By: Richard Maw
Album Type: Full Length
Date
Released: 22/07/2016
Label: Metal Blade Records
This
is a strong effort and the quality herein will only fully be revealed after
multiple listens, I suspect. Revocation are now on album number six and show no
signs of weakening or slowing in any way. ‘Great Is Our Sin’ is a masterclass.
‘Great Is
Our Sin’ CD//DD//LP track listing:
1).
Arbiters of the Apocalypse
2). Theatre of Horror
3). Monolithic Ignorance
4). Crumbling Imperium
5). Communion
6). The Exaltation
7). Profanum Vulgus
8). Copernican Heresy
9). Only the Spineless Survive
10). Cleaving Giants of Ice
11). Altar of Sacrifice
The Review:
Revocation return after 2014's very
well received “Deathless” with this
full length effort. Technical, certainly... but are they death or thrash? Well,
neither, being as they combine the two effortlessly for excellent results. No
messing about, the title track is first up which mixes At The Gates with more American
guitar approaches and no small amount of Bay Area thrash. “Theatre of Horror” keeps the bass drums pounding and the emphasis
firmly on the technical, with lots of changes and unusual time feels.
Revocation is not an unchallenging
listen, and this one is no exception. However, their albums are enjoyable to
listen to; unlike many tech death outfits, where after listening you feel as if
you have run a marathon. The production is stellar of course, with triggers and
slickness being part of this impressive sound. “Monolithic Ignorance” has a title which sounds like a Death
track and the intro does as well! Things get a bit more thrash orientated from
there, but blast beats are never too far away, to bring back the dm feel. New
drummer Ash Pearson delivers the goods in a big way here, with lots of cymbal
flourishes and pulverising double bass announcing his presence in the line up
in a big way and the sound that Revocation conjure up is quite astounding.
“Crumbling Imperium” brings the bass to
the fore for the verses as the band keep the BPM count down while still
impressing technically. “Communion” is
a faster beast, but no less technically adept for it- excellent breakdown
section is contained herein. With eleven tracks, this takes us almost to the
halfway point, which is passed in “The
Exaltation” which utilises some unusual rhythmical approaches and changes-
no vocals, but it holds your attention throughout. The album has a nice even
flow to it, despite the myriad of changes and the tracks are always
engaging.
“Profanum Vulgus” sees the return of vocals
and again echoes Death with the approach in the verses, I thought. Excellent
soloing abounds in the breaks which fluidly shifts over the time changes. “Copernican Heresy” blasts away and
provides the record with a more straightforward track (still with a faire few
changes, mind). The superbly titled “Only
The Spineless Survive” is a rather bleak listen, but the first guitar break
really highlights the sheer thickness of the guitars before more jazz inflected
passages arise in the breaks.
“Cleaving Giants of Ice” has a spookily clean
intro, and the track that follows is rather epic in sound, if not in scale- a
little over four minutes. This is the last track of the album, per se, as the
final track is a cover of Slayer's vicious “Altar of Sacrifice”- which absolutely rules and also serves to
point out that Revocation
are not a thrash band in the purest sense.
This
is a strong effort and the quality herein will only fully be revealed after
multiple listens, I suspect. Revocation are now on album number six and
show no signs of weakening or slowing in any way. A masterclass.
‘Great Is Our Sin’ is out now
RIYL: Sylosis, Ouroboros, Skeletonwitch, Arsis
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