Lessons in Netherheaven and Sublime Blasphemy:  Revocation Bring Forth Crushing Death Metal to Brick by Brick

September 28th, 2022

  Fresh off a few weeks ago of releasing their diabolically sound record, Netherheaven, Revocation embarked on their first North America headlining tour in 3 years, bringing forth a grand supporting cast to boot. Centrically a Death Metal lineup, yet filled with different ideas, aspects and overall musical presentation, San Diego showed up and then some to witness this stellar tour package.

            Possessing a Metalcore sound, with a strong Djent guitar tone, the groovy aspects from Good For Nothing blasted through the PA, overtaking much of the air in the room.  Not to waste the high thumping volume on stale breakdowns, the riffs weren’t one note (literally), and instead, the focus from “Zebra” Marcondes, hammering the drums with these mid-paced Thrash-y fills, and hard-hitting cymbal crashes for the headbanging portions.  Despite the tempo slowing down, the pep in the musical step was reached, and added creativity to a portion of the genre that can sometimes be described as stale.

            Dany Khouli’s down-tuned guitar riffing, energetic backing vocals, as well as working the crowd quite well from his vantage point, assisted the rest of the fans walking in the venue, to come closer and enjoy the moment.  Good For Nothing’s vocalist was ill, having Chalo Perea from Black Cast, fill in on last-minute notice.  Strong stage presence, stayed mostly in the growl/harsh vocal range, and looked joyous to perform.  My only gripe with the performance, was on the production side: noticeably only one guitar on-stage, I don’t believe the band has a bass player, so the PA intros also acted as both counterpoints and other riffs alongside Dany’s.  You could feel the difference compared to the actual guitar playing, and the PA acting as the other, and I felt it took away some of the more dynamic, and organic moments from the set.  Nevertheless, for Metalcore-based music not being one of my preferred genres, Good For Nothing’s 20-minute set received a strong reaction from the early birds in attendance, and their energy was a delight to be a part of.    

1. Memories

2. America

3. Bury the Past

4. Smile

5. For Those Who Have Nothing

          Due to possibly a hectic work schedule, love life, time escaping you, or just unable to make the effort to, it’s not easy to hear all the bands on a tour before the actual show.  And sometimes, it works out well to be genuinely surprised reaction/discovery.  Inoculation blasted the venue with a pummeling, yet stripped down form of Death Metal.  The blasting in the middle section of “Celestial Putridity”, raw, relentless, and downright mean.  Charlie Winters provided a festive drumming performance, but the technique and power demonstrated in the blast beats, textbook and boosted Inoculation’s intensity live.

            From tremolo-based riffs, whirling dissonant melodies, and swift changes between the breakdowns, “The Edge of Town” soared to one of the strongest songs played from all the bands.  There’s this old-school edge to the reduced tempo portions of Inoculation, and then suddenly, these bursts of inverted chords, raging and performed quite technically.  I wish the band had another guitar player, to let the rhythm portions stand out, and to compliment Anthony Allen’s bag of fretboard tricks and spells.  Taking nearly equal turns with bassist Nick Nedley on vocals, the instrument dynamic between the two displayed their stellar technique.  Although Nedley’s bass could have been turned up slightly, his movement on-stage and tapping riffs was a blast to witness.  Allen’s beautifully picked triplets, alongside imaginative passages of tasteful musical emotions, wrapped in a morbid box, left a lasting impression.  For my first time hearing and seeing Inoculation, the audience, as well as myself, were vastly impressed.            

1. Celestial Putridity

2. I Am Where the Foregods Meet

3. Verity Consumated

4. (New song)

5. The Edge of Town

6. (New song)

7. Xerthaneus

            Certainly, picking up where they left off a few months ago, Alluvial received by far one of the largest reactions tonight.  Performing on the Rivers of Nihil/Fallujah tour in May, it seemed that the strong turnout for that tour paid off for them, with their 30-minute set raging the strongest mosh pits the Brick by Brick had in storage.  Performing from their 2021 record solely, Sarcoma, Alluvial would embrace their Groovy/Death Metal era in full command.

            The most prolific aspect of the band, would be in their subtle, yet daring, Swiss-army knife transitions.  Wes Hauch’s previous work in several Progressive/Death Metal bands, (Glass Casket, Black Crown Initiate, Devin Townsend, to name a few), wouldn’t say show up in exactly how the music sounds, but from the unique puzzles he puts into place musically.  Leading oozing breakdowns and psychedelic-sounding leads in “Thy Underling”, and the beautifully palm-muted picking catchy rhythms in one of their strongest tracks, “Exponent”, Alluvial is factually a Death Metal band, yet a spider-web of Progressive intricacies that have you wonder what that next track will sound like.           

            Invoking a collective amount of quality musicians, Kevin Muller’s tremendous gurgles and frantic movement kept the action going non-stop.  Personally, my favourite vocalist for Suffocation since Frank left, I was thrilled to see him thrive in Alluvial, and especially to this energy level of a crowd.  Not only were the immensely low growls still present, but working with the ‘softer’ material in “Sleepers Become Giants”, the vocals differed in distortion, but with variance to the otherwise brutal aspects of Alluvial.  Tim Walker had the loudest sounding bass of the show, and moved rapidly on-stage like Muller.  Without a 2nd guitar, Walker’s bass thump helped alleviate the musical space.  Hearing after the show the band would embark on a tour supporting Animals as Leaders and Car Bomb next month.  Alluvial’s 2022 has been nothing but eventful, and they delivered mightily tonight.       

1. Anodyne

2. Thy Underling

3. The Putrid Sunrise

4. Exponent

5. Sarcoma

6. Sleepers Become Giants

7. Ulysses

          As a spoiled fanbase that we are, we’re used to our bands, tours, musicians, and overall Metal concepts, to be as high-paced, bombastic, and oozing in sheer quality.  However, there are a number of bands that remind you just how lucky we are to have:  Krisiun, being one of those chosen few.  An assault of the senses in terms of the almost sadistic amount of speed, tempo, precision, and melting of faces in a live setting, Krisiun’s no-nonsense approach to blistering Death Metal knows no bounds.

            “Kings of Killing”, a first song staple of their set the past few years, starts off in the headbanging tempo, and not too long after, the lightning quick musical missiles took off.  Although not known for technical riffing and song structures, the downtrodden level of picking, immense note selection and ascending melodies from Krisiun, are just as necessary to witness in person.  Moyses Kolesne’s furious, time-skipping guitar abilities not only continue to impress, but considering the band has played for 30 years, and still keep this level of pace and clean technique?!  Truly remarkable.  “Hatred Inherit” is a prime example of Krisiun: not possessing 8-minute progressive structures or straying to different paths, but the galloping hammer-ons, accompanied by a ravishing, string-skipping palm-mute, Thrash breakdown followed by a tsunami of a solo, back to the opening riff to close.  You can see part of what’s coming, but the outlandish level of speed, technique and house of brick heavy tone, creates for a special type of song structure, that few can muster.

            Matching the vicious guitaring, Max Kolesne’s double-time tom fills between various counterpoints, non-stop blasting that feels the opposite of redundant, and providing the essential, Death Metal sword, Krisiun proudly wields and displays.  Realizing around half way through the set, despite Krisiun being the oldest band on this tour, they were also the ‘outcast’, when you consider how different they sound compared to the rest of the tour.  Despite a few of the songs the fans went insane for, this might have been one of the tamest crowds I’ve seen in regards to excitement for Krisiun.  Alex Camargo, being the quality frontman as he has been, did what he could to get the crowd going, I just felt disappointed this set of fans did not show the level of excitement I’m used to Krisiun receiving.  With that said, their 45-minute felt over before it began, and for the trio of brothers performing close to their 50s like this, do your best to witness Death Metal in the vision that Krisiun plays to.  Not worth the regret missing it.   

1. Kings of Killing

2. Ravager

3. Swords into Flesh

4. Scourge of the Enthroned

5. Vengeance's Revelation

6. Serpent Messiah

7. Combustion Inferno

8. Bloodcraft

9. Hatred Inherit

            The lights dimmed in shades of Crimson Red colour, with the crowd going bonkers during the PA intro.  A mesmerizing, darkened atmosphere took over the Brick by Brick, represented by the theme of Revocation’s latest album, Netherheaven.  Taking from a number of the middle tracks in the 2018 release, The Outer Ones, of the 7-string monsters, the black-hole-like energy, depths of hell riffing and dissonant concepts, Netherheaven somehow translated live better than the studio record itself.  “Nihilistic Violence” opened Revocation’s stunning lightshow, using unique types of light colours, as well as placement, strobe effects, and also just a dynamite looking stage.  That menacing slow galloping intro, completely filled with disgusting, headbanging vibes, immediately set the room off in a blaze.  It’s quite alright to embrace and anticipate a band’s latest material and era, I promise you’ll be better for it.

            The first half of the set, consisting of both said albums, switching off between the dreary, hypnotizing effects, and the crushing weight of Hell’s inferno-filled lava seeping over your bones.  From a visual aspect, there were samples of pastors in the South’s ignorant rants in regards to believing in Christianity, quite possibly the most ignorant religion of all, I might add; also, a “Devil” running up on stage offering to buy the souls of Revocation, the visuals overall were quite entertaining, and set the mood perfectly.  Brett Bamberger’s in sync headbanging to that despair-filled descending riff outro in “The Outer Ones”, was infectious, matching the whirling notes bouncing off in the room, as well as finding his way to each part of the stage quite frequently.  His 10-year time with the band, and counting, you could feel the importance of his presence on-stage, and being a part of Revocation’s musical evolution the last 6 years.

            Filling in on later notice, Noah Young previously in Skeletal Remains, performed missing no beat, and had you believed he’s been in Revocation for quite some time.  Providing harsh backup vocals and matching the other guitar aspects, Young’s abilities fit in like a perfectly-sized glove, and gave me reassurance knowing Revocation, especially live, should require two guitar players, to not miss the key rhythms parts and sequences played, in conjunction with the lead guitar.  Also crushing it, and continuing to stand out as one of Death Metal’s underrated drummers, Ash Pearson’s twisted off-beat blasts, sound double-bass play, and nifty Jazz-like fills, keeps this monster of a train rolling on the proverbial tracks.  A prime example in first 26-seconds of “That Which Consumes All Things”, powerful precision, and a multiple amount of different High and Medium Tom blasts mixed with those 16th drum kick notes.  Ash’s subtle technique and hard-hitting attacks, mixed with a delicate sophistication, is must-see amongst the percussion enthusiasts.

“The 9th Chasm”, being an instrumental, demonstrated the calculated technique, maddening detailed chord concepts, and the blossoming of outstanding leads and solo changes from the creator of Revocation nearly 16 years previous, Dave Davidson.  Even hearing the only three other tracks played tonight, not from the last two records, you can hear and visually see the profound difference and progression within his style of writing.  It’s tremendously appreciated to find musicians capable of endless bounds of quality, and captive imagination musically.  On-stage, the newfound embrace to play 7-string has opened up the possibilities of what Davidson’s vision and road of Revocation can reach and travel to.  From the levithan of an epic in “A Starless Darkness”, to the inventive, memorably astonishing solo in “Of Unworldly Origin”, Davidson’s outstanding, elite-level talent as a writer, performer and guitarist, continues to marvel and provide positive wonder to the planet, seeking necessary knowledge and immense quality.          

            The latest, and outstanding aura of Netherheaven, brought forth a compelling 70-minute set to San Diego, with this Wednesday packed house joyously singing along to many of the lyrics, moshing frequently, and showing Revocation a mutually-assured welcome back.  Beautiful, musical blasphemy, never sounded better.   

1. Nihilistic Violence

2. Diabolical Majesty

3. The Outer Ones

4. That Which Consumes All Things

5. Godforsaken

6. The 9th Chasm

7. Re‐Crucified

8. Madness Opus

9. Theatre of Horror

10. Dismantle the Dictator

11. A Starless Darkness

12. Of Unworldly Origin