Rebel Extravaganza

Heavy Metal And Other Occasional Musics And Cultures

lord randall

Album Reviews

Album Review: Ascalapha – Somber Vampyric Night

Does the world need another bedroom black metal “band”? Turns out, “need” or not, we’ve certainly had far worse than ASCALAPHA foisted upon us. ‘Dark Moon’ slowly begins her westward arc, tasteful and tunefully caressing the sable half-dome of the night, belying the grim subject matter, the resignation to the end. Lyrically, we find Monstro – and thus, ASCALAPHA – to be sparse, more a collection of handfuls of water (tears?) from life’s cold stream than traditional rhyme, which then affects the musical form; no “verse-chorus-verse” here. After a ‘Ceaseless Drought’, we stride the ‘Nameless Path’, filled more of determination […]

Album Reviews

Album Review: Huntsmen – The Dry Land

‘This, Our Gospel’ leads off HUNTSMEN’s third, swirling scales and surrounding sonics until the psychedelia the band has toyed with before is ushered into the forefront with chanted refrain and off-kilter meter. Then, sadly, not even three minutes in, we’re back in typical post-gaze-whatever-land, where we stay for the remainder of this 8+-minute opener. Sure, there are moments that pique the interest, but they’re brief and peripheral, a grasp too light to hold the attention; vital when you’re dealing with any style, but this one most especially. Digressionary from the start, ‘Cruelly Dawns’ repeats the pattern, an appealing vocal melody […]

Short Sharp Shocks

Trail Of Tears – Winds Of Disdain [EP]

Norwegian Sympho-gothers TRAIL OF TEARS were always at the very least reliable for being TOT, and now, after just over a decade, these early progenitors of the “Napalm sound” make their return on the Winds Of Disdain. New female vocalist Ailyn shines amid the gruffness of Thorsen on the title track, the band seeming breathing, alive, as if the silence has been a time of true reevaluation and this move forward purposeful, focused. I would’ve liked to see the melodic, subtle ‘Take These Tears’ continue in that way through the whole tune, but ‘No Colors Left’ bounces off the walls, […]

Album Reviews

Album Review: Alarm! – Alarm!

There’s just something about Swedish hardcore/punk that stands apart from any other movement. From ANTI-CIMEX to Mob 47 to the ‘90s crust influences of SKITSYSTEM and DISFEAR, it just hits different. The members of ALARM! have pedigree up the wazoo but, refusing to rest on the laurels of their past (bands such as VICTIMS and OUTLAST), the foursome has crafted a brief but boisterous album in Alarm!. A tellingly ominous bass/drum opens up ‘Into The Dark’, and when I say “opens” up, I mean “sonically eviscerates”, all speed and high register screams/spits. Not slowing down for ‘Alerta!’ (which I think […]

Short Sharp Shocks

ViOS – SlaveForm [EP]

While the words “progressive instrumental metal” often cause a nervous tic when first heard together, that’s what Steve Lewis is on about with his ViOS project. ‘Druj’ captivates from the start, as if NEVERMORE had made more use of keyboards, or PENAL COLONY had made more of guitars. TRIBE AFTER TRIBE percussion, and time signature leaps that actually make sense. More accessible on its face, ‘Abort’ is no less interesting, and the beauty of what’s on offer here is that it wasn’t written for vocals, enabling Lewis true free rein. ‘Saturation’ breathes out sonic cosmology, quite darkly alluring. I’m not […]

Album Reviews

Album Review: Julie Christmas – Ridiculous And Full Of Blood

Fourteen years after the laudable debut from JULIE CHRISTMAS, The Bad Wife, she of the many projects and of the many voices returns with Ridiculous And Full Of Blood. With a backing band is composed of members from CULT OF LUNA, CANDIRIA and KENMODE (as well as others), ‘Not Enough’ begins, tribal, percussive and ritual, a “calling up” of spirits before drifting into trip-hop/electro momentarily, more reminiscent of the singer’s past than much found here. Tom Tierney’s ever-present keys take the lead for much of ‘Supernatural’ cementing, as they will come to throughout Ridiculous And Full Of Blood, how much […]

Album Reviews

Album Review: Saltpig – Saltpig

‘Satan’s War’ is lo-fi ‘70s CROW and ICECROSS worship, yet that’s not to say the sound is thin or otherwise deficient; rather, the rough ‘n’ ragged mix adds to the draw in this age of even “occult” bands sounding fresh off the factory floor at Baphomet-Mart. When the song builds and builds…and builds to a rousing climax, you know the duo are both worshippers and students of the craft. A boogie-type riff and blues rhythm form the backbone of ‘Demon’ Fabio Allesandrini destroying preconceptions and displaying himself as not only a competent but sonically interesting drummer out from behind the […]

Album Reviews

Album Review: The Antikaroshi – L’inertie Polaire

“Those” labels are few and far between; the ones where – even if you don’t vibe completely with everything about a band or album – you can, at the very least, respect the artistic endeavor, the honesty of the work itself. Germany’s Exile On Mainstream has long been one of those, which makes me even more reluctant to admit that L’nertie Polaire will be my introduction into THE ANTIKAROSHI, six albums into its discography. Truth, though. That’s what ya get here. Inspired by/interlaced with concepts described in the Paul Virilio tome sharing this title, L’inertie Polaire opens, moving forward with […]

Short Sharp Shocks

Cathari – It Will Hurt The Entire Time You Are Alive

‘Philadelphia’ is a steamroller bristling with railroad spikes and vitriol, while ‘It Will Hurt’ is the relentless rage of a parking lot fight. Where the track – and this quartet – wins overall, though, is the shifting from the band’s doomed roots into the jagged realm of Hydra Head Records and Tortuga Recordings ala KEELHAUL and THE GERSCH without losing themselves in the process. ‘Weight’ is neither catharsis nor purge, more a failed exorcism of the doubt and mistrust brought on my disappointment in self and others, yet somehow, it’s healing to know you’re not the only one. Noise as […]

Album Reviews

Album Review: Noroth – Sacrificial Solace

Seattle’s NOROTH returns for it’s third attempt at sonic obliteration after the solid “enough” It Dwells Among Us of 2021 and the following year’s even more weighty Harbinger. After a brief intro, ‘Black Serpent’ begins with all the subtlety of a cage match with a six-legged goat on bath salts who also happens to think you fucked his girlfriend. It’s that level, yes; a bit of HELLHAMMER groove to the riff in spaces, but always head down, always onward. ‘Symphony Of Decay’ is more straight-ahead death metal in execution but loses none of its energy or enjoyability for its simplicity. […]

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