Rebel Extravaganza

Heavy Metal And Other Occasional Musics And Cultures

Dr. Abner Mality

Album Reviews

Album Review: Ensiferum – Thalassic

It’s been a while since I shipped out with ENSIFERUM, the Euro folk metal veterans. A lot has changed in that time. Folk metal has gone from a relative novelty to a well-worn genre with hordes of bands jostling each other for attention. I remembered the band being more “warrior-like” and stern than the fun and happy melodies that pop up on Thalassic – too happy and fun for this grumpy Cornish Viking to digest. I like my folk metal with a bit more grit than this. Everything on Thalassic has been polished to a blinding sheen and many of […]

Album Reviews

Album Review: Bedsore – Hypnagogic Hallucinations

Lovers of both oddball death metal and weird psychedelia might find something to catch their interest here. BEDSORE is an Italian bunch who sure don’t follow in any of the rigid death metal tropes. They aren’t the usual Swedish DM knockoff or the typical slamming deathfest or any of the “cavernous” INCANTATION-inspired stuff. They aren’t “normal” in any way, shape or form, and that’s a big advantage in these days when most bands are slavishly obedient to preset “rules”. Psychedelic and prog rock play big parts in BEDSORE’s make-up. Italy used to be known for a lot of weird horror-prog […]

Album Reviews

Album Review: Onslaught – Generation Antichrist

ONSLAUGHT soldiers on, and you have to admire them for that. They recently lost long-time vocalist Sy Keeler, but barely missed a step, coming up with new man Dave Garnett. They also resolutely continue playing high speed thrash metal in ’80s style. Why, then, does Generation Antichrist come across as so generic? The sound of the album is that of a million and one other modern thrash albums. ONSLAUGHT’s ancient debut Power From Hell was crudely produced and murky, but still remains their most memorable opus, but Generation Antichrist seems to have come off a thrash metal assembly line. I […]

Album Reviews

Album Review: Ulthar – Providence

ULTHAR proves their 2018 debut Cosmovore was no fluke or one-and-done episode. They return to the fray with Providence (the hometown of H. P. Lovecraft…coincidence?) and they are back to mangle minds and reap souls with a whirlwind of fierce and technical death metal. There’s very little primitive gloom here. This is the fast and nasty side of the beast, touching on such primal sources as MORBID ANGEL, PESTILENCE, IMMOLATION and lesser known entities like ANATA and MERCYLESS. There’s also a touch of blackness to the affair, especially in the ripped throat vocals. Highlights are many, but I would bring […]

Album Reviews

Album Review: High Spirits – Hard To Stop

HIGH SPIRITS have been ahead of the game when it comes to the revival of classic metal and ’70s hard rock. They’ve been following that path since before it became a trend. Once lonesome, they now have plenty of company. The band continues to stick to their usual style here for the most part, but they were smart enough to throw in a few curveballs this time around, which is a good thing. The HIGH SPIRITS style is sometimes uncomfortably staid. ‘Hearts Will Burn’ surprises by being the heaviest song the band has done yet…a real riff-cruncher that doesn’t pretend […]

Album Reviews

Album Review: Sinister – Deformation Of The Holy Realm

If Europe has an equivalent to CANNIBAL CORPSE, it’s got to be SINISTER. These Dutch madmen have been going at it at least as long as the Boys from Buffalo…this is their 14th album! And they are still as brutal as a nightstick shoved down your throat! With hyper-aggressive death metal, there’s a certain amount of monotony that arises and while SINISTER doesn’t totally avoid it, they do a pretty good job of keeping it at bay here. Hard to believe a band with a 30-year history can still smash skulls and tear out guts like this. The tunes are […]

Album Reviews

Album Review: Cauldron Black Ram – Slaver

The piratical goons of CAULDRON BLACK RAM are one weird bunch, and that’s exactly why I love this oddball Aussie band. They certainly aren’t prolific (Slaver is their first record in 6 years), and perhaps that also helps them to stand out. They have brewed up another grimy, greasy and rancid potion of extreme metal carnage that defies classification. Slaver may be even rawer and filthier in sound than their previous record Stalagmire, which is no mean feat. The music is an unpredictable assault of strange riffing that ranges from sludgy doom to mid paced chug to swaggering fast (but […]

Album Reviews

Album Review: Winterfylleth – The Reckoning Dawn

It’s been six long years since WINTERFYLLETH released an all out black metal album. 2018 saw an acoustic/folk based effort entitled The Hallowing Of Heirdom. The result of this time off has been nothing less than a complete reinvigoration of the band; The Reckoning Dawn is the best album WINTERFYLLETH has ever done. This is blurry, high speed black metal at its absolute peak. The pace is relentless, but the songs are full of emotion and majesty. Listening to this album, I experienced shades of rage, sadness, defiance and pride. The riffing reaches back to the dawn times of Albion […]

Album Reviews

Album Review: Tombs – Monarchy Of Shadows

TOMBS is for sure one of the most reliable bands in American black metal. I haven’t heard a bad album by them yet, and the latest, Monarchy Of Shadows, stands as one of their best. They are laser focused here, and don’t mess around for a second. It’s a compact album of six songs, but you get plenty of bang for the buck. I like how TOMBS subtly shift the approach on each song, bringing in slightly different influences, but yet the album is a unified whole. The title track starts things off with gloomy synth until hard riffs come […]

Album Reviews

Album Review: Dirt Woman – The Glass Cliff

Maryland’s DIRT WOMAN is the world’s first WINDHAND tribute band. The members probably won’t like hearing that, but there it is. One listen to The Glass Cliff, and chances are, you’ll agree. Now, that does not necessarily mean this is a “bad” album. It’s actually pretty good, if you like super-gooey sludge riffs mixed with haunting female vocals. It’s just really, really derivative. Lots of long, oozing jams here, with only 5 songs, but about an hour of run time. The minute you hear the guitar tone on ‘Lady Of The Dunes’, you know you’re in for one super-heavy ride […]

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