Sacred Revelation is a Christian Black Metal(or Unblack) band from Kansas City, Kansas. The band consists of members Storm(Vocals) and Fire(All Instruments). This four song CD is their first release but according to the band is only a sign of things to come. This is interesting because that is exactly what this CD is about, it weaves before the listener an apocalyptic vision of the future of mankind and describes in detail the prophecies described in the biblical book of Revelation. Is there really a better way to describe the end of the world than with scathing black metal?
Sacred Revelation kicks things off with a song called The Vision. The song starts off with a flurry of blast beats and some excellent lead guitar work from Fire. Vocals are raspy as can be and have a nice mid range to them allowing Storm to alternate from higher pitched shrieks to some deeper guttural rumblings. I took some issue with the sound quality of the first track because despite the fact that I could distinguish all of the instruments perfectly, the other three songs have significantly better production. This is a shame because The Vision is the fastest and most extreme song on the demo. Would have been nice for it to have taken better advantage of my speakers. That being said, the sound quality of the final three tracks is excellent and allows songs like Seven Seals abuse my ears in a good way. The final song Beware of Hell clocks in at 11 minutes and is the standout cut on this release. This song really brings together what Sacred Revelation is capable of. The song stays fairly mid paced for its duration but this serves as a wonderful buildup with some melodic guitar work and atmospheric keyboards added into the mix. Despite being such a long song the extra elements are put on layer by layer with enough variation to keep the track from getting boring.
Lyrically the band does not shy away from the gory and dark imagery, there is plenty of talk about blood, death, and hell to be had. The difference is that through all of this imagery the band points you in the direction of Jesus Christ as an alternative to the judgment and plagues described in these visions. As dark as the lyrics may be, they all have a very clear ray of hope shining through them.
As a first demo this band did a great job overall. I would have liked the sound quality to be more consistent and the vocals to be a bit more clear in the mix but as a whole this is good stuff and I hope to hear more from these guys in the future. I would recommend this CD to fans of Elgibbor and Firethrone.
Reviewed by Daniel Terry
