Review by chrisc7249 on January 29, 2023.

It has been 13 gruesome years since Disavowed released their last album. Thirteen years that has seen the landscape of death metal, specifically brutal death metal change in many ways. Legendary albums from Defeated Sanity, Deeds of Flesh, Decrepit Birth and presumably other BDM acts whose name starts with the letter D have been released and have reinvented a once stagnant genre.

Disavowed's first record came out in the heart of the brutal death metal explosion, one that saw all time greats like Gorgasm, Pyaemia, Insidious Decrepancy and countless others release their debut albums. It was a bit of a monotonous record, with a pretty poor production job, mainly affecting the vocals to have this monotonous sound (not helped out by the repetitious vocal patterns.) It has some catchy songs and is a solid album with good riffing, but far from being the cream of the crop. Their second album, Stagnated Existence, well, that unfortunately saw the band tumble a little further with less inspiring songs, recycled riffs, another flat production job and even more monotonous vocals that lost the range they possessed on the debut.

And that was it. They split up. I wasn't sure this band was coming back, not that I cared too much as I wasn't all that impressed with either of their records to the point where I was slamming my fist down angrily on the counter and demanding more. Still, their return was a nice surprise, and, being familiar with their previous records, I figured I would throw this one on, give it a couple of listens to see what's happened in 13 years and move on.

There's just one problem, a good problem, thankfully; I cannot move on from this album. "Revocation of the Fallen" is not just a good brutal death metal album, I'd go as far as to say it is an excellent display of brutality that has been mostly unmatched for the entire year.

Let's cut to the chase here - this album is by no means original. Disavowed does not alter the way the world hears brutal death metal, far from it, but the performances, the production, the riffs on this record are just so damn fucking good, that it doesn't matter that they don't do anything original. As I always say, no sense trying something new when you can just be really good at something that's been done before.

First, that production. Perfect. Just how I love it. I would not change a damn thing about it. That once flat and uneventful production that plagued their first two records is replaced with a thick, heavy sound, giving all of the instruments a crushing sound that weave together seamlessly. No longer is the bass inaudible, if anything, the bass player steals the light from the guitar players quite often with fat pops and tapped leads that add a whole new level to the music.

This leads into the performances themselves which are all the band's best yet. It's certainly more technical than their previous efforts, and it pays off by not being too technical, but adding just enough flare to the music to spice things up a bit. The vocalist has a good range, filled with high pitched screeches throughout songs, but relying mainly on those low, thick gutturals that we've all come to know and love in this genre.

However, the album's highest point is its goddamn riffs. Um, crushing, much? I swear, some of the riffs on this album are enough to rip an entire continent in half. One of my favorites is the ending riff to the opening track 'The Process of Comprehension.' Mother of God. Just thinking about that fucker makes me want to jump up, run down the street and senselessly bludgeon my old ass neighbors with a curtain rod. The album has a lot of riffs like that; ones that just make you stop everything you're doing and say to yourself "holy FUCK." And, if you're a brutal death metal band, what do you want to be best at? Riffs man, riffs.

And that's just it. It's not special. 'Course not. It is just a monstrous slab of brutal death metal jam packed with tight performances, titanic riffs and a perfect production that wraps the whole thing up extremely well. A damn good effort worth multiple revisits.

FFO: Defeated Sanity, Deeds of Flesh, Pyaemia

Favorite tracks: 'The Process of Comprehension', 'Revocation of the Fallen'

Rating: 9 out of 10