Rebel Extravaganza

Heavy Metal And Other Occasional Musics And Cultures

Dr. Abner Mality

Album Reviews

Album Review: Darkthrone – Eternal Hails

Well, true to form, the 19th DARKTHRONE album sounds like it was recorded on a 4-track in a barn somewhere in Norway. That much is expected, and it doesn’t necessarily have to be bad. Eternal Hails is definitely the band’s “doom metal” album. Slower tempos have been a strong part of DARKTHRONE for much of the “primitive punk metal” period of the last 15 years or so, but never have they played such a significant role. To be quite honest, the album is a very mixed bag for me. The doom is across all five lengthy tracks, mixed with the […]

Album Reviews

Album Review: Starlight Ritual – Sealed In Starlight

If you’re in the mood for pure heavy metal that sounds a lot “truer” than most of what falls under that heading these days, I introduce you to Canada’s STARLIGHT RITUAL. These guys do things the right way and deliver hard-hitting melodic metal that reminds of HIGH SPIRITS, MAGIC CIRCLE and the like. It sounds authentic, delivered effortlessly, and not with the feeling that the band is trying too hard to fit a certain mold. They apparently started out as a doom band, but many of the tracks here have sizable thrust and forward velocity, starting with ‘Marauders’, where echoes […]

Album Reviews

Album Review: Fluids – Not Dark Yet

MORBID ANGEL in their classic period had a signature tune called ‘Where The Slime Live’. Well, now we know where the slime lives…covered in FLUIDS! This is one sick, disgusting display of uber-primitive death metal devolution, making overhyped stuff like SANGUISUGABOGG sound about as dangerous as ATREYU. This band is working the same general territory as MORTICIAN, which is not a type of death metal you encounter a lot these days. FLUIDS makes no secret of their love of Hacked Up For Barbecue vintage MORTICIAN. Not Dark Yet oozes with rotten slow and mid-paced riffs that are down-tuned and bass-heavy […]

Album Reviews

Album Review: Oxblood Forge – Decimator

Sometimes one critical element can trip a band up. Exhibit A: Boston-based OXBLOOD FORGE, a band specializing in classic heavy metal with a doomy tinge. That kind of material is right up the Doctor’s alley, but one thing brings my enjoyment of the band to a screeching halt. “Screeching” is the correct term, because the vocals of Ken Mackay are 100% amateur hour. It doesn’t take long at all for Mackay’s tuneless shrieks to manifest. From the first second his voice appears on the hard-driving ‘Into The Abyss’, you can tell something is way out of whack. I get the […]

Album Reviews

Album Review: Birdflesh – All The Miseries [EP]

BIRDFLESH is back and squawking! The goofy Swedish grinders have been raising holy Hell for 30 years and they are just as brutal and stupid now as they were back in tape trading days. New EP, All The Miseries, will thrill all their mongoloid fans as it shows absolutely no progression! And I sincerely say that with all due affection. Newcomers may wonder how an EP can have 24 tracks on it, but BIRDFLESH fans know the score. If these guys do a song longer than a minute and a half, it’s the equivalent of RUSH’s ‘2112’ for them. So […]

Album Reviews

Album Review: Bewitcher – Cursed Be Thy Kingdom

This record took a while to really hit its stride, but it finally got there. BEWITCHER is a SoCal act kind of following in the footsteps of several “evil rocking metal” bands, and they didn’t strike me as anything too special in the first half of the album. After a bluesy intro of ‘Ashe’, they lead off with ‘Death Returns’, which sounds like a not so thrashy MIDNIGHT. Dirty rock meets heavy metal…it’s always a good formula, but pretty well worn. ‘Satanic Magick Attack’ sounds a lot like ‘2 Minutes To Midnight’ with different vocals and some minor tweaks… I’m […]

Album Reviews

Album Review: Steel Bearing Hand – Slay In Hell

The last 25 years of metal never happened as far as Texas’ STEEL BEARING HAND is concerned, and that’s alright by me. These Lone Star Lunatics have constructed a love letter to the death and thrash metal of the late ’80s and early ’90s on Slay In Hell, steadfastly ignoring any “progression” since those days. By focusing on what they know and love, they’ve pretty much whipped the ass of any banger who lays ears on this. The album is just six tracks and pretty brief, but packs a lot into its length. The best thing about Slay In Hell […]

Album Reviews

Album Review: Spectral Lore – Ετερόφωτος

It’s hard to believe just one man is responsible for everything you hear on this release. The Greek title is a pain in the ass to reproduce, but that doesn’t change the fact that SPECTRAL LORE aka Ayloss is one of the very best black metal bands in the world. This is a massive effort that actually takes up two vinyl albums and more than 75 minutes of time. Almost all of that time is deeply fascinating, and packed with both raw energy and great musicianship. You can call SPECTRAL LORE philosophical black metal that leans towards the grandiose. Only […]

Album Reviews

Album Review: Screamachine – Screamachine

I don’t doubt that this Italian band’s heart is in the right place, but it takes more than good intentions to create worthy metal. It takes good songwriting. The band claims to be doing classic pure metal in the vein of JUDAS PRIEST, ACCEPT, HELLOWEEN, etc. but they are just not on that level. The songs here simply do not stay with you the way that tunes from those legendary bands do, and that makes their debut record a rather forgettable experience. In the first half of the album, a certain PRIEST-ish tone is detectable. The plodding crunch of ACCEPT […]

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 […]

Older Posts