Written by Chrissy Mauck
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“The neck is great,” says Davidson of his Warrior.
“It’s not too thick, it’s not too wide. I think it’s a great
grip for my tastes. It’s got a nice, smooth feel. So,
whether I’m doing a legato run or a sweep kind of
thing or if I’m doing more picking, it’s very responsive
and it just feels good in your hands.
“I’ve got Seymour Duncan ® pickups in my Jackson
right now. It’s got an Invader in the bridge and the
Full Shred in the neck, and the sounds of those are
great. I’ve got a love triangle going on right
now with a few different pickups. I’m checking into
the DiMarzio® and think they sound really cool, so I’m
trying to see what the future holds.
“I generally go with the Floyd Rose®, but every guitar
I have right now has a Floyd Rose, so I’m thinking
the next one I do maybe I’ll get a
string-through-body kind of thing just because
it takes a little less effort changing the strings.”
Photo credit: Rev Aaron Michael Pepelis
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Existence is Futile might be a suitable title for Revocation’s latest full-length CD, but pigeonholing this thrash/death metal power trio is more like an exercise in futility.
The 23-year-old Bostonians slay traditional metal sub-genres by blending technical precision, ferocious shredding, progressive riffs and melodic solos with sophisticated compositions and timely lyrical topics delivered in vocals ranging from death metal growls to mid-range barks to grindcore screams.
“I think we are just legitimate fans of different types of not only metal but other styles of music in general,” says Revocation’s singer/guitarist Dave Davidson of the band’s diversity. “We’ve never subscribed to, ‘Oh, I only listen to thrash’ or ‘I only listen to death metal.’ I find really awesome elements in the music that I like of all different genres, whether it’s thrash, grindcore or black metal. We’re all legitimate fans of that music, so those influences creep in and when you add it all up, I think it makes it sound a little bit different because we are not just going to write 45 minutes of blast beats and death metal growls. There are going to be some other elements.”
The end result is an album creation backed by Relapse — one of the metal underground’s biggest labels — that has the metal world proclaiming that Revocation is the next generation of metal. Decibel magazine calls them “the best band you’ve never heard! Absolutely godlike death/thrash.”
“It’s pretty crazy to read some of these reviews where people are basically saying we are going to be the next big thing,” Davidson says. “That’s great to hear that from critics, but at the same time, we are not touring in a tour bus or playing huge stadium shows yet. We realize to earn the respect of fans nationwide and worldwide, it takes a lot of hard work and effort.”
Although bassist Anthony Buda typically writes the majority of the lyrics, Davidson contributed four tracks to the album.
“I was inspired by some of the music I wrote for it,” says Davidson. “I was picturing certain lyrical themes in my head after I had sat with the songs for awhile.”
Those themes take listeners on an emotional journey: the anxiety of living in war-torn country in “Pestilence Reigns,” the hurt and rage of being backstabbed in “Anthem of the Betrayed,” and Davidson’s pissed-off reaction to shady politics during the U.S. economic crisis in “Deathenomics.”
And then randomly, Davidson dipped into science fiction with “Leviathan Awaits.”
“I don’t know if it was the opening riff of the song, but all I could think about for the lyrical concept was an underwater creature,” he says. “So I decided, ‘F*ck it, I’ll write about this sea monster from more of a narrative perspective.’ I tried to take a story from a clear beginning, middle and end to the fate of the crew that was looking to find this sea beast and got more than they bargained for.”
But Davidson’s most significant contribution to Existence is Futile is his dexterous guitar work. Ben Apatoff of website Metal Injection writes that Davidson “only slows down to solo like the spawn of Dimebag and Marty Friedman raised in the death metal age.”
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