Revocation : "New God, New Masters'

 

When I gave their last album an 8.5, I rounded up from an 8, because while it was not the sort of thing I am normally into, I knew they made the album they wanted, and it would meet the expectations of their fans who are into their brand of thrashy death metal. This album features more technical elements, which are evident in the second song. At the same time, they are not reinventing the wheel here, as it reminds me of 90s death metal. The vocals' cadence is a mix of Sepultura and Emperor. If you are into guitar solos, then they have plenty of those to go with a very big well well-produced sound. 

"Confines of Infinity" features Travis Ryan of Cattle Decapitation, and while his more screeching rasp sets itself apart, aside from the deliberate stomp that opens the album, nothing new is going on here. The end of the song sounds cool, as it reminds me of the David Vincent-era Morbid Angel. But cool sounds are a dime a dozen; looking for good songs here. "Dystopian Vermin" could be a Lamb of God, thanks to the more groove-minded guitars. It's an improvement as it at least puts the song first. 

"Despiritualized" goes down the more boring, recycled riff side of the Lamb of Gog path. They go full prog when flexing their tech on "The All Seeing' unless you like masturbating to guitar solos it's not the best song. "Data Corpse"  also has its share of shredding, but in the context of death metal. They lock into a pretty solid stomp for "Cronenberged", but also can't seem to hang onto a cool riff as they are so quick to shift out of it. "Buried Epoch" kinda bores me as it jsut recycles riffs and stomps around til a guitar solo comes. I  will give this album an 8, since I understand why people like this, it's just not my thing unless we are at one of the Morbid Angel-sounding parts, and then my ears perk up, but I might as well just listen to Morbid Angel. Drops September 26th on Metal Blade Records. 

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Revocation : "Netherheaven"

 

A great deal of hype is already building around this album, so once again my job becomes to see if this album lives up to it.  It starts off with kind of thrashing death metal that reminds me of post-"Domination" Morbid Angel. It is very tight in its attack and the guitar sound is mean but is this enough to fuel an entire album. "Lessons in Occult Theft" seems an appropriate title as there is a great deal of occult appropriation thematically.  It is on the more technical side of death metal with the vocals accenting some of the punches to give the song writing more hook than the first song. I am more impressive when it streamlines into the gritty chug of "Nihilistic Violence" which is the first song that I like. Not that I do not appreciate how good they are at what they do on the first two songs. 

"Strange and Eternal " races at more of a breakneck speed. Just playing fast has never impressed me. There is little room for hooks or melody, and really just sounds like any death metal band that has already done this thing, Cader the first that come to mind. Three minutes in they do converge upon a cool riff, but the rule here is cool riffs alone does not a good song make. If you are into shreddy guitar solos this band has you covered. There is a sun refrain, but it feels more like an afterthought.  "Galleries of Morbid Artistry" does have a middle section that wanders off into melodic clean guitar. How this is arranged does not feel like the most organic progression, though there is more of a dynamic shift that the previous songs. I prefer the more progressive groove in the sinew of the riff that opens up "the 9th Chasm".  Even though it is an instrumental it is much more well written than most of this albums' songs.   

"Godforsaken' is another example of how they are capable of writing effective song that are still heavy without having to sacrifice catchy songwriting. When they lean toward more of a darker vision of death metal it works better for me, with that what hangs in the balance is the question, will they take the easy way out and rely on speed to compensate for writing riffs that are memorable?  The last song finds them in the thrashier side of death metal which Goatwhore does better. These guys however might be better at guitar solos, which does not do much for me but dear reader it might be something you are into, thus our interests in music part ways . I will give this album and 8.5, better than most bands that do this sort of thing, but despite a few great songs and many ones that make me feel like they work, but do not make me feel more passionately about them, so I think an 8.5, is pretty accurate even taking fans of this sort of thing into consideration.  

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Trillonaire :" Romulus"

 

They are not too far out of the sonic spectrum of say the more prog latter days of Mastodon. The vocals are more ambitious. They fall somewhere between Pain of Salvation and Devin Townsend. There is some belted rock grit to them. The opening track does grow on me , but is not as good as the lead single "Dead By 25" is ambitious and more compact and catchy. The vocals are a little more toned down and serve the song. This makes the chorus punch. Is the delivery still pretty dramatic and vibrato filled? Yes. There is a more rock kick to what is happening here than your average modern prog rock. 

"Underwater" is still well done. The vocals are way multi tracked across the board. This gives it a more commercial hard rock sound. This big production gives it a late 90s feel. The post grunge elements are strong. I really dig the way the vocals are spitting on " Yes, Mistress" . There is an impressive dynamic shift in how the song breaks down midway into the song. So far this is my second favorite song on the album. "Temple of Mercy" is the first song that kind of feels like filler as there is not much that stands out in the way of hooks to distinguish it from any other high energy hard rock band. 

The album begins to run lower on gas in the creative department. Yes, the lead into "One in the Chamber' we as dreamy vocal. But this feels like it falls solidly in the prog wheelhouse and takes less chances. The melody does hook me. It is not a bad song, they just raised the bar high for themselves with the first three songs. They step on the gas for "We Are the Devil" . This one is more metallic in it's intentions. It almost reminds me of Anthrax. There is a proggy calm before the storm when they close the album out with "Northern Lights" . My opinion still holds the front end of this album is strong, great even, then kind falls into your typical modern metal/ hard rock, It is however even at it's most lackluster still well done so I will give this album an 8.5 .  

Gargoyl : " s/t"

 I have never listened to much Revocation. Never like the way the albums were produced. This project is much more interesting even it it is frequently trying too hard. At best they come across like a cross between King Crimson & Alice In Chains, with King's X like tendencies. "Cursed Generation" is more straight forward hard rock. Bass driven with a more turn in a darker more melodic direction. King Crimson and Alice In Chains are both bands I am fans of. The vocals are what makes it Alice In Chains like. Those harmonies you can no layer with out intentionally knowing you are going for that sound. At their weirdest Robert Fripp is not in this band so they can never really pull of what King Crimson does but in their more abstract moments that give it the good jazz try. This is felt going into the song "Electrical Sickness". Their bass play does not use a fretless and offers more balls to the equation than their normal guitar sound. 

"Wraith" is an interesting song. I like that is is some what soulful and dark. It wanders a great deal with angular melodies. "Ophidian" is a little more dissonant. The vocal floar over it in a higher register. "Nightmare Conspiracy" seems to have cool lyrics but the bob and weave around the chaotic part riffs.. Dynamically it builds into a heavier mood, withut being overt metal. The angular operatics of "Waltz Dystopia" feels more like something Devin Townsend would do. The title is the most fitting as it is in waltz time.  "Ambivelent I" finds the bass doing most of the work yet again to keep things heavier than just rock. There is a dizzy feel to this song that refuses to find an actual groove until it dances around where most rock would go sometimes converging down into a palm muted chug. "Acid Crown " kindsa feel like an extention of the previous song, until it finds a darker pulse and a sax is  running over it which gives a different sonic texture which is what this album needed. 

The last song is back into a more King Crimson direction, The chord structuree owe more to jazz than rock music.  I will give this album an 8.5. They are good at what they do, though the Alice In Chains harmonies can be heavy handed. This album is on the more obtuse side of prog at times. The put a great dea of efofrt into this and genrally pull every thing off . If you are into grunge and prog then this will be your jam for sure. Season of Mist drops it October 9th. 

Black Metal History Month - Ritual Dictates : "Give in to Despair"

This is a new band featuring the former guitarist and drummer from 3 Inches of  Blood. There are several blackened styles this album traverses.Thrash and death metal were both two genres that heavily influenced black metal  so it is fitting these also weigh in on these songs.  Things start with a more Kvelertak strain of blackened metal then shift into something darker  as Shawn Hache from Auroch lends his voice to the opening song. Shane Clark from  3 Inches of Blood stops by to contribute clean guitar to the second song which finds itself in more of a Opeth place as it progresses. "Obsolete Instinct " is more of a death metal affair . It's also not as interesting as the first two songs. It's under two minutes long and it bears noting these guys to not waste your time with any wandering sprawls these songs are fairly compact.

"Last Phase of  Life' is more of a blackened thrash thing. The riffs are not overly fast giving them more allure of headbanging. The vocals however are more death metal so of the three genres these guys touch upon they are all fairly entangled into this chaos. The rule here is cool iffs alone do not a good songs make, these guys show how to turn cool riffs into good songs.  More blackness creeps into "Poisonous Proclamation " . This is one of the most interesting songs so far as after it breakdown into a bass line everything goes rock n roll. Danko Jones lends his voice to this one.  It comes back out of this with a more black metal feel. The bass can not only be heard in these song but at times is allowed to carry the song.  "Extinction" is pounding death metal with melodic vocals accenting it.

"Indivisible Mind" is an almost equal mix of black metal and death metal, though it lean a little more onto the death metal side. The album's third act finds the momentum taking the songs legs out from under them . It blazes through with some cool accents here and there, but works off aggression alone when they have show they are capable of bringing more to the table. The Death thrash of the closing song works but is not the best song. I will round this down to a 9 due to the album getting carried away by it's own speed, but it's still a really solid effort and better than most of the blackened stuff coming out while staying true to what these guys did in the past.