Rebel Extravaganza

Heavy Metal And Other Occasional Musics And Cultures

lord randall

Album Reviews

Album Review: Embalm – Prelude To Obscurity

The mid-‘90s were a strange time for death metal. From its arrival in the late ‘80s, the genre quickly expanded, various tentacles reaching and sucking the marrow from the bones of (it seemed) every other form of metal to come before – and more. OBITUARY, IMMOLATION, NIHILIST; they all had their own definable sound, but were resolutely Death Metal. It is into this world we return with Prelude To Obscurity, a compendium of the entire available output of EMBALM. Hailing from the unlikely lands of the upper Midwest, the foursome already had something going for them that they probably didn’t […]

Album Reviews

Album Review: Bloodclot – Souls

NYHC (New York Hard Core for those new to the game) has always built its reputation on the short sharp shock. Get in, get down, get out. Lyrically it’s the same. Not a lot of pontificating or fancy $25 words when a simple “Fuck you!” would do, and this is BLOODCLOT’s home turf on Souls, no doubt about it. Bolstered by a lineup featuring current and former members of CRO-MAGS, QUICKSAND, AGNOSTIC FRONT and MADBALL, these four horsemen couldn’t be more NY if they tried, ancestrally deep in the sewers, squats and boroughs as they are. Throat man John Joseph […]

Album Reviews

Album Review: Gaerea – Mirage

GAEREA’s sophomore release, Limbo of ’20, was one of the surprises of that year, both showing a band successfully expanding upon the debut, yet remaining true to themselves – not so much a reinvention as a reworking – and ended up on the Best Of 2020 lists of myself and many others. All-important third album Mirage sees the Portuguese troupe keeping the 8 songs to around average length for the band, yet still under an hour for total playing time. While the extended tracks that bookended Limbo were grand, ‘Memoir’ captivates from the start, shimmering, hazy as a mirage itself, […]

Album Reviews

Album Review: He Is Legend – Endless Hallway

‘The Prowler’ leads the charge – or attempts to, the verses licking the dirt-rock, speedster boots of ZEKE and HOOKERS, while the choruses are straight out of the early CLUTCH playbook. The dragging tempo of the final minute or so, instead of being climactic, arrives and pulverizes any built-up interest into dust by the time ‘Lifeless Lemonade’ arrives, and if you’ve ever wondered why some of MAYLENE & THE SONS OF DISASTER works and HE IS LEGEND never seems to, this is your template; rhythms built for skipping, disjointed cut/paste rock interspliced with a weird ‘80s pop vocal nod at […]

Album Reviews

Album Review: Forever Autumn – Crowned In Skulls [EP]

Massachusetts forest-dweller Autumn Ni Dubhghaill emerged from the cocoon years of 2004-’08 by, against expectation, harkening back to an older, more ancient time with her art. Rustic, simpler, almost agrarian in execution, Waiting For Öktober was sparse, that new-formed, black-winged butterfly clawing through and out of an enclosure, unsure but committed. Three albums and an EP have followed – including 2021’s black metal scorcher Hail The Forest Dark – to today, where FOREVER AUTUMN returns to folk-seasoned doom (or is it doom-seasoned folk?) with Crowned In Skulls. Assisted by mainstay cellist/foil Jon McGrath throughout and revisited by Aaron Stainthorpe of […]

Album Reviews

Album Review: In The Woods… – Diversum

After a huge shakeup in membership shortly after 1999’s Strange In Stereo, IN THE WOODS… became, for all intents and purposes, sole original member Anders Kobro’s project. Resurfacing with a revamped lineup for 2016’s Pure and Cease The Day of two years after, we now behold Diversum, featuring (surprise, surprise!) a new bassist and vocalist. Lineup shifts aside, IN THE WOODS… has always marched to the beat of its own drum, and its early work – if we’re being honest – to varying degrees was influential in such revered bands as ENSLAVED and OPETH’s transformation into their current sound(s). Subtle […]

Album Reviews

Album Review: Interesting Times Gang – The Spirit Of Science Fiction

As much a fan as I am of noise behemoths KOWLOON WALLED CITY, I’ll admit I’ve never felt the need to investigate bassist Ian Miller’s electronic project INTERESTING TIMES GANG, largely due to lacking a background or experience with the genre. Album number 6 (!?) though, and it warrants at least a cursory glance. Unexpectedly, a lo-hi trip-country ala a sparser ALABAMA 3 leads off The Spirit Of Science Fiction with ‘Lago Agrio’. You can already sense Miller’s enjoying himself, playing with sound and technology just to see what comes out. The rainbow FUNKADELIC carpet is rolled out for ‘If […]

Album Reviews

Album Review: ZËLOT – Supplices [EP]

Part of black metal’s draw is its ambiguity when it comes to the artists who produce it. Pseudonyms are modified and sometimes outright changed depending on the project, other members, musical style and aesthetic. What is the message being put across? Is it hails, horns and laying “down your soul to the gods rock and roll”? Is it esoteric explorations of the Lesser Key Of Solomon? This determines your entity, dress, and the true aesthetic of what the band/project is. I have an idea this is what’s been done with France’s ZËLOT, but as it’s all about the art, let’s […]

Album Reviews

Album Review: Darkthrone – Astral Fortress

Anyone who’s read my drivel for any length of time knows the importance I place on a band’s third album. Well, DARKTHRONE is at its 20th, so if they haven’t figured out what they are by now, there’s no point in bothering. And I suppose that’s why it pained me so much that 2021’s Eternal Hails……, the band’s self-proclaimed love letter to doom and prog, was such a disappointment. Now, off to strap on our skates and travel to the Astral Fortress. ‘Caravan Of Broken Ghosts’ begins interestingly enough, building in a way that brings anticipation. Never straying too far […]

Album Reviews

Album Review: AAWKS – (((((Heavy On The Cosmic)))))

On the heels of an EP shortly after formation, Ontario’s AAWKS hunkered down to craft a masterpiece. An album for the ages. That one shining record that glows/glowers upon all beneath it. And lo, (((((Heavy On The Cosmic))))) was born, but the gods did not smile upon our champions, nay, nay! Cassettes are well and good, but what the public – well, at least what one Discogs member – was clamoring for was vinyl. Thusly, and at long last… Hazed right out the gate, ‘Beyond The Sun’ clearly takes a tab from the early KYUSS, languid, lysergic and loving it. […]

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