Rebel Extravaganza

Heavy Metal And Other Occasional Musics And Cultures

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 […]

Music News

MACHINIST! To Release 10 Years Of Torture LP Compiling Their First Two Albums, Confirmed For August Release Through Nefarious Industries; New Promo Video And Preorders Posted

After some time off, Southeastern mean muggers MACHINIST! burst out of hibernation with the announcement of 10 Years Of Torture, an LP compilation containing the band’s first two full-length albums on wax for the first time ever. The release includes 2015’s Pronegative and its 2018 follow-up Closer To Death on sides A and B respectively. For this endeavor the band is continuing their relationship with Philadelphia-based Nefarious Industries who is co-releasing the record with Gainesville, Florida-based Salvaged Records run by MACHINIST!’s own Jeremy McGuire. Vocalist Jeff Hill had this to say: “We’ve been doing this for a decade now. Some […]

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 […]

Music News

East Coast heavy psych stalwarts FREEDOM HAWK share soothing new track ‘Seize The Day’ new album out September 23rd on Ripple Music.

Virginia Beach-based heavy psych torchbearers FREEDOM HAWK share a new excerpt taken from their sixth studio album Take All You Can to be released September 23rd on Ripple Music. Give in to the soothing vibe of ‘Seize The Day’ now! “One of the American Eastern Seaboard’s most vital presences in heavy rock. If you need rock and roll, trust well that FREEDOM HAWK will be on hand to deliver.” – The Obelisk Listen to new single ‘Seize The Day’ via The Obelisk HERE The US East Coast underground’s rock champions are back in top form with their sixth-full length this […]

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 […]

Music News

CROWBAR To Kick Off Summer Headlining Tour + Additional Dates Announced; Zero And Below Full-Length Out Now On MNRK Heavy

CROWBAR has begun The Riff Beast Tour, which includes eleven newly added dates, and runs through September 12th in Birmingham, Alabama. Tickets are on sale now! See all confirmed dates below. w/ Spirit Adrift: 8/02/2022 Emerson Theater – Indianapolis, IN 8/03/2022 King Of Cups – Columbus, OH 8/04/2022 Montage Music Hall – Rochester, NY 8/06/2022 The Chance Theater – Poughkeepsie, NY 8/09/2022 Saint Vitus – Brooklyn, NY 8/10/2022 Anchor Rock Club – Atlantic City, NJ 8/11/2022 Reverb – Reading, PA 8/12/2022 The Loud – Huntington, WV 8/13/2022 The Broadberry – Richmond, VA 8/14/2022 Local 506 – Chapel Hill, NC 8/16/2022 […]

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, […]

Music News

UK Trad-Metallers DARK FOREST Celebrate 20th Anniversary with September Release of New EP

UK Traditional Metal band DARK FOREST will celebrate its 20th anniversary with the September 30 release of new EP Ridge & Furrow. The EP will be released on CD, digital, and vinyl formats via Cruz Del Sur Music. A lyric video for EP opener ‘Skylark’ is available at THIS LOCATION The venerable DARK FOREST returns with the five-song Ridge & Furrow EP that celebrates their immaculate history and sets the stage for future melodic metal triumphs! The United Kingdom’s DARK FOREST has followed a single guiding principle throughout their 20 years as a band: Create and play the music they […]

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 […]

Music News

Stoner psych trio JOSIAH stream new album We Lay On Cold Stone via The Sleeping Shaman

After months of anticipation, it’s time for JOSIAH to unveil their brand new album We Lay On Cold Stone exclusively courtesy of The Sleeping Shaman! This groovy, heavy and infectiously psychedelic beauty is out now on Blues Funeral Recordings. “A journey of both heart and soul, the album’s a real trip from edge to center.” – Doomed and Stoned“A jubilant sense of groove that isn’t going stale anytime soon.” – Invisible Oranges“One hell of a comeback album.” – The Sleeping Shaman Listen to new album We Lay On Cold Stone at THIS LOCATION Forging ahead to reclaim their legacy as […]

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