REVOLTONS
“UNDERWATER BELLS PT.2: OCTOBER 9^TH 1963 – ACT 1”
Album Review by Iron Mathew

8.5/10

Revoltons are a power metal band from Vajont, Italy, formed in 1991, releasing their debut album ‘Night Visions’ in 2003. The bands sophomore album ‘Lost Remembrance’ emerged in 2007, with their third effort ‘Underwater Bells’ a 2009 release. ‘386 High Street North: Come Back To Eternity’, an album of re-recorded old songs and some new ones, was released in 2012, with ‘Underwater Bells Pt.2: October 9th 1963 – Act 1’ a 2020 release.

The new album is part two of the story of the Vajont Dam disaster from 1963, telling the story of the massive landslide and subsequent enormous wave of water that devastated many villages in the local area, killing 2,000 people. The story is told through a journey of epic power metal, with thrash undertones and a layer of traditional heavy metal. Featuring guest musicians from many well known bands such as Elvenking, Visions Of Atlantis, Temperance and Sinheresy, and as a guest vocalist on one of their songs, Blaze Bayley – this album is an epic and theatrical showpiece.

Twelve songs across fifty one minutes, gets underway with the fast paced ‘Danger Silence Control’. A blistering start, ‘Danger Silence Control’ is all out speed, power and (mild) thrash. ‘The Stars Of The Night Before’ drops the thrash influence of the opener, to portray a heavy/power metal style. An exciting opening double salvo to get the adrenaline flowing, ‘Slowmotion Apocalypse’ is a one minute mellow instrumental, serving as an intro for ‘Mary And The Children’. A more mid tempo offering, ‘Mary And The Children’ still retains the story telling vibe, and the air of the epic and tension filled atmosphere. ‘October 9th 1963’ creates even more atmosphere with a solemn opening, a background moment of people screaming and what appears to be news reports of the disaster. A very heart felt and sad song. ‘Erase! New Earth Lord!’ is a little more up tempo, but remaining in the power ballad zone. ‘Hypnos And Thanatos’ injects power metal passion into the album, along with a feeling of hope. The mix of male and female vocals places an interesting twist on the bands sound.

‘Primal Shock’ suddenly roars into life with growled vocals and an urgency never heard on the album so far. Clean vocals chime in and ‘Primal Shock’ takes on the appearance of a duet. Then out of the blue, ‘The Powerless Wrath’ flies out of the blocks and hurtles onward at a hundred miles an hour. The fastest song on offer by the widest country mile, ‘The Powerless Wrath’ is a savage blast. ‘Criminal Organism’ has a menacing and venomous undertone to its highly melodic march, as the album moves into its showpiece, the ten minutes plus epic ‘Grandmasters Of Death’. Featuring the vocal talents of Blaze Bayley, ‘Grandmasters Of Death’ is a very heavy, pulsating march of epic proportions. A highly loud and proud offering ‘Grandmasters Of Death’ is the epic centrepiece of the album. Rounding the album off is the instrumental ‘Through The Years’, with its feeling of an encore, a swan song, a mellow play out as the final chapter of the story is told.

Overall, a meandering journey of differing musical styles and different moods, Revoltons portray the story telling vibe perfectly.

TRACKLIST

Danger Silence Control
The Stars Of The Night Before
Slowmotion Apocalypse
Mary And The Children
October 9^th 1963
Erase! New Earth Lord!
Hypnos And Thanatos
Primal Shock
The Powerless Wrath
Criminal Organism
Grandmasters Of Death
Through The Years

http://www.revoltons.com/
https://www.facebook.com/revoltons/

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