Review Summary: Another plucked feather in the cap of these frustratingly brilliant Bostonian Tech-Deathers
Revocation is both one of my favorite bands in the world due to their overwhelming consistency as a recording project yet also one of my most frustratingly disappointing bands for the fact they are always SO CLOSE to breaking through with something truly life affirming, yet never quite reaching that snow capped summit. It’s almost uncanny! This morbid angled project of 6-string whiz kid Dave Davidson sometimes feels as redundant as his name….riffs for miles, decent if fairly stock vocals, wonderful guitar leads, rinse repeat; but I’m always here for it, and they truly always deliver upper crust material. All that said, with album number NINE, “New Gods, New Masters” do they finally buck the trend and lay forth their masterwork? Well, not quite.
“New Gods, New Masters” is an album without peaks OR valleys….every piece of the puzzle containing the same quality Technical Death meets Thrash Metal meets Shrapnel Records guitar lead work, never embarrassing, yet never truly ascending. This is high level competence forged with class and a clear cut work ethic that most bands would kill for, but where are the memorable SONGS? The title track kicks things off like a spasming stress fest of OTT riffage that can barely contain the vocal onslaught, dancing in to a melodic instrumental break that showcases the first of many highlight reel guitar solos that contain mind bending dexterity and tastefulness, which is a Revocation trademark. Davidson certainly understands his craft and curates his work with the precision of a Benihana chef (without the grilled onion volcano), always dazzling the listener with something to take to their guitar teacher. Sarcophagi of the Soul” plays with a tech leaden Morbid Angel groove that eventually gives way to a constantly morphing aesthetic that moves between grindingly catchy riffs and jump scare overactivity, never quite nailing the landing, but still putting the plane down successfully.
“Confines of Infinity” shuffles between creepily subversive Doom/Death and pure ANARCHY, close to taking the train off the tracks. It’s an interesting exercise in pushing different extremes, but as ugly as a bowling shoe. Still, as always, Davidson can’t help but throw in those LOVELY guitar solos. The guy really should make a Dokken style album someday because it would probably RULE! “Dystopian Vermin” confounds its futuristic premise by playing like a lost gem from some Noise Records compilation from 1987, perched somewhere in the track listing between Deathrow and Coroner, thrashing up the place like nobodies business before settling in on a deliberate Death Metal chaser. My personal highlight of the whole shebang is “The All Seeing”, a compelling instrumental that ebbs and flows through dense heaviness, harmonic interludes and an Alan Holdsworth(y) guitar lead that lasts from 3:56 to the finish line that’s as confounding to me as the first time I heard “Metal Fatigue” back in the mid-80’s.
Everything else on this platter is equally worthy of your attention, be it the ever shifting monoliths of groove and anti-groove that propel “Despiritulized”, the quick hitting rager “Data Corpse” that’s tempered by (more) jazzy guitar leads or the near epic finale “Buried Epoch” that truly encapsulates this record, highlighting both the grinding groove and flailing hyperactivity that defines every aspect of Davidson’s recorded work. New Gods, New Masters is absolutely an album worth investing time and patience into, as even I can’t predict after a few brief listens where this journey will ultimately lead. But as a (frustrated) fan of Revocation’s work…I see this as another SOLID near-triumph…a class organization still chasing their white whale…yet being worthy of our adulation and vinyl collection.
