Editor’s note: Since Mark’s an old man and a new father, he decided to head home for the evening rather than join us at the Empty Bottle. That’s okay… he doesn’t like Revocation that much anyways.

Justin’s Review:

Man, what a night for metal in Chicago. I found myself double-dipping this evening, as this also happened to be the same week that Until the Light Takes Us (review to come) was playing in our fair city, so I knew it’d be a tight squeeze trying to make the concert on time. Sure enough, I walked in right as The Binary Code was moving their gear offstage. Bummer… cause after picking up their album a few weeks ago, I was actually looking forward to seeing how they pulled off their spazzy/melodic hybrid live. Word has it that they were pretty rockin’, so I guess I’ll be checking them out next time they head through.

If you’ve read my previous posts, you’ll know that I’ve become somewhat of a Revocation fanboy, so I was pretty stoked on finally getting the chance to check them out in person. Just as I expected, they slayed. Taking the stage as a four-piece (!), Revocation blasted through a set of new and old alike, showing us Chicagoans that Boston has more to offer than just Converge and clam chowder. The folks at the Empty Bottle took their sweet-ass-time pulling the sound together, but by the time Dave Davidson ripped the solo for Pestilence Reigns, the sonic assault was full-on.

One unfortunate side effect of such sheer awesomeness, is what I like to refer to as the “Bro-Pit.” Your typical Bro-Pit features roughly 5-10 dudes (usually above 250lbs) who love moshing and hate respecting other people’s space. The basic ritual involves a series of bull-rushes, followed by a smattering of drunken hugs. While at times, mildly entertaining to watch, this evening’s Bro-Pit became problematic for anyone within a 20′ radius of the stage. Now I realize that metal + beer = sheer testosterone, but come on guys… if I wanted to know what it felt like to have someone fat and hairy constantly slamming into me, I’d have stayed home and dry-humped a mirror. Regardless of minor annoyances, Revocation definitely brought their A-Game, and I’d highly recommend checking them out when they head through your area next. Believe the hype!

Last up this evening was Hypno5e, who I really knew nothing about, other than that they take a long-ass time setting up their shit. When they finally did hit the stage, the crowd (myself included) was waning. Two songs into Hypno5e’s Soulfly-meets-Isis impression and I was ready to head out. Sorry guys… time to hit Control+Alt+Delete on that Pro Tools rig of yours.

Justin’s Rating:

King says: “Metal as Art indeed… as Revocation are the Michelangelo of the Thrash Renaissance!”

Ed’s Review:

I happened to be checking the Empty Bottle website a few weeks ago and became instantly excited to see that Boston’s Revocation were planning on stopping by our city to play one of EB’s infamous free Mondays! Of course, I wasn’t exactly sure what kind of shape I would be in coming off a two-day annual party thrown by friends and local rockers American Draft known as The Fried Chicken Social (from which I regrettably suffered from some scary spots of memory loss and other mild drunken idiocy… my apologies to those who bore witness to this). But fortunately by Monday I was in top shape and even got a half hour in on the treadmill prior to the show (go me!). This Metalsucks.net sponsored tour also featured another up and coming metal band from New Jersey called The Binary Code, who I was equally excited to see after purchasing their incredible debut album “Suspension of Disbelief“.

The Binary Code took the stage a little after 9:30 and kicked things off nicely with an energetic set of progressive thrash/death metal. For being a relatively new band, these guys definitely know what the hell they are doing. Excellent guitar interplay kind of reminded me of Meshuggah (tech-wise) and Necrophagist (velocity-wise), with a decent and not too overbearing vocalist adding to the heavy and often quite complex vibe going on. The mellow breakdowns are very reminiscent of Cynic for sure, but well written and executed. I can definitely see these guys coming into their own style in the future and blowing plenty of minds along the way…

I really didn’t know what to expect from Revocation, since we’ve all heard some extremely polished records coming out of the thrash revival lately, and sometimes it’s a bit difficult to tell if this type of aggro-thrash can be replicated decently in a live setting or not. Well? This band was AMAZING, mainly due to the very charismatic and hugely entertaining antics of vocalist/guitarist David Davidson. Not only is this guy a complete shredder both in rhythm guitar precision and lead playing, he does it in such an effortless manner that even heavyweights like Gary Holt of Exodus would be more than impressed. The album kick off track “Pestilence Reigns” sounded great, as did the killer “Dismantle The Dictator” which may have given me a bit of temporary but tolerable whiplash. “Anthem of the Betrayed“, probably my favorite track off the new record, sounded even better live… causing an eruption of ridiculous dancing across the floor of the club (I actually got hit square in the chest at one point by the singer of The Binary Code… it’s alright brother, you are forgiven). Most importantly? This band genuinely seemed to be having a good time on stage – which is exactly what thrash metal is all about, right?

Ed’s Rating:

King says: “While the rest of city was watching CSI, I got my brain scrambled by REVOCATION!”

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