It may be a chilled Sunday night in Tufnell Park but tonight the Dome is filled to the brim with death metal fanatics!
Hot off their recent album “Netherheaven” Boston’s tech metallers Revocation are touring the UK with a stacked tour featuring some of the best current death metal bands! The mighty blackened deathers Goatwhore, Deathcore / Djent Atlanteans Alluvial & the Texan old school death torchbearers Creeping Death!
Opening the night is Creeping Death, a band I have been waiting since 2017 to see over in the UK. And what I saw was well worth the wait. Ripping open The Dome with “Humanity Transcends” of the band’s last E.P. “The Edge of Existence”.
Now for most opening bands, it can be difficult to get an early audience’s attention but right from the opening note the crowd were banging their heads, circle pits ensued & the positive response was here. “Doused in Flames” one of the fastest Creeping Death tracks had the whole band banging their heads & even signature spin kicks from guitarist Trey Pemberton.
“Bloodlust Contamination” from the band’s last album “Wretched Illusions” incites another circle pit, this time even more furious.
Vocalist Reese Alavi is even more brutal as a vocalist live than on record.
Also commanding the crowd for the last blast section screaming “Bloodlust Contamination.. Forced death to end suffering” before the track ends shows what a stellar performance the band put on. Also giving the crowd a sneak preview of new material in “Intestinal Wrap” shows the band a more focused & even more brutal sound to come on their next release which I can’t wait to hear!
Next up are Alluvial. Offering the crowd something a little different, mixing elements of progressive metal, deathcore & djent the band is one heavy-arse band.
Featuring guitarist Wes Hauch (Glass Casket, ex-Black Crown Initiate, ex-The Faceless) & Kevin Muller (The Merciless Concept) which has made for some of the most interesting music i’ve heard in awhile. “Ulysses” mixes beautiful melodies with some of the sickest & thickest guitar tones. The strongest element of Alluvial is how rhythmic they are. They don’t stay too long on an element which keeps the listener engaged & paying attention.
“The Putrid Sunrise” keeps the band’s energy high & fast. Muller demands movement from the crowd & boy do they give him it.
Alluvial strongest features are they are able to build the intensity of a song & give it a payoff. Earning that pay off too. At the midpoint of the track it quiets down & slowly builds before the band on a dime smash back in with an even more punishing vigure.
Now for New Orleans based satan’s favourite band Goatwhore.
When it comes to Goatwhore you know it will be an experience & they can outplay most. “Chaos Arcane” as an opener is pulling no punches. Black metal style thrashing from the strongest right hand in the game guitarist Sammy Duet with frontman Benjamin Falgoust electric stage presence shows that Goatwhore didn’t come to mess around.
“The Bestowal of Abomination” , a new track from the band’s last amazing record, is fantastic to hear live. The back & forth from Ben & Sammys vocal attack gives the band a great live presence.
Zack Simmons unbelievable stamina shows through the bands set. A drumming monster he is nonstop & never misses a beat. One of the best blackened death metal drummers currently within the scene!
Closing out the set with the band’s infamous “FBS” leaves the audience on a high, never ending pits & fists in the air. Another perfect set from Goatwhore.
Now for the main event. The Indomitable Revocation.
Even opening with “O Fortuna” by Carl Orff to give that perfect satanic heavy metal tone before the band smash into the chugging down tuned opener “Nihilistic Violence”.
Just by the first track frontman David Davidson has the crowd eating out of his hands. His deep guttural vocals ooze all over the set. Pointy guitar in hand & some of the best technical chops in the game tonight’s set is mammoth.
“That Which Consumes All Things” brings the black metal thrashing twinge that Revocation are so good at. Ash Pearson’s constant blasting really brings this song life. Mixed with the bands live production of behind drums strobes & lighting give the band a very dynamic element.
At the halfway point “The 9th Chasm” another new track from Netherheaven shows just how tight Revocation as a band is.
Davidson, bassist Brett Bamberger & live guitarist Noah Young allow this epic track shine. As Davidsons jazz infused leads soar the band keep the frantic chugging & back beat focused & strong.
Closing out the night with a classic “Dismantle the Dictator” shows how far the band have come within their stage show. An older track in the band’s catalogue but here now as seasoned musicians they add so much spice & savagery to an already chaotic & technic track!
Even 11 tracks in the band still keep a tight ship & show even with an methodological & abstruse sound at times they are able to smash any crowd that lays before them! London shall lay in waste after tonight’s show!
Review: Joseph Mitchell
Photography: Tony Giannattasio
The band is kicking off 2023 with a headline tour taking them through Europe and the UK featuring special guests Goatwhore, Alluvial, and Creeping Death. The tour starts next week on January 19 in Wiesbaden, Germany and wraps up in Hannover, Germany on February 18. See below for all dates!
Revocation tour dates
w/ Goatwhore, Alluvial, Creeping Death
Jan. 19 Wiesbaden, DE Kulturzentrum Schlachthof
Jan. 20 Bochum, DE Matrix Bochum
Jan. 21 Nijmegen, NL Doornroosje
Jan. 22 Hamburg, DE Logo Musik & Bier GmbH Veranstaltungsservice
Jan. 23 Gothenburg, SE Nefertiti på Valand (Jazzföreningen)
Jan. 24 Oslo, NO John Dee
Jan. 25 Copenhagen, DK Pumpehuset
Jan. 27 Berlin, DE SO36
Jan. 28 Chemnitz, DE AJZ
Jan. 29 Nürnberg, DE Hirsch
Jan. 30 Prague, CZ Modrá Vopice
Jan. 31 Budapest, HU Akvárium Klub
Feb. 1 Vienna, AT Viper Room
Feb. 2 Munich, DE Backstagen Halle
Feb. 3 Solothurn, CH Kofmehl
Feb. 4 Bologna, IT Alchemica Music Club
Feb. 5 Toulouse, FR Le Rex De Toulous
Feb. 6 Barcelona, ES Bóveda
Feb. 7 Madrid, ES Copernico
Feb. 8 Bilbao, ES Stage Live
Feb. 10 Paris, FR Travbendo
Feb. 11 Lille / Wasquehal, FR The Black Lab
Feb. 12 London, UK Islington Assembly Hall
Feb. 13 Manchester, UK Rebellion
Feb. 14 Dublin, IE Whelan‘s
Feb. 15 Birmingham, UK Mama Roux
Feb. 16 Bristol, UK The Fleece
Feb. 17 Antwerp, BE Zappa
Feb. 18 Hannover, DE Kulturzentrum Faust
Four years in the making, the Billboard-charting trio that is Revocation – Dave Davidson (vocals/guitars), Ash Pearson (drums), and Brett Bamberger (bass) – meticulously explore the allegorical and literal aspects of Hell as they dig deeper into the darker, more diabolical side of death metal. “We put a lot of blood, sweat, and tears into the album,” says Davidson. “We want people to be inspired. It’s brutal. We brought our A-game on ‘Netherheaven’.”
“…’Netherheaven’ is Revocation’s best record in a decade. Expanding the dark romanticism of ‘Deathless’, Davidson, Bamberger and Pearson crank out the darkest, heaviest songs of their career together, never missing a beat.” – Angry Metal Guy
“‘Netherheaven’ is a winning addition to the Revocation catalog. A masterful amalgamation of every single element that Revocation has crafted over the last several albums, sharpened into a cohesive, thoughtful, and punishing package of solid technical death/thrash metal. If there was ever a thinking man’s death metal, Revocation would be the band and ‘Netherheaven’ would be the record!” – Metal Wani
“In a genre where every band wants to tease their newest album as their ‘most heavy,’ ‘Netherheaven’ finds Revocation doubling down on their most ferocious elements. The band achieved impressive levels of power after recording as a three-piece for the first time in 13 years, while maintaining their tech-metal prestige.” – Metal Injection
“…’Netherheaven’ is easily on par with the band’s very best, and might even be the new standard by which all their work will be judged going forwards…this is one album that does not miss.” – No Clean Singing
“…Revocation’s ‘Netherheaven’ represents the next stage in their sonic evolution: from primordial metallic neophytes back on albums like ‘Empire of the Obscene’ and (my first taste) ‘Existence Is Futile’ to more full-fledged tech-death beasts such as ‘Deathless’, ‘Great Is Our Sin’, and ‘The Outer Ones’. ‘Netherheaven’ continues the progression in quality you have come to expect from the greater part of the last decade.” – Invisible Oranges
Revocation line-up:
David Davidson – Guitars / Vocals
Brett Bamberger – Bass / Vocals
Ash Pearson – Drums
Revocation online:
http://www.metalblade.com/
http://www.revocationband.com
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http://www.youtube.com/