Rebel Extravaganza

Heavy Metal And Other Occasional Musics And Cultures

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Album Reviews

Album Review: Courtney Gains – Safe Haven [EP]

Aside from co-starring in my second favorite horror film of all time (more on that in an upcoming interview), COURTNEY GAINS has realized a dream that a very small percentage of actors and musicians see come to life – that of working in his chosen field for nigh on four decades. If the name doesn’t ring a bell, look, there’s this fancy schmancy “internet” thing. You’ll recognize him. But this here’s about the music so, as the Looney Tunes theme song says, “On with the show, this is it!”. ‘Safe Haven’ begins with a guitar phrasing that blends surf tone […]

Album Reviews

Album Review: Ringworm – Seeing Through Fire

Ah, Cleveland. Land of the Cleves, of the burning Cuyahoga, Drew Carey, and a pretty thriving music scene that’s always slithered along under mainstream media’s radar. No Athens, no Seattle, no East Coast/West Coast rivalries. Just a buncha bands out there, hitting the bricks every weekend in your local clubs, biker bars and basements. Near chief among them is RINGWORM. By now, anyone who’s heard them knows what they’re about, and those who don’t won’t ever. While they’re not the sort of band that’s going to veer too far from the black-and-blueprint of The Promise (1993) and 2001’s Birth Is […]

Album Reviews

Album Review: Calligram – Position | Momentum

‘Sul Dolore’ begins CALLIGRAM’s second, a whirlwind of blasts and frigid strings swirling about, but, for some inexplicable reason, what should already have my ears cryogenically frozen just falls flat on its way to ‘Frantumi In Itinere’. More of the same here, despite an interesting slow down at the mid-section, until you realize that we never return to the original theme, and resulting in what feels like two completely different songs slammed together in a furious attempt to create one. ‘Eschilo’ opens with pensive, acoustic fingerings leading into a section that far, far too quickly gets annihilated by Default Blast, […]

Short Sharp Shocks

Chupacabra – Fortified With Ashes [EP]

Bristol’s CHUPACABRA fans the embers to…well, wet ash with ‘Burn The Clowns’, a clone of Angela Gossow-era ARCH ENEMY’s weakest material. The mix is too cluttered to single out any instrument, even if I wanted to, and leading into ‘F.T.T.D.’. I’m not sure where I’ve heard that opening riff before (I have. Definitely. And I believe it’s off MASTODON’s Leviathan. If so, shame the fuck on you.), but the solo at the start ain’t half bad. Soon enough we’re back in the bog, a jumbled mix and nothing remarkable whatsoever aside from a repeat of the song that came before. […]

Album Reviews

Album Review: Dungeon – Into The Ruins [EP]

After a five-year wait, the misfits of London’s DUNGEON return with their 2nd EP, Into The Ruins. ‘Nagasaki Sunrise’ takes a bit too much time on the rev-up, but once the foursome gets going, stratospheric six-six-sick-string strafing, rocket-propelled rhythms and harsh harangues are not only what, but pretty much all that’s on offer. D’ ya like speed metal? Do you like speed metal?! Vocalist/guitarist Luke Drew’s snarl is surely more of the Teutonic school, bits of early Denis Bélanger, maybe, but less unhinged and into the impressive ‘Put Them In Their Graves’ we go. Guitar harmonies are sideswiped by even […]

Album Reviews

Album Review: Undergang – De syv stadier af fordærv [EP]

Denmark death-dealers UNDERGANG have been around forever. Well, not forever, but when, since 2009, the band has released not only 4 full-lengths, but managed to toss out well over a dozen Splits, EPs as well as two live albums, let’s just say the “no rest for the wicked” axiom holds true. De syv stadier af fordærv races forward at the start, not running out of the gate, but crashing through, ‘Død’ careening headlong in fury, only slowing briefly to insert one of the churning, churlish nearly crust groovy moments for which the foursome has become known. ‘Mælkehvid og gennemsigtigt’ is […]

Album Reviews

Album Review: Nuclear Dudes – Boss Blades

My first experience with NUCLEAR DUDES was ‘Concrete Cage/Abandoned’ from last year’s tribute to HIS HERO IS GONE, Monuments To Arson. While not so jagged as the original, ND founder and solo (most of the time) member Jon Weisnewski of SANDRIDER and AKIMBO managed to put his own spin on a sludge/crust/doom “classic”, if there ever were such a thing. With that being said, whatever you think NUCLEAR DUDES’ first full-length is, it isn’t…or it is in some spaces, but definitely not easy to pigeonhole. Synth stabs ala some amphetamine-jacked Keith Emerson are peppered through ‘Boss Blades’, but the presence […]

Album Reviews

Album Review: Xasthur – Inevitably Dark

So, one of the strangest touring packages I’ve seen in a good while was WINO & XASTHUR a few years back. Granted, gone were all elements of black metal from what Scott Connor and his guitar compadre, Joe Baker were doing there, at that dive bar in Nashville, TN, so maybe it wasn’t that outlandish after all. All he needed was a cowboy hat, right? Well, over XASTHUR’s set, I was reminded of what a good guitarist he actually is. And now, a few years after, Connor returns with the sprawling Inevitably Dark, recorded solo and on a Tascam DP-03. […]

Album Reviews

Album Review: Vulture Industries – Ghosts From The Past

Norway’s VULTURE INDUSTRIES has been a case of quality over quantity from its inception, so we’ll forgive them if it takes a year, or three, or four between albums. Swimming just beneath the surface, it seems, in the ocean that is prog-infused metal without going full-bore into unabashed wankery, the five-piece has never gotten its due, at least from where this fellow sits. And now, six (count ‘em!) years after the stellar Stranger Times, the band return with Ghosts From The Past. ‘New Lords Of Light’ shines, elements of SENTENCED, GREEN CARNATION and, yes, LACRIMAS PROFUNDERE, a heady blend of […]

Album Reviews

Album Review: Oxblood Forge – Cult Of Oblivion [EP]

The blend of stoner and doom is hard to get right, even more so when bands task themselves with (or come by it naturally, which is best) tossing some traditional heavy metal into the cauldron to kick the concoction up a few notches. Boston’s OXBLOOD FORGE is one of those, and Cult Of Oblivion follows its first full-length showing, Decimator of 2021. Instantly I’m not fond of Ken MacKay’s vocal approach, but I’m equally unsure if it’s due to my setting expectations prior to listening, or if his shout/bellow/screech delivery would be truly better suited to a more aggressive style. […]

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