Review Summary: Diablo core.
There is a certain bold assertion to be made within the less outward realms of modern death metal. There is, and has been, a continuing desire for boundaries to be pushed-boundaries that within the realms of extreme metal as a whole have been capped to their current perceived ceiling of eccentricity and individuality. This may be why many bands choose to evade this particular path, or rather it is something simpler. Some bands just wanna ***ing riff.
Revolting are such a band. The trail in which they tread (with a valiant gait, mind you) has been long since hooved by the likes of Dismember, Obituary, etc, albeit with an added sense of grandiose that the former bands never quite aimed for (tracks like
Blood Blood Blood and
Night of the Tentacles being premier examples). The riffs? They romp. The beats? They blast (erm, usually their rather mid-tempo but alliteration must be executed somehow!). The growls? They galvanize one's skin into multi-layered reinforced titanium steel. That is to say, Monoliths of Madness has more meat than a Tyson nugget factory. How savory.
Revolting pulse and ebb the heart and core of Death Metal. Chunky buzzsaw riffs and gnarly tremolos, powerful and guttural bellows, heavy-handed snare destruction and the occasional tried-and-true blast beat, all of which has the fearsome edge slightly reared by some wildly fun and highly melodic tremolo leads (i.e
The Faceless Deformity). There is nothing beyond all this to dissect, and yet this is the joy that derives from it. A simple assertion of all things “heavy” and “metal”, something to slam down overpriced (thank you Widow Jane!) whiskey shots to and headbang in your unfortunately thin walled apartment to. Something to soundtrack goblin-and-demon slaying alongside a spicy Diablo III sesh with. It is primeval, it is meaty, and it is Death Metal. God bless.
