Rebel Extravaganza

Heavy Metal And Other Occasional Musics And Cultures

Jordan Rudess, keyboardist from Grammy-Award winning band Dream Theater, to launch solo tour this summer

Voted “Best Keyboardist Of All Time” (Music Radar Magazine), virtuoso musician/composer and keyboardist for Grammy-Award winning prog rock band Dream Theater, JORDAN RUDESS, will embark on a 2 month solo tour titled AN EVENING WITH JORDAN RUDESS this summer from June to August. Audiences can expect to spend this intimate evening with Jordan immersed in his musical virtuosity as he shares personal stories from his musical journey. The tour kicks off on June 7th in Seattle, WA and concludes on Aug 6th in Ft. Lauderdale, FL. Playing many cities for the first time, along with a return to select markets, […]

Album Review: Melt Motif – A White Horse Will Take You Home

‘Sleep’ bubbles to the surface, yet quickly pulses, throbs, a being brought to life and speaking secret language via the sugary, beguiling delivery of Rakel. Underneath, though, the insistent vibration, dream pop in its truest, most literal sense. There’s a strong ‘80s keyboard base here, YAZ and earliest DEPECHE MODE springing to mind, and into ‘Mine’, which even more confirms this kinship, though the members of MELT MOTIF may not’ve even been born then. Jagged guitars rise from the cave floor, stalagmites formed from the dripping sweet honeyed vocals, adding another color to the sonic palette thus far. ‘Everything Will […]

Greek Black Metal Act Corax B.M Debuts with Pagan Records

CORAX B.M, the latest spawn of the Greek black metal scene, will release its debut EP entitled Spread The Occult on 27 May 2022 via Pagan Records after signing to the label earlier this year. The band’s most notable music element is the combination of primal Scandinavian black melodies, with a punk aesthetic and their main influences are Behemoth, Mayhem, Rotting Christ, Necromantia and Darkthrone. CORAX B.M was established in 2021 as a solo project by the artist Corax (aka Kostas Katoikos) who collaborated with drummer Morker (Yiannis Chariskos) and vocalist Énnea (Marita Makaronidi) for her use of “whisper vocals”. […]

Album Review: Deathspell Omega – The Long Defeat

Enshrouded in its own seemingly self-enfolded cloak of mystery, France’s DEATHSPELL OMEGA with 2004’s Si Monvmentvm Reqvires, Circvmspice fully embraced the Satanic theology and esotericism it had been toying with previously, both starting the band on a new path and spawning legions of wishful carbon copies in the process. After six years without a full-length, DO returned in 2016, and has kept to its every third-year cycle since, of which The Long Defeat is the latest. Two minutes into opener ‘Enantiodromia’ and it still sounds as if the band’s searching for a song somewhere in the ether; not that there’s […]

Metal Blade Records Celebrates 40 Years

“So as we enter our 40th year it is pretty crazy to think about that. The first thing I thought of was reissuing the first Metal Massacre album. I thought it would be difficult to get the rights etc.. it ended up being one of the easiest things as all the bands were super cool and now hopefully you got a copy! We’re still planning some cool shows and parties for this year so stay tuned for those! It’s been pretty overwhelming with all the stuff that’s happened so far and its certainly amazing —just all the things that have […]

Album Review: Static Abyss – Labyrinth Of Veins

AUTOPSY fans, if you’re getting anxious waiting for the next slab of rotten death from your heroes, relief is headed your way. For all intents and purposes, STATIC ABYSS is AUTOPSY, Not all the members of AUTOPSY are here, but Chris Reifert and Greg Wilkinson sure are and if there’s any noticeable difference in style between STATIC ABYSS and AUTOPSY, it escapes me. This is repulsive death-doom laced with insane hammering in classic AUTOPSY/ABSCESS style. I would say the production here is slightly cleaner than what we usually get with AUTOPSY, but the same dedication to depraved sonic destruction is […]

DEVIL MASTER: NEW ALBUM, ECSTASIES OF NEVER ENDING NIGHT, OUT NOW

DEVIL MASTER welcome new drummer/keyboardist Chris Ulsh (Power Trip and Iron Age) for an intricate second full-length that masterfully mixes black metal, death rock and Japanese-style hardcore. Produced & recorded live to analog tape by Pete DeBoer (Blood Incantation). WATCH / SHARE OFFICIAL MUSIC VIDEOS: ‘Acid Black Mass’ and ‘The Vigour Of Evil’ Listen and Order at THIS LOCATION Ecstasies Of Never Ending Night witnesses Philadelphia’s DEVIL MASTER at its core – its roots in ritual magick have never been more prominent. Recorded live to analog tape by Pete DeBoer (Blood Incantation, Spectral Voice), Ecstasies… expands on the warped riffing […]

Album Review: Temple Of Void – Summoning The Slayer

Now four albums deep into its nearly ten-year existence, Michigan’s TEMPLE OF VOID returns with Summoning The Slayer. Lumbering and lurking, ‘Behind The Eye’ stalks forth from shadow, basic, almost Cro-Magnon in its main chord progression, but “basic” in the style of BOLT THROWER and early BENEDICTION, straightforward. No muss, no fuss, just head-down and advancing destruction. ‘Deathtouch’ makes no secret of its melody, oppressively forlorn in the verses ala the burgeoning days of The Peaceville Three, and – as their forefathers – with a chorus that confirms that not only can such a sub-genre as death/doom exist, but can […]

BOG BODY: New York City Cult Black Metal Duo Issues Dregs Soar To The Skies’ Single; Debut LP, Cryonic Crevasse Cult, Nears Release Through Profound Lore Records

As New York City black metal cult BOG BODY prepares for the May release of their debut full-length album, Cryonic Crevasse Cult, label home Profound Lore Records today offers the latest auditory barrage from the record, issuing the new single ‘Dregs Soar To The Skies’. Following in the footsteps of their 2018 Through The Burial Bog demo and 2020’s The Gate Of Grief MLP, BOG BODY – a duo consisting solely of bass, drums, and vocals – has transcended the cultic guts of black metal’s early forefathers with a subsonic war doom incursion for their debut album that’s as much […]

Album Review: Likheim – Alt Skal Svinne Hen… [EP]

Alt Skal Svinne Hen… may be LIKHEIM’s first shot across the bow when it comes to black metal, but the project’s been incubating for around two decades, so let’s strip all excuses such as “It’s the first recording” and “Pretty good try” away, shall we? Helmsman and vocalist Gretn has had plenty of time to craft this EP into what he wishes, to mold it to his vision of perfect form, so no one to laud or blame but himself should things go awry. The title track reeks with the stench of mid/late ‘90s GORGOROTH, Gretn’s vocals reminiscent of Gaahl’s […]