Rebel Extravaganza

Heavy Metal And Other Occasional Musics And Cultures

lord randall

Album Reviews

Album Review: Temple Of Void – Summoning The Slayer

Now four albums deep into its nearly ten-year existence, Michigan’s TEMPLE OF VOID returns with Summoning The Slayer. Lumbering and lurking, ‘Behind The Eye’ stalks forth from shadow, basic, almost Cro-Magnon in its main chord progression, but “basic” in the style of BOLT THROWER and early BENEDICTION, straightforward. No muss, no fuss, just head-down and advancing destruction. ‘Deathtouch’ makes no secret of its melody, oppressively forlorn in the verses ala the burgeoning days of The Peaceville Three, and – as their forefathers – with a chorus that confirms that not only can such a sub-genre as death/doom exist, but can […]

Album Reviews

Album Review: Likheim – Alt Skal Svinne Hen… [EP]

Alt Skal Svinne Hen… may be LIKHEIM’s first shot across the bow when it comes to black metal, but the project’s been incubating for around two decades, so let’s strip all excuses such as “It’s the first recording” and “Pretty good try” away, shall we? Helmsman and vocalist Gretn has had plenty of time to craft this EP into what he wishes, to mold it to his vision of perfect form, so no one to laud or blame but himself should things go awry. The title track reeks with the stench of mid/late ‘90s GORGOROTH, Gretn’s vocals reminiscent of Gaahl’s […]

Album Reviews

Album Review: Woorms – Fatalismo

Comin’ in hot after last year’s sprawling and utterly unanticipated split with THE GRASSHOPPER LIES HEAVY – where WOORMS’ 20+-minute ‘Aureola Borealis’ clocked in at half the playing time of the band’s albums – the Louisiana sludge dukes return post-haste with Fatalismo. Kicking up dust from the start, an even more rough and ready early CLUTCH, but mixed with the down-home dirt of MULE and BRUTAL JUICE, ‘Seizure Salad’ triumphs while ‘Quiet As Isaac’ is less upfront, more subtle. Yes, ladies and germs, the syrup is thick and sticky sweet here, basslines coated in molasses and honeysuckle vines, the groove […]

Album Reviews

Album Review: Sacrilega – The Arcana Spear

When you tell me there’s a new black metal band’s debut clogging up my inbox, I can promise you I’m probably not as thrilled as you’re acting as if I should be. Now, don’t misunderstand; I love black metal as a genre, it’s just that I’m also largely content to move within the realms of the doomed, so it takes a bit to pique my interest. Now, tell me this same band has within its ranks the mighty Paulus Kressman from the Canadian prairie’s RITES OF THY DEGRINGOLADE, and I’m at least giving SACRILEGA a chance. Far from a one-man […]

Album Reviews

Album Review: Demiricous – Chaotic Lethal

Returning from well over a decade of silence isn’t easy for any band, much less one that never really “made it” in the first place. After two well-received albums of NWOAHM-styled death-influenced blue collar thrash on Metal Blade in the mid-‘00s, DEMIRICOUS kind of just…poof!…faded. So, hearing of their return, I had to at least see if the years had been kind. Chaotic Lethal begins with ‘Unconditional Hate’, a rumbling, glitchy (thankfully abbreviated) intro with sparse piano in the background before absolutely annihilating, leads squealing like Deliverance and Lord Of The Flies had a baby and it was Ben Parrish […]

Album Reviews

Album Review: MEIN KOPF IST EIN BRUTALER ORT – Ton Steine Sterben

For a band who’s been around for a decade as of this year, to be referred to as “the German LAMB OF GOD” is likely not as flattering as one would think. After ten full years, shouldn’t MEIN KOPF IST EIN BRUTALER ORT (“My Head Is A Brutal Place”, for those who care) have at least taken steps towards developing its own sound? Its own identity? Now I understand full well that bands aren’t always to blame for their PR info, and sometimes such veers from slight exaggeration to all out untruth, but gotta shift them units, right? And in […]

Album Reviews

Album Review: Ufomammut – Fenice

When a band eight albums deep into a storied career has not only the honesty to look itself in the mirror and admit it doesn’t like what it sees but the boldness to admit such to its fans, that counts for something. And that’s exactly what UFOMAMMUT did during its thankfully brief hiatus over 2020. Some even wondered if there would be another album. Well, founders Urlo and Poia have returned, new drummer Levre in tow, and Fenice is the result. ‘Dust’ begins, distant waves, heartbeat pulse of rhythm, electronic blips, a band coming back from coma/hibernation, let us say. […]

Album Reviews

Album Review: Skull Fist – Paid In Full

Now on its fourth LP, Toronto’s SKULL FIST are true believers in the timelessness of heavy metal as it was in what so many of us geezers nostalgically refer to as “the glory days”, “back when…” or “before all this…”. The title track kicks off with all the energy of MTV-era GREAT WHITE and half the power, straight from that time when major labels were throwing heaps of cash at anything with a cucumber in its pants and a can of hairspray in a holster. Now don’t get me wrong, vocalist/guitarist Zach Slaughter has some pipes. It’s just that he’s […]

Album Reviews

Album Review: IZTHMI – Leaving This World, Leaving It All Behind

IZTHMI’s been practicing the dark arts for just over five years now, and yes, they’re from Washington state, but don’t let that mislead you into writing the quintet off as some WITR clone of the “Cascadian” black metal “scene”. After the whispered delivery of ‘Ever Beneath His Gaze (He Will Drown The World In His Tears)’, ‘The Shadows Of Our Disillusionment’ begins Leaving This World, Leaving It All Behind proper. The guitar tone immediately sets apart IZTHMI, being almost mechanical at times, yet shot through with super-clean lead phrases. While it’ll make a good many BM purists cringe or grouse, […]

Interviews

Interview: Friends Of Hell (2022)

International anti-supergroup FRIENDS OF HELL has been lighting up the doomed heavy metal scene since its debut eponymous release in mid-March. Lord Randall wrangles band instigator and man of many outlets Tas Danazoglou for a quick yet informative chat… EVIL THEY CALL US, EVIL WE AREInterview with Tas Danazoglou [Drums]Interview By: Lord Randall Rebel Extravaganza: So far as I can tell, you’re currently in Mirror (who has an album coming out next month and is pretty active), as well as Satan’s Wrath (which is due for another soon, I hope personally). Why the need for FRIENDS OF HELL?  Tas Danazoglou: […]

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