Review by Denis on December 17, 2002.

I was never really interested in Black Metal until I heard "In Times Before the Light" from The Kovenant. Just like Tristania opened the world of the Gothic realm, The Kovenant introduced me to a never-ending journey into the Black fantasy kingdom.

There's only one-way to describe these musicians: creative geniuses! No other band can combine in such an aesthetic way the complexed musical phrases found in Progressive music, the raw and electrifying energy of Black Metal, all this sophisticatedly dressed liked a grand symphonic opus! Too bad I just discovered them recently. What have I been missing all these years?

The awesome cover art invites you to travel on a magnificent musical spaceship. What is about to be discovered is nothing else but breathtaking and highly exciting. It won't take long before your ears and eyes to pop out from exhilaration. Every single song is a piece of art and the multi facet that will be unveiled right from the first notes, won't even stop after the last one so the urge to press play again and again is far beyond human volition.

Everything on this album is perfect, especially in the balance of instruments and musical styles. The sound is just great. The devilish vocals of Nagash are here simply perfect. Not too upfront or in the background. Devilish but not overwhelming. Sometimes screaming and other times spoken and even theatrical like on 'The Last Dragons' or 'The Sulfur Feast'. The beauty of all this variety is completed by an angelic singer doing the back vocals on almost every song and goes even with a duo Mr. Nagash on 'Bringer of the Sixth Sun'. The rhythmic partitions are as changing as the mode is moving from super fast to moderate but all this remain top notch in their execution. The progressive construction of these compositions letting not a single chance to boredom to settle. You can expect a very thrilling and ever changing direction in pace and mood. Sometimes hectic, other time solemn and calmer without becoming romantic but one thing for sure is the atmosphere throughout sustain an incredible and grandiose aura that nobody else than The Kovenant can achieve. Don't worry for the Black Metal elements because they are all there. Not only Hellhammer can play a very complex prog style drumming but he also can do the machine gun skin beating too. The guitars! Blackheart and Asternu are teaming up to show you what great rifting and lead/solos are all about. Guitars, plenty of tracks full of memorable partitions and different sounds including cool clean electric notes just like in the intro of 'The Sulfur Feast' and in other numbers such as 'Planetarium', 'The Last Dragons'. Now for the keyboards, do they belong in Metal, especially in Black Metal? You bet they do and this album is going to change your mind if you think otherwise. Majestic, grandiose and symphonic aroma just like a pipe organ in a cathedral. Every song is blessed with this magical ambiance thanks to Sverd and his synths.

Memorable moments in songs like 'Bizarre Cosmic Industries' for its piano passage with guitar riffs built like a classical composition, moving to a moderate piano / acoustic guitar segment with female vocals or 'Bringer to the Sixth Sun' with that great male/female duo, the keyboard taking a church organ sound and the riffs being at their best. The closing number 'Chariots of Thunder' is a real jaw dropping experience including a thrilling atmosphere made of great riffs, awesome keyboards sounding like percussions, good lead and guitar solos, then becoming a very progressive piece with a superb lead guitar run while the keys are more spacy to ends up with beautiful female chants and a drum beat like a marching band slowly fading away to terminate this amazing composition...

Bottom Line: A genuine cosmic Black masterpiece dedicated to the essence of x-tra terrestrial existence!

Categorical Rating Breakdown

Musicianship: 10
Atmosphere: 10
Originality: 10
Production: 10
Overall: 10

Rating: 10 out of 10

Review by Luka on August 12, 2001.

The covenant created here is of some of Norway’s biggest black metal talents, of space-age synths, symphonic elements, and female vocals. The result is astonishing and the sound is like that of no other black metal band. The reputation and style Covenant have earned is "symphonic black metal", and it certainly suits. Any musician worth his salt has figured out that any band still playing standard black metal is doomed, since the whole scene has gotten out of control and spun itself to hell. And who’s left standing? Oddballs Cradle of Filth and Dimmu Borgir, and innovators like Emperor, Satyricon, and, of course, these boys.

So let us begin the ‘Sulphur Feast’. The listener is probed by the instruments and the proficient compositions, while hearing about the cosmos being devoured by aliens, clowns and dragons. Black Metal’s reigning master drummer-Hellhammer-delivers the extreme beats and rhythms like no other, and often adds skillful and intricate jazzy parts with the hi-hat and cymbals. The majestic and glorious, yet somehow sinister guitar-synth melodies compel your soul, while Sarah Jezebel Deva’s beautiful "starsong" adds eerie feeling and passion. Blackheart and Astennu, the two guitarists, know what they’re doing and solos are not hard to come by.

The song structures are intricate and unique, never the same twice and the tracks are just fun to listen to. Lots of feeling, inspiration and hard work, the album is truly amazing. The excellent cover is done by the famous metal cover-art messiah Andreas Marschall. It’s also important to add that Covenant’s is one of the coolest logos I’ve ever seen, symmetrical, sharp, and, of course, totally indiscernible! Everyone here did their work and the result is remarkable! The two extra-outstanding tracks are 'Bringer of the Sixth Sun' and 'Chariots of Thunder'.

Bottom Line: Very unique and interesting! True metal talent and innovation.

Categorical Rating Breakdown

Originality: 9
Musicianship: 8
Atmosphere: 8
Production: 8
Overall: 9

Rating: 8.4 out of 10

Review by Jeger on July 4, 2024.

The late 90’s - early 00’s were awkward years for metal bands, mainly of the mainstream variety, but these rather embarrassing days did take their toll on black metal. I mean, Mayhem - “Grand Declaration of War”, Emperor - “Prometheus - The Discipline of Fire and Demise” and Satyricon - “Rebel Extravaganza”?Rifle through all the shit and you might find some black metal in there…

For the aforementioned Satyricon, following up their third album, “Nemesis Divina”, would prove to be an exercise in futility for them and one of bewilderment for their fans. Satyricon were the first black metal band to be signed by a major label (EMI) and since that signing, it’s been a rat race to stay ahead of the curve, and said rat race has not always paid dividends. In fact, you could say that most of Satyricon’s discography is shit and no one would really argue; a few gems amidst a slew of mediocre records. So, they established themselves with “Dark Medieval Times”, they ascended to the upper echelons of the scene with “The Shadowthrone” & “Nemesis Divina” and then! An extravaganza took place, not a fun one but a dark one and for many a pretty shitty one… 

True fucking black metal - it is a thing and “Nemesis Divina” is a nice example of true BM at full calacity: amped up product and loud, dynamic and epic, yet grounded in all the traditional themes and musical compositions. Where did it go? Gone and left with only “Filthgrinder” and “Havoc Vulture” in all of their what the fuck kind of black metal is this sort of distastefulness. Wretched, down-tempo’d drivel compared to the previous LP: boring passages that drag on too long and fail to captivate and nonexistent is the whole Norwegian black metal vibe. An industry stain that foreshadowed the inevitable rise of the New Wave - a movement that ushered in unforeseen levels of dynamic range in recording and of course in play, but also the notion that black metal is but a genre of music after all; a once proud art form turned into entertainment. Bound to happen and “Rebel Extravaganza” just has that feel to it; soulless as if it was thrown together for the label and without much passion or regard for genre integrity. 

Just fucking boring. “Rebel Extravaganza” also prophesied a newer, more accessible style for Satyricon to explore from then on into their following three albums: “Volcano”, “Now, Diabolical” and “The Age of Nero”. Some call it black & roll, I call it mainstream-geared fodder that barely passes for black metal. Black metal as a business, a genre of music where once proud black metal bands share festival stages with the hottest new death metal band, film cutting edge but altogether embarrassing music videos and bow to major record labels. That’s what comes to mind when I listen to the heft of Satyricon’s catalogue. One thing positive, however, about records like “Rebel Extravaganza” is that they truly make you appreciate the underground that much more. Mediocre black metal band, travesty of a black metal album. With “Rebel Extravaganza”, Satyricon shit all over black metal all the while as they embarrass themselves visually and disappoint once loyal followers the world over. Satyricon’s “Load”… Nothing more, nothing less.

Rating: 3.5 out of 10

Review by Felix on June 4, 2024.

“True Norwegian Black Metal” became a quality label very quickly in the beginning of the nineties. But the pioneers from the top of Europe were not immune against self-destructive thoughts and deeds and with albums such as “Murder” (Gehenna), “Grand Declaration of War” (Mayhem) or “Eld” (Enslaved) the reputation of the early kings of the second wave began to crumble. Satyricon’s output from 1999 left no doubt that the duo was part of the problem, not of the solution. It was an emblematic album for the change the Norwegian scene went through.

Already the artwork says it all. We see two corpsepaint faces, okay, but the entire design of the cover fails to spread black metal vibes. The same goes for the stylish, artistically valuable yet inappropriate booklet and, much more worse, the music. You have to look for the black, original sounds with a magnifying glass. Satyricon’s material fails to offer black metal aesthetics. No grimness, no coldness, no mix of triumph and desperation. Rare exceptions like the vehement, dense and pretty brutal “Prime Evil Renaissance” do not stand for the whole album. Instead, the band selected “Tied in Bronze Chains” as opener and that’s symptomatic. It’s an 11 minutes tune, very ambitious, very meticulously arranged – and completely bloodless, partly repetitive and the king of missing integrity. Of course, the vocals still sound more or less evil and I do not say that the album marks a commercial sell-out. But believe me, this was not the full-length I wanted to get from the band that had written “Mother North”, “Du som hater gud” or “The Dawn of a New Age”. The fiery core of these classics does not return on “Rebel Extravaganza”, even the better songs like “Supersonic Journey” cannot compete with them.

If we do not count the three intermezzos, we have seven tracks with a playtime of 55 minutes. This new opulence shows both the ambitions of the duo and its incompetence to bring them to life completely. One can enjoy some good parts here and there, but a lot of the tracks lack compactness, impact and a clear direction. If one wants to understand the record as an experiment, we have to realize that it is a half-hearted one. Satyricon do not really step out of the black metal territory, but they also do not reach new shores. Even the production reinforces the dilemma. It is a pretty vehement one and it does not suffer from serious defects concerning the sound of the guitars, the drums or the vocals. Nevertheless, it does not create any kind of atmosphere and this somehow sterile approach is a shortcoming I cannot ignore.

The most coherent detail is the fact that the closer “The Scorn Torrent” shows the same weaknesses as the opener and so it closes the cycle. It holds some highly aggressive, relentless sections, but bloodless sections as well and crude female vocals are not helpful as well, to say it politely. For all those who did not realize it already, the closer makes clear that spontaneity did not play an important role during the making of “Rebel Extravaganza”. The result is a partly tiring, mid-tempo orientated album with some strong sections, but far away from being a worthy successor of “Nemesis Divina”. Therefore, the promising potential of our intelligent friend Satyr remains more or less well hidden in the dark. The album is not a total failure, but it shows that the band has lost its inner compass and this makes it even difficult to enjoy its good sides.

Rating: 6.4 out of 10

Review by Luka on April 29, 2001.

So Satyr finally decides to shave his rapidly balding head, and along with that, the whole band (the two guys) undergo a complete makeover, trying to look as scary as possible and putting their ugly mugs right on the front cover. It shows that Satyr not only has a sense for songwriting, but marketing as well: shock sells. The previous Satyricon albums were jewels in a sea of black metal crap and mimicry, always giving us something new, and (the beautifully packaged) Rebel Extravaganza doesn’t let anyone down on that account.

I’d call RE elaborate, modern, complex black metal (how totally opposite of Satyr’s side project Wongraven, which is basically simple, progressive medieval synths.) It starts off with "Tied in Bronze Chains"-my favorite track. If you’re in the right mood, each song is a treat. If not, the whole album is painfully boring and impossible to sit through (it’s over an hour long)! The real beauty of the songs is the unexpected twists and turns, you never know what to expect next. The lyrics Satyr simply describes as ‘misanthropic’. They mostly describe a terrifying future world overrun by machines and hellspawn and the death of all "white-draped men" and where "justice is replaced by mercy for the inferior". The lyrics are beautifully written (especially in Prime Evil Renaissance), except for a few grammatical errors which no Scandinavian songwriter seems to be able to overcome.

There are some interesting guest musicians here: Fenriz of Darkthrone doing some drums and Dod of Gorgoroth contributing some guitarwork. Also some horribly misplaced female vocals on the last song which almost totally wrecks it, but fear not, Rebel Extravaganza is awesome! It’s a hard listen at first and it takes time to get into. All who put down this album will burn in hell, Satyr is king!

Bottom Line: Soundtrack to a very cold and grim future world. No black metal fan would want to miss this, forget about Darkthrone and Burzum, this is the future of the genre.

Rating: 8.5 out of 10

Review by Jeger on July 4, 2024.

The late 90’s - early 00’s were awkward years for metal bands, mainly of the mainstream variety, but these rather embarrassing days did take their toll on black metal. I mean, Mayhem - “Grand Declaration of War”, Emperor - “Prometheus - The Discipline of Fire and Demise” and Satyricon - “Rebel Extravaganza”?Rifle through all the shit and you might find some black metal in there…

For the aforementioned Satyricon, following up their third album, “Nemesis Divina”, would prove to be an exercise in futility for them and one of bewilderment for their fans. Satyricon were the first black metal band to be signed by a major label (EMI) and since that signing, it’s been a rat race to stay ahead of the curve, and said rat race has not always paid dividends. In fact, you could say that most of Satyricon’s discography is shit and no one would really argue; a few gems amidst a slew of mediocre records. So, they established themselves with “Dark Medieval Times”, they ascended to the upper echelons of the scene with “The Shadowthrone” & “Nemesis Divina” and then! An extravaganza took place, not a fun one but a dark one and for many a pretty shitty one… 

True fucking black metal - it is a thing and “Nemesis Divina” is a nice example of true BM at full calacity: amped up product and loud, dynamic and epic, yet grounded in all the traditional themes and musical compositions. Where did it go? Gone and left with only “Filthgrinder” and “Havoc Vulture” in all of their what the fuck kind of black metal is this sort of distastefulness. Wretched, down-tempo’d drivel compared to the previous LP: boring passages that drag on too long and fail to captivate and nonexistent is the whole Norwegian black metal vibe. An industry stain that foreshadowed the inevitable rise of the New Wave - a movement that ushered in unforeseen levels of dynamic range in recording and of course in play, but also the notion that black metal is but a genre of music after all; a once proud art form turned into entertainment. Bound to happen and “Rebel Extravaganza” just has that feel to it; soulless as if it was thrown together for the label and without much passion or regard for genre integrity. 

Just fucking boring. “Rebel Extravaganza” also prophesied a newer, more accessible style for Satyricon to explore from then on into their following three albums: “Volcano”, “Now, Diabolical” and “The Age of Nero”. Some call it black & roll, I call it mainstream-geared fodder that barely passes for black metal. Black metal as a business, a genre of music where once proud black metal bands share festival stages with the hottest new death metal band, film cutting edge but altogether embarrassing music videos and bow to major record labels. That’s what comes to mind when I listen to the heft of Satyricon’s catalogue. One thing positive, however, about records like “Rebel Extravaganza” is that they truly make you appreciate the underground that much more. Mediocre black metal band, travesty of a black metal album. With “Rebel Extravaganza”, Satyricon shit all over black metal all the while as they embarrass themselves visually and disappoint once loyal followers the world over. Satyricon’s “Load”… Nothing more, nothing less.

Rating: 3.5 out of 10

Review by Felix on June 4, 2024.

“True Norwegian Black Metal” became a quality label very quickly in the beginning of the nineties. But the pioneers from the top of Europe were not immune against self-destructive thoughts and deeds and with albums such as “Murder” (Gehenna), “Grand Declaration of War” (Mayhem) or “Eld” (Enslaved) the reputation of the early kings of the second wave began to crumble. Satyricon’s output from 1999 left no doubt that the duo was part of the problem, not of the solution. It was an emblematic album for the change the Norwegian scene went through.

Already the artwork says it all. We see two corpsepaint faces, okay, but the entire design of the cover fails to spread black metal vibes. The same goes for the stylish, artistically valuable yet inappropriate booklet and, much more worse, the music. You have to look for the black, original sounds with a magnifying glass. Satyricon’s material fails to offer black metal aesthetics. No grimness, no coldness, no mix of triumph and desperation. Rare exceptions like the vehement, dense and pretty brutal “Prime Evil Renaissance” do not stand for the whole album. Instead, the band selected “Tied in Bronze Chains” as opener and that’s symptomatic. It’s an 11 minutes tune, very ambitious, very meticulously arranged – and completely bloodless, partly repetitive and the king of missing integrity. Of course, the vocals still sound more or less evil and I do not say that the album marks a commercial sell-out. But believe me, this was not the full-length I wanted to get from the band that had written “Mother North”, “Du som hater gud” or “The Dawn of a New Age”. The fiery core of these classics does not return on “Rebel Extravaganza”, even the better songs like “Supersonic Journey” cannot compete with them.

If we do not count the three intermezzos, we have seven tracks with a playtime of 55 minutes. This new opulence shows both the ambitions of the duo and its incompetence to bring them to life completely. One can enjoy some good parts here and there, but a lot of the tracks lack compactness, impact and a clear direction. If one wants to understand the record as an experiment, we have to realize that it is a half-hearted one. Satyricon do not really step out of the black metal territory, but they also do not reach new shores. Even the production reinforces the dilemma. It is a pretty vehement one and it does not suffer from serious defects concerning the sound of the guitars, the drums or the vocals. Nevertheless, it does not create any kind of atmosphere and this somehow sterile approach is a shortcoming I cannot ignore.

The most coherent detail is the fact that the closer “The Scorn Torrent” shows the same weaknesses as the opener and so it closes the cycle. It holds some highly aggressive, relentless sections, but bloodless sections as well and crude female vocals are not helpful as well, to say it politely. For all those who did not realize it already, the closer makes clear that spontaneity did not play an important role during the making of “Rebel Extravaganza”. The result is a partly tiring, mid-tempo orientated album with some strong sections, but far away from being a worthy successor of “Nemesis Divina”. Therefore, the promising potential of our intelligent friend Satyr remains more or less well hidden in the dark. The album is not a total failure, but it shows that the band has lost its inner compass and this makes it even difficult to enjoy its good sides.

Rating: 6.4 out of 10

Review by Luka on April 29, 2001.

So Satyr finally decides to shave his rapidly balding head, and along with that, the whole band (the two guys) undergo a complete makeover, trying to look as scary as possible and putting their ugly mugs right on the front cover. It shows that Satyr not only has a sense for songwriting, but marketing as well: shock sells. The previous Satyricon albums were jewels in a sea of black metal crap and mimicry, always giving us something new, and (the beautifully packaged) Rebel Extravaganza doesn’t let anyone down on that account.

I’d call RE elaborate, modern, complex black metal (how totally opposite of Satyr’s side project Wongraven, which is basically simple, progressive medieval synths.) It starts off with "Tied in Bronze Chains"-my favorite track. If you’re in the right mood, each song is a treat. If not, the whole album is painfully boring and impossible to sit through (it’s over an hour long)! The real beauty of the songs is the unexpected twists and turns, you never know what to expect next. The lyrics Satyr simply describes as ‘misanthropic’. They mostly describe a terrifying future world overrun by machines and hellspawn and the death of all "white-draped men" and where "justice is replaced by mercy for the inferior". The lyrics are beautifully written (especially in Prime Evil Renaissance), except for a few grammatical errors which no Scandinavian songwriter seems to be able to overcome.

There are some interesting guest musicians here: Fenriz of Darkthrone doing some drums and Dod of Gorgoroth contributing some guitarwork. Also some horribly misplaced female vocals on the last song which almost totally wrecks it, but fear not, Rebel Extravaganza is awesome! It’s a hard listen at first and it takes time to get into. All who put down this album will burn in hell, Satyr is king!

Bottom Line: Soundtrack to a very cold and grim future world. No black metal fan would want to miss this, forget about Darkthrone and Burzum, this is the future of the genre.

Rating: 8.5 out of 10