’ll never get the punchline of. It’s math masquerading (mathsquerading?) as music, and I never had a head for numbers, so… On the other hand, what this does do is free me up to enjoy – or not – the style on a purely visceral/emotional level. Either it speaks to me, or it doesn’t, and there’s literally zero historical context from which […]

Album Reviews

Album Review: AngelBlast – Rotting Paradise

A word on ANGELBLAST. Well, not much more than “a word”, as the entity has only just been shat forth from creation’s uterus, and all we really know is that it features in its ranks members of EXCRUCIATE and DARKENED. No surprise, then, that what’s on offer is death metal. Because the world needs another death metal band like it needs another hole in the head. To its credit, though, the title track of Rotting Paradise cranks up with a seconds-long snare roll, then gets down to the skullcrush. Subterfuge melodies writhe beneath the surface of passionately-delivered death reminiscent of […]

Album Reviews

Album Review: The Wraith – Gloom Ballet

With its longest song just a shade over the 4-minute mark, THE WRAITH’s debut full-length reveals the quartet as a band that doesn’t waste time with pleasantries or overlong introductions. First impressions are everything these days, and ‘Ballad Of Aeon’ rocks with the fervor of early LORDS OF THE NEW CHURCH, yet the hack ‘n’ slash guitars of late ‘80s Hussey/Hinkler MISSION UK, bands that sound about as disparate as two could within their chosen subgenre. It works here, though, a sign of good things to come, we hope. ‘Prevail’ falters in the verses, a bit too akin to the […]

Album Reviews

Album Review: Blackqueen – The Destructive Cycle

Seattle’s BLACKQUEEN returns with its all-important Album Number Three here, summarily getting down to the business of ‘The Destructive Cycle’, sludge reminiscent of the much-missed RABIES CASTE in moments, the angular slash ‘n’ burn of early QUICKSAND in others. Surprisingly, most of all, is that this instrumental introduction didn’t bore the ever-loving crap out of me as the majority of such things are wont to do. ‘Feed The Worm’ is the antithesis of the opener, staccato riff attack and a (possibly subconscious) nod to the heshers in the triumphant 0:29-0:44 section, all anchored by a rhythm section reminiscent of CRETIN […]

Album Reviews

Album Review: Strigoi – Abandon All Faith

VALLENFYRE is no more. The crusty death metal project of PARADISE LOST’s Gregor Mackintosh has breathed its last. But rushing in to fill the gap is STRIGOI, named after demons of Romanian folklore. The differences between VALLENFYRE and STRIGOI are not extreme, but they are there and it’s a good bet that fans of both VALLENFYRE and PARADISE LOST will enjoy the murky gloom of Abandon All Faith. Though the debut has the same grimy feel as VALLENFYRE, Abandon All Faith is a little more varied and, on occasion, more sophisticated. ‘Phantoms’, ‘Carved Into Skin’ and the title track all […]

Album Reviews

Album Review: Chained To The Bottom Of The Ocean – Tell Me What You See…

This is the third release by CHAINED TO THE BOTTOM OF THE OCEAN preceded by a full-lenghth and initial EP over the past two years. To my jaw- dropping surprise the first track, ‘I Will Possess Your Heart’, is a DEATH CAB FOR CUTIE cover, which of course they slaughter it in the best way possible. Gritty guitar and gritty vocals, i couldn’t ask for much more. Yet another welcome surprise is Paul Degrandpre’s clean vocal delivery at one point during ‘Out, Brief Candle’, and not for nothing, I happen to think he has a lovely voice. Truth be told, […]

Album Reviews

Album Review: Admiral Sir Cloudesley Shovell – Very Uncertain Times

Yes, these are very uncertain times indeed, but fortunately we can rely on the good ADMIRAL SIR CLOUDESLEY SHOVELL to blast our brainwaves with greasy, gritty retro-rock on a fairly predictable basis. This is getting to be one of those “never fail” bands and I can’t think of anybody doing the early ’70s proto-metal/blues rock shtick with more authenticity and good humor than the good ADMIRAL. It is tedious to repeat in each successive review of ASCS, but these guys are able to channel the rugged, raw and loud sounds of the early 70’s blues rock scene with amazing fidelity. […]

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