Revocation's 'New Gods, New Masters' - Album Review

As I hinted at here recently, it has been quite a while since I last reviewed some proper extreme metal. After I made more of an effort to do so last year, shaking up the blog's content as a result, this year I have not really sought out extreme metal in the same way. Whilst I have reviewed plenty of heavy albums so far this year, with metalcore, melodic death metal, and doom albums all covered, much of it has been too melodic to truly be considered extreme metal - and there is nothing the purists hate more than things being called extreme metal which are not. I would not wish to upset that crowd, as I can already hear the wailing and gnashing of teeth from here. As such, it was likely October last year when I last reviewed some genuine extreme metal - with The Black Dahlia Murder's Servitude (which can be read here) the subject. Even that band are nominally a melodic death metal band, but they seem to be largely embraced by the extreme metal crowd in a way that bands like The Halo Effect and Arch Enemy, who I have both covered more recently, are not. I do not think that anyone could disagree with the assertion that the Boston-based four-piece Revocation are extreme metal, though - and their ninth studio album New Gods, New Masters, which was released last month, is the subject of today's review. Despite being able to essentially trace their history back to 2000, although they were originally known as Cryptic Warning, Revocation are pretty new to me. In fact, the only reason I started to take notice of them is that I will be seeing them live next year - as they are going to be acting as special guests to Sylosis on their upcoming European tour. I am sure that Sylosis being a touring partner for Revocation will upset the same crowd, as the Reading-based band are likely too associated with metalcore for their liking, despite them being heavily influenced by thrash, progressive, and death metal, too. Nevertheless, I am looking forward to the pairing - as I have been enjoying what I have heard from Revocation so far. I am certainly no expert, but I have checked out both 2018's The Outer Ones and 2022's Netherheaven - the two albums which preceded New Gods, New Masters. Despite generally being seen as a death metal band, and sitting at the more technical end of that spectrum, they also feel heavily influenced by thrash - and, perhaps ironically, there are some similarities that can be drawn with Sylosis' sound - despite Revocation certainly coming from a different school of thought. As such, there is a lot going on in Revocation's music. Their songs are not crushing, three minute long, blast beat-led slabs of traditional death metal - but instead they tend to be on the longer side, feature a huge amount of intricate guitar riffs and leads, alongside the throatier and thrash-adjacent vocal delivery of founder and frontman David Davidson. Davidson is the only original member left in Revocation - but he has essentially driven the band since the off. He has written much of the band's material himself - and has always acted as the lead singer and lead guitarist. Others have chipped in songwriting-wise over the years, but Revocation is Davidson's band - and he is the star of the show throughout New Gods, New Masters. Long-time drummer Ash Pearson, who has been in the band since 2015, joins Davidson again on this latest album - but the rest of the current line-up are making their debuts in the studio here. Both guitarist Harry Lannon (Cognitive) and bassist Alex Weber (Wait; Svengahli; Obscura; Evilyn; Empyrean Sanctum) came formally on board this year - although Lannon has been playing live with the band for a couple of years at this point.

The line-up changes do not really shake things up here compared to the band's last couple of albums - although a few guest vocalists do add some variety throughout. New Gods, New Masters is very much a technical death metal album with a side of thrash - but there are plenty of memorable riffs and leads here which help it to stick. Kicking off with the title track, the album pulls no punches from the off. Slow-moving, stabbing guitar riffs open the song up, with the bass high in the mix, under which percussive drumming, followed by fast double bass patterns, is thrown. There is a heaviness to this opening, but the slow-moving riffing has a epic, thrash feel - with the death metal kicking in proper once the band speed up and Davidson starts to sing. He has a great harsh vocal delivery, but he is certainly more of a screamer than a growler - which helps to enhance the band's thrash edge as well as allow for a more melodic feel alongside the guitar playing. The riffing early on, once the song really kicks in, is fast and knotty - as if Davidson and Lannon want to showcase their abilities early on. The vocals still sit nicely above this busy riffing, though, and technical drum breaks allow for some great accents. Intricate guitar leads are thrown in occasionally, with tight harmonies accenting the riffs, whilst Davidson's screams and the occasional grittier bark are full of power. The band showcase their more progressive side during a later instrumental section, though, which slows the pace down. Clean guitar melodies and discordant chords fill this section - before a lyrical guitar solo takes over, mixing traditional metal shredding and some jazzy passages. The contrast between this solo section and the driving death metal heard elsewhere is what helps this band to appeal to me - whilst some groovy riffing towards the end of the song feels more primal. Sarcophagi of the Soul opens with high-pitched and busy riff, which features some tight harmony leads - before an off-kilter verse section takes over, led by a riff which switches up the time signature somewhat. The riffing takes a while to sink in, but now I have heard the song a few times I like how jarring it sounds - and the drumming always allows for the gaps in the riff to hang nicely. The vocals still feel right when they sing across this strange cacophony - but as if it to ensure that the song still sticks with most, the band soon transition to something a bit more typical. Some of the sections here feel pretty a straight forward mix of thrash and death metal - with fast double bass drumming, chugging riffing, and a slightly more anthemic vocal delivery. The mix of the knotty sections and these more straight forward sections work nicely - whilst the guitar solo this time is more straight ahead heavy metal. The opening riff returns throughout the song, adding some more off-kilter vibes. Confines of Infinity features the first of three guest vocalists utilised throughout the album - with Travis Ryan (5/5/2000; Cattle Decapitation; Murder Construct) adding his throaty and out-of-control vocals to the song. Three guest vocalists may be a bit excessive, but guest vocalists are quite common in extreme metal - and Ryan's grindier vocals do add quite a bit to the track. Confines of Infinity is a slower and heavier track in part - with it opening with a sludgy riff that allows for some slightly deeper vocals and more of a bass presence. There is less of the band's usual flamboyance here, although the song does speed up as it progresses - launching into thrashy sections on occasion with hard-driving riffing and intense tempos. Ryan comes into his own towards the end of the song, with some unhinged vocals adding to a gnarly bridge section - that then concludes with a surprisingly laid back guitar solo over a heavy riff.

Dystopian Vermin also takes something of a step away from the album's core sound - with a great thrashy riff opening things up and Weber's bass filling in all of the gaps with some busy playing. Given the slower pace of much of the previous song, this track feels much pacier overall - but there is also something quite anthemic about it. Despite the thrashy opening riff, the rest of the song feels a touch above mid-pace - and there are shades of the most straight ahead end of Lamb of God as well as the more metallic hardcore bands here. Despite a few knotty riff and lead moments, this track feels more conventional overall. There is a lot more chugging to the riffing, which gives the vocals quite a lot of space to breathe, whilst the overall arrangement feels simpler. The song is easy to get on board with, then, and it has become a bit of a favourite thanks to this hard-driving feel and similarity to other bands that I like. The main guitar solo is still impressive, though, and it is goes on for quite a while to allow some technical motifs to sneak into the song - whilst a later closing section does up the heaviness to go for a more pummelling, Fear Factory-esque groove which works well. Despiritualized instantly feels like the album getting back to its core sound a bit more, with a slightly meandering riff opening things up, with some strong bass countermelodies, before the heaviness drops away to allow an Opeth-esque discordant clean guitar pattern to take over. This opening showcases the band's more technical side, then, but once this clean guitar section comes to a close the song gets going proper - with the band launching into an intense verse section with off-kilter drumming and inharmonious guitar melodies, giving a twist to the usual death metal approach. A chorus section later feels a bit more anthemic, with a groovy riff and more strident drumming allowing Davidson's vocals to shine - but even the accents during this chorus are busy, with bursts of double bass drumming and more discordant melodies sitting between each more anthemic moment. This is quite a common theme on the album - and as the song progresses the band double down, with some tight blast beat-led sections that include hypnotic guitar melodies and intense vocals. There is really no let up as the song moves along, then, with Davidson and Lannon constantly switching things up - with some dual lead guitar moments later on being another memorable moment. Throw in a floaty, legato guitar solo, too, and the track is extremely varied throughout. The band often like to include an instrumental on their albums, and The All Seeing is their latest effort. Guitarist Gilad Hekselman, who is known in the jazz world but has not really turned his hand to metal all that much, is featured here - and he solos during the song's outro. It is clear that Davidson has plenty of jazz in his locker, though, so Hekselman does not sound out of place here - as the track is largely a jazz metal guitar workout. Stabbing riffs and fast drumming fill the solo-less sections, but much of the song is given over to soloing - with a good mix of slower, jazzy moments and shredded sections. Discordant melodies and riffs are featured regularly here, often to break the different sections up, whilst the soloing is generally melodic. Hekselman's closing solo is the jazziest here, unsurprisingly, but the off-kilter melodies fit nicely alongside the stabbing riffing that sits beneath it.

Data Corpse gets back to a more flat out death metal sound following the jazzy excursions of the previous track - with a crushing riff opening things up. Given that the song is one of the shortest here, it is unsurprising that it feels a bit more straight forward. This is relative, of course, as there is still some busy lead guitar work here - but the vocal-led sections feature riffing which feels less busy overall, which allows the vocals to shine. This is another song which goes for a bit of a groovy approach at times, too, with a pretty big chorus which mixes Pantera-esque riffing with some excellent death metal vocals. It is one of the album's hookiest moments, and it is sure to go down well live, whilst shredded guitar leads and solos elsewhere ensure that more of a technical vibe is still felt. Revocation clearly do not always feel the need to make a song complex - and they know the value of a strong melody or groove. Cronenberged is somewhat similar, given that it is also on the shorter side, but it features Jonny Davy (Job for a Cowboy; Fleshwrought; Serpent of Gnosis) for some vocal variety. Like the last song, though, much of the riffing is quite straight forward. It is a pacy track with a strong thrash influence during the verses - even if some pre-chorus and breakdown sections feel much more akin to typical death metal. The soloing here feels much knottier, though. There are jazzier vibes again on show during the fairly lengthy guitar solo - whilst grindier death metal is on show towards the end when Davy takes over vocally with his gargling vocal style. Thrashy riffs and grind sit nicely side-by-side here - and the track is another strong one thanks to this approach. The album then comes to a close with the lengthy Buried Epoch - the longest song here at over seven minutes. It also features the final guest vocalist in Luc Lemay (Gorguts; Negativa; Pallid Veil). The song overall slows the pace down somewhat early on. It is not as slow and doomy as Confines of Infinity, but there are certainly shades of that approach during parts of the song - whilst other sections speed up to a more typical death metal pace, with busy double bass drumming and snappy riffing. Lemay is utilised during a slightly more cinematic mid-section - with his throatier voice used to aid a somewhat more atmospheric sound. This approach works well, especially as it is not overused, and he does something different to what Davidson is dong elsewhere with his barks. Given the song's length, too, the song does chop and change somewhat as it moves along. Clean guitar-led sections are thrown in occasionally to break up the heavy riffing - whilst the aforementioned cinematic section shakes up the album's core formula. Lengthy guitar solos are also thrown in as would be expected - with large portions of the track once again a big showcase for the band's ability to conjure up progressive and jazzy melodies nicely. As it is the album's longest song, there is a lot going on here - but overall everything hangs together well, and the song feels like one which pulls a lot of the album's core approaches together nicely into a cohesive whole to end on. Overall, then, New Gods, New Masters is an impressive album from Revocation. It is first by the band that I have truly digested - but I have been enjoying it since it dropped a few weeks ago. I will certainly spend more time with the other albums by the band that I have - and I am looking forward to seeing them pull some of these songs off live next year. There is quite a back catalogue to catch up on, too, so Revocation will be popping up on my iPod from time to time I am sure.

The album was released on 26th September 2025 via Metal Blade Records. Below is the band's promotional video for Dystopian Vermin.