Rebel Extravaganza

Heavy Metal And Other Occasional Musics And Cultures

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 […]

Music News

THE OTOLITH: SubRosa members return with new project on Blues Funeral Recordings

Rising from the ashes of Salt Lake City’s beloved avant-garde and symphonic doom juggernauts SubRosa comes THE OTOLITH, who will release their debut album Folium Limina on October 21st through Blues Funeral Recordings. First single ‘Sing No Coda’ is available on all streaming platforms, with album preorders now online! When SubRosa announced its breakup in 2019, the heavy music community felt the loss of their uniquely elegant and intensely heavy atmospheric doom devotionals. Rather than wonder what velvet darkness might still await, however, SubRosa’s Kim Cordray, Levi Hanna, Andy Patterson and Sarah Pendleton swiftly emerged as a new entity called […]

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 […]

Music News

KATATONIA Announces 2022 North American Headline Tour Featuring Support from The Ocean Collective & Cellar Darling

Melancholic metal masters KATATONIA are thrilled to return to North American shores this fall after a five year absence – announcing a massive 2022 headline tour featuring support from progressive metal frontrunners The Ocean Collective and prog-folk force Cellar Darling. The tour is set to begin on November 9 in Washington, DC, and will visit several major cities into December, coming to an end on December 10 in Tampa, FL. Tickets for this can’t-miss tour are available now.Visit www.katatonia.com for tickets and more information. KATATONIA frontman Jonas Renske states:”North America! We are very pleased to announce that we are coming […]

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 […]

Music News

JASON BLAKE: Warr Guitarist To Release The Compromise Rationale, Part Two In Album Trilogy, Via Wayfarer Records In September; ‘Euphoria With Repercussions’ Streaming + Preorders Posted

Chicago, Illinois-based progressive Warr guitarist JASON BLAKE presents The Compromise Rationale, the middle release in the Ternary Instinct themed trilogy of albums, the record now confirmed for September release through Wayfarer Records. The Warr Guitar is a twelve-string instrument incorporating the range of a guitar and bass, which is performed by tapping the strings; a technique known as touchstyle guitar. JASON BLAKE plays with the progressive metal instrumental trio, Aziola Cry, who recently released their album, The Ironic Divide, on Sensory Records in early 2021. With this band, he writes music featuring the rhythmic and melodic capabilities of the Warr […]

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 […]

Music News

Sleep unveil Dopesmoker deluxe LP w/ real cannabis leaves in vinyl; album returning to DSPs Today

Sleep unveil Dopesmoker deluxe LP w/real cannabis leaves in vinyl; album returning to DSPs Today SLEEP and Third Man Records are proud to announce that SLEEP’s landmark album Dopesmoker will be available on DSPs this Friday, August 26. Additionally, Third Man has announced two new vinyl variants of the album. Alongside a black vinyl LP, which will be available for pre-order on Friday, pure, unadulterated, authentic cannabis leaves are encapsulated in PVC for the first time ever to create a deluxe “Weedian High-Fi” pressing of the album, exclusively available at Third Man’s Detroit storefront. Pre-Order Dopesmoker HERE Hear ‘Hot Lava […]

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 […]

Music News

Lustre returns with A Thirst For Summer Rain

A Thirst For Summer Rain is the eighth full-length album of LUSTRE – the Swedish apotheosis of ambient black metal. As the initial waves of soothing keyboards come rolling in, it is immediately clear that Lustre still adheres to its musical tradition of dreamlike minimalism. However, when the remaining instruments enter the picture, the soundscape in which they are framed is likely to come as quite the surprise for long-time followers of the band. A Thirst For Summer Rain is the first of Nachtzeit’s releases to have been recorded, mixed, and mastered in a professional studio – a move which […]

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