SATYRICON - Rebel Extravaganza 2-LP (Black Vinyl)

Nemesis Divina is “the” cult black metal album. Or at least “one of the”, to soften the statement. It contains some of the most precious, brilliant and hair raising moments in classical black metal. Just 3 years (and largely ignored 2 EP’s) later, they boldly came out with a fundamentally different album, “Rebel Extravaganza”. This was nothing like the Satyricon we all knew and loved, and it received a hefty amount of shit from conservative followers.

But someone has to say it, this is a flawless and revolutionary album. Satyr literally “broke down all conventional forms” of music itself and “created chaos to reinvent order”, which is all too evident in its musical approach and even in the disintegrated icon S on the album artwork. The band obviously knew the shit storm they would have to “fight their way” through and decided to “rebel against all circles” of conservative black metal fans, “shut out the outside pressure” of their demand that the band just kept on repeating itself, a “dead end”, “extravagantly rebelled against”. And quite frankly, you just cannot top “Nemesis Divina” in a Nemesis Divina way.

Satyricon here attempted, boldly, to state that “to see the real darkness”, they did not need conventional forms of black metal. The album also is a shining exhibition of what black metal could be. It remains to be seen if its majesty is comprehended in time, but its influence on newer black metal acts is plain to see. Again, rather than trying to top it, the band changed direction, towards a more approachable black & roll, making Rebel Extravaganza one of its kind, an hour long transcendental trip.