Apr
24
2.56pm

REVOCATION // Can’t Keep Them Out Of Australia


Massachusetts thrash and death metal band Revocation return to our shores this week, joining a killer lineup for the Direct Underground Fest shows as well as headlining their own separate gigs in Brisbane and Sydney.

Hysteria got bassist Brett Bamberger on the phone to chat about the upcoming tour, when we might see a new release and what makes the Revocation boys weird.

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Considering that getting a band to Australia can be a logistical nightmare, given how far away our country is from anyone else and can also be quite a costly exercise, it makes that a bit more awesome when bands find a way to get here more often than not. Revocation are one such band. Relentless in their touring, this definitely takes them all over the world, but they do love coming to Australia, despite the 20+ hours of flying, and then the rush to get around to each city while they are here.

“We are very fortunate to have some good friends in the game and very fortunate to have fans who are into us coming back. A big shout out to Dave Haley and the Psycroptic boys. They work really hard and we wouldn’t be able to do a lot of this without them,” Brett says. And we are glad that they can … especially on a lineup like this.

The 2018 instalment of the Direct Underground Fest sees Revocation joining the legendary Ihsahn (Emperor) and the mighty Belphegor, alongside Diocletian, Wiegedood and Encircling Sea and sure, Revocation might not seem like the blackest of metal bands to be included on this lineup, but with their weird mix of thrash, extreme and death metal, there is no doubt that they will fit right in. Especially as Brett explains, they are going back to the old school Revocation for this tour. And we might even get a sneak preview of the new material Revocation have been working on.

Nobody is taking a step backwards with their proficiency and song writing and their ideas, we are all progressing and I think the record will exhibit that
[ Brett Bamberger ]

“We discussed our set list a few days ago actually and we are going to be playing some older, more brutal stuff and we are going to be playing some stuff off Great Is Our Sin that we haven’t played there before,” Brett says. “I don’t know if we will have any new stuff just yet though. But who knows!” he continues.

According to Brett, the new stuff from Revocation is their best work yet. “It’s a great record. We worked our arses off on it,” Brett says.

“I think that anyone will say it, in any band that they have been in ‘oh this next one is going to be our best one’ but I do feel that way because I know how hard everybody works on all their parts. Nobody is taking a step backwards with their proficiency and song writing and their ideas, we are all progressing and I think the record will exhibit that,” he explains.

The band have also made the conscious effort to step up the brutal on this record. “Yeah, there’s no singing on this one. We’ve kept it brutal. We just decided, after we had a lot of talks in the van, that we have always done some varied tours and you know, tried to appeal to some younger audiences here and there or play some things differently and maybe do some singing parts, but we’ve really had the best response in our career when we have done death metal tours and more brutal tours,” Brett explains.

“So we were like, f*** it! Let’s just do a brutal as record. And we’ll keep it weird and insanely sick,” he continues, laughing.

Keeping it weird is something Revocation do best, both in the studio and out of it and while some of their passions might not strike some as overly weird, such as being video game dorks and music nerds, there is one thing that Brett laughs at as being a bit strange. They love their ice cream and Brett in particular is looking forward to sampling some Australian ice cream specialities as a post gig treat.

“Ok, so I’m a big Immolation dork! Like I love Immolation and when Dave Haley brought them out, I was hitting him up like a little kid, asking him ‘what they are like, they are so brutal, so what are they like?’and Dave was telling me they are alright, you know, they play and then we go out and get ice cream!” Brett laughs.

“And I love ice cream too! So I can’t wait to go out for ice cream after the shows!” he continues, laughing.

So between the black metal dorks in the band and the ice cream loving members, it seems like this year’s Direct Underground Fest, and the band’s own headlining shows are going to be a big hit in more ways than one, and for both the bands and the fans.

Revocation will be touring Australia later this week:

Saturday 28th April //Crowbar // Brisbane with Psycroptic, Eternal Rest & Amicable Treason
Sunday 29th April // Frankie’s Pizza // Sydney with Psycroptic & Black Rheno (Free show)
Saturday 5th May //Max Watts // Sydney (DIRECT UNDERGROUND FEST)
Sunday 6th May //Max Watts //Melbourne (DIRECT UNDERGROUND FEST)

Tickets available here.






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