Rebel Extravaganza

Heavy Metal And Other Occasional Musics And Cultures

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Album Reviews

Album Review: Forever Autumn – Crowned In Skulls [EP]

Massachusetts forest-dweller Autumn Ni Dubhghaill emerged from the cocoon years of 2004-’08 by, against expectation, harkening back to an older, more ancient time with her art. Rustic, simpler, almost agrarian in execution, Waiting For Öktober was sparse, that new-formed, black-winged butterfly clawing through and out of an enclosure, unsure but committed. Three albums and an EP have followed – including 2021’s black metal scorcher Hail The Forest Dark – to today, where FOREVER AUTUMN returns to folk-seasoned doom (or is it doom-seasoned folk?) with Crowned In Skulls. Assisted by mainstay cellist/foil Jon McGrath throughout and revisited by Aaron Stainthorpe of […]

Album Reviews

Album Review: Pyreship – Light Is A Barrier

Finding a quality band that falls under the post-whatever (in this case -metal) tag is almost – if not more – rare than a current thrash band actually doing something interesting with the genre. Houston, Texas’ awfully-named PYRESHIP has a full-length and split with Louisiana sludge/prog crew FORMING THE VOID under its belt from a few years back, and now returns with Light Is A Barrier. An overlong spoken piece takes up the first minute of ‘Broken Spire’, but I guess the band figured they could spare it, what with 8+ minutes to fill on the opener. Once the vocals […]

Music News

THUNDER HORSE: metal up with new video ‘Let Them Bleed’

Texas-based heavy mongers THUNDER HORSE announce the release of their new album Chosen One, to be issued on March 12th through Ripple Music, and share their rocking video for ‘Let Them Bleed’ today. The sound of San Antonio’s THUNDER HORSE doesn’t quite fit into one box, but they are built thick with doom, psych, occult, and classic rock and blues influences. Close your eyes and imagine the brooding sounds of early Sabbath, the massive wall of guitars made famous by bands like Deep Purple and Mountain, on a sonically mesmerizing Pink Floyd trip, and you will have a taste of […]

Music News

DEAD EXALTATION: Indian prog/tech death metal band shares new track + album details via Toilet ov Hell

Indian technical/progressive death metal trio DEAD EXALTATION releases the 2nd single from their upcoming album, alongside disclosing the artwork, tracklist, and release date. The single is accompanied by a lyric video that showcases specific elements of the artwork. The album, Despondent, features the absolute finest of South Asian extreme metal musicianship and songwriting, balancing a progressive approach with old school atmosphere. Toilet ov Hell debuts the track, ‘The Transformation’, from the album. Read + Stream full feature HERE Previously released single ‘Coerced Sewer Ingest’ got its premiere at Everything Is Noise last month. The album Despondent releases February 05th. Pre-order […]

Album Reviews

Album Review: In Malice’s Wake – The Blindness Of Faith

Australia (at least within the metal circles in which I move) is much more known for its black/death output than thrash, so I can say without shame that The Blindness Of Faith is my first encounter with IN MALICE’S WAKE, who have apparently been tearing up the band’s local Melbourne scene and beyond for nearly 18 years, and in recorded form for a bit less, the album we speak of today being its fourth since 2008. Coming five years after Light Upon The Wicked, we find the quartet also now two albums deep into its current lineup – and it […]

Album Reviews

Album Review: Pimmit Hills – Heathens & Prophets [EP]

The phrase “born from the ashes of” when referring to a band formed after the end of another usually denotes some sort of catastrophe, some event – or string of events – that caused the upheaval. Not so PIMMIT HILLS, which was birthed out of founding rhythm guitarist Dave Kowalski’s decision to leave stalwart Southern troubadours KING GIANT due to family/life obligations. Simple as that. The remaining members were encouraged to continue, and have, this time under the banner of a name taken from the band’s native Pimmit Hills, Virginia. Originally intended as a full-length debut, as thee darke spectre […]

Album Reviews

Album Review: THE DEATHLESS DOGS – Five Across The Eyes [EP]

When a band’s promotional one-sheet references CLUTCH, I’m already on guard. Not that picking up sonic and lyrical cues from the Maryland Men Of Cordial Gentility is anything bad per se. It’s just that 8 of 10 times what we get is an act that’s flipped through a thesaurus, listened to a REVEREND GARY DAVIS album once, and probably covers ‘Big News I & II’ live to show its “diversity”. Thankfully, in real life, THE DEATHLESS DOGS are very much their own blend. Sure, the duo is the sum of its influences, but that’s the majority of what’s in all […]

Album Reviews

Album Review: MNRVA – Black Sky

Not knowing what to expect from MNRVA’s Black Sky I was greeted with a shrill guitar intro and growling bass on ‘Not The One’. Personally I think they could have tried or experimented with lower tuning and/or different distortion pedals, but that’s just me. As the song progresses, before we even get to the vocals, I’m noticing the transitions between riffs is pretty rough. The vocals completely shit the bed for me. The whole song is honestly pretty corny to me. Not in the good, hilarious sort of way, but in that cringe sort of way. Upon reaching the second […]

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