UMUR "Great Is Our Sin" is the 6th full-length studio album by US, Massachusetts based thrash metal act Revocation. The album was released through Metal Blade Records in July 2016. It´s the successor to "Deathless" from 2014. There´s been one lineup change since the predecessor as drummer Phil Dubois-Coyne has been replaced by Ash Pearson. Marty Friedman guests on the instrumental "The Exaltation" with a guitar lead.

Stylistically this is pretty much Revocation as we know them. Technically well played death/thrash with strong melodic sensibilities. So there is very little new here if you´re already familiar with the band´s trademark style. Maybe a few more "clean" vocals (they aren´t really clean, but more a semi-raw type of singing) to compliment the predominantly raw and aggressive vocals on the album, but that´s about it. So the band haven´t developed their style much since the last couple of releases, but what you get instead of stylistic development are well written compositions, high level musicianship, and a powerful sounding production. Revocation are one of those acts who can rip you apart when they set their mind to it or make your jaw drop with crazy fast-paced rhythms, riffs, and guitar solos when they feel like doing that. In other words they are an act who can pretty much do what they want to because they got the skills to do it.

The material on the 11 track, 47:53 minutes long album are generally strong, and it doesn´t take many spins before you´re able to remember most tracks. I still think they could work a little more on the hooks though. There are plenty of melodic moments throughout the album and and also some memorable vocal parts, but it´s probably in the latter department that Revocation could improve a bit. As usual Revocation have included an instrumental in "The Exaltation", which showcases their great playing skills, but also their diversity. "Great Is Our Sin" closes with a cover of "Altar of Sacrifice" by Slayer, and it´s obvious that Revocation feel completely at home playing this track, which I think they do a lot of justice.

"Great Is Our Sin" features a powerful, detailed, and professional sounding production, which suits the material well. To my ears the band have had better productions on some of their preceding releases, but this one is of high quality too. So upon conclusion there´s not much to complain about here, other than a lack of development of sound, but Revocation pull it off with their incredible playing skills and powerful delivery, and when I´m done complaining about the lack of hooks, and other minor issues about the compositions, the material is still top notch death/thrash and a 4 star (80%) rating is deserved.

Nightfly Even going back to their debut album, Empire Of The Obscene, in 2008, Revocation impressed with skilled musicianship and an impressive collection of complex thrash metal. Since then they’ve gone from strength to strength up to album number six, Great is Our Sin, arguably their best yet.

Nothing much has changed since 2014’s Deathless, it’s another thrash/death metal album with highly complex and technical arrangements and some of the finest musicianship you’ll come across in the genre. Always inventive and never sitting in one place for long enough to become stale, the eleven songs, including a faithful cover of Slayer’s Altars Of Sacrifice, twist and turn through numerous changes with an awesome collection of hard hitting riffs. Instrumental, The Exaltation is a proof in point that even without the vocals the instrumental work of these players is simply jaw dropping. The drumming of Ash Pearson is incredibly inventive with precision and speed with some impressive fills alongside compelling rhythmic work. Likewise the guitar work of David Davidson and Dan Gargiulo is equally so with an impressive barrage of riffs, heavy as hell, throwing in some Voivod style discordant riffs but heavier. On top of that there’s some fantastic solos injected with a strong sense of melody. Brett Bamberger’s bass is the rock solid bottom end, less obvious but equally impressive and essential for the tightness of this band.

Picking favourites is not easy but Copernican Heresy might just be it with its dissonant guitar arpeggios played at lightning speed whilst the complex off beat drum patterns and blast beats mirror them. Awesome stuff! To be honest though the album is full of equally impressive moments. The icing on the cake here is the injection of death metal heaviness into the razor sharp thrash riffs giving them a harder edge.

Great Is Our Sin is the best album I’ve heard in the thrash genre this year, even topping Vektor’s excellent Terminal Redux. It seems there’s no stopping these guys. Essential listening for thrash and death fans alike.

Time Signature Theatre of metal...

Genre: death-thrash

After five critically acclaimed albums, the masters of tech death-thrash are back with their sixth full-length effort in the form of "Great Is Our Sin".

Once again, the album is a lesson in how to make tech thrash which never becomes too high-brow to retain the primal aggression that characterizes the thrash metal genre. At the same time, as on the previous albums, the compositions on "Great Is Our Sin" is sophisticated and varied enough that it should keep most listeners interested through the entirety of the album. While undoubtedly a death-thrash release, "Great Is Our Sin" features influences from several different subgenres of extreme metal, and a certain melodicism also pervades the album without it ever becoming poppy like much melodic metalcore has become.

The production is crisp and well defined. Needless to say, the musicianship and songwriting skills showcased on the album are impeccable.

Like pretty much all other output by this band, "Great Is Our Sin" is a well-wrought thrash metal album, and fans of the band should definitely check it out. Fans of thrash metal more broadly, and tech thrash as well as death-thrash more specifically are also likely to enjoy "Great Is Our Sin".