Revocation came to my attention sometime last year with their self released debut album Empire of the Obscene which had some terrific riffs and guitar playing but over all seemed too much in debt to Death, Pestilence and Atheist. Come 2009 and the band has been signed by Relapse and is ready with the follow up Existence is Futile.

The album starts with an instrumental intro that sounds a bit like the opening riff of Lamb of God’s Walk with me in Hell and I thought I was in for a slightly different beast. The band mix and match thrash and death metal with some more modern sounds that are a bit Gothenburg and metal core in nature and every time they want to get a bit more melodic and accessible it’s the whole Gothenburg sound that is quite literally plagiarized.The strength of the band comes from guitarist/ vocalist David Davidson. His ability to play these riffs, sing and play some truly awesome solos is really impressive and the rest of the band, bass player Anthony Buda and drummer Phil Dubois-Coyne are no slouches and provide a terrific foundation for these riffs. Case in point is Dismantle the Dictator which is your typical irritating technical exercise in staccato riffing and super fast tempos but the solo section in the middle of the song has to be heard and is really quite awesome with Davidson pulling off a chaotic but slightly bluesy feel and the rhythm section locking in to a thick meaty sound and providing superb backing.

I guess the problem for me with Revocation is still the same. When the album is done there really is no particular song that sticks in my head. Sure, there are awesome individual parts that I remember from most of these songs but none of the songs themselves stick in my head. Also, sometimes the whole technical aspect of the band gets a little silly and overpowers the song. Yes, all three of these guys are terrific musicians but there really is no need to constantly stuff it down my throat.

Overall I’d have to say that while this is a definite improvement over the debut and has a lot of really enjoyable bits to it it’s still not a particularly great album. The songs have very little recall value and while I’m sure Existence is Futile might appeal to a wide array of metal fans it’s just not my scene.

Label - Relapse

Year of Release - 2009