Revocation creates extreme music for extreme times. On New Gods, New Masters, their fifth record for Metal Blade, the quartet–spearheaded by founder/vocalist/guitarist Dave Davidson–delivers nine potent and portentous songs of brutal lyrical and musical significance.  

Produced by Davidson mixed and mastered by Jens Bogren (The Haunted, Spiritbox), tracks including “Cronenberged” (feat. Jonny Davy of Job for a Cowboy), “Sarcophagi of the Soul,” “Confines of Infinity” (feat. Travis Ryan of Cattle Decapitation) and “Dystopian Vermin” thematically explore AI and its impact on humanity. 

“I’ve been very fascinated with the development of Artificial Intelligence, and I’m deeply concerned where this could lead humanity,” says Davidson, “whether it’s the slow march towards a technological dystopia or the all-out annihilation of our species.” 

To wit, “Cronenberged” is about a science experiment gone wrong. Davidson is a massive Sci-Fi horror fan who loves the body horror genre that David Cronenberg helped create; the song is an homage to that. And, Davidson adds, “Shout out to Rick and Morty for inspiring the song title.”

The Boston-bred Davidson credits newest members Harry Lannon (rhythm guitar and backing vocals since 2023) and bassist Alex Weber with a renewed energy and intensity onstage. “It’s been a pleasure ripping with those guys alongside Ash (Pearson), who always crushes it behind the kit.” In terms of his playing, writing, and singing, “I’m always refining my craft and trying to get better,” he says.  

Davidson was excited to welcome a guitar guest—as well as impressive vocal features—on New Gods, New Masters. Revocation had late Black Dahlia Murder singer Trevor Strnad and Corpsegrinder of Cannibal Corpse guesting on Netherheaven, and Davidson recruited more talented peers for New Gods. “I’m honored to have such amazing guests on New Gods. On vocals we have Jonny Davy and Luc Lemay, two vocalists that I really admire who have their own unique sound,” says Davidson. “I remember texting with Jonny about guesting on “Cronenberged” asking him if we wanted to be the personification of a mutated abomination that escapes a testing facility. He was stoked to go as unhinged as possible and his vocals on that track sound truly inhuman.”  

A longtime fan of Gorguts’ Lemay, describing the Canadian singer’s vocals as “brutal but also tortured sounding at times. There’s a lot of emotion in his voice and that came through perfectly on the album closer ‘Buried Epoch.’” Slightly more unexpected is the contribution of jazz player Gilad Hekselman, who played with Pat Metheny at The Kennedy Center and won Rising Star in Downbeat Magazine, among numerous other accolades. He plays on “The All Seeing.” “Gilad is a buddy of mine and happens to be one of the best jazz guitarists in the world. His playing is awe-inspiring, and I’m truly honored to have him as the guest soloist on the outro of ‘The All Seeing.’” 

New Gods, New Masters marks the band’s 20th anniversary. Revocation debuted with 2008’s Empire of the Obscene and subsequently released seven critically acclaimed albums and toured over 25 countries, bringing their technically charged, high-energy extreme metal to North America, Europe, and Asia-Pacific. New Gods follows up 2022’s Netherheaven, where Davidson’s lyrics took hard looks at Catholicism, hypocrisy, politics, the occult and demonic symbolism. Critics raved about Netherheaven, calling it “ Revocation’s best record in a decade” and praising the “darkest, heaviest songs of their career.” 

That album set a high bar, but an even sharper musical and lyrical focus was achieved on New Gods, New Masters, which is deftly captured in the album artwork by Paolo Girardi. “He did an incredible job of bringing the lyrical themes of a bleak techno-nightmare to life,” Davidson says. “The ‘New God’ being birthed from the abyss of teeth and wires was even better than what I envisioned. I absolutely love the color palette he used. He even included some easter eggs from our first demo and first full-length album cover, which adds even more depth and meaning to the artwork for me.” 

Titling the album New Gods, New Masters reflects his belief about humans’ need to worship various gods. “It seems as if that desire is encoded in our DNA. As science and our understanding of nature and the universe as a whole, increases, the religions of the old gods start to become obsolete,” believes Davidson. “However, I believe we’ve replaced our old gods with new ones, worshipping technology and creating a cult-like idolatry of innovators.”

Revocation, unafraid to upend musical and lyrical tropes with forward-thinking and sounding approach, with songs that excoriate society’s addiction to phones (‘Sarcophagi of the Soul”) and animal experiments that illuminate/replicate societal issues (“Dystopian Vermin”), Davidson’s science-backed observations all the more terrifying for their reality. 

If technological advances create worse problems alongside “solutions,” Revocation forge ahead, four guys plugged in, fighting existential threats with metal, “waiting to see what the next trial of the human experiment brings.”

Music grounds and uplifts the band members—and fans. “I’m proud that I’ve been able to evolve as a musician and songwriter with every release. I never want to stagnate, and I think we’ve achieved real growth with every album,” says Davidson. “I’m also extremely proud that I’ve been able to keep this band going after all these years; it’s crazy to think of how far we’ve since the beginning.”   

Lineup:

 Dave Davidson: Vocals, Guitar
Ash Pearson: Drums
Harry Lannon: Rhythm Guitar
Alex Weber: Bass

Balancing traditionally timeless grit with 21st century gusto, Judiciary hammer out hardcore grooves at breakneck thrash speeds. The Texas quintet—Jake Collinson [vocals], Juan Vazquez [bass], Austin Looney [drums], Jimmy LaDue [guitar], and Israel Garza [guitar]—wield a searing signature style unlike anything in heavy music. With calculated intensity, it bludgeons without compromise, draws back for a breath, and strikes again even harder.

Grinding full force since 2015, the band unleashed the EP The Axis of Equality in 2016, a split EP with Mortality Rate in 2017, and finally, their first full-length record Surface Noise with Closed Casket Activities in 2019. Of the latter, Revolver exclaimed, “More so than many other bands in their orbit, the quintet excels at writing riffs that hang on through any one track without faltering,” while Stereogum raved, “It fucking rips.” Beyond highlights such as “Stronger Than Thou” [feat. Bryan Garris of Knocked Loose] and “Temple” [feat. Brody King of God’s Hate], their standout single “Social Crusade” signaled success for what the band had set out to accomplish with their first LP.

Citing influences such as Slayer’s God Hates Us All and Chimaira’s The Impossibility of Reason as well as “a ton of Machine Head,” Judiciary perfected their blend of metal and hardcore on the 2023 second full-length record, Flesh + Blood [Closed Casket Activities]. Flesh + Blood was recorded and produced by Arthur Rizk [Power Trip, Cavalera Conspiracy] in August of 2021 before GRAMMY® Award-winner Will Putney [Body Count, Vein] handled mixing and mastering, and has since received the praise of Stereogum, Revolver, BrooklynVegan, Invisible Oranges, and more.

Inferi is an American melodic death metal band forged from the bowels of Nashville, Tennessee. The band formed in 2006 and strived to merge the classic melodic metal sound with a taste of crushing technicality.

Vomit Forth is Kane (vocals), Bailey (guitar) and Luke (drums) 

Northeast based agents of terror Vomit Forth are driven to create the most visceral death metal the world has ever experienced. Formed in 2017, Vomit Forth set out to champion their influences from Internal Bleeding and Suffocation to Deicide, while eschewing the overall genre expectations of death metal at the time. Vomit Forth broke out in 2018 with their demo, then teamed up with Maggot Stomp who packaged the offering plus two additional songs into the band’s debut LP, Northeastern Deprivation. The band followed it in 2022, joining their current label home Century Media Records to release their sophomore album Seething Malevolence. The lauded record demonstrated the band’s dedication to a truly terrifying and singular brand of death metal. Now the band is gearing up to release their most ambitious album yet, Terrified Of God.

While writing Terrified Of God, Vomit Forth had only one goal in mind – “To make the most unsettling, brutal, and scary death metal record of all time,” shares vocalist Kane Gelaznik. “We absolutely did that.”

In the deep winter of early 2024, the band headed into a cabin in the woods of New Jersey with Randy Leboeuf who recorded, mixed, mastered and produced the album. The month-long recording process led to twelve panic-stricken tracks where every riff, drum fill, and lyric leaves a footprint. The album opens with “Victim Impact Statement,” a two-minute long frenzy that immediately pinpoints Terrified Of God as an outlet for aggression. Early single “Blood Soaked Death Dream” is a relentless masterclass in darkness as the song hits hard with churning riffs and a guttural vocal that is as anguished as it is angry. The dynamic vocal delivery continues on “Negative Penance” as Gelaznik displays his ability to easily shift between throaty vocals, curdling squeals, and a more direct delivery.  Vomit Forth opted out of making title track “Terrified Of God” the centerpiece, taking a bold move in having it as a 43 second interlude and it works. Things instantly pick back up with the one-two punch of “Fear of Retaliation” and “Rotting Wool,” both a masterclass in sonic brutality. The album ends with “Salt”, focused on “how we will do anything to try and stop our inner pain, but it will really only end in death.” The last lines of the powerful track recite “If I turn my back on it all, am I the one who’s Terrified Of God?”, leaving a fitting conclusion to the introspective album.

On the record’s themes, Gelaznik expands:

“The biggest thing I want to get across with this record and that humanity doesn’t know everything. We are flawed, and in a lot of ways disgusting. We act like we aren’t afraid of what happens after we die.  I know most people like to think nothing happens and we just conduct heat. That there’s no consequence other than how we effect other people during our time here, but I know there’s a hint of fear in the back of everyone’s mind.  Everyone feels it. Not a single person on this earth lives without being Terrified of God at one point or another in their life. That’s what the record is about.”

A willingness to explore and incorporate influences from across a wide sonic landscape has always set Vomit Forth apart from their metal peers, and Terrified Of God is here to solidify the band as a mainstay act in the metal community. The band’s live show is just as punishing as the record, and with an upcoming tour supporting The Black Dahlia Murder and Dying Fetus, more audiences will witness Vomit Forth’s violent attack.

As for the goal to create the most unsettling, brutal and scary death metal record of all time? Vomit Forth surpasses it with Terrified Of God.

And for what’s next? Gelaznik simply states, “We want to change the game as far as metal is concerned and set the new standard.”