Anticipation is one hell of a drug. Back when internet access was a luxury rather than an assumption, music consumers were familiar with a certain sensation that surfaced after the announcement that their favorite band had hit the studio. Release dates meant something-- you marked a date on a calendar, circled it in red, and let the excitement and dread build. But we've become accustomed to a constant stream of content-- new albums every year, an EP every six months, a tour-only 7" here, a digital compilation there-- all stuffed down the feeding tube and shoehorned into our RSS feeds. (The wait is over; it never really had a chance to begin.) At this point, it's almost pleasant when a band chooses to buck the trend and follow its own pace, pouring as much time and effort as they see fit into the creation of a record. Their fans are given a taste of actual anticipation, and unless we're talking a washed-up 1980s buttrock reunion album or a flaccid slice of warmed-over nü metal, odds are it's going to taste that much sweeter once they're finally able to sink their fangs into it.
The Canadian black/death metal band Revenge understand this. It's been four years since their last record, 2008's Infiltration.Downfall.Death. Those familiar with the group's mastermind, J. Read, and his twisted approach to songwriting have been anxiously awaiting the arrival of their fourth full-length, Scum.Collapse.Eradication, since their U.S. label, Nuclear War Now! Productions, announced its release a ways back. Those fans spent hours scouring message-boards for news, listening to the song samples that eventually surfaced, and speculating endlessly about what the band would sound like now that longtime member Pete Helmkamp (Order From Chaos, Angelcorpse, Kerasphorus, etc.) had defected. (Spoiler alert: His absence barely registers).
For those unfamiliar with the group, Revenge are gods within their realm, and virtual unknowns outside it. Formed in Edmonton, Alberta, in 2000 after the collapse of Read's previous band, Conqueror, Revenge have long served as a cornerstone of the international black/death-metal scene, releasing a handful of essential records via French label Osmose (with earlier EPs surfacing courtesy of Dark Horizon and War Hammer) before aligning with California's Nuclear War Now! Productions. Fair warning to the uninitiated: Unless you already know and love the likes of Read and his compatriots, or have an affinity for lo-fi, relentless walls of black noise, you might not "get" this album. "Niche" is an understatement.
Revenge are perfectly content to leave it that way. They march to the beat of their own war drums, and have built an unfuckwithable name for themselves based upon an unabashedly confrontational approach, disdain for trends and outsiders, and immobile commitment to nothing but total armageddon. Themes of intolerance, elitism, and spite course through the veins of every track. The music is both brutishly primitive and intimidatingly complex, veering between guttural blasts of noise and dizzying instrumental prowess in a blink. This is black metal ground down to its ugliest, most primal essence, spat out at furious powerviolence tempos and dredged through a filthy morass of down-tuned death metal.
That said, even for outsiders, Scum.Collapse.Eradication is more than worth a listen. Read is one of the best and least recognized extreme metal drummers out there. His power lies in his willingness to dumb himself down, rolling into simple, effective beats as often as he careens off into complex, inhuman blasts, all crashing cymbals and typewriter hits. The guitar work follows a similar pattern, alternating between primitive, pummeling grooves (check the apocalyptic stomp on"Parasite Gallows (In Line)") and screaming, fret-mangling leads (most viciously exemplified at the tail end of "Burden Eradication (Nailed Down)") . The vocals are not of this earth, as a litany of rabid snarls and echoing, subhuman gurgles give tongue to Read's proclamations of world downfall and rampant paranoia. Compositionally, there's no fat to be trimmed: Each song is a pointed insult, pure hatred distilled into five minutes or less of blown-out extreme noise terror.
Aided and abetted by longtime session collaborator Vermin, who holds it down on bass and guitar, Read has given volcanic birth to the most fully realized Revenge album yet. Scum.Collapse.Eradication builds upon the band's formula, maintaining the animalistic ferocity and hellacious black/death assault while utilizing a more open production than in the past. Their characteristic raw, oppressive atmosphere remains intact, but this production separates and highlights each riff, blast, and growl for maximum impact. As always, Revenge settle for nothing less than victory, intolerance, and mastery of their craft. This album is a challenge, and a triumph.
