Revocation – Chaos of Forms

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The most critical flaw with modern thrash is it too often mimics what came before it. A great deal of the music produced is purely nostalgic rather than pressing forward – that’s why we have bands such as Municipal Waste singing half a dozen songs with the word Thrash in the title. There are those that are truly progressing the genre forward though, and that’s where Revocation come in. Revocation might not be thrash in the most pure sense of the term – as Chaos of Forms demonstrates, there is plenty of influence from other extreme metal genres, with harsh vocals and incredible technicality borrowed from death, and even a few blastbeats straight from black metal. There’s some rather avant garde moments as well (Such as the rather odd use of horns in The Watchers). At the root of the band’s music is a fast, guitar-shredding sound that should appeal to any thrash fan, however. With this in mind, Revocation are at the top of their game on Chaos of Forms. Where’s previous album Existence Is Futile showed promise but wasn’t necessarily consistent, Chaos of Forms is flooded with ideas and fantastic songs. David Davidson’s unfathomably intense lead guitar takes the centre stage, though it is backed by a thoroughly impressive rhythm section. The material is insanely fast and technical, but always retaining a strong sense of melody and song-structure. That’s perhaps the strange thing with Revocation – despite their technicality, there’s a part of them that genuinely feels accessible and capable of breaking through to the mainstream, with probable lead singles like Cradle Robber having all the potential to be mainstream rock hits. Whether that day will come remains to be seen, but either way Revocation remain unquestionably brilliant and underrated, with this latest album showing this even better than before.

Written by James Donovan
More: 2011, Albums, Quick.Play Reviews, Thrash Metal, Revocation