Revocation‘s death metal tinged brand of progressive thrash remains as brave as it is brawny on the groups latest offering, “Chaos Of Forms“. Combining classic Megadeth-era thrash precision with cagey bellows and darkened grit, Revocation readily prove themselves as deserving of the hype.

Guitarist/vocalist David Davidson‘s aggressive playing style and impressive chops clearly lead the charge, displaying equal parts technical finesse and crunchy aggression. In fact, his agility and speed would lead one to believe he would almost need to change his strings after each song – let alone after each set.

A difficult balance to achieve, he blazes across his fretboard with stunning talent; yet generally avoids the typical wankery that can accompany such a ferocious display of instrumental ability.

The rest of the band are no slouches either as they lock into intrinsically tight grooves behind his lead. It’s almost mind-bending how effortlessly they shift through jarring polyrhythmic onslaughts, incendiary thrash and dizzying timing changes; all the while keeping the songs wholly interesting, if not a touch hyperactive.

To merely have a death oriented thrash metal band that implements some progressive tendencies isn’t exactly a revelation in 2011 though. What enables Revocation to wholly succeed is their perpetually impulsive risk taking.

For instance, a song like “The Watchers” wouldn’t sound entirely out of place on a Nightrage record at first. That is of course until the bottom drops out and a jazzy freak out that incorporates horns ala The Dillinger Escape Plan‘s “Milk Lizard” quickly melts down into a bluesy Deep Purple-styled organ solo. Moments later a volley of classically oriented shred heroics erupts, bringing to mind Extreme‘s “Play With Me“.

This all happens organically and without warning in just under the span of a minute, vanishing as suddenly as it arrived. Sure it’s refreshing to see a band willfully incorporate whatever they want. But it’s truly invigorating to see them then make it fit without devolving into discordant auditory schizophrenia.

With slap bass (“Harlot“) and tastefully hooky choruses (“Cradle Robber“) being just a few of the highlights; rarely is such technically proficient metal so highly kinetic and vividly stylized. To toss in being utterly fearless as well into the mix only further cements this bands rising star status while validating the buzz they’ve already gained thus far.

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  ( 16 votes, 4.31 stars )
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