Revocation - Empire Of The Obscene (2008) [2015, Metal Blade 3984-15430-2, Remastered]

×

Revocation - Empire Of The Obscene (2008) [2015, Metal Blade 3984-15430-2, Remastered]

Close

Revocation are one of the best technical metal bands you will ever hear, and this incredible debut makes you wonder just how the Hell these guys aren’t touring with other tech metal giants. It’s just that fantastic. Techincal metal is an overcrowded genre these days, mostly because of all the prententious, boring bands that only care about showing off their talent, yet here comes a band that really enjoy themselves (Heck, Davidson even shouts “GUITAR!” before playing one of this solos) and they aren’t even getting a slice of the damn cake – and mind you, that’s a huge cake!

Now, the first impression you get upon receiving the record is that awesome cover art. That stuff is made of legends, it looks awesome. Very detailed and extremely well crafted, if you had no knowledge of the band, you wouldn’t think they’re as unknown as they are. It looks like its the same artist who made covers for The Faceless and Spawn Of Possesion, and if you have seen any of their covers, you will know how great it looks.

Now, once you pop this fucker in, the riffs start hitting you. A lot. Oh dear God, the riffs. They’re everywhere, and they’re absolutely, motherfucking amazing. Every single one of them. I dare you to find a bad riff on this album. Revocation are one of the few bands who can actually challenge riff gods like Arghoslent or Holy Terror. You already have a handful of absolutely amazing riffs within the first five minutes. And it just keeps getting better. David Davidson keeps on writing better and better riffs as the songs progress. The two closing songs, ‘Age Of Iniquity’ and ‘Empire Of The Obscene’ definitely have the best main riffs this album has to offer. ‘Empire Of The Obscene’ actually sounds like Morbid Angel but way faster. It’s absolutely, footstompingly heavy. Thou shalt turn thy woofer down if you own one. All these catchy riffs make for some amazingly catchy songs. After a few playthroughs every single note of every single song sticks out, and I promise you, the guitar solos will also be glued to your mind. Never have I heard technical metal as catchy as this! Which brings me to the production. Everything is played with perfect clarity, every instrument stands out and you can hear everything at all times. The perfect consistency makes this a joy to listen to. This also makes for perfect bass clarity, as there is only one guitarist in the band. The production is absolutely flawless.

Vocals can usually make or break a band. Many bands have some pretty mediocre songs but fantastic vocals to make up for it (Cannibal Corpse), while some bands have amazing music and amazing songs with vocals that stink worse than rotting diarrhea out of a dead blue whales rectum whilst a large group of skunk are festering on said diarrhea(Lykathea Aflame, Hieronymous Bosch). Revocation occupy sort of a middle ground. David is not a bad vocalist by any means. His growls are pretty standard. What really makes him shine though, are his screams. His screams are fantastic, and they fit the music like a glove. He’s also pretty intelligible throughout the entire album. Death metal veterans shouldn’t even need to look up the lyrics. How David manages to perform these good vocals and play fantastic, technical guitar playing at the same time is beyond me. I know there are bands that have way more technical riffs by the vocalist. Necrophagist comes to mind. But unlike Necrophagist, Revocations album manages to be a fun, entertaining listen.

The drums and the bass don’t do anything really standout. The bass mostly has a mind of it’s own, creating a thorough background for when the guitar decides to do something wild. Again, there’s only 1 guitarist, and Revocation decided not to have overlays on most of their solos.
The drums are great. The drummer is very fast with the bass drums, and he plays some cool fills once in a while. But this is thrash metal, so of course you’re gonna get the polka beats, and you’re gonna get a lot of them. The drums, like everything else on this record, are pretty much perfect. They’re not supposed to do anything spectacular, that would ruin the mood and feel of the album if you ask me.

Overall, this album by Revocation is one of the best released this year in any genre, and for anyone who loves technical metal, it’ll probably top their end of year best lists. Me, being a huge progressive/technical fan, I know it’ll already top mine. The fantastic production, great vocals and intense songwriting leaves this band at the top of the heap. Don’t miss this album! You’re gonna regret it.

Standout tracks: Unattained, Fields Of Predation, Age Of Iniquity, Empire Of The Obscene
Obvious influences: Celtic Frost, Dark Angel, Morbid Angel, *very very fucking huge list of thrash bands*.

by DrSharK, metal-archives.com

×

Revocation - Empire Of The Obscene (2008) [2015, Metal Blade 3984-15430-2, Remastered]

Close

×

Revocation - Empire Of The Obscene (2008) [2015, Metal Blade 3984-15430-2, Remastered]

Close