Rating: 0.0

Country: Canada

Release Date: 2004

Record Label: Osmose Productions

Track list:
1. Destiny Mastery [MP3]
2. Traitor Crucifixion
3. Blood Annihilation
4. Atrocity March
5. Hate Oath
6. Victory Revenge
7. Iron Intolerance
8. Doom Order

Total playing time: 28:20

Band Website: Revenge

Revenge - Victory.Intolerance.Mastery

J.Read - Drums, Vocals
Pete Helmkamp - Bass, Vocals
(guitars by unnamed session member)

So there's this band from western Canada called 'Revenge', see? They're VERY extreme. They're so tough that they wear spiked leather and bullet belts in layers. Their superion antichrist powers are so potent that they can kill a priest just by looking at him. Their hatred of all sophistication runs so deep that if they discover any color photos of themselves on the internet, the immediately have the photographer killed. Their music? Well, that's so chaotic and brutal that... well... it barely sounds like music at all, frankly.

Seriously, this blows harder than a category 5 hurricane. Is it chaotic? Yes. But being chaotic is a means, not an end. Does it sound evil and intimidating? No, actually. If anything it sounds stupid and irritating. The whole album is little more than a 28-minute wall of noise consisting of near constant blasting [there are percussion fills, too, but they're usually sloppy as hell], rabid caterwauling, and a dense, low rumble that's ostensibly guitar and bass, but in reality sounds more like an old dustbuster with a clogged intake. There are sporadic breakdowns in most of these 'songs', where things slow down enough for the guitars to become audible for a moment [if nothing else, it means that the drummer gets lactic acid buildups in his limbs and has to quit blasting so he doesn't cramp up], but these don't really give Revenge any credibility as musicians either. The bits of groove sound like there was literally no effort put into writing them, which only makes me assume that the same can be said of whatever riffs are buried under the mindless cacophony that takes up 95% of this record. It's all tedious as hell, and reeks of extremity for extremity's sake. Obviously, there are those who will claim that there is more to this band than what they put on record... that their whole aesthetic is that of savagery, chaos and war. But if you're going to have your music sound like this, why make music at all? If you're trying to make a statement, why not simply circulate a pamphlet, or hell, uhm... use intepretive dance, for instance? Music is meant to be enjoyed on its own merits, not as a function of some externality. Sorry, but as a band, Revenge is utterly pointless.

And yes, I'm well aware that Pete Helmkamp is part of this band. I know he's talented and intelligent because both AngelCorpse and Order From Chaos were great bands. But what I hear on this Revenge disc indicates only that none of his talent or intelligence are being put to good use here.

I love chaotic music when it's done well. Immolation's 'Close to A World Below' is a great example of this, as are the first few Immortal albums, Voivod's 'Killing Technology', and countless grind albums. What sets those apart is that they have genuine artistic license and actual musical substance, which Revenge does not.

June 18th, 2005