Rebel Extravaganza

Heavy Metal And Other Occasional Musics And Cultures

Metal Blade

Album Reviews

Album Review: Ensiferum – Winter Storm

That ENSIFERUM was on a downward slide between 2009 classic From Afar and ‘20s Thalassic still kind of hurts, given how reliable the band was for its first four albums. I’ve kept up peripherally with them since, always at least given each new release a spin, but have come away feeling disappointed, and never went back to see if there was anything I might’ve missed, because there was so much more to hear and give time to, even within the folk metal sub-subgenre. Intro ‘Aurora’ sounds like the loading screen for the flash game Crush The Castle, and ‘Winter Storm […]

Album Reviews

Album Review: Wolfbrigade – Life Knife Death

Who needs coffee and energy drinks when WOLFBRIGADE is around? Hell, who needs cocaine?! This long running Swedish band is bone-breaking speed and power in concentrated music form. I was kinda shocked when I found out their new album would be on Metal Blade. I’m glad they’re on one of the bigger metal labels, but for a band with deep roots in the crusty Swedish punk scene, it’s a strange fit. Strange or no, they haven’t toned down one iota for this record. The press compares them to DISCHARGE, MOTÖRHEAD and old ENTOMBED, and that really hits the nail smack […]

Music News

ARMORED SAINT Releases Rendition Of ‘One Chain (Don’t Make No Prison)’; Video/Single Now Playing

ARMORED SAINT, leaders and stalwarts of the American heavy metal scene since the early 1980s, are back with a brilliant rendition of ‘One Chain (Don’t Make No Prison)’. The classic track was originally written by Dennis Lambert and Brian Potter and was first released by People in 1970. Additional covers include The Four Tops (1974), Santana (1978), and The Doobie Brothers (1989). Comments vocalist John Bush, “[Bassist] Joey [Vera] came up with the idea of doing the song. We’ve always been huge fans of old school soul and R&B music so it was a no brainer. It’s got a great […]

Music News

ENTHEOS: Progressive Death Metal Duo Unleashes ‘Life In Slow Motion’ Video/Single

Progressive death metal duo ENTHEOS today unleashes their latest single, ‘Life In Slow Motion’. The track, and accompanying video, follows the band’s crushing ‘An End To Everything’ single released last month and serves as a precursor to the music to come later this year. Elaborates vocalist Chaney Crabb, “‘Life In Slow Motion’ is a song about seeing life through the eyes of drug addiction and the ways that it affects not only the addict, but the people who surround them. It’s about wanting to return to a moment in life where the addiction took over and pondering what could have […]

Album Reviews

Album Review: Blaze Of Perdition – Upharsin

BLAZE OF PERDITION has made a name for itself in a country known for a blistering, early SLAYER-ized take on both black and death metal by adding a fluidity and sense of peaks and valleys that has thus far set it apart from the more known exports of Poland. On its second for Metal Blade, the band has taken the bold step of releasing Upharsin in their native tongue, a first for them when it comes to full lengths. At once, ‘W kwiecie rozlamu’ seems more outwardly abrasive, but soon enough moves into a mid-paced (don’t call it a) groove […]

Music News

KVAEN: Swedish Melodic Death/Black Metallers To Release The Formless Fires Full-Length June 21st

KVAEN will release their third album, and first for Metal Blade Records, The Formless Fires, on June 21st. There are many great extreme metal bands in Sweden, but only one from Kalix. This remote beauty spot near the Finnish border, on the northernmost shores of the Baltic, is home to Jacob Björnfot, creative mastermind behind melodic black/death metal project, KVAEN. A sumptuous but bitingly intense exploration of beauty and violence, KVAEN’s The Formless Fires is a melodic black metal masterwork radiating an inspirational sense of place. Even more than 2020’s folky, speed metal-infused debut The Funeral Pyre or 2022’s compelling, […]

Album Reviews

Album Review: DÅÅTH – The Deceivers

DÅÅTH returns after a smattering of 2023 singles, 14 years after their self-titled album left nary a blip on most folks’ radar with The Deceivers. That the album features one original member must be noted, as well as that the quintet has expanded, now including a third guitarist, as well as longtime vocalist Sean Zatorsky. So let’s see what fruits are born of sonic upheaval… ‘No Rest No End’ began melodically, until suddenly a wash of discombobulating keys broke any sense of fluidity. Thankfully, this was short-lived, a relatively catchy riff pattern devolving into groove metal grunt-fest, and then – […]

Music News

RIVERS OF NIHIL Drops ‘Criminals’ Video/Single; Chaos & Carnage Tour Begins This Week

Reading, Pennsylvania-based progressive death metallers RIVERS OF NIHIL are pleased to unleash their brand new single, ‘Criminals’. The latest track serves as a teaser for the band’s upcoming new full-length. Comments vocalist/bassist Adam Biggs, “Our newest single, ‘Criminals’, is by far one of the most aggressive tracks we’ve released in quite some time and displays the power of the new lineup at a full 10 out of 10. Lyrically, the song is a meditation on the nature of crime, punishment, and the delicate balance of power therein. So, show up for the shredding, stay for the contemplation of truth and […]

Album Reviews

Album Review: Six Feet Under – Killing For Revenge

Aside from a wheezing, heart attack inducing “Is this Geritol in my bongwater” run partway up Half-Ass Mountain with Undead (2012) and Unborn (2013), Ol’ Chrissy’s been faltering at best, flatlining at worst since 1995’s Haunted. Chris Barnes had no choice but to get Jack Owen on board, as roping/duping another member of the O.G. CANNIBAL CORPSE lineup was the only way SIX FEET UNDER could retain any level of credibility in death metal. And so, the hopeful did hope. And lo, did Nightmares Of The Decomposed flop harder than Nicolas Cage with T__ W_____ M__. We shouldn’t have been […]

Album Reviews

Album Review: Vulture – Sentinels

Holding the flag high for German thrash we have VULTURE, who have emerged as solid journeymen in their chosen field. The ’80s thrash revival hasn’t quite hit the same level of success as the recent comeback of old school death metal…can VULTURE turn the tide? I don’t know if Sentinels will be the record to do it. It’s a fun record combining straight EXODUS worship with heaping helpings of yelping Kraut-thrash, but it’s no threat to join the company of thrash immortals. The yippy vocals (like Zetro Sousa trying to do early Schmier from DESTRUCTION) are overdone and sometimes cringeable. […]

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