Revocation - 'Existence Is Futile'

Boston riffmasters rule all on their Relapse debut.

Very rarely does a band stride so confidently across both genre lines and generation lines, but Boston’s Revocation just exactly that here on Existence Is Futile, their cracking debut for Relapse Records. Having languished within criminal near-obscurity in the Northeast since their initial inception as Cryptic Warning in 2000, this bolt-tight and talented three-piece seems to be finally receiving their just deserts after self-releasing their own full length Empire Of The Obscene last year.

If Empire Of The Obscene was Revocation’s warning shot across the bow of a jaded metal underground, then Existence Is Futile is most certainly a blow of crippling velocity; one which is destined to send shockwaves and fallout amidst all those who hear it’s sickeningly savage sense of urgency. Seriously, this album is a riff-lovers wet dream, with the band’s vocalist and sole guitarist Dave Davidson tossing up enough dizzying fret-gymnastics on this one album to rival other, lesser acts’ entire discographies

Meanwhile, the rhythm section of co-vocalist/bassist Anthony Buda and skinsman Philip Dubois-Coyne practice their own brutal brand of stop-on-a-dime precision with merciless intensity, creating—with Davidson—a power trio version of Voltron: a bad-ass, sum of its parts machine which devastates all in its path. With such a perfect attack, Existence Is Futile seems destined to usher in—finally—a new breed of extreme metal: one which manages to sound current and vital, while still taking influence from the elder giants who came before them, treading the footsteps and paving the way.

While Revocation’s ultra-intense and technical attack could easily appeal to the nouveaux deathcore elite, the band’s old soul is clearly evident and relevant within the globs of Death/Atheist-level melody and Dark Angel/Demolition Hammer thrash attack. Hell, there’s even a fair share of jazz and Satriani-esque shred to be found encoded within Revocation’s musical DNA, both of which could only assist in the band’s quest for world domination.

With a record as powerful—both musically and sonically—as Existence Is Futile, that quest is certainly off to a great and promising start. Revocation’s foreseeable future in extreme metal seems to be green lit, all the way.