Geryon, Malignancy and Revocation at Saint Vitus Bar

There are fewer and fewer bands who I've wanted to see since I was a kid now. It's just what happens when you go to shows three to five nights a week. Last night though I got to check out a group I've wanted to see for years - a group who permanently altered my uitar playing and who had a massive impact on my high school experience. I am talking of course, baut Revocation. Along with a pair of fascinating, top notch openers last night at Saint Vitus was one of those evenings that proves the supremacy of the bar.

Geryon were up first. I was a little suprirsed to see them opening for Revocation, then again their unique brand of technical, mostly instrumental drum and bass madness couldn't help but to capture my imagination. There is a distinct power behind this band and their distinct soundscapes. What got me about their set was the unique rhythms and the heavy contrast between the drums and the guitars. No one else sounds quite like Geryon because their artistic vision is so distinct and angular that to deny their supremacy is to deny what may very well be the future of heavy music. So yeah - their set may have run a little long, but I could help but revel in what they had created.

I was curious to see Malignancy - not so much because I dig their music (Although it was pretty tight) but more because it's always fascinating to see a group that have been a part of the death metal underground for so long. Malignancy are an interesting act - they play straight up old school death metal and feature a wise cracking frontman who dedicated songs to twenty-odd people throughout the set. They play with a distinctive charm, the guitarist jumping up and down and hair flying around the stage. This is a death metal fans death metal band - sworn to the underground and destined to plow through all struggles.

Then of course the hour was ripe for Revocation - or as I like to think of them - this generations Death. They played a seventy minute set featuring a nice mix of classics and newer material. One thing that struck me is simply how in love frontman Dave Davidson is with being a death metal vocalist. His head bobs along gleefully to the grooves and he guides his band through crazed riff after crazed riff. The fact of the matter is that Revocation put on one of the best guitar performances you will ever get a chance to see, and they utterly tour it up in front of a couple hundred freaked out Brooklyn metalheads who will never escape the burning magic of a band who are keeping thrash relevant.

And so the night came to an end. Now, the evening of the following day, my neck still hurts. My friends have texted me throughout the day to reflect on how goddamn good Revocation were. I can't help but smile as I think back to all that they represented yesterday evening. This is a band who can grind it out - who understand the magic of this type of music, and when on top of a great bill like they were last night - are given a chance to properly shine. Revocation are a death metal fans death metal band, and they will crush your skull.

Find the bands on Facebook!

Geryon: https://www.facebook.com/geryondm/?fref=ts

Malignancy: https://www.facebook.com/MalignancyOfficial/?fref=ts

Revocation: https://www.facebook.com/Revocation/?fref=ts