Revocation is an American
technical death metal
Technical death metal (also referred to as tech-death) is a musical subgenre of death metal that began and developed in the early- to mid-1990s, with particular focus on challenging, demanding instrumental skill and complex songwriting.
Techni ...
band from
Boston
Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the state capital and most populous city of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financial center of the New England region of the United States. It is the 24th- mo ...
,
, consisting of guitarist and vocalist Dave Davidson, bassist Brett Bamberger and drummer Ash Pearson. The band has released eight studio albums, two EPs, and ten music videos since their formation.
History
Background (Cryptic Warning) (2000–2005)
In 2000, guitarist/vocalist Dave Davidson, drummer Phil Dubois-Coyne and bassist Anthony Buda, met while attending a high school in
Boston
Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the state capital and most populous city of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financial center of the New England region of the United States. It is the 24th- mo ...
,
. Influenced by
Guns N' Roses
Guns N' Roses is an American hard rock band from Los Angeles, California, formed in 1985. When they signed to Geffen Records in 1986, the band comprised vocalist Axl Rose, lead guitarist Slash, rhythm guitarist Izzy Stradlin, bassist Duff McKa ...
and
Metallica
Metallica is an American heavy metal band. The band was formed in 1981 in Los Angeles by vocalist/guitarist James Hetfield and drummer Lars Ulrich, and has been based in San Francisco for most of its career. The band's fast tempos, instrume ...
, the trio formed Cryptic Warning. As Cryptic Warning, the band recorded its first demo in 2002 and gained an underground following in Boston, and surrounding area. A second demo, ''Internally Reviled'', was recorded in 2004. In 2005, Cryptic Warning recorded and released an independent album, ''Sanity's Aberration'', but was not content with the quality of the album's production. Remembering those recordings, Davidson said: "We didn't record the album with a metal guy, so we didn't get the sound we wanted. The heaviest reference in our producer's discography was ''
The Cult
The Cult are an English rock band formed in 1983 in Bradford, West Yorkshire. Before settling on their current name in January 1984, the band performed under the name Death Cult, which was an evolution of the name of lead singer Ian Astbury's ...
''. A lot of people still love that record—our old-school fans who used to show up for all of the shows—but to us, we weren't really satisfied with the production of that. We felt it was one of the mistakes we made."
First four albums (2006–2013)
In 2006, Cryptic Warning disbanded and Revocation formed with the lineup intact. Davidson commented: "I think, looking a little deeper into it, we made a lot of mistakes with Cryptic Warning. We were younger and didn't really know what we were doing, so Revocation was us starting fresh with a clean slate and revoking our past mistakes." With a direction change, Revocation promptly recorded a three-song demo titled ''Summon the Spawn'', and in 2008 they went back into the studio to record their first full-length album, ''
Empire of the Obscene
''Empire of the Obscene'' is the debut studio album by the American technical death metal band, Revocation. It was released in February 2008 under an independent label. This is the only Revocation album to be self-released, as the band was signed ...
''. The full length was self-released, and the band financed its own tour, attracting the interest of several record labels. Revocation subsequently signed to
Relapse Records
Relapse Records is an American independent record label based in Upper Darby, Pennsylvania. It was founded by Matthew F. Jacobson in 1990. The label features many grindcore, death metal, metalcore and sludge metal artists.
History
The label was ...
.
The band did a number of regional shows before recording their second full-length album, ''
Existence Is Futile'', released on September 29, 2009. The album was described by
Allmusic
AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the databas ...
as "one of the best pure metal albums of 2009",
while ''
Spin
Spin or spinning most often refers to:
* Spinning (textiles), the creation of yarn or thread by twisting fibers together, traditionally by hand spinning
* Spin, the rotation of an object around a central axis
* Spin (propaganda), an intentionally b ...
'' magazine named Revocation as one of the ten artists to watch in 2010. In October 2009, the band performed for the Relapse showcase at
CMJ Music Marathon
CMJ Holdings Corp. is a music events and online media company, originally founded in 1978, which ran a website, hosted an annual festival in New York City, and published two magazines, ''CMJ New Music Monthly'' and ''CMJ New Music Report''. Th ...
.
On August 16, 2011, the band released their third full-length album, ''
Chaos of Forms
''Chaos of Forms'' is the third studio album by American technical death metal band Revocation, released on August 16, 2011 by Relapse Records. The song "Cradle Robber" was released and streamed on their Facebook page on May 10, 2011. This album i ...
''. Their fourth full-length studio release, self-titled ''
Revocation
Revocation is the act of recall or annulment. It is the cancelling of an act, the recalling of a grant or privilege, or the making void of some deed previously existing. A temporary revocation of a grant or privilege is called a suspension.
Cont ...
'', was released on August 5, 2013.
''Deathless'' and ''Great Is Our Sin'' (2014–2016)
In early April 2014, it was announced that Revocation had signed with
Metal Blade Records
Metal Blade Records is an American independent record label founded by Brian Slagel in 1982. The US office for Metal Blade is located in Agoura Hills, California. It also has offices in Germany, Japan, Canada, and the UK. The label is distrib ...
and that the recording of a new album had begun. The band's fifth full-length ''
Deathless'', was released on October 14, 2014. Revocation embarked on a fall tour in the U.S. with
Crowbar,
Havok,
Fit For An Autopsy
Fit for an Autopsy is an American deathcore band from Jersey City, New Jersey, formed in 2008. The band consists of guitarists Pat Sheridan, Will Putney and Tim Howley, drummer Josean Orta, vocalist Joe Badolato, and bassist Peter "Blue" Spinaz ...
, and Armed for Apocalypse. Following the fall tour, they trekked across Europe with
Cannibal Corpse
Cannibal Corpse is an American death metal band formed in Buffalo, New York in 1988, now based out of Tampa, Florida. The band has released fifteen studio albums, two box sets, four video albums, and two live albums. The band has had little radi ...
and
Aeon
The word aeon , also spelled eon (in American and Australian English), originally meant "life", "vital force" or "being", "generation" or "a period of time", though it tended to be translated as "age" in the sense of "ages", "forever", "timeles ...
.
In June 2015, drummer Phil Dubois-Coyne announced that he was leaving the band. He was replaced by Ash Pearson, the former drummer of
3 Inches of Blood.
In September 2015, the band announced that ''Empire of the Obscene'' was to be re-issued on November 13, 2015 via Metal Blade Records. Remixed and remastered, the album included bonus tracks from their 2006 EP, ''Summon the Spawn''.
In May 2016, the band announced their sixth studio album, ''
Great Is Our Sin
''Great Is Our Sin'' is the sixth studio album by the American death metal band Revocation, released on July 22, 2016. It is the band's first album to feature drummer Ash Pearson, who replaced original drummer Phil Dubois-Coyne in 2015.
Releas ...
''. The album was released on July 22, 2016 via Metal Blade Records.
''The Outer Ones'' and ''Netherheaven'' (2017–present)
On November 13, 2017, Davidson revealed that writing had begun on the band's next album in an interview with Metal Injection and that the album is planned to be released in 2018. On February 5, 2018, the band hinted that recording had begun via posts on the band's various social media outlets. On April 5, 2018, the band announced that tracking for the new album was completed at Planet Z Studios. On May 15, 2018, the band teased 20 seconds of a new song and what appears to be a release date of September 28, 2018.
On June 5, 2018, the band revealed the title of their seventh album, ''
The Outer Ones
''The Outer Ones'' is the seventh studio album by American technical death metal band Revocation, released on September 28, 2018, via Metal Blade
Metal Blade Records is an American independent record label founded by Brian Slagel in 1982. ...
'', released on September 28, 2018 via Metal Blade. The band has also announced their second-ever North American headline tour in September and October 2018, with
Exhumed,
Rivers of Nihil
Rivers of Nihil is an American technical death metal band from Reading, Pennsylvania. They are currently signed to Metal Blade Records. To date the band has released two EPs and four studio albums. Their most recent release is 2021's '' The Wor ...
and Yautja as support acts.
On July 10, 2018, the band revealed the track listing and cover artwork of ''The Outer Ones'', along with a music video for "Of Unworldly Origin", the first single of the album.
On June 20, 2020, rhythm guitarist Dan Gargiulo left the band, citing a desire to "focus on other musical and life endeavors". The band is currently working on their eighth album as a trio.
On June 16, 2022, Revocation announced that their new album would be titled ''Netherheaven''. On July 6, it was revealed the album would be released on September 9, and the album's first single, "Diabolical Majesty," was also released.
Musical style and influences
The music of Revocation has been described by journalists as a fusion of
technical death metal
Technical death metal (also referred to as tech-death) is a musical subgenre of death metal that began and developed in the early- to mid-1990s, with particular focus on challenging, demanding instrumental skill and complex songwriting.
Techni ...
and
thrash metal
Thrash metal (or simply thrash) is an extreme subgenre of heavy metal music characterized by its overall aggression and often fast tempo.Kahn-Harris, Keith, ''Extreme Metal: Music and Culture on the Edge'', pp. 2–3, 9. Oxford: Berg, 2007, . ...
.
The characteristics that define Revocation's sound include a "complex guitar-bass interplay" of
dissonant
In music, consonance and dissonance are categorizations of simultaneous or successive Sound, sounds. Within the Western tradition, some listeners associate consonance with sweetness, pleasantness, and acceptability, and dissonance with harshness ...
riff
A riff is a repeated chord progression or refrain in music (also known as an ostinato figure in classical music); it is a pattern, or melody, often played by the rhythm section instruments or solo instrument, that forms the basis or accompani ...
s,
bass breaks and "
shredding"
guitar solo
A guitar solo is a melodic passage, instrumental section, or entire piece of music, pre-written (or improvised) to be played on a classical guitar, electric guitar or an acoustic guitar. In 20th and 21st century traditional music and popular m ...
s united by "galloping"
double bass drum
The bass drum is a large drum that produces a note of low definite or indefinite pitch. The instrument is typically cylindrical, with the drum's diameter much greater than the drum's depth, with a struck head at both ends of the cylinder. Th ...
s,
death metal
Death metal is an extreme subgenre of heavy metal music. It typically employs heavily distorted and low-tuned guitars, played with techniques such as palm muting and tremolo picking; deep growling vocals; aggressive, powerful drumming, feat ...
tempo
In musical terminology, tempo (Italian, 'time'; plural ''tempos'', or ''tempi'' from the Italian plural) is the speed or pace of a given piece. In classical music, tempo is typically indicated with an instruction at the start of a piece (often ...
s,
hard rock
Hard rock or heavy rock is a loosely defined subgenre of rock music typified by aggressive vocals and distorted electric guitars. Hard rock began in the mid-1960s with the garage, psychedelic and blues rock movements. Some of the earliest hard ...
breakdowns and
grooves.
Vocals range from
death growl
A death growl, or simply growl, is an extended vocal technique usually employed in extreme styles of music, particularly in death metal and other extreme subgenres of heavy metal music. Death growl vocals are sometimes criticized for their ...
s to
grindcore
Grindcore is an extreme fusion genre of heavy metal and hardcore punk that originated in the mid-1980s, drawing inspiration from abrasive-sounding musical styles, such as thrashcore, crust punk, hardcore punk, extreme metal, and industrial. G ...
screams,
while "still recognizable as a human voice".
Starting with the self-titled album, the band has been using
seven-string guitar
The seven-string guitar adds one additional string to the more common six-string guitar, commonly used to extend the bass range (usually a low B) or also to extend the treble range.
The additional string is added in one of two different ways: by ...
s to expand their range.
Music critics have pointed out that Davidson's guitar playing style is the prominent aspect of Revocation's sound.
Davidson developed his playing technique by attending the
Berklee College of Music
Berklee College of Music is a private music college in Boston, Massachusetts. It is the largest independent college of contemporary music in the world. Known for the study of jazz and modern American music, it also offers college-level cours ...
, where he focused on
polyrhythm
Polyrhythm is the simultaneous use of two or more rhythms that are not readily perceived as deriving from one another, or as simple manifestations of the same meter. The rhythmic layers may be the basis of an entire piece of music (cross-rhyth ...
for
jazz
Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, with its roots in blues and ragtime. Since the 1920s Jazz Age, it has been recognized as a major ...
.
This musical education brought him an expertise in both playing and
songwriting
A songwriter is a musician who professionally composes musical compositions or writes lyrics for songs, or both. The writer of the music for a song can be called a composer, although this term tends to be used mainly in the classical music gen ...
, while "some of the
atonal
Atonality in its broadest sense is music that lacks a tonal center, or key. ''Atonality'', in this sense, usually describes compositions written from about the early 20th-century to the present day, where a hierarchy of harmonies focusing on a s ...
aspects of jazz gave him a different perspective on
composing and
soloing."
Recalling his earliest influences, Davidson cites
Slash
Slash may refer to:
* Slash (punctuation), the "/" character
Arts and entertainment Fictional characters
* Slash (Marvel Comics)
* Slash (''Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles'')
Music
* Harry Slash & The Slashtones, an American rock band
* Nash ...
,
Dimebag Darrell
Darrell Lance Abbott (August 20, 1966 – December 8, 2004), best known by his stage name Dimebag Darrell, was an American musician. He was the guitarist of the heavy metal bands Pantera and Damageplan, both of which he co-founded alongside his ...
, and
Marty Friedman
Marty Friedman (born December 8, 1962) is an American guitarist, best known for his tenure as the lead guitarist for thrash metal band Megadeth from 1990 to 2000. He is also known for playing alongside Jason Becker in Cacophony from 1986 until ...
.
Davidson says that as a band, Revocation has a wide range of influences, and among these are groups such as
Children of Bodom
Children of Bodom was a Finnish melodic death metal band from Espoo. Formed in 1993 as Inearthed, the final line-up of the group upon their split in 2019 consisted of Alexi Laiho (lead guitar, lead vocals), Jaska Raatikainen (drums), Henkka Sep ...
,
Exhorder
Exhorder is an American heavy metal band from New Orleans, Louisiana. They are considered progenitors of the groove-oriented thrash sound later made famous by bands such as Pantera, Lamb of God, White Zombie and Machine Head, and their music ...
,
Dark Angel,
Slayer
Slayer was an American thrash metal band from Huntington Park, California. The band was formed in 1981 by guitarists Kerry King and Jeff Hanneman, drummer Dave Lombardo and bassist/vocalist Tom Araya. Slayer's fast and aggressive musical style ...
,
Megadeth
Megadeth is an American thrash metal band formed in Los Angeles in 1983 by vocalist/guitarist Dave Mustaine. Known for their technically complex guitar work and musicianship, Megadeth is one of the "big four" of American thrash metal along wit ...
,
Pestilence,
Atheist
Atheism, in the broadest sense, is an absence of belief in the existence of deities. Less broadly, atheism is a rejection of the belief that any deities exist. In an even narrower sense, atheism is specifically the position that there no ...
,
Gorguts
Gorguts is a Canadian death metal band from Sherbrooke, Quebec, formed in 1989. The band has been through many personnel changes since its inception; its only constant member has been guitarist and vocalist Luc Lemay, who remains the primary cr ...
,
Forbidden,
Spastic Ink
Spastic Ink was a progressive metal band from the United States.
History
Spastic Ink was formed in 1993 by guitarist Ron Jarzombek of Watchtower after recovering from multiple hand surgeries that had sidelined him, unable to play, for a couple ...
,
Martyr
A martyr (, ''mártys'', "witness", or , ''marturia'', stem , ''martyr-'') is someone who suffers persecution and death for advocating, renouncing, or refusing to renounce or advocate, a religious belief or other cause as demanded by an externa ...
, and
Exodus
Exodus or the Exodus may refer to:
Religion
* Book of Exodus, second book of the Hebrew Torah and the Christian Bible
* The Exodus, the biblical story of the migration of the ancient Israelites from Egypt into Canaan
Historical events
* Ex ...
.
Davidson has also cited the "raw energy" of the DIY metal shows in the Boston underground scene as an inspiration to get proactive and get the band working.
Regarding the band's rhythm section, critics have different opinions; while
About.com
Dotdash Meredith (formerly About.com) is an American digital media company based in New York City. The company publishes online articles and videos about various subjects across categories including health, home, food, finance, tech, beauty, ...
stated that Buda and Dubois-Coyne "practice their own brutal brand of stop-on-a-dime precision with merciless intensity", ''
Decibel
The decibel (symbol: dB) is a relative unit of measurement equal to one tenth of a bel (B). It expresses the ratio of two values of a power or root-power quantity on a logarithmic scale. Two signals whose levels differ by one decibel have a po ...
'' magazine wrote that when Davidson is soloing, "the rest of band often fails to compensate."
In contrast
Allmusic
AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the databas ...
said: "Perhaps the most astonishing thing about Revocation, though, is that they're a trio."
Following the addition of Dan Gargiulo as rhythm guitarist in 2010, Revocation's sound adopted more two-guitar sections, with Gargiulo also providing songwriting credits on each release since ''
Teratogenesis
Teratology is the study of abnormalities of physiological development in organisms during their life span. It is a sub-discipline in medical genetics which focuses on the classification of congenital abnormalities in dysmorphology. The related ...
'' (2012). Gargiulo has cited
classical guitar
The classical guitar (also known as the nylon-string guitar or Spanish guitar) is a member of the guitar family used in classical music and other styles. An acoustic wooden string instrument with strings made of gut or nylon, it is a precursor o ...
as a stronger influence in his songwriting, as opposed to the heavy jazz influence in Davidson's songs.
Members
Current members
* Dave Davidson – lead guitar, lead vocals
(2006–present)
* Brett Bamberger – bass
(2012–present)
* Ash Pearson – drums
(2015–present)
Former members
* Anthony Buda – bass, backing vocals
(2006–2012)
* Phil Dubois-Coyne – drums
(2006–2015)
* Dan Gargiulo – rhythm guitar, backing vocals
(2010–2020)
Live musicians
* Jon "The Charn" Rice – drums
(2014)
*
Alex Rüdinger
Alex Rüdinger (born November 18, 1991) is an American drummer. He started playing drums at the age of 13, and since then he has played for numerous metal bands including Conquering Dystopia, the Faceless and Threat Signal. He has also done a ...
– drums
(2015)
* Noah Young – rhythm guitar, backing vocals
(2022–present)
Timeline
Discography
Studio albums
EPs
Music videos
References
External links
*
*
Revocationat
Metal Blade Records
Metal Blade Records is an American independent record label founded by Brian Slagel in 1982. The US office for Metal Blade is located in Agoura Hills, California. It also has offices in Germany, Japan, Canada, and the UK. The label is distrib ...
{{Authority control
2000 establishments in Massachusetts
American technical death metal musical groups
American thrash metal musical groups
Heavy metal musical groups from Massachusetts
Metal Blade Records artists
Musical groups established in 2000
Musical groups from Boston
Musical quartets
Relapse Records artists