Rebel Extravaganza

Heavy Metal And Other Occasional Musics And Cultures

prosthetic records

Album Reviews

Album Review: Blind Equation – A Funeral In Purgatory

This was one of the most painful listening experiences I’ve had in a while. I really debated whether I should review this at all, as musically this is my version of Kryptonite. I don’t really enjoy doing super negative reviews. But BLIND EQUATION described themselves as “cybergrind”. With that bit of blatant mislabeling, all bets are off. There’s about as much grind in this as a TAYLOR SWIFT album. Which is to say, none. You want grind? Put in the latest from CAUSTIC WOUND…a tenth of a second of that would annihilate this. I can’t believe this is a Chicago […]

Music News

BLIND EQUATION: Chicago Cybergrind Trio Unleashes ‘Flashback (Feat. Strawberry Hospital)’ Video/Single; A Funeral In Purgatory Full-Length To See Release On July 18th

Chicago’s BLIND EQUATION returns in 2025 with A Funeral In Purgatory, perhaps their most ambitious release to date. The band’s third LP is scheduled for release on July 18th on Prosthetic Records. A Funeral In Purgatory sees the band exploring new territory by adding more gothic metal and death/doom elements to their boundless and ever-growing cybergrind sound. The band’s key songwriter, James McHenry, describes the new record as “the heaviest and most brutal BLIND EQUATION album to date, while simultaneously being the most soft and heartfelt, which perfectly encapsulates the emotions felt throughout the LP. It’s intense, it’s obnoxious, but […]

Album Reviews

Album Review: Thus Spoke Zarathustra – I’m Done With Self Care, It’s Time For Others’ Harm

The early-mid ‘00s were a weird-ass time for metal. OG metalcore bands (look ‘em up, this ain’t Wikipedia or The Metal Archives) suddenly found themselves being name-dropped by a new pack of hyenas in guyliner that would make Gerard Way wince in discomfort and jeans tighter than Luke Bryan’s. Of course, now, the reason for the tightness of their jeans is that they belonged to their girlfriend. A word on the girlfriends of that era; lonely. Lonely, because these dandy fops were too busy making fag jokes and bro-ing down to pay any attention to them, in search of the […]

Music News

Album Review: Glacial Tomb – Lightless Expanse

From the fertile musical soil of Denver, Colorado, GLACIAL TOMB returns with its second full length. Annoying keys and overblown effects lead us into the ‘Stygian Abattoir’, and oh, man, are these guys trying to sound like early Gothenburg here, at least in the music. The vocals haven’t changed much since the self-titled 2018 debut, nondescript as ever. I’m sure some may thrive on the frequent shifts from second-tier death metal growl to blackish bark, but to me, there’s nothing appealing. The trio seems to feel they’re a blend of sludge, black and death metals, but the tired-ass bridge in […]

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 […]

Music News

MOLDER announce US tour dates

Chicago, IL fetid death metal band MOLDER has announced US tour dates this summer, with Goetia and Dripping Decay. The Disgusting Decay tour promises pure death metal madness, with new music from MOLDER to be shared in the coming months – more details of which will be revealed soon. Full dates for The Disgusting Decay tour are detailed below. Speaking on the tour announcement, MOLDER comments: “We’ll be skulking our way through the US this August… Hope to see you freaks at one of these dates!” MOLDER Online:Facebook

Music News

HUNTSMEN announce new album, The Dry Land, and share release show

Chicago, IL ensemble HUNTSMEN has announced their third album, The Dry Land, set to be released via Prosthetic Records on June 7. Alongside the album announcement, the Americana / doom metal group has shared release show details for The Dry Land, set to take place on June 7 at Sleeping Village in Chicago, IL. Further details on The Dry Land will be revealed in the coming weeks, with the band sharing a teaser for the lead single HERE Speaking on the album announcement, Ray Bueno-Knipe (drums and vocals) comments: “We are incredibly grateful to announce the release of our third […]

Album Reviews

Album Review: Xorsist – At The Somber Steps To Serenity

XORSIST sends infernal hails from the land of Gothen…wait, no, Stockholm. These newcomers make no secret that the band is a blatant attempt to conjure the early HM-2, buzzsaw riffing and low-toned rumble for which their town is known, but can they? After 2022’s debut showing – which was alright, but when you’re talking Stockholm, “alright” just doesn’t cut it – founder and vocalist/guitarist Gustav Ryderfelt found himself some other folks to play with, hung onto the name, and here we have a second album already, At The Somber Steps To Serenity, on Prosthetic Records. Anyone who’s read my scratchings […]

Album Reviews

Album Review: Calligram – Position | Momentum

‘Sul Dolore’ begins CALLIGRAM’s second, a whirlwind of blasts and frigid strings swirling about, but, for some inexplicable reason, what should already have my ears cryogenically frozen just falls flat on its way to ‘Frantumi In Itinere’. More of the same here, despite an interesting slow down at the mid-section, until you realize that we never return to the original theme, and resulting in what feels like two completely different songs slammed together in a furious attempt to create one. ‘Eschilo’ opens with pensive, acoustic fingerings leading into a section that far, far too quickly gets annihilated by Default Blast, […]

Album Reviews

Album Review: Sadistic Ritual – The Enigma, Boundless

This has got to be one of the quirkiest and most entertaining thrash records I have laid ears on in a while. The band is from Atlanta, Georgia and their moniker had me thinking they would be a POSSESSED or KREATOR type band. Thankfully, they are more original than that and not easy to describe. The PR calls them “psychedelic” thrash, but the most psychedelic thing about the album is its cover art. I think fans expecting real hardcore psych influence might be disappointed. SADISTIC RITUAL does not fit into a neat little box. They aren’t a knock-off of either […]

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