Rebel Extravaganza

Heavy Metal And Other Occasional Musics And Cultures

new album

Album Review: Haunt – Mind Freeze

HAUNT keep whipping them out like it’s 1972! Back then it wasn’t unusual for bands to release 2 full lengths a year. It hasn’t been much more than six months since the last HAUNT album If Icarus Could Fly came out, and that doesn’t even include HAUNT main man Trevor Church’s other band, BEASTMAKER, (now sadly defunct due to HAUNT’s success) having their own album out. Sometimes this kind of quantity affects quality…is that the case here? Mind Freeze is really what the new ANGELWITCH album, Angel Of Light, should have sounded like. It has that dark, musty production that […]

Album Review: Infidel Reich – Reichenstein

INFIDEL REICH is a four-piece death metal outfit from Columbus, Ohio, featuring ACHERON founder Vincent Crowley on vocals, early ASPHYX guitarist Tony Brookhuis, prolific drummer Bob Bagchus (ex-ASPHYX, SOULBURN, GRAND SUPREME BLOOD COURT etc), and one McNasty on bass. They created a buzz with their first self-titled EP back in 2017, now culminating in their first full length album, Reichenstein, released in November of 2019. This album is an odd one to be sure. Musically, I find this album enjoyable, for the most part. A lot of mid-paced romps that would grab anyone who’s a fan of BOLT THROWER, VENOM, […]

WINDHAND: Share Unreleased Demos & Rarities On Bandcamp

WINDHAND share unreleased demo & rarity tracks on Bandcamp throughout the band’s discography. The five-album collection spans from the band’s full-lengths Soma, Grief’s Infernal Flower, Eternal Return, plus miscellaneous demos, alternative mixes & their Live at WFMU session on 6.8.13. All proceeds for the albums will help WINDHAND post-theft of their instruments and gear earlier in the Fall. Fresh off their heels from their North American tour with RUSSIAN CIRCLES, WINDHAND have announced new dates in 2020 as part of the Psycho Las Vegas, Northwest Terror Fest, and Muddy Roots Festivals. More tour updates will be available at the WINDHAND […]

Album Review: Kirk Windstein – Dream In Motion

“Heaviness” is a term used in extreme music for a long time to describe how dark, deep, or even how loud a song can be. Heaviness usually also has an individual mean to each person. For me, heaviness can be the tone, but it is also conveyed in the message the music is trying to get across lyrically. When it comes to KIRK WINDSTEIN’s debut solo album Dream In Motion, it has heaviness in spades. The first thing that is noticeable about this album is how it subtly sets itself apart from other projects KIRK WINDSTEIN has been in. Kirk […]

Album Review: Mindless Sinner – Poltergeist

MINDLESS SINNER is a 5-piece, classic heavy metal outfit from Sweden, and they are bringing waves of catchy riffs and choruses in their newest album Poltergeist. This is their follow up to their 2015 comeback album The New Messiah. Poltergeist is a time capsule filled with leather, Vikings, stock explosion audio clips, dual guitars, and just a hint of cheese that made the speed/power metal of the ’80s so much fun, and so memorable. The voice work by Christer Göransson is definitely the highlight of the album for me. His voice reminds me of a mix between Bruce Dickinson and […]

Album Review: THE OLD DEAD TREE – The End

Saying goodbye can be a difficult thing, but I believe goodbyes on good terms are much better than memories fading into nothingness. THE OLD DEAD TREE releases their final EP, The End, as a final chapter to celebrate a twenty plus year career, and it is definitely a satisfying but concise ending. This EP contains 5 tracks, all written around 1999, and all these tracks fit right in with their library of dark, beautiful and melancholic brand of progressive metal. The EP kicks off with ’Sorry’. A lite piano intro shifts into a very percussive riff, and then, breaks away […]

SHARK ISLAND: CD Album Release Date Announced; Video Contest with Prize Money Opened

Adding to the news that Sunset Strip legends SHARK ISLAND are returning with their uniquely fresh take on traditional L.A. hard rock in the form of their album Bloodline, the guys around singer Richard Black are now back to resolve the biggest cliffhanger of their latest press release about the return and the new album: its physical release date, as it’s a two-stage launch. Given SHARK ISLAND’s recently blooming fascination for all things numbers plus the claim “it’s supposed to be a gift for the romantics”, some are already guessing right: Of course it’s gonna be FEB 14, Valentine’s Day! […]

Album Review: FEN – The Dead Light

Melancholic, mournful, furious and hopeful are all words that circled me in listening through FEN’s 2019 release, The Dead Light. This is the sixth full length album released by this atmospheric black metal war horse since their inception in 2006, and this is their most formidable album to date. Unlike previous releases, The Dead Light brings more prog elements to the table. This mixes well with the more typical soundscapes and blackened fury FEN is known for. The album opens with ‘Witness’ which really introduces you to what you should expect for the rest of the album. It starts with […]

NANOWAR OF STEEL – Sing ‘Valhalleluja’! New 7” Out Dec. 13!

VIEW THE ONLINE TEASER HERE Our Father Odin, Who Art in IKEA: Sing ‘Valhalleluja’! NANOWAR OF STEEL to Release 7” Single Valhalleluja, Featuring Angus McFife of GLORYHAMMER Smash Christmas Hit out Friday, December 13 Pre-Order HERE Make some room under your Christmas tree, because NANOWAR OF STEEL have delivered the most perfectly zany Christmas present of the year! If you thought Odin, Gloryhammer, IKEA and Christmas had nothing in common, you are about to be proven wrong. Masters of parody metal NANOWAR OF STEEL have combined all of these seemingly very different things into one wild and energetic gospel-metal tune. […]

Malokarpatan – Krupinské Ohne album art reveal, pre-order & release info

We reveal the cover of the forthcoming Malokarpatan album Krupinské Ohne, which will be out officially on Friday March 21st! The artwork was created by Matúš S. Durcík, aka, Svjatogor, a graphic designer and artist from Slovakia who was chosen to represent the historical themes throughout the new album. Says guitarist Adam of the artist and artwork, “I wanted to work with Svjatogor already when having the album concept set, as his personal style works wonderfully with the historical topic of the record and gives it a feeling of an old book rediscovered after gathering dust somewhere within lost archives. […]