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Possessed - Revelations Of Oblivion review



Reviewer:
N/A

246 users:
8.09
Band: Possessed
Album: Revelations Of Oblivion
Release date: May 2019


01. Chant Of Oblivion
02. No More Room In Hell
03. Dominion
04. Damned
05. Demon
06. Abandoned
07. Shadowcult
08. Omen
09. Ritual
10. The Word
11. Graven
12. Temple Of Samael

Brace yourselves death metal maniacs, for this is Possessed's (aka the first name in death metal) return to full-length discography after more than three decades and I can't even begin to imagine how many undergarments this will get wet.

Words cannot describe how I felt when I got this promo in my hands. The fact that I was going to listen to a new Possessed album after so many years gave me such a hard-on got me so excited that I had to keep reminding myself that I should lower my sky-high expectations so as not to get utterly disappointed. The first single, "No More Room In Hell", had prepared me for something special but I was still afraid that one of the bands responsible for the music I've been listening to all these years might betray me with a shameless cash grab.

My main concern was that Possessed is now only Jeff Becerra, even though he is accompanied by four admittedly very talented musicians (I secretly hoped Larry would join but I guess it wasn't meant to happen). Another reservation I had before listening was that the music of this band was so groundbreaking and made such a massive impact on metal back in the day that anything new, regardless how good, wouldn't possibly be as good. On the other hand, this year marks the thirtieth anniversary since the incident that nearly cost Jeff's life and left him in a wheelchair with half a lung on his left side from the gunshot, so in my mind it can't be entirely coincidental that Revelations Of Oblivion is being released in 2019. It was also hard for me to imagine Jeff phoning it in.

And, of course, he didn't.

From the astonishing cover art, you can tell that every detail has been carefully considered. Revelations Of Oblivion is indeed a remarkable album for a number of reasons, one of which is its sound. It feels unmistakeably familiar as if it had been preserved in a time-capsule for thirty years. Everything is here; the swirling riffs, the blistering solos, the hellish reverb-laden vocals, the nasty bass. Serving as the cherry on the cake, the drums that were the weaker link of old Possessed are now a demonic assault courtesy of Emilio Marquez's (Asesino, ex-Sadistic Intent) brutal and energetic performance. The organic mix (just listen to those drum fills) does justice to the band's past and refrains from making Possessed sound like one of the hundreds of overproduced and sterile tech death acts.

But you need much more than just good performances and good sound to have an album worthy of Possessed's logo.

You need Jeff's screaming in "Abandoned" with his trademark abyssal voice, the drumming extravaganza of "Ritual", the thrashy and cataclysmic riffing of "Dominion" and "The Word", and even the dynamic changes in speed and direction of "Demon" and "Omen". The soloing is spectacular at times and brings memories of the good old days when bands had two guitarists that were both playing their solo one after the other in the same song, in some kind of undeclared competition between them. The pace is mostly frenetic but with breathers of variation without compromising in brutality; instead, these slower parts actually add to the sheer heaviness of it all. The truth is that some trimming would have made the album a bit punchier and more direct given the style; nevertheless, the final product is 55 minutes of thoroughly entertaining death metal that pays utmost respect to the fans and the band's legacy.

Revelations Of Oblivion is not going to redesign the map of death metal and it doesn't need to, since Possessed designed that map in the first place. It does not have the shock value of the first releases for obvious reasons and it cannot possibly recreate the atmosphere of those albums because that was simply unparalleled. Nonetheless, this record fully deserves a place next to a first press vinyl of Seven Churches and, more importantly, it is an excellent addition to the *insert streaming platform here* playlists of younger metalheads so that they can appreciate a man in his fifties with half a left lung not for the laurels of the past but for his musical output in the here and now. I don't know what kind of expectations you had, but for me this is exactly what I wished for.

In a recent interview Jeff Becerra said that "it's almost like many times I thought as long as I could get out one more album I could die in peace and I've always said I'm going to die at 50 my entire life but now that I got the album out and I'm 50, I'm like fuck that, I hope I got at least another 20 or 30 years left in me. So I always gotta keep writing and playing and keep putting the best quality music out and hopefully make people enjoy our music." To me these words mean that when there's no more room in hell, Possessed will still be there to create a new one made of riffs.





Written on 07.05.2019 by Only way to feel the noise is when it's good and loud!


Comments

Comments: 17   Visited by: 268 users
07.05.2019 - 11:11
nikarg

Excuse the length. This is the most personal review I've written.
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07.05.2019 - 11:24
RaduP
CertifiedHipster
Written by nikarg on 07.05.2019 at 11:11

Excuse the length. This is the most personal review I've written.

Inexcusable! Trim it down to 4 standard paragraphs at once!
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Do you think if the heart keeps on shrinking
One day there will be no heart at all?
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07.05.2019 - 18:11
Starvynth
i c deaf people
Now that's what I'd call an euphoric review!
But seriously, a new Possessed album after 33 years... ...if you don't call this an unique, historical event than I really don't know.

Talking about things I don't know: three days counting from now and I will finally know if this album was worth the wait...


PS: I guess you are activating that mosh-pit in your living-room again?
Then please do yourself a favour and protect yourself -> I've been told that moshing with a boner can be a damn dangerous undertaking.

PPS: great review! You can't hide the rapture and I guess you didn't even try, the ecstasy's pouring out of every single word...
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07.05.2019 - 19:38
nikarg

Written by Starvynth on 07.05.2019 at 18:11

Now that's what I'd call an euphoric review!
But seriously, a new Possessed album after 33 years... ...if you don't call this an unique, historical event than I really don't know.

Talking about things I don't know: three days counting from now and I will finally know if this album was worth the wait...


PS: I guess you are activating that mosh-pit in your living-room again?
Then please do yourself a favour and protect yourself -> I've been told that moshing with a boner can be a damn dangerous undertaking.

PPS: great review! You can't hide the rapture and I guess you didn't even try, the ecstasy's pouring out of every single word...

I couldn't hide my excitement even if I wanted to. I have been listening a lot to the past releases for the last couple of months in order to remind myself of how outstanding this band was. It could have worked negatively since, as I mention in the review, these albums cannot be replicated, but instead this record did take me back to my formative years in metal and I just feel so happy that Jeff managed to put out something as good as this.

I'm looking forward to your thoughts on it since... well, we both grew up with this stuff and that does make a difference in one's perception.
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07.05.2019 - 21:11
Rating: 9
Ball Fondlers

I'm even more excited for this after reading this! I've liked what I've heard so far, but it needs to be heard as a whole.

I'm not overly concerned that it's Jeff with a totally new band add they still kill it live and this should mean many more shows to come
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08.05.2019 - 13:54
Bad English
Tage Westerlund
Anither old school band what my generation calls metal, you can write new 7 churchrs but this is blast. More rewievs dude
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Stormtroopers of Death - ''Speak English or Die''
apos;'
[image]
I better die, because I never will learn speek english, so I choose dieing
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11.05.2019 - 06:57
BigSunglasses

This one will be a strong contender for AOTY for me Thrash/Death wise.
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"It never got weird enough for me"
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15.05.2019 - 12:49
Sentenced Odiin
gothic.moorion@gmail.com
Nice review, I have just finished mine in Hungarian Possessed never played pure death metal, ofc they gave the name with their 84 demo and layed down the basics for extreme bands. Seven Churches is a dark, satanic thrash album, or death/thrash. Revelations follow the same formula with a crystal sound, so I would call this one a thrash album as well. What is your opinion?
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Life has given me much, maybe taken more...
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15.05.2019 - 16:45
nikarg

Written by Sentenced Odiin on 15.05.2019 at 12:49

Nice review, I have just finished mine in Hungarian Possessed never played pure death metal, ofc they gave the name with their 84 demo and layed down the basics for extreme bands. Seven Churches is a dark, satanic thrash album, or death/thrash. Revelations follow the same formula with a crystal sound, so I would call this one a thrash album as well. What is your opinion?

I agree with you. I think Possessed have always been death/thrash and this album is no different. This is why in the review I'm referring to them as "the first name in death metal" and not as the band that invented death metal. They coined the term "death metal", but the band that invented, developed and perfected death metal was Death imo. Just like Venom coined the term "black metal" but the band that first actually played black metal was Bathory.
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15.05.2019 - 19:13
Sentenced Odiin
gothic.moorion@gmail.com
Written by nikarg on 15.05.2019 at 16:45

Written by Sentenced Odiin on 15.05.2019 at 12:49

Nice review, I have just finished mine in Hungarian Possessed never played pure death metal, ofc they gave the name with their 84 demo and layed down the basics for extreme bands. Seven Churches is a dark, satanic thrash album, or death/thrash. Revelations follow the same formula with a crystal sound, so I would call this one a thrash album as well. What is your opinion?

I agree with you. I think Possessed have always been death/thrash and this album is no different. This is why in the review I'm referring to them as "the first name in death metal" and not as the band that invented death metal. They coined the term "death metal", but the band that invented, developed and perfected death metal was Death imo. Just like Venom coined the term "black metal" but the band that first actually played black metal was Bathory.

Agree on every word! And congrats on the review again! Cheers!
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Life has given me much, maybe taken more...
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18.05.2019 - 06:09
theFIST

Written by nikarg on 15.05.2019 at 16:45

Written by Sentenced Odiin on 15.05.2019 at 12:49

Nice review, I have just finished mine in Hungarian Possessed never played pure death metal, ofc they gave the name with their 84 demo and layed down the basics for extreme bands. Seven Churches is a dark, satanic thrash album, or death/thrash. Revelations follow the same formula with a crystal sound, so I would call this one a thrash album as well. What is your opinion?

I agree with you. I think Possessed have always been death/thrash and this album is no different. This is why in the review I'm referring to them as "the first name in death metal" and not as the band that invented death metal. They coined the term "death metal", but the band that invented, developed and perfected death metal was Death imo. Just like Venom coined the term "black metal" but the band that first actually played black metal was Bathory.

Necrophagia also played death metal, without any thrash elements, on their demos, then added back some thrash for their first released album
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http://metalstormmusicianscorner.bandcamp.com
Written by Warman on 07.11.2007 at 22:39
Haha, that's like saying "compose your own Metal album and upload it here, instead of writing a review of an album". :lol:
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18.05.2019 - 11:32
RaduP
CertifiedHipster
Written by theFIST on 18.05.2019 at 06:09

Necrophagia also played death metal, without any thrash elements, on their demos, then added back some thrash for their first released album

True, but Death made great music and Necrophagia didnt
----
Do you think if the heart keeps on shrinking
One day there will be no heart at all?
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19.05.2019 - 01:39
theFIST

Written by RaduP on 18.05.2019 at 11:32

Written by theFIST on 18.05.2019 at 06:09

Necrophagia also played death metal, without any thrash elements, on their demos, then added back some thrash for their first released album

True, but Death made great music and Necrophagia didnt

that is irrelevant to the question of who did it first
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http://metalstormmusicianscorner.bandcamp.com
Written by Warman on 07.11.2007 at 22:39
Haha, that's like saying "compose your own Metal album and upload it here, instead of writing a review of an album". :lol:
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19.05.2019 - 04:38
Marcel Hubregtse
Grumpy Old Fuck
And tbh Necrophagia were great. Same for Master/Death Strike around at the same time. Death gets way too much credit for creating death metal. Had they been called something else than Death like for instance Unicorn people wouldn't have said such things as them being originators of death metal.
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Member of the true crusade against European Flower Metal

Yesterday is dead and gone, tomorrow is out of sight
Dawn Crosby (r.i.p.)
05.04.1963 - 15.12.1996

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19.05.2019 - 05:19
Rating: 8
BitterCOld
The Ancient One
Didn't read much of the review... felt your excitement, popped on the album and started windmilling around my apartment. Not Seven Churches, but definitely a surprising and astonishing album particularly given how long it's been.
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get the fuck off my lawn.

Beer Bug Virus Spotify Playlist crafted by Nikarg and I. Feel free to tune in and add some pertinent metal tunes!
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19.05.2019 - 13:57
nikarg

@theFIST: You do have a point. However, Death (Mantas) and Necrophagia released demos the same year (1984). The thing is that we're talking about the mid '80s and tape-trading, but in my opinion what's important is that the first officially released and purely death metal record is Scream Bloody Gore.

@Marcel Hubregtse: Necrophagia were quite alright indeed. Death Strike's demo came in 1985 if I'm not mistaken and has a lot of punk influence, it's not entirely death metal (Paul is awesome though and hasn't gotten the recognition he deserves). I think Death do get the credit they deserve and possibly their choice of name has played a part in it too, but had they released Scream Bloody Gore under the name Unicorn, it would still be the first purely death metal record. Nothing can change that.
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20.08.2022 - 09:21
Rating: 9
MahoDM
Dumbass
I shared (and still share) the same enthusiasm as you in this new Possessed
Thx for the review
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