Rebel Extravaganza

Heavy Metal And Other Occasional Musics And Cultures

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Album Reviews

Album Review: Strigoi – Abandon All Faith

VALLENFYRE is no more. The crusty death metal project of PARADISE LOST’s Gregor Mackintosh has breathed its last. But rushing in to fill the gap is STRIGOI, named after demons of Romanian folklore. The differences between VALLENFYRE and STRIGOI are not extreme, but they are there and it’s a good bet that fans of both VALLENFYRE and PARADISE LOST will enjoy the murky gloom of Abandon All Faith. Though the debut has the same grimy feel as VALLENFYRE, Abandon All Faith is a little more varied and, on occasion, more sophisticated. ‘Phantoms’, ‘Carved Into Skin’ and the title track all […]

Album Reviews

Album Review: Municipal Waste – The Last Rager

I’m not about to sit here and tell you I’ve been a fan of, well, anything Tony Ferrera and his band of self-styled hard-partying miscreants has done under the banner of MONOLITHIC…erm, sorry…MUNICIPAL WASTE. To be honest, the whole idea kinda rubs me up the wrong way. Sure, EXODUS had its moments of fun for fun’s sake in the likes of ‘Toxic Waltz’, and don’t even get me started on the never-deserved-to-be-in-the-Big-Four-anyway ANTHRAX, but at least occasionally they’d kick out some decent jams to make up the difference. Not so with these guys, and I’m not really sure how, nearly […]

Album Reviews

Album Review: Memoriam – Requiem For Mankind

MEMORIAM continues to crank albums out at a pace that most modern bands wouldn’t have a clue about. As soon as one has come out, work starts immediately on the next. It hasn’t been that long since The Silent Vigil emerged and now here is Requiem For Mankind. Sometimes having albums come out on a conveyor belt means a drop in quality…how about in MEMORIAM’s case? This is actually the best MEMORIAM yet. It totally retains the old school BOLT THROWER/BENEDICTION feeling of the band but the pace seems quicker, the music a little angrier and the riffs a bit […]

Album Reviews

Album Review: MANEGARM – Fornaldarsagor

This is a lusty and full-blooded offering of Viking/pagan metal from veterans who clearly know what they are doing. I put MANEGARM along with HEIDEVOLK at the top of the pagan metal heap and one listen to Fornaldarsagor will show you why. This is energetic, varied metal with an excellent production. Pagan metal often borrows from its darker brother black metal, and MANEGARM is no exception. ‘Sveablotet’ opens the festivities with a massive wall of guitar power that leaps into a fast, black metal tinged blast.I will tell you right off the bat that if you don’t like foreign language […]

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