Revocation - New Gods, New Masters

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Revocation is a death metal band from Massachusetts who formed in 2000 as Crypt Warning and released one album before changing their name in 2006. “New Gods, New Masters” is their 9th full-length album.

David Davidson is the main guy, offering up vicious vocals and extreme talent with the guitar. Even though the band is popular for their style, I still feel he is vastly underrated. He's also one hell of a songwriter, as evident by the fact that Revocation has never released a bad album.


The band's style death infused thrash (or thrash infused death, depending on how you look at it) remains as firm as ever. Initially, I was worried when I realized how many guests are on the album, as that has a possibility of taking away from the band but I wasted my time on such pointless thoughts because each guest musician adds to the album's already deep depth.


The bass is much more audible this time around and Alex brings it hard. The mix is pretty good and the tones of the instruments are perfect. Harry Lannon handles the axe well as well, a really sharp pairing with Davidson—hopefully he sticks around for a minute!  Long time drummer Ash Pearson continues to bring in smartly played extreme metal drums—he doesn't bash for the sake of but instead brings the songs exactly what they need, when they need it.


“New Gods, New Masters,” opens with its title track—a bold statement to be sure but the band’s confidence is high and they always have a banger of an opener.  This is unrelenting and the band is in full swing very quickly.  The thrash rhythms crash hard against the drums during the verses but the meat grinding riffs spit out visceral death metal during the chorus.  And how about that solo?  Fucking magical.  


Cattle Decapitation’s Travis Ryan stops by for a brutal performance in “Confines of Infinity,” and the band matches this power with one of the heaviest songs they have ever done.  The entire song is immense and thick with riffs that could break through steel. Davidson’s vocals are fantastic, as if he is in a competition with Travis to see who puncture my eardrums first. Around the 2:12 mark, the band enters a zone of pure carnage, pummeling riffs for days and powerful rhythms would make you *insert chosen family member here* fall to the floor.  


“Despiritualized,” is one of my favorites on the album.  The riffs hammer from the first second, surprisingly catchy as well.  The goes hard as well, popping out from the riffs for an extra layer of face crushing.  The sudden break off to clean instrumentation is a nice surprise too.  Afterwards, the thrashes ever forward, each note the equivalent of someone stomping on your ribs.


The last song is “Buried Epoch,” and it is magnificent.  Luc Lemay (Gorguts) joins in on the mayhem for a song that I put up there with the best of Revocation.   Davidson’s death growls create such a sinister atmosphere and the riffs sound so heavy, as if they are crashing down to destroy heaven itself.  This is a whiplash of a song, going from a slow grind to blitzkrieg but never losing focus. 


When Revocation releases an album, I always know what I’m going to get.  Since what I’m getting is 100% kick ass extreme metal, then that hasn’t, doesn’t, and will never bother me. “New Gods, New Masters,” is as good, if not better, than anything they have released.  PS:  If you get a chance to see them live then DO IT. 



Rating:  Excellent












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