(Andy Synn offers some advance thoughts on the new album from long-time NCS favourites Revocation)
Seriously though, stop me if you’ve heard this before, but… sometimes it seems like we spend a lot, if not most, of our time here at NCS playing catch-up.
But, every so often, we do manage to get at least a little bit ahead of the curve and, with the new Revocation album (their ninth, and the first to feature new bassist Alex Weber and new guitarist Harry Lannon) set for release next week, today’s review marks a rare occasion where we’ve got an opportunity to set the tone and help structure the audience’s expectations in advance.
So let’s not waste any more time, and get to it, shall we?
Let’s get one thing straight right away – Revocation‘s “hit to miss” ratio over the course of their career thus far has been strongly weighted more towards the former than the latter (sure, there’s a couple in the mid-range, but only one real fumble) and the release of New Gods, New Masters is absolutely going to continue that trend.
That being said, after setting such a high bar – arguably a career-defining one, some might say – on Netherheaven, it probably shouldn’t come as a major surprise to learn that album number nine isn’t quite as consistently “killer” (though the actual “filler” is pretty minimal) as its phenomenal predecessor.
Make no mistake though, of the nine tracks which make up this album there’s a solid handful – including early highlights “New Gods, New Masters”, “Confines of Infinity”, and “Dystopian Vermin”, plus climactic mini-epic “Buried Epoch” (which, at 7 minutes and 29 seconds, is the longest track of the group’s career, if I’m not mistaken) – that are more than capable of going toe-to-toe with the very best of the band’s back-catalogue.
And while those songs are the obvious stand-outs – “New Gods…” a hook-heavy hybrid of thrashy technicality, proggy melody, and deathly intensity, “Confines…”a chug ‘n’ blast Death Metal charnel house (replete with an appearance by Cattle Decapitation‘s Travis Ryan), “Dystopian Vermin” a brutish, bass-heavy bruiser (shout out to Weber for really stepping up on his debut with the band) with an absolutely punishing pay-off, “Buried Epoch” (which features the one and only Luc Lemay of Gorguts) a moody, proggy powerhouse that pushes the group’s song-craft to new heights – they aren’t the only tracks worth listening to here (even if they are the best).
In particular I’m more than a little partial to the ferocious forward momentum (and absolutely crushing chorus refrain) of “Data Corpse” (even if it feels like it ultimately needs something more to put it over the top) as well as the hack ‘n’ slash assault of “Cronenberged” (featuring a guest spot from Job For A Cowboy‘s Jonny Davy which, truth be told, hits just that little bit harder to my ears than either Ryan’s or Lemay’s), while the madcap mutant riff-craft of “Sarcophagi of the Soul” is undeniably impressive, if only for its sheer, OTT excess (although I’m not quite sure it sinks its hooks in deep enough to develop the sort of staying power it needs).
Yes, the middle of the album does get a little faceless and/or forgettable, and… yes… it’s a little more “serious” than its predecessor (Netherheaven was, in its own way just as ferocious, no doubt, but it was also a little more, and more consistently, fun as well) but, in the final reckoning, New Gods, New Masters is still much more of a “hit” than a “miss”, and successfully reaffirms the band as one of the modern Metal scene’s true “heavy hitters”.