Rebel Extravaganza

Heavy Metal And Other Occasional Musics And Cultures

Dr. Abner Mality

Album Reviews

Album Review: Wheel – Preserved In Time

It’s pretty obvious that we will not be getting another album from SOLITUDE AETURNUS, and who knows when the next CANDLEMASS will show up? Well, lovers of epic doom metal at the highest level will no longer need to starve themselves, because the mighty WHEEL has rolled in from Germany. This is a flawless example of melodic, epic and sorrowful doom that is totally in the mode of the first classic albums from SOLITUDE AETURNUS. The sad feeling, the clear and piercing vocals, the massive crushing riffs are all here, and they are used in just the right proportion…a trick […]

Album Reviews

Album Review: Swampbeast – Seven Evils Spawned Of Seven Heads

In a different era where not every single band that wants to get signed does, where quantity doesn’t crush quality every single day of the week, SWAMPBEAST would be hot news. They are a rough and brutal death metal band that understands what it takes to make strong and honest DM. Unfortunately, they are in the third decade of the 21st century, where every fucking day brings an onslaught of “product”. Only the very, very best can fight through the flack to make a true impression. What I like about this record is the great natural sound to it. The […]

Album Reviews

Album Review: Plague Weaver – Ascendant Blasphemy

PLAGUE WEAVER is an ambitious outfit that tries to unite lots of disparate styles of extreme metal, but is not quite able to pull off what they’re looking for. It’s a two man outfit that has an “everything but the kitchen sink” approach to death and black metal. They have the playing ability for sure, but the songwriting is kind of erratic and results in songs that are good in some parts but rather tedious in others. The first song ‘Nothing Is Sacred’ has a kind of Greek black metal vibe in the style of ROTTING CHRIST and VARATHRON going […]

Album Reviews

Album Review: Holy Mother – Face This Burn

HOLY MOTHER and their charismatic singer, Mike Tirelli, have been cranking out the metal since the early ’90s. This is another one of those bands like VICIOUS RUMORS or LEATHERWOLF that has all the tools but just can’t crack the glass ceiling. I can’t give a “one size fits all” description of the kind of metal HOLY MOTHER plays because they can almost play it all. Face This Burn has got elements of PRIEST/DIO/MAIDEN classic metal, QUEENSRYCHE progression, the heavier side of hair metal and even touches of grunge and nu-metal if you dig hard enough. The common denominator of […]

Album Reviews

Album Review: Sagenland – Oale Groond

Home is where the heart is, even if the heart is black. SAGENLAND is part of that breed of black/folk metal that is tied to a particular place. In this case, it is the Eastern part of Holland near the town of Twente. The gentlemen of SAGENLAND are very close to their homeland, and have dedicated their music to it. On further inspection, I find the Twente area to be a gentle pastoral place of modest fields, forests and rivers, not too different from my own home in Northern Illinois. That automatically makes me more kindly disposed to them. It’s […]

Album Reviews

Album Review: Nopes – Djork

Listening to Djork is like getting bitchslapped by that chick with a nose ring and shaved scalp that’s still kind of hot anyway. It’ll wake you up in a hurry, but confuse you at the same time. NOPES are described as a punk rock band from Oakland, CA, but I think there’s a bit more to them than that simple description. Punk is there for sure, but also tones of that screechy, skronky noise rock of the early ’90s, and even a dose of weirdness reminiscent of early VOIVOD. It’s loose, super raw, abrasive and sloppy, kind of like MC5 […]

Album Reviews

Album Review: Tribulation – Where The Gloom Becomes Sound

This is the first time I’ve checked in with TRIBULATION in a while. I remember when these guys were filthy death metal, and on Pulverised Records, but no trace of that band remains on Where The Gloom Becomes Sound. The album title is a fairly good indicator of what you will find within. This is not head-crushing or neck breaking metal, but something more ethereal and haunting, while still retaining a metal edge. If GHOST is too poppy for you, TRIBULATION might be a good alternative that will let you keep your cred. “Haunting” is indeed the best word for […]

Album Reviews

Album Review: Accept – Too Mean To Die

When you get to the elevated level that ACCEPT is at, your albums are pretty much critic proof. The band is going to write what they want and the fans will be there. In this case, Too Mean To Die practically writes itself, following all the hallowed and well worn traditions of ACCEPT. But it doesn’t seem fair to criticize them for sticking to a well worn path when everybody is going batshit crazy over the utter traditionalism of AC/DC’s PWR Up. This is a pure ACCEPT album down to the last note, and the last atom. It follows the […]

Album Reviews

Album Review: Inquisition – Black Mass For A Mass Grave

I must say I was extremely surprised to see this album released. After all the bad business that main songwriter Dagon was involved in, I thought no real record company would touch INQUISITION. Well, here comes Black Mass For A Mass Grave on no less than long-running Agonia Records and with this mystical project sounding bigger and more cosmic than ever. This is almost a double album in length (the vinyl actually is a double LP) and sees the duo executing their most ambitious sounds yet. If you can put the accusations of sexual perversion and outright fascism to one […]

Album Reviews

Album Review: Dipygus – Bushmeat

Not many who hear this album will realize the significance of the track ‘St. Augustine, FL 1896’ but with the Good Doctor’s abiding interest in cryptozoology and all things bizarre, I immediately recognized what this date and time meant. That was when the carcass of some enormous sea beast washed up on the Floridian shore, with many believing it to be the body of a titanic octopus. Ah ha, so DIPYGUS are kindred spirits! That’s confirmed by the title of the next song here, ‘The Khunjung Scalp’, which is the purported scalp of the Himalayan Yeti. Yessir, DIPYGUS, whoever they […]

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