Rebel Extravaganza

Heavy Metal And Other Occasional Musics And Cultures

Dr. Abner Mality

Album Reviews

Album Review: Venom – Into Oblivion

Now that VENOM INC. has self-destructed, the Cronos-led VENOM emerges from the rubble as the sole inheritor of the name. It’s been a while since we’ve heard from them, but Into Oblivion breaks the silence with a deafening roar. To be honest, this band will never equal their paradigm-shattering early days. Yet this version of VENOM has now endured far longer than the original triad…and on Into Oblivion, it really shows. This is one of the best post-Mantas albums, maybe even the best. Everything flows smoothly (with one major exception that I’ll get to), the guys are all locked into […]

Album Reviews

Album Review: Lungburner – Dogma

Meditative metal is an actual thing. There’s not enough of it around to be an actual functioning subgenre (yet) but it’s out there and that is the space where Atlanta’s LUNGBURNER functions. I must say Dogma caught me by surprise. With the band name and cover art, I was expecting some angry groove metal or even straight nu-metal, but this is much more intellectual and interesting than that. Doom plays a sizable part of the LUNGBURNER equation. Slow, undulating tempos predominate and the guitar tone is thick and heavy. But I wouldn’t call it sludge, as the music doesn’t seem […]

Album Reviews

Album Review: The Ghoulstars – The Dark Overlords Of The Universe

I used to have quite a liking for horror punk…indeed, for any music connected to the horror genre…but in recent years, the flood of cosplay “monster bands” has soured me on a lot of it. Everybody today loves to play dress up…we have Vikings, Ninjas, Pirates, aliens. And of course, monsters. Monsters up the wazoo. So forgive me if I’m not impressed by THE GHOULSTARS all that much. Oddly, these guys have roots in Finnish underground death-doom, with members of KUOLEMANLAAKSO and HOODED MENACE amongst their ranks. Expect none of that here, as THE GHOULSTARS are a way for them […]

Album Reviews

Album Review: Sacriversum – Before The Birth Of Light

Have you ever wondered what DEEP PURPLE would sound like as a death metal band? SACRIVERSUM from Poland definitely provides an answer! These guys have a long history going back to the early ’90s but this is my first encounter with them…and it’s a very delightful one! This is a great combination of death metal and prog rock. A lot of credit goes to the inventive keyboard work of “Baran”, who adds some awesome Jon Lord quality Hammond organ sound to SACRIVERSUM’s diverse attack. This is heard nowhere better than the first two proper tracks ‘We’re Storming Through The Night’ […]

Album Reviews

Album Review: Powerrage – Beast

It’s no secret EXCITER is one of my all-time go-to bands and that their classic guitarist John Ricci is one of my favorite musicians. The first three EXCITER albums are untouchable. Alas, the members of the band find it extremely difficult to be in the same room without killing each other, which has led to decades of erratic output and finally, another break-up of the original crew. Arising from the ashes is POWERRAGE, featuring Ricci and some time EXCITER vocalist Jacques Belanger, along with bassist Todd Pillon of WITCHKILLER and drummer Lucas Derry. John swears up and down that POWERRAGE […]

Album Reviews

Album Review: Winterfylleth – The Unyielding Season

In the past, the covers of WINTERFYLLETH showed magnificent natural vistas, usually snowy mountains or rolling hills. It cannot be without meaning that The Unyielding Season shows a raging forest fire. There is no better metaphor for what is happening to our heritage and our entire planet today. These Englishmen have always taken a prideful stand for honor and history and that hasn’t changed at all here. This album is a call to resist the commercialized mechanization creeping across the land. As always, the music is rooted in majestic black metal. The opening songs here are some of the fastest, […]

Album Reviews

Album Review: Kate’s Acid – Hellbender

After Belgium’s CYCLONE returned to action recently, it’s no surprise that their country(wo)men ACID are also back for the attack. ACID were one of the very first female fronted metal bands, along with WARLOCK, and they played a fast and rough kind of “biker metal” that was pretty heavy for the time. Now Kate de Lombaert, the original voice of ACID, returns with an all new band of guys at least half her age. Horns up for the metal grandma! This is a real trip back to early ’80s metal, courtesy of a band who was there. First things first, […]

Album Reviews

Album Review: Sylosis – The New Flesh

This band has been kicking around for at least 20 years and has yet to leave much of a mark. One of the problems is that they don’t know exactly what they are themselves. The New Flesh hops from radio friendly dad rock to LAMB OF GOD style thrashing groove to almost industrial metal sounds. If they focused on one of these, they might have a more coherent album in their hands. Press describes SYLOSIS mainman Josh Middleton as if he’s the baddest motherfucker on the planet. Please! I listen to metal on a daily basis that chews this up […]

Album Reviews

Album Review: Phendrana – Cathexis

If you need a break from relentless aggression and the angst of the disintegrating world we live in, I highly recommend listening to Cathexis. This is really beautiful music that doesn’t totally eschew heaviness. Most of this type of material usually only interests me briefly, but PHENDRANA have found the secret of truly thoughtful and haunting songcraft. It’s the work of one Anuar Salum, a resident of Mexico City who is well versed in classical composition as well as jazz and rock techniques. With the help of some friends, he’s created Cathexis, a four song journey into melancholy that will […]

Album Reviews

Album Review: Tenebro – Una Lama D’Argento

If you like plenty of red sauce in your movies as well as your pasta, TENEBRO from Italy is the band for you. This is death metal smothered in the tasty gore of the Italian giallo films…specifically, the movies of one Dario Argento. The connection between Italian horror and death metal is well known and TENEBRO might be better at it than any one except classic NECROPHAGIA. Above all, they get the creepy, suffocating atmosphere of Argento films like Inferno and Deep Red and transfer that dread to gruesome, gory death metal. The guitar tone here is unreal, coated in […]

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