REVELATION (Salvation's Answer) CD
I still love this album as much as I did in 1990 and I suppose that it doesn't need a detailed introduction, especially not for die-hard Doom Metal fans. It has been released in 1990 on Rise Above Records and REVELATION have cultivated one of the most influential sounds in Doom Metal, together with bands like Saint Vitus, Pagan Altar, The Obsessed, Pentagram, Trouble, Candlemass and Solitude Aeturnus. For me it's still inexplicable, why this album received a lot of negative reviews in 1990, but maybe most of the writers didn't understand the magic of 'Salvation's Answer'. Well, most of them will never understand what Doom Metal is about, but who fuckin' cares.... In comparison with the later albums 'Never Comes Silence' and '...Yet So Far', REVELATION's debut was rougher, earthy and more up-tempo than it's successors. It wasn't as elegant and progressive as the later material, but even at this time the group was always ready for a few surprises like acoustic guitars or a sudden change of pace.
John Brenner's characteristic style of singing add a lot of melancholy to the intense sound, and maybe this album contains some of the heaviest power chords in the band's history. Sometimes 'Salvation's Answer' remind me to Dream Death and later Penance, and if you read the extensive liner notes written by John Brenner you'll find out more about that connection. This re-release should also be interesting for the ones, who own the first pressing, because it contains highly entertaining video footage from 1992, when the band appeared at the TV John Show. Another bonus is the track 'Blessed Realm' from the first 'Dark Passages' compilation, an excellent Doom Metal compilation which has been released in 1990 on Rise Above Records, too. Nowadays the original line-up, which consists of John Brenner, Bert Hall Jr. and Steve Branagan, is still active under the name Against Nature and they've also played a few shows as REVELATION. Maybe they will record a new album in the future, what would be awesome! Thanks to Toreno of Leaf Hound Records for this re-release, because it's almost impossible to find an original copy of this album, especially the vinyl edition is extremely rare.
(KK)
www.againstnature.us
www.leafhound.com