Rebel Extravaganza

Heavy Metal And Other Occasional Musics And Cultures

lord randall

Short Sharp Shocks

Ripping Remains – Carbonized Effluvium [EP]

Literally born from DRIPPING DECAY, Oregonians RIPPING REMAINS unleash their first acrid spew in the form of Carbonized Effluvium. The synth-laden title track takes its time, transuding and gelatinous, while ‘Necrodestiny’ reeks of pre-’90s CARCASS in that most glorious stench-ridden way. Decimating and twisting, ‘The Horror Writes Itself’ bucks and writhes, riff upon riff piled on the kicking rodeo bull of heaving rhythm, skinned and screaming solo ending in a boastfully Luddite groove. ‘Rub My Infection On You’ recalls moments of JUNGLE ROT in its furor, early OBITUARY in its Allen West-influenced solo. The doom swagger that begins ‘Maternal Rot’ […]

Album Reviews

Album Review: Today Is The Day – Never Give In

I’m one of the lucky ones. I witnessed the birth pangs of TODAY IS THE DAY in early ‘90s Nashville. Bands who shared absolutely no sonic camaraderie with TITD made Sunday afternoon shows at Lucy’s Records on Elliston Place. From cross-dressing cowpunk to reggae to grind, nothing was off limits. Over a dozen albums and countless EPs, singles, splits, and compilations later, Steve Austin remains behind the controls, touring members Tom Jack [bass] and Colin Frecknall [drums, percussion] joining with others with others to create the band’s latest, Never Give In. ‘Divide And Conquer’ chugs forth, electronics and industrial rhythm […]

Album Reviews

Album Review: Motherless – Do You Feel Safe?

From BIBLE OF THE DEVIL to LAIR OF THE MINOTAUR to USURPER to the almighty classic lineup of TROUBLE, Chicago, Illinois has long been a bastion of rock and metal largely bereft of the accoutrements that hold many of its counterpart local and regional scenes in check. No checklist here; that got rolled up and smoked long ago, a PBR can used for a pipe sitting in the front seat of someone’s car before clocking in for work for a double shift at some thankless blue-collar job. What matters is the riff, brethren and sisters! The sound of the drums. […]

Short Sharp Shocks

Psilocybe Larvae – Новый дивный мир [EP]

Russia’s majestic doom/death practitioners return after the emotionally and sonically crushing Where Silence Dwells with Новый дивный мир (Brave New World), a short but poignant EP. Writing for the first time in the band’s native language, the title track is aching from the start, a longing for a brave new world that wasn’t, isn’t, and can never be. Harmonies roll on a sea of crestfallen notes until pounding waves crash down, submerging. ‘Черта’ (‘The Line’) is begins windswept and contemplative before an overpowering passion swallows, the addition of a second guitar adding heft to the band’s already weighty sound and […]

Album Reviews

Album Review: Krigsgrav – Stormcaller

On its eighth album, and fourth with the same lineup, by now KRIGSGRAV of Keller, Texas had better have a good handle on what it is and what it isn’t. Not every band is meant to venture off on experimental pathways, not every band should try to shade or – more often than not – forcefully inject its music with other genres. It works for the rare few but, let’s be honest here, doesn’t for most. If it doesn’t occur naturally, the listening public who actually care about what they’re hearing will smell the stench. Stormcaller’s opener, ‘Huntress Of The […]

Album Reviews

Album Review: Intercourse – How I Fell In Love With The Void

Over the past handful of years, there’s been a resurgence in death metal, for better or worse. As with any popularity or proliferation, the majority of it has sucked. Stunk to high Heaven, it has. But amid the rubble, strong flowers grow, and there are a good many (BEDSORE, DIPYGUS, DAWN OF OROBOUROS, etc) that are thriving. Well, the same thing’s been happening in noise rock for about as long, but the genre (which, like true doom,) doesn’t lend itself to popularity either due to subject matter or sonics and thus has remained underground. Connecticut’s INTERCOURSE, now four albums and […]

Album Reviews

Album Review: Feuerschwanz – Knightclub

I don’t know when Napalm Records became the cut-out bin when it comes to quality metal, but that’s what the Austrian Toilet has certainly proven itself to be over the past 10-15 years. 99% of the acts stink of Japanese “idol culture”. From WIND ROSE to DRAGONFORCE to fuckin’ COAL CHAMBER and the former “vocalist” of CREED, whose name I will not mention because I just had lunch and don’t feel like puking it up quite yet, if you’re looking for a laxative, Napalm is where to shop. A friend of mine mentioned the “Napalming” of bands, and I think […]

Album Reviews

Album Review: Feral State – II

Pardon me, PR folks, but if you’re gonna compare a band to BROKEN BONES, that band better drink engine oil through scalded throats, belch up steam like a train in the 1800s, and pack a punch harder than a hit to the cranium with a nail-spiked bat. It’s gotta be memorable as fuck, but it’s also gotta be interesting too, especially since we’re usually talking an album length of under a half-hour. Straight outta Leicester comes FERAL STATE, returning after 2022’s self-titled wrecker with the aptly named II. Straight to the point, as a band of this sort must be. […]

Album Reviews

Album Review: Sinsaenum – In Devastation

Journeyman Frédéric Leclerq is at it again, a “new direction” being proclaimed with In Devastation, which is a good move, based on how lifeless at worst, mediocre at best SINSAENUM’s output has been thus far. Born from the double-loss of a longtime band member and a parent Leclerq is, apparently reinventing what the group can be – and honestly, it’s far past time. First, the artwork looks straight off the cutting room floor of early/mid-‘00s Roadrunner. Could it be TRIVIUM? Could it be KILLSWITCH ENGAGE? Shit, it could be any of those and doesn’t make me want to hit Play […]

Short Sharp Shocks

METEORA – In This Silence [EP]

Hungarian sextet METEORA showers us with their first outing since …Of Shades And Colours (2022), two new guitarists in the fold, and the first part of an EP trilogy in hand. The title track begins a bit robotic for my taste, but soon a chugging riff greets us, and we’re off. Keyboard trills flourish, a bit of AFTER FOREVER in the dichotomy of vocal styles. ‘Rebirth’ seems purposeful, intentional, and carries us further along the rollercoaster of emotions evoked by symphonic metal played passionately. Done right. My only complaint lies in this mix seeming distant and cold, not enveloping as […]

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