This is Revocation's 5th full length album since 2008, and if we have learned anything from this thrashy metal band, it's that Revocation loves to make music and knows how to do it properly. This Boston Massachusetts 4 piece must have a boundless amount of energy. Each album to date is intense, thoughtful, and unique, all while being without a doubt Revocation. This band has no qualms with their identity, or labels, they just make extremely good metal.
While listening to Deathless one of the first obvious attributes is how intense the entire album sounds, there are not many breaks throughout, so be prepared to have your ears molested for around 48 minutes. In comparing it to their last album which was self-titled, the passion remains, and the sound is similar. One distinction may be the attention to song structure. There seems to be more repetitive choruses and verse structuring, such as in "The Fix" and "A Debt Owed to the Graves". This may make Deathless the most catchy album yet. There continue to be many guitar solos that are so precisely manufactured and distributed on both albums. A few instances of singing/chanting add a nice touch and were not a factor in the past "United in Helotry", "Labyrinth of Eyes" and even the end of "Deathless". These are normally brief and do not in any way subtract from Revocation's mission in abusing the listener with amazing music.
One complaint some may have is how Deathless sounds too much like, well, Revocation. This album is their second full-length in two years, so how much can a band grow in that time? To answer that, it does not really matter, Revocation did not make a Self-Titled part two. What they have created is an album that is different enough, and yet still Revocation-like in all aspects. Some may want more or less out of this album, but I find it to be a comfortable amount of "new" while staying true to their sound. Deathless has some serious groove to it, and the mood is undeniably consistent and thrashy.
The opening track "A Debt Owed to the Grave" is one of my favorites. It starts off with some heavy clean hitting that Revocation is so good at, then slowly climbs into a rolling wave that builds until breaking at the very end. A guitar solo that drops into a melodic groove accompanied by a bridge. The final minute delivers an epic ensemble of all the instruments coherently just jamming out.
The album art is normally not a factor in my reviews, but I must mention, it's a huge up-grade from previous releases. I always found their album art to be a little goofy, but Deathless makes up for all that with a creative looking floating skull portal absorbing skeletons.
While this band lacks in evolutionary progress and new journeys in attempting to push the envelope, therein also lies the strength of the band. What other band can produce original metal, that never gets old, that we will be grooving to for years to come? It's pretty clear when you pop in an album by Revocation, you're not going to get something you're not expecting. But for a band to keep interest and still maintain that original sound, that is an accomplishment. A solid 8/10 displays the maturity and musical knowledge Revocation possesses in creating timeless metal. If you're a fan of Revocation, you enjoy good metal!
[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o5rRjBIOUIc[/youtube]
