Richard HolmesRevocation – Great Is Our Sin (Metal Blade)
Genre: Thrash/Death Metal
Revocation have been busy boys: they’re a prolific bunch, with five albums under the belts since 2000, but they’ve also been honing their sound with each release… and stretching themselves as musicians to the point they’ve long since achieved virtuoso status.
Great Is Our Sin is unmistakably Revocation, yet they’ve continued along their own evolutionary path; the trademark mix of thrash and technical death metal is still here in all its glory, only this time the quartet’s melodic sensibilities are allowed more space to breathe, especially with the vocals. They haven’t gone all Trivium on us, but by incorporating some ‘clean’ singing into the likes of Arbiters of the Apocalypse, the band have broadened their musical palette. On the whole, it works brilliantly well and with the band bringing more progressive elements into their sound, there’s a sense that Great Is Our Sin could be just as much a landmark for the quartet as their self-titled 2013 record. The dazzling Monolithic Ignorance, for instance, is almost inhuman in its execution – the track could have easily been conceived in another dimension, and when frontman David Dickinson talks of the band ‘pushing the envelope’, one listen to Theatre of Horror proves he isn’t kidding.
Davidson and fellow guitarist Dan Gargiulo have clearly reached a higher plain on Great Is Our Sin – their scorching leadwork would put only the likes of Hammet and Mustaine to shame. And the fact that guest star Marty Friedman’s solo on The Exaltation is not the best on the album speaks volumes about the duo’s talent.
Where do Revocation go from here? Who knows. But if you’re looking for bands to step up to replace the ageing masters of thrash, you’d do well to keep your eye on these Bostonians.
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