Band: Revocation
Album: Teratogenesis
Year: 2012
Country: USA
Genre: Technical Death/Thrash Metal
When I found out Revocation were doing an EP for Scion A/V I had to email them to get a physical copy for review. I had previously given their last album Chaos of Forms a few listens and maybe it was just the state of mind I was in at the time but nothing grabbed me and I never went back to it again. That usually says a lot to me, I don't especially like there being some difficulty in getting through albums, it just doesn't speak well of the music within. But here is a shorter 5 song EP that I figured would be a bit easier for me to consume and it actually was.
Firstly I don't know how to classify the band. Metal Archives does have them as Technical Death/Thrash Metal which I can sort of see. There are definitely a lot of fast paced thrash riffs throughout the album. What sticks out most to me is that the material here has a strong progressive touch to it. Some of the riffing like in the bridge of Spurn the Outstretched Hand or the second half of the last track Bound By Desire showcases this perfectly. As a fan of progressive extreme metal the fact that this album has interesting elements like this made my ears perk up and grabbed my attention. Not only that but they don't get too pretentious or too big for their britches and it is all very melodic and pleasing to the ear.
The drumming is right up my alley and something I liked quite a bit. Phil Dubois-Coyne throws blasts throughout all the songs but most heavily in Bound By Desire specifically. He also plays long strings of double bass but when necessary breaks away from that and does some less standard patterns. Brett Bamberger's bass seems to be just under the guitars in the mix but sometimes it gets the chance to shine like on Spurn the Outstretched Hand and the awesome bass break on Bound By Desire. I have to say David Davidson's vocals are passable and he is better as a guitar player than a vocalist. He has what borders on a metalcore shout/growl and Dan Gargiulo's death growls are really the superior of the two.
I also enjoyed the production on Teratogenesis as well. It does have that modern clean production but sometimes there is a little fuzziness given to the guitar tone that gives it some more life. I have been playing this cd since I received it a few weeks ago and it is probably one of my favorites of the year. Every song is catchy as hell and the progressive passages kind of blew me away and are specifically what drew me in. Since this is free by download or having a physical copy mailed to you I wouldn't miss it!
Score: 9/10
Standout Tracks: Bound By Desire, Spurn the Outstretched Hand
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