Revelation, Inc. Review

By Maya Dawn Henderson~ Photo by Leanna Burke

The molten hot, new myspace metal act, Revelation, Inc. blends power and extreme metal with atmospheric phrasings and melodies to form a unique listening experience. The hard rockers from LA heavy up their sound on upcoming self-titled debut, Revelation, Inc., with tough tunes chock full of rolling riffs and chunky chords. Members are; the WWF-like, Ron Sandavol on vocals, axe-master Michael Garrett, Brian Ridgely on the bass and Mike Gray on the DW’s…

There are sections of the music that have very clean vocals, times where melodic layerings snake beneath heavier fronts, and moments of intense sound and fury. This is power metal, but the styles of the music shift between old school heavy metal and nu-metal throughout the songs. It’s very difficult to make comparisons to this band; shades of their friends Armored Saint, perhaps. Vocally, there's a deeper Tim Owens feel, as well as bits of Jon Oliva.

Revelation Inc.’s music has the standard thick classic metal chords, but they’ve pulled out an updated sound, making the current crop of nu-metal, mini-moshers, with their latest attempt to ‘resurrect’ Thrash, look weak by comparison. It helps that Revelation, Inc.’s players “ain’t new around here”. All of them have been successful touring bands for the best of twenty years. Being seasoned does has its advantages. They all have their own home recording studios, where they’ve produced this album on their own. The band gave me their demo that holds four songs I really recommend you check out on myspace.

‘Deception’ is strafing and steady with a tough attitude. The production is crystal clear, letting the instruments make the atmosphere, and at times the drums become hypnotic. A chord-driven, slow groove drags through ‘It’s Your Death’, a top cut, complete with nasty and evil underlying guitar work that rolls along nicely. My Testament, a chunky notable, has a solid epic feel and some double bass driven power metal for old time’s sake. It switches between stark melody and tumultuous brutality as the song progresses. A toned-down chug moves through Coming for You. Although there’s not a great deal of differences between tracks but it didn’t really matter, as this CD seems like it’s supposed to be listened to in one sitting. However, more aspects are revealed over many listens and that serves to make this voyage a gripping one. They’ve laid down a solid slab with this release. Revelation, Inc. is one of those curiosities that can be listened to repeatedly, without ever growing dull.

Burnin’ up the internet and getting lots of attention, it will be interesting to see which direction the band chooses from here. This is truly some grindy, good ol' hard rock with good distortion and energy. They’ve honed out their own sound. Rev up and check them out at www.myspace.com/revelationmusic

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