Rebel Extravaganza

Heavy Metal And Other Occasional Musics And Cultures

Album Reviews

Album Review: BA’A – Egregore

A relative new arrival to black metal, France’s BA’A stirred up things a bit with 2020’s Deus qui non mentitur, the debut embracing the overarching aspects of the genre without seeming beholden to tradition to the point of obstinance. Now don’t get me wrong, I can fully respect a BOLT THROWER-esque refusal to move either “forward” or “backward” sonically, it’s just that to have put up such an image for BA’A – especially given the pedigree of its members – would’ve seemed dishonest. And thus, credit where due. Not having nearly enough French to even begin deciphering Egregore lyrically, I’ll […]

Music News

Steve Von Till (Neurosis) Announces U.S. Summer Tour – Shares First Episode of New Live Series ‘A Remote Wilderness’

STEVE VON TILL has announced a full North American Summer tour in support of his recent releases which include 2020’s No Wilderness Deep Enough, last year’s ambient A Deep Voiceless Wilderness and his debut book Harvestman: 23 Untitled Poems And Collected Lyrics. The tour starts in Minneapolis on July 1, covers both coasts, Chicago, Texas and includes a performance at Wyoming’s Fire in the Mountains festival. For a full list of dates see below. Tickets and updates are available HERE Last year, Von Till joined forces with the highly esteemed Roadburn Festival to broadcast a performance for their 2021 online […]

Album Reviews

Album Review: Midnight – Let There Be Witchery

There aren’t many good things to come out of the Buckeye State. As a Michigander there are the obvious “sportsball” rivalries, but mainly Ohio’s just something to avoid driving through on your way to get anywhere else. Don’t wanna “get any on ya” or anything. And yet, this is where the nasty blackthrashspeed of founder and sole member Athenar has thriven for nearly two decades now. Thus, I’ve promised myself this review will only take as long to write as a listen through his fifth under the black banner of MIDNIGHT. Thoughts of some piss-poor “intro” get flushed septic-ward once […]

Music News

US death metal legends BRUTALITY to release new album in May

Being a band with a well-documented turbulent career, BRUTALITY managed to have a fine body of discography work in their on-and-off career. Four studio albums that put them among the best death metal bands that the Tampa scene, in Florida, has exported to the world. And we’re talking Tampa, Florida, home of the best US death metal bands. When BRUTALITY announced, in October 2020, the band would be splitting up, the whole world was left stranded – once again – except for one person. Michael H. Andersen, Emanzipation Productions A&R, saw that as an opportunity to release a kind of […]

Music News

Porcupine Tree announce first tour in 12 years; share new song; album out in June

GRAMMY® Award-nominated British rock band PORCUPINE TREE will celebrate their long-overdue return to the global stage with new dates confirmed in North and South America. The legendary group’s first tour since October 2010 in support of their latest album Closure/Continuation, will kick off September 10 at Toronto Ontario’s Meridian Hall, followed by concerts in Montreal, QC; Boston, MA; New York, NY; Philadelphia, PA; Washington, DC; Chicago, IL; Irving, TX; Denver, Co; San Francisco, CA and Los Angeles, CA; continuing with eagerly awaited October performances in Mexico City, Mexico (October 4) and Santiago, Chile (October 7). The North and South American […]

Album Reviews

Album Review: Dark Meditation – Polluted Temples

With a PR sheet name-dropping everyone from VENOM to PRIEST to DANZIG and mentioning the members’ previous “punk ethos” Polluted Temples could’ve gone either way. Shiver-inducing images of early ‘00s CRADLE OF FILTH or any DANZIG after III: How The Gods Kill plagued my mind, but on a ridiculous bright and sunny Monday morning in February, 2022, I gathered my courage and… After the mercifully short ‘Prelude’, ‘Babalon.Money.Magick’ is…oh, yes, now I see where the DANZIG influence comes from, but it’s not even good DANZIG, instead sloughing forward with all the energy of a greasy devilock and half the passion. […]

Music News

AMENRA, CAVE IN, And MARISSA NADLER Brought Together For Songs Of Townes Van Zandt Vol. III LP, Confirmed For April Release Via Neurot Recordings And My Proud Mountain

Neurot Recordings in conjunction with My Proud Mountain announces the third record of the Songs Of Townes Van Zandt series, which was started in 2012, featuring various artists covering the works of beloved American singer-songwriter Townes Van Zandt. Songs Of Townes Van Zandt Vol. III features new renditions of nine classic tracks as interpreted by AMENRA, CAVE IN, and MARISSA NADLER. Steve Brodsky of CAVE IN stated about being part of the record, “In the winter of 2010, I did a solo tour with Scott Kelly of Neurosis and Bob Wayne. It was the three of us and Ansgar Glade […]

Album Reviews

Album Review: HEBOSAGIL – Yössä

When a band morphs from a pretty much by-the-numbers speed/thrash act into a strange hydra of noise rock, abusive sludge and identifiably Scandinavian punk, it’s a chance taken; but when the change happens over the course of nearly two decades – and seems natural – it’s downright impressive. Think about it. Do any of our precious 2nd wave black metal bands sound the same as they did in the late ‘80s/early ‘90s? Well, there you have it. So, though the core ethics/beliefs may not have changed, through age and experience they have developed, much like the sound of HEBOSAGIL on […]

Music News

High on Fire and Sleep’s Matt Pike Releases Debut Solo LP ‘Pike vs. the Automaton’

From rewriting the hard rock rulebook with his Grammy award-winning trio, High On Fire, to reverse engineering doom metal with his genre-defining trio Sleep, Matt Pike has channeled his natural talents and chiseled a steely path straight to the heart of modern-day metal’s molten core. Today, Pike releases his debut solo LP, Pike Vs. The Automaton, via MNRK Heavy. Music, merch and more is available at THIS LOCATION Born out of the challenges brought on by a worldwide pandemic, Pike Vs. The Automaton is both a musical and emotional release. The record was written by Pike with drummer Jon Reid, […]

Album Reviews

Album Review: Lost Tribes Of The Moon – Chapter II: Tales Of Strife, Destiny, And Despair

The title is quite a mouthful, isn’t it? Well, that sets the table pretty well for the second album by this Milwaukee band, because the whole damn thing just drags on and on and on… I thought the first effort from these guys was pretty promising. Pick that up if you can find it. Skip this one. If it was a book, it would desperately need an editor. It’s the musical equivalent of a 900 page book about the romance of a mailman. LOST TRIBES OF THE MOON certainly have talent…there are several passages scattered throughout that prove it. But […]

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