UMUR "The Outer Ones" is the 7th full-length studio album by US, Massachusetts based death/thrash metal act Revocation. The album was released through Metal Blade Records in September 2018. It´s the successor to "Great Is Our Sin" from 2016 and features the same four-piece lineup as the predecessor.

Revocation are an interesting act. Their core sound is aggressive death/thrash metal, but listening to their albums it´s obvious the band aren´t satisfied being put into a genre box, because they have so many additional tricks up their sleeves from other genres, and they make sure to incorporate all those ideas/tricks in their core death/thrash metal style, which in return makes them one of the most unique sounding acts on the scene. Sometimes I´m thinking this is what it would sound like if you combined Demolition Hammer with early Annihilator, because of the caustic death/thrash aggression of the former and the melodic and sophisticated riffs, harmonies, and solos of the latter. If you ask me that´s a very potent mix and while it doesn´t always work to perfection, Revocation have always produced music way above what is average for the genre, and when they hit all the right buttons, they´ve produced some of the best death/thrash metal out there.

"The Outer Ones" is no different than the albums before it in terms of style and overall quality and we´re again treated to high quality death/thrash metal, featuring aggressive raw (and occasionally growling) vocals, intricate thrash metal riffs, blistering solos, and a powerful rhythm section driving the music forward in a relentless energetic fashion. Everything is well performed by the skilled players, but the guitar solos as always take the prize and leave me breathless. Those aren´t your average guitar solos, and Revocation should receive all the praise in the world for their lead guitar work, which is quite frankly amazing...

The album features a powerful and detailed sounding production, which suits the material perfectly, and upon conclusion "The Outer Ones" is another high quality release from Revocation. Their desire to experiment and bring in other types of influences are for the most part a blessing and what makes them stand out from the crowd, but sometimes (just sometimes) a less eclectic and direct approach could have made some of the tracks more effective, and that´s the reason why I can´t give more than a 4 star (80%) rating, which is of course still a very high rating, but Revocation clearly have the potential to deliver material of an even higher quality, so I´ll reserve the higher ratings for the day when they have perfected their sound.

Nightfly Let’s face it, Revocation don’t make bad albums. So it is with album number seven, once again they impress with another dose of highly technical death tinged thrash.

They come in from the start with blast beats blazing on “Of Unwordly Origin” but in typical Revocation fashion they never sit on the same riff/drum part for long before changing to something else, usually equally complex and jaw dropping. Each song is full of time/tempo changes and musical twists and turns with each band member excelling at their individual instrument, never content to keep it simple. All this wouldn’t count for much if they didn’t have the songs to back it up but fortunately as always they deliver with compelling riff after riff and blistering yet melodic guitar solos. There always seems to be an instrumental on their albums and here we get “Fathomless Catacombs”, five and half minutes of stunning musical virtuosity. To be honest such is the complexity throughout that any song on here could work as an instrumental. With each song delivering the goods on all levels picking favourites is futile but if pushed I might just go for “Vanitas” where if at all possible, they manage just to just squeeze out a bit more ferocity.

While there’s no great leaps or growth since 2016’s “Great Is Our Sin” with music this good it’s irrelevant. In fact it would be hard to see where Revocation could take their music anywhere else without having a complete genre change as they’ve already at the top of their game and have been for at least four albums now. If you enjoy them then “The Outer Ones” is essential listening for you.