REVOCATION - Chaos Of Forms CD Review

ARTIST: Revocation
TITLE: Chaos Of Forms
YEAR: 2011
LABEL: Relapse Records
REVIEWED BY: Caroline Restiaux

Ever listen to a cd in it's entirety only to go back and re-listen to it and have a slightly different opinion of it? Well it happened to me recently with Revocation's latest release 'Chaos Of Forms'. I had been anticipating this album for quite some time seeing how their last cd 'Existence Is Futile' gave me a brutal beating. Sadly it didn't meet my expectations however the guitar work still kicked me in the ass. Isn't it weird that when you listen to Metal you often refer to it is as kicking ass or punching you in the face?

Anyways, the album starts off with 'Cretin' which draws you in right away and continues on with 'Cradle Robber' which leaves you quite satisfied with the release up to this point. 'Harlot' then kicks in and seemed to be all over the place without having any solid direction.'Conjuring the Cataclysm' is one of the more progressive tunes which offers a slice of black metal. The rest of the songs on the album pretty much follow no said pattern and breathe their own life from song to song. I am still debating whether this was a "how fast can we play" type of deal or not. Come on man it's just like sex, I mean a quickie can be great but faster isn't always better. Take your time to brighten up a song, it's not a competition. All the musicians here know how to play and play very well it's just a matter of combining the talents in a way that doesn't seem hurried. I would have to say that the best tunes on the album are 'Cretin' and 'Dissolution Ritual'.

Revocation's David Davidson is one of the best guitar players of our time and dominates that position in the modern metal scene. His solos and shredding (and there's lots of it here!) prove that he is a force to be reckoned with on the 'strings' playing field. To put it mildy the guitar playing on 'Chaos of Forms' is ridiculous. Now I can't get all caught up in the guitar playing because we have to pay our respects to the rhythm section on the release. Phil Dubois-Coyne (drums) and Anthony Buda (bass) display their own brutality throughout the album. Phil shows that he can throw in a breakdown or two and that he can beat down any rhythm on those skins. The last track 'Reprogrammed' is where he shines for me.

In all honesty 'Chaos of Forms' is not what I was expecting to come from Revocation and was almost a step back. It's definitely a slow burner for me if I have to revisit a few times just to give it the respect it deserves. I guess because I liked their last release so much that it made my best of 2009 picks , I expected this to go in a similar direction. Oh well, that's not always the case. With that being said I will go down as saying 'Existence Is Futile' kicks it's ass big time!

TRACKLISTING:

01. Cretin
02. Cradle Robber
03. Harlot
04. Dissolution Ritual
05. Conjuring The Cataclysm
06. No Funeral
07. Fractal Entity
08. Chaos Of Forms
09. The Watchers
10. Beloved Horrifier
11. Dethroned
12. Reprogrammed