Revocation - Of Unworldly Origin
‘Of Unworldly Origin’ is the first single released, along with a video, from Revocation’s upcoming new album ‘The Outer Ones’. This song, being part of the main theme of the new record which is based on H.P. Lovecraft’s many universes, is based on a specific book of his – ‘Dreams in the Witch House’. Myself having never read any of his works I was very intrigued with the lyrics and the video and after reading it I can highly recommend his literature to anyone, especially lovers of horror, science fiction and a bit of dark magic.
Getting back to the song, the core of which is classic Revocation- tastefully thrashy guitar riffs with death metal blast beats, chord progressions that wouldn’t be out of context in a jazz gig were they played clean and an overall soundscape that blends modern and classic elements of multitude of heavy genres into a unique combination that they are known for. But also like, in my opinion, every Revocation album, they have really expanded on their brand, keeping their basic style but pushing in new directions every time and breaking boundaries of metal music. In this album, from the two tracks that have been released so far it is clear they have been experimenting with even weirder musical scales and voicings then they usually do, which is saying quite a lot for a band that already uses jazz chords in metal, putting more emphasis on groove, resulting in some really downright dirty riffs that weren’t as present or focal before and once more finding themselves even more outside the box in order to do justice to Lovecraft’s literature in a musical form.
On top of all that, Dave (Davidson, guitar) has found a way to up his lead guitar game even more, all to the guitar nerds’ great enjoyment. The groovy and slightly dissonant breakdown in this song flows right into a heavenly and majestic solo that creates such a different texture, so polar opposite from the one present before that the listener can’t help but be in awe. The solo itself is one of the most magnificent and ripping ones Revocation has to date almost to the point where it feels like it has an ethereal or, pardon the pun, unworldly quality.
After the solo, the listener is taken right back into the good old heavy thrash sound that was there before, perfectly mirroring how in the story, also portrayed in the video (watch it wink wink), the main character wakes up from a dream to the harsh reality of what happened. This is definitely one of strengths of Revocation’s song writing which has really evolved the last few albums, that ability to tell the story and paint a picture perfectly with just sound using different textures, chord voicings, lyrics and other techniques to really put the audience in the world that is being created.
To sum it up, this song is pretty much what I expected from a band that somehow manages to get better with every album, a glimpse of a refined version of Revocation with more groove, more exquisite solos and the masterful writing that is sure to make ‘The Outer Ones’ their best album to date.
