Band:	Revocation
Album:	Deathless
Style:	Technical death metal, Thrash metal
Release date:	October 10, 2014
A review by:	Mattybu

01. A Debt Owed To The Grave
02. Deathless
03. Labyrinth Of Eyes
04. Madness Opus
05. Scorched Earth Policy
06. The Blackest Reaches
07. The Fix
08. United Helotry
09. Apex
10. Witch Trials
11. Sworn To The Black [Morbid Angel cover]

Revocation's self-titled album released in 2013 left me thinking two main things. The first being (aside from "Spastic") it was bad, and the second being despite its badness, the people in this band have the potential to drop a cataclysmic shit-wrecking album that would do the thrash and death genres proper justice.

Without dwelling on the past too much, here's a quick explanation for the self-titled album's badness: cringeworthy vocal performance, lack of memorability, and songs that dragged on without many exciting moments.

I'm really not sure what happened, but there's good news and a reason for mentioning all this - Revocation got their shit together. Every song on Deathless has more punch to it, there's an increased amount of detail and craftsmanship in the riffs more fitting of the gifted players in this band, and the vocals are vastly improved. As opposed to the "trying too hard to sound heavy" sound on the self-titled, they've gotten a bit raspier and fit the music better now. Granted, they still aren't perfect, but at the very least the vocals don't actively detract from the overall sound and flow of things. In general, everything seems sharper and more energized compared to the last effort.

If you know much about Revocation you know that regardless of if you like their music or not, these boys can play. On Deathless there is an important framework of good songwriting to apply this talent in. In fact, I think songwriting is really the biggest improvement from the self-titled. As opposed to something with a single standout track, there are standouts (which will probably vary person to person) but good moments to be had throughout the whole album too. Front to back, it's almost baffling how much better this album is than their last.

The weird thing about Deathless is that it's almost like Revocation got into my brain and systemically went about fixing what I didn't like about their last album. I don't think this is the truly earth-shattering cacophony of terror these guys are fully capable of (and I realize bands aren't put on the earth to satisfy my exact expectations and desires yet*) but this new album is more than just a step in the right direction. Hopefully Revocation's run on Metal Blade keeps trending up.

*5-10 years from now, smartphone app that scans your brain and generates the optimized ideal music for you. Just wait, my children.