Some bands wear their heart and their influences on their sleeve, and none more so than the current crop of retro, old school Swedish death worshiping acts. For instance you’ve got the font and ‘tomb’ references of Entrails, Funeral Whore,  who named a demo after a Grave song, Brutally Deceased is named after a Grave song, and now Germany’s (Not Finland’s) Revel In Flesh (one of Entombed‘s classic songs from Left Hand Path) and their debut album, Deathevocation (a Carnage/Dismemer song).

So it does not take a genius to figure out Revel In Flesh‘s chosen sound, all you need to know is that they do it really well. And while I have not heard the upcoming Blood Mortized album (also on FDA Rekotz), Deathevocation is the best of a recent impressive run of the style (Horrendous, Funeral Whore, Massive Assault) and even gives Entrails a run for their money as far as the current resurgence’s best band.

While the Entombed/Dismember influence is up front, I actually get a heavy Bloodbath vibe from Revel in Flesh. In part due to the HUGE guitar and drum tone which of course has the requisite sunlight buzz (thanks to a superb Dan Swano mastering effort- further cementing the Bloodbath ties), but the effort seems like a cohesive, collaborative homage to the genre, with excellent song writing rather than a simple cover band.

I imagine there are two schools of thought for this genre- people like me who either utterly adore it, or those that enjoyed its first iteration but are a bit tired with the current resurgence. Those in the first frame of mind should love Deathevocation as all 10 songs deliver the best snippets and elements of the genre’s original throes down to a T. And with the aforementioned production rendering each riff, groove and gallop with a thick retro musk, the end result is pure old school bliss. While I love each of the 10 tracks, a few really stood out; the Kamikaze themed “Wings of Death“, the thick lurch of the album’s longest cut “Iron Coffin” which both remind me of Hail of Bullets and the duo of  “Opus Putrescence” and closer Crowned in Darkness”  have a perfect retro stomp and trot while “Black Paled Elegy” delivers simply classic pace and structure with a very cool, classic melody line in the chorus.

Rather than close the album with a safe, predictable  Entombed or Dismember cover, instead Revel In Flesh deliver an old school curve by way of Benediction‘s “Subconscious Terror” the title track from the band’s 1990 debut of the same name with a very young and raw Barney Greenway on vocals. And with the slick production and tighter delivery (the original album had an honest and primal but terrible production and quality) it sounds killer (though I would have preferred “Grizzled Finale” as my song of choice from that album). It puts a great retro end note on a great retro album that show’s the resurgence is as good as ever.

 

 

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