Post by Deleted on Mar 29, 2016 19:20:26 GMT -6
Revivalist - brother.
Year: 2014
Genre: Hardcore
I quite recently went through a phase in which I was searching for deep, emotional hardcore music, and I was having trouble finding much that I could get into. Most of the bands just seemed to be too boring/simplistic and/or they had really awful vocals (which can completely ruin music of this genre for me). Revivalist was an excellent find, and I found myself captivated by their EP. brother. is some really heavy hardcore, both musically and lyrically.
I don't require the same degree of complexity from 'core that I do from black metal, so I'm fine with some repetition and some fairly simple riffs. As long as it's heavy and aggressive enough, it typically satisfies. Parts of brother. are kinda simplistic, but it never gets bad. The biggest issue that I run into is the song "Jeremiah". It's the longest song on the EP (but still only five minutes, so it's not too bad), but the thing as a whole just doesn't have enough ideas in it to justify the length. The song is pretty simple and would have been best left at around three and a half minutes. The rest of the songs have a fine length and range from compositionally satisfactory to superior. "Paradise" starts to feel a little samey by the time the song ends, but it never gets very bad at all. The other three songs are excellent and generally more captivating. The riffs in general are great. The first two songs (the aforementioned "Paradise" and "Jeremiah") feature mostly non-melodic riffs and focus mostly on heaviness. Despite that, the riffs in those songs are still nice and memorable, which is awesome. The last three songs ("Brother", "Vanity", and "Free") feature a lot more melody and focus more on the emotional aspects of the music.
The drums don't particularly stand out to me, but they're played adequately and competently and suit the music very well. 'Core drumming doesn't take as much skill as other genres (like black metal) do, so it's hard to really impress me in this genre. The vocals, however, do stand out. As I stated before, the vocalist of a 'core band can either make or break the music, and in this case, the vocalist accomplishes the former. The screams are heavy and angry, but there's that emotional aspect to them that really complements what's being said. When I say "emotional", please don't confuse that for "emo". There aren't any whiny clean vocals (or clean vocals at all, for that matter). This is nothing like the average, mainstream metalcore band. The emotions that Revivalist evokes vary from song to song. "Paradise" addresses happiness and contentment. "Jeremiah" talks about faith. "Brother" addresses guilt and sorrow over the loss of a brother in Christ to drugs. "Vanity" speaks of a desire for change, and "Free", as the title would imply, discusses freedom, fulfillment, and healing through God. The composition of the songs is set up to support the themes (such as a bit of beach ambience at the beginning of "Paradise"). You can really understand the pain that the band members were going through in the title track, particularly during the part where the screamer repeats "There never should have been poison in your veins; I should have been a better brother to ease your pain", or at the end of the song when he screams "I'm so sorry" a few times as his voice fades out. Or take "Vanity", where the song slows down towards the end and the vocals drop out for a floating, melodic section, followed by one of the heaviest and most energized parts of the EP, with the lyrics "I don't want your fame and fortune; I just want to make a change. But it's so hard to be different when everyone's the same." This is some of the most heartfelt and faith-filled music I've ever heard. It's a bit of an adventure, and one on which you don't want to miss out. The EP is best listened to all at once to get the full effect. I highly suggest buying the CD version so you can read the lyrics as you're listening.
I find myself coming back to brother. frequently. It hasn't gotten old for me despite how much I've listened to it. This is a gem of Christian hardcore.
94/100
-CrimsonWarrior
Buy/stream/download from Revivalist's Bandcamp:
revivalist.bandcamp.com/
Buy it from OnTheAttack:
ontheattackrecords.storenvy.com/collections/195540-all-products/products/9057631-revivalist-brother-ep
Addendum: The band changed their name to Starve in 2015 and released a single and an EP. In 2016, they announced their indefinite hiatus, which is a shame. The name change happened about a month after the vocalist left the band.
Year: 2014
Genre: Hardcore
I quite recently went through a phase in which I was searching for deep, emotional hardcore music, and I was having trouble finding much that I could get into. Most of the bands just seemed to be too boring/simplistic and/or they had really awful vocals (which can completely ruin music of this genre for me). Revivalist was an excellent find, and I found myself captivated by their EP. brother. is some really heavy hardcore, both musically and lyrically.
I don't require the same degree of complexity from 'core that I do from black metal, so I'm fine with some repetition and some fairly simple riffs. As long as it's heavy and aggressive enough, it typically satisfies. Parts of brother. are kinda simplistic, but it never gets bad. The biggest issue that I run into is the song "Jeremiah". It's the longest song on the EP (but still only five minutes, so it's not too bad), but the thing as a whole just doesn't have enough ideas in it to justify the length. The song is pretty simple and would have been best left at around three and a half minutes. The rest of the songs have a fine length and range from compositionally satisfactory to superior. "Paradise" starts to feel a little samey by the time the song ends, but it never gets very bad at all. The other three songs are excellent and generally more captivating. The riffs in general are great. The first two songs (the aforementioned "Paradise" and "Jeremiah") feature mostly non-melodic riffs and focus mostly on heaviness. Despite that, the riffs in those songs are still nice and memorable, which is awesome. The last three songs ("Brother", "Vanity", and "Free") feature a lot more melody and focus more on the emotional aspects of the music.
The drums don't particularly stand out to me, but they're played adequately and competently and suit the music very well. 'Core drumming doesn't take as much skill as other genres (like black metal) do, so it's hard to really impress me in this genre. The vocals, however, do stand out. As I stated before, the vocalist of a 'core band can either make or break the music, and in this case, the vocalist accomplishes the former. The screams are heavy and angry, but there's that emotional aspect to them that really complements what's being said. When I say "emotional", please don't confuse that for "emo". There aren't any whiny clean vocals (or clean vocals at all, for that matter). This is nothing like the average, mainstream metalcore band. The emotions that Revivalist evokes vary from song to song. "Paradise" addresses happiness and contentment. "Jeremiah" talks about faith. "Brother" addresses guilt and sorrow over the loss of a brother in Christ to drugs. "Vanity" speaks of a desire for change, and "Free", as the title would imply, discusses freedom, fulfillment, and healing through God. The composition of the songs is set up to support the themes (such as a bit of beach ambience at the beginning of "Paradise"). You can really understand the pain that the band members were going through in the title track, particularly during the part where the screamer repeats "There never should have been poison in your veins; I should have been a better brother to ease your pain", or at the end of the song when he screams "I'm so sorry" a few times as his voice fades out. Or take "Vanity", where the song slows down towards the end and the vocals drop out for a floating, melodic section, followed by one of the heaviest and most energized parts of the EP, with the lyrics "I don't want your fame and fortune; I just want to make a change. But it's so hard to be different when everyone's the same." This is some of the most heartfelt and faith-filled music I've ever heard. It's a bit of an adventure, and one on which you don't want to miss out. The EP is best listened to all at once to get the full effect. I highly suggest buying the CD version so you can read the lyrics as you're listening.
I find myself coming back to brother. frequently. It hasn't gotten old for me despite how much I've listened to it. This is a gem of Christian hardcore.
94/100
-CrimsonWarrior
Buy/stream/download from Revivalist's Bandcamp:
revivalist.bandcamp.com/
Buy it from OnTheAttack:
ontheattackrecords.storenvy.com/collections/195540-all-products/products/9057631-revivalist-brother-ep
Addendum: The band changed their name to Starve in 2015 and released a single and an EP. In 2016, they announced their indefinite hiatus, which is a shame. The name change happened about a month after the vocalist left the band.