I can’t believe this Bostonian quartet has managed to pass me by unnoticed, having been around for 13 years, the last 7 under their present moniker, and releasing 4 full length albums and a handful of EPs to boot. David Davidson (lead) and Dan Gargiulo’s vocals range from low death growls to abrasive fast paced thrash rasps to match the ultra-quick but meticulously timed drumming by Phil Dubois-Coyne over Brett Bamberger’s tight bass and the twin attack of David Davidson and Dan Gargiulo’s vicious guitar rhythms and ferocious lead breaks.
You know that slightly discordant guitar or bass sound you get in horror movies to put you on edge? Well that’s tactfully employed in the intro to “The Hive” before it explodes in a frenzy of guitars and drums and a swarm of flesh devouring insects.
The melodic guitar riff is almost drowned by the manic drum blasting on “Scattering The Flock”, but it manages to hold its own and even fights its way to outpace the drums, more than likely leaving a couple bloody fingers in the wake. When the lead kicks in however, the pace tones down dramatically allowing for it flow gracefully rather than rush headlong without direction.
The outro lead on “Archfiend” make the other 5 minutes of the song pale in comparison, however the technical timing signatures and intricate guitar riffs are awe inspiring.
“Numbing Agents” has a more technical death metal feel to it than thrash, but that could either be owing to the squealing leads or far more guttural vocals and the unrelenting blast beats.
I wasn’t sure whether “Fracked” was going to be about Battlestar Galactica or hydraulic fracturing for gas, I listened to the lyrics rather intently and it’s definitely the latter and a hot topic at the moment here to boot.
The tremolo picked guitar riff running through “The Gift You Gave” gives the song the feeling of speed that the leads carry too as their entwine themselves in the rhythm.
I don’t know why, but I keep hearing a banjo and seeing someone dancing a jig in dungarees when listening to “Invidious”. This is also the first time that everyone’s doing vocals on the chorus giving it a great chanted effect.
I’m guessing that “Spastic” is an instrumental because even when metal is never PC, the PC brigade would have a field day were their lyrics to be offensive to someone somewhere sometime. That said, the frantic riff and drum changes work superbly by giving the lead guitar breaks ample room to break free of their shackles to pierce the skies, or eardrums, as they soar.
Building steadily on thrash sensibilities “Entombed By Wealth”, the dual vocals work extremely well, in much the same way the two guitars do, but what is truly superb is the guitar lead which crescendos as the song fades out.
The ultimate track on the album is “A Visitation”, with its steady blast beats and well written riffs that slow down perfectly in the middle of the song for the bluesy leads to whiz through the frets before increasing in tempo again to end things on the correct thrash tone.
While never quite hitting the extremes of some death metal but at the same time far heavier than most thrash metal, Revocation do an immaculate job of fusing the two with their capable musicianship giving us a brilliant album that has plenty of layers that only become apparent after repeated listens. So if you enjoy either of those genres, you should definitely give these guys a listen as they shan’t disappoint.
(8/10 – Marco Gaminara)
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