Customer Reviews

Existence Is Futile

5 star:		(8)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

This one took me by surprise - I read the pre-release publicity from Relapse, I listened to sound samples online, and I just wasn't impressed. But I took a chance and ordered the CD, and am I glad I did - this is one of the best metal albums I've heard in a long time, and it gets better every time I listen to it.

The style seems more thrash than death to me - the vocals are more along the lines of early Chuck Schuldiner than the gutteral vocals of most death vocalists today. The drum patterns are varied throughout the album, from death blastbeats to traditional thrash rhythms to some more jazz-oriented patterns rarely heard in metal. But it fits perfectly into Revocation's songwriting, which combines traditional thrash riffs with Voivod-inspired dissonant chords and even harmonic patterns which reminded me of some of Megadeth's best songs (like "Hangar 18"). No two songs sound the same - a rarity these days, even among veteran metal bands.

What stands out perhaps the most is the unbelievably original lead guitar work of David Davidson - you almost never hear melodic, tasteful playing like this in metal anymore. I hear bits of Michael Schenker, George Lynch, even Jeff Beck in Davidson's work, and I hear more nuance every time I listen. Simply astounding!

I must say, before I heard this band's CD I was a little skeptical because alot of the newer bands who have came out just dont satisfy me. But I can honestly say, this one will NOT let you down. They write riff's like a young Slayer, the drummer is amazing, as he adds fills whenever needed and isn't too overloaded. And the vocals go in between death metal to your not so typical screams. And the solo's... wow... if you love a band with great solo's, definatly check this band out. They've got some great harmonized finger tapping on this album. I would say this is an awesome album, but that would be an understate-ment. If your unsure about this even after my review, check out the songs on youtube or blip.fm. If you like technical-death metal, and you've not heard these guys, your missing out. Thank you Relapse for yet another solid album!

this album definitely surprised me, there are so many metal bands from all different sub genres nowadays and unfortunately the majority of them suck and are very unoriginal and uninspiring, so when i get a new album now from a band that i never heard of i typically hope that its gonna be ok at the very least. This album and band is more than ok though, its very good. other reviewers covered alot so all ill say is that its a very good trash album and somewhat death metal simply because the vocals get pretty extreme at times and there's blast beats once in a while. to me the standout tracks are 2,3,7,8,10,11 with 11 being my favorite...the last half of the song is very cool and melodic, the riffs are somewhat prog sounding too

listened to this album for a few mins at Salzers and bought it.

Great speedy rhythm. Its fast, but its melodic in a fast way.

Not my usual kind of tunes, but its good. even my girl thinks its fun.

One of those "If you like this, try this" suggestions on amazon.com or elsewhere. This CD kills, and I had never heard of revocation a month ago. Talented band, clever arrangements, smoking riffs, and they often throw in a part that's completely unexpected. "Yeah, but it does it crush?" Oh yes. Easily in the top five metal releases of 2009, along with Warbringer, Megadeth and Lamb of God.

I saw both Revocation CD's in the bin, and went with the debut "Existence Is Futile" simply because it was the first, and that's a good place to start. I had checked out a tune or two on Youtube and the power of this Boston trio was fantastic. Not to mention they have an unbelievably great guitarist in David Davidson, who is one of the most exciting and original players out there right now. He also assumes vocal duties, which are typical thrash/raspy, but it's the guitars that set Revocation apart.
Davidson utilizes tapping, unusual chord work and brutal speed and precision to a powerhouse line-up without making Revocation sound like a wanker shred band. Far from it. He writes great hooks, his fills can be absolutely hilarious, which is desperately missing from metal today, and will have other guitar players foaming at the mouth. I can't wait to get the second CD.
As the new generation of thrash bands take the place of their elders, we can rest assured that with a handful of them the quality will not suffer, least of all from Revocation. A bill with them, Havoc and Evile would be absolutely bonecrushing, and were I an established thrash act, I would not want to have to follow any of these metal monsters. I predict this triumvirate of bands will be the next "Big Three" in the tradition of the old "Big Four" and the "Big Three" Teutonic mashers Kreator, Sodom and Destruction. We will be hearing a lot from Revocation, mark my words.

First of all I heard of this Boston Mass. trio online on Pandora the track "Across Forests And Fjords" I was impressed so much I had to get this album..when I got it all 11 tracks display technical chops with twists bassist Anthony Buda's Geddy Lee style of bass riffing with a hint of Les Claypool keeps up nicely with guitarist David Davidson and his twists and drummer extrodinare Phil Dubois-Coyne's multi paced thrash/blastbeat drumming with machinelike accuracy imagine Tim Yeung meets Dave Lombardo meets Paul Bostoph in perfect harmony.Guitarist/vocalist David Davidson is a total master of his craft not only can he scream but also doing it whilst doing some really complicated riffs and solos only seen recently with guitarist and Mana Studios maven Eric Rutan of Hate Eternal/former Morbid Angel fame.I get a really heavy Jeff Waters (Annihilator) vibe in the solos that Davidson does here but imagine "Annihilator" combined with "Carcass" and "Between The Buried And Me" with "Atreyu" throw in some vintage "Exodus" and "Metallica" and"Terrorizor" and "Napalm Death" you wont even come close to the originality of this band. They are that good and their next album is gonna kick butt now they are a four piece with 2nd guitarist.

listening to Revocation is like being dizzy and listening to Slayer and Death at the same time. although Revocation is part of the thrash revival that debuted in the late 2000's, they sound like the came out in the 1980's. not only are they like listening to Slayer and Death, but also Destruction, Sodom, Kreator, and Megadeth. it seems like the solos actually speak to you, and there are some jazzy interludes too, reminiscent of listening to Cephalic Carnage's 2000 Relapse debut "Exploiting Dysfunction". to put it this way, if you put on Death, Slayer, Destruction, Sodom, Kreator, Megadeth, and Cephalic Carnage, and then spin yourself around until you're dizzy, you will get the idea of what Revocation sounds like. the album is 47 minutes long, but in the time it took to write this review, 5 songs have been played. song no. 5, entitled "The Brain Scramblers" has a galloping rhythm to it. there is also a tad of melody to the songs, making for an interesting listen. song no. 6, which is an instrumental entitled "Across Forests and Fjords" sounds like it is calling out for a remake of Hear'n Aid. in short, Revocation rocks the house.

Old school thrash with great modern production. These guys can shred with the best of them!!!!

Boston's thrash / death metal band Revocation unleashed their 2nd album and first on Relapse Records in Sept 2009. They refer to their style as DOUCHE THRASH. We'll need a few more bands in this genre to create it's own section [...]!

The very talented trio is technical and tight. You can hear the Megadeth, Metallica and Slayer inspirations. However the band is not just another thrash / death metal band. They have carved out their own sound that contains several time changes, syncho-pated rhythms and good old rock guitar solos which all blends together beautifully. Some great guitar solos on this including some cool finger tapping. "Existence is Futile" keeps the interest level high with no weak songs, solid and interesting from start to finish.

The lead off track, and featured free download, "Enter the Hall" is a perfect intro and sets the tone for this modern classic. "Deathonomics" is a head banging thrash metal anthem, with a cool little jazzy outbreak, emerging back with heavy, grooving riffs. The track "Leviathan Awaits" has some great harmonized riffs which bring us back to the heyday of metal.

Wish i had discovered these guys before!