Revenge - Behold.Total.Rejection (2015)^{Release ID: 4786}

I came across Canadian war metal solo act Revenge a little late in the game due to my decade-long defection from metal but caught up fairly quickly after my head was unceremoniously removed & stuffed down my neck by James Read’s 2001 “Attack.Blood.Revenge” debut E.P. upon returning to the scene in 2009. That moment of clarity saw me rushing through Revenge’s back catalogue & I’ve kept across their releases ever since. 2015’s “Behold.Total.Rejection” is probably Revenge’s most well-known record though & is arguably their most highly regarded full-length too but I’d never given it the time required to be able to reach a well-informed rating or review until now, perhaps due to the nature of the war metal subgenre itself given that it’s not the sort of thing that requires any sort of deep introspective thinking. I've tended to use the subgenre predominantly for short, sharp shots of adrenaline over the years which is a role that this record is very well equipped to achieve.

On paper, “Behold.Total.Rejection” should really tick all of my extreme metal boxes. It’s unapologetically underground in its approach, it’s relentless in its savagery & it’s as dark as the deepest abyss. Drummer & sole member Read (also of Canadian extreme metal acts Axis of Advance, Blood Revolt, Conqueror & Kerasphorus) takes no prisoners whatsoever as he showcases his power & endurance behind the kit & spits out his lyrics in a manner that’s nothing short of evil. His blast beats are really quite tight for a war metal release. That sort of technical proficiency has never historically been all that high on the agenda for war metal acts with most skinsmen preferring to instil an aura of pure chaos rather than focusing too hard on their timing. Here we see him once again joined by Axis of Advance/Blood Revolt/Sacramentary Abolishment/Weapon guitarist Vermin who has handled all of the guitar & bass duties in a session capacity on many of the Revenge releases & does a pretty good job at it once again too. The guitars are heavily down-tuned in the standard war metal fashion & produce a dark hum that remains intelligible throughout the album which is a nice change from some of Read’s other projects like Conqueror.

The Canadian war metal scene has always possessed a strong grindcore influence & that’s never been as obvious as it is here with the early goregrind sound of Carcass being the main source of inspiration. The use of vocoded vocals is particularly reminiscent of the Liverpool trio but can be a bit annoying if I’m being honest. I’ve never been a fan of artificially enhanced vocals in my metal & this album goes a long way to highlighting why to tell you the truth. It’s the clear weak point of the record for mine. You’ll also notice a Celtic Frost influence in the slower riffs which harness the simplicity & heaviness of Tom G. Warrior’s approach to his instrument to great effect & act as a great foil for the remainder of the record which is unanimously high-paced.

“Behold.Total.Rejection” certainly doesn’t pull any punches in belting the listener around the head but there’s not a lot of substance to it to be honest. I usually go nuts for this sort of thing but this example seems to be missing a layer of musicality in its execution. There’s no doubt that it’s a pretty brutal experience but the vocals often don’t quite gel with the instrumentation & the riffs aren’t consistently special enough to see me regarding this release as essential listening when compared with other Canadian war metal records such as Conqueror’s “War.Cult.Supremacy”. I guess you could say that I like the idea of this record more than I do the reality. Still… it certainly serves its purpose & I can’t see too many Conqueror, Blasphemy or Damaar nuts not having a lot of fun with it.