Revolution

Anno 2004. Nu-metal was still the hype of the day, even though its star would soon start to irremediably pale – but no one knew back then. The year before, the most famous metal band on Earth had recorded its own ode to the stuff, I'm talking about St. Anger of course, which a couple of decades later keeps on standing as the glorious epitome of what any musician with a sound mind should not do, regardless of the time or place. Meanwhile, Crematory were coming back after a short break, bringing together with the Jüllichs' new-born daughter first a lukewarm cover from Metallica's One for an obscure Nuclear Blast tribute album I must still have rotting somewhere at the bottom of a crate, and, second, the very release we're reviewing now, weird attempt at capturing a since-extinct zeitgeist we might better all forget about. Hey, didn't you say, Metallica? Coincidence...

To be fair, though I'd still rank Revolution towards the lower end of Crematory's rich discography, I gradually came to appreciate it over the years for what it was: a product of its time, neither the worst nor the best. Simply, like most products of their time, it hasn't aged very well. Let's be clear: nu-metal it isn't, pretending so would be ludicrous. Still, it is undoubtedly impregnated with the overall vulgar coarseness which was then poisoning the air, at a time when chugga-chugga galore was the coolest way of riffing, at a time when it wasn't about singing or growling, but yelling the most obnoxious lines as loud as you could. WAAAAKE-UUUUUP, the ear-scorching chorus from the opening song, sets what will be more or less the unpleasant standard the vocals will gravitate around, pinnacling in the bellows closing Human Blood, a disgrace for a Felix Stass who can do so much better. But let's not be too harsh with poor Felix, considering Matthias his axeman and clean counterpart doesn't perform much more advantageously, accentuating his pop-ish side which, I'll give you that, was always present; simply, considering the already suspiciously zeitgeist-friendly nature of the mood there, this extra nail in the coffin wasn't needed.

What definitely doesn't help, either, to judge Revolution at its face metal value, is the prominence given to the industrial elements, a prominence that will be topped only by Antiserum some ten years later – maybe. This shouldn't be an inconvenience per se, and at times it even works wonders; like with this obsessive mechanical pounding which forms the backbone of Greed, in perfect resonance with both the lyrics and the crying, highly distorted lead guitar which dominates above. Programmed rhythmic lines regularly intermingle with real bass and drums, a trend culminating in two overtly electro tracks, Open Your Eyes and Red Sky. The first one, at least, is honest: it isn't metal, be it nu- or whatever; the second one features a (alright, pretty simple) guitar solo, which is surprising enough in this band to be worth a mention. Now when it comes to, say, Reign of Fear, we just can't get what the girl and guys were aiming at. Crematory always mixed genres, that's understood; they love their electro-industrial stuff, that's understood as well – and so do we, most often; only, here, the blend with metal doesn't work. And, worst of all, there's this sledgehammer concerto called Tick Tack, one of the most plodding absurdities they ever wrote; the fact such a stupid number can have remained a staple of their live setlists up to this day makes an unsettling mystery.

Remember, the Kovenant, another product of these times, sounded cool. In my home country, S.U.P. sounded cool, too. You may not know who S.U.P. is. Never mind. Zeitgeist, again and again. No, I don't hate this album. The title track is a short, but solid rocker boasting a memorable chorus, again not a subtle work by any mean but who listens to Crematory for subtlety. Red Sky is fun, at least for those not totally allergic to a good slice of electro programming in their metal. The dynamic, but twisted, Greed, is likely to haunt the listener for some time after it has elapsed. The talent is overall present, lurking behind, waiting for any occasion to surface, between the vulgar shouts and beats. Only, they were coming back, remember. And they tried hard, way too hard, to prove they were still relevant. Taking the risk of losing all of said relevance when, once again, that damn zeitgeist will have evaporated.

Highlights: Greed; Revolution.

After ten successful years that saw Crematory evolve from death and doom metal towards more commercially successful gothic metal with industrial influences, the German quintet called it quits after its anniversary tour. However, the group reformed shortly after when the five members got together to record a cover version of Metallica's One for a compilation album and were encouraged by its label Nuclear Blast to release a comeback effort. Revolution is a very catchy, coherent and consistent album that underlines the band's strength to combine sinister atmospheres with addictive melodies.

This combination works particularly well for the single ''Greed'' which is one of the band's heaviest and yet one of its catchiest songs at the same time. The stomping riffs and energizing growls in the verses bring back the band's early death metal influences while the desperate and melancholic chorus underlines the band's more melodic gothic metal trademarks. These two influences are perfectly combined via gloomy keyboard sounds and sinister sound samples. Until today, this isn't only the band's most successful single but also one of its very best songs.

The band sounds quite diversified throughout the record. The heavy opener ''Wake Up'' starts the record with a bang and could easily please to fans of the group's early years. ''Reign of Fear'' however has a new experimental side with unexpected rhythm changes, numerous electronic sound samples and a chaotic mixture of sinister grunts and uplifting clean vocals. Album closer ''Farewell Letter'' on the other side is a melancholic piano ballad with occasional acoustic guitar sounds that solely focuses on clean vocals. Crematory really explores the width of its soundscapes on this record but the tracks are so strategically combined, developed and placed that the overall listening experience remains fluid and logical.

To keep it short, Crematory's Revolution shows a band that has found the creativity, energy and passion to kickstart the second part of its stunning career. Industrial, gothic and death metal fans alike should appreciate this highly entertaining output. Those who claim Crematory has played it too safely are proven wrong with this stunning comeback effort alone.

It finally happened; Crematory stepped up to the plate and made something original, exciting and different. Gone are their old and boring keyboard dominated songs/albums, instead replaced by a guitar driven fury that can only be described as HEAVY! Shedding their old style completely the band seamlessly fused techno and Metal together for a sound the likes of which has NEVER been heard before or since.

The production is great, adding fuel to the already raging fire. The guitars are FINALLY in the foreground as opposed to the bands older releases where they’re barely audible. The riffs are immense and thunderous. There are a few leads but no solos. Tuning to 'A' they chug their way through every song with an upbeat Thrash/Death Metal feel that none of the melodic Swedish bands could ever hope to touch.

The bass follows the guitars, but in this instance it works well as the band opted to fuse techno and Metal. Had the bass wandered around it would've sounded out of place and confused.

The drums are a let down in that they are far too simplistic. There are several instances where they should've been the dominating force but aren’t. What they lack in over all creativity doesn’t mire the songs.

The keyboards are interesting and fun. They add the dancing vibe that comes with techno but they also add some decent leads and a vast amount of darkness to any given song. They are without a doubt one of the better parts of this new Crematory.

The vocals are standard cookie monster and thus annoying. There are clean vocals provided by both Felix and the guitarist, but for the most part they are deathly. They lyrics are sung mostly in English but there are a couple of tracks that are in German. The lyrics are also more contemporary than the bands prior fare and work well with the music.

The fact that this band merged these two rather alien sounds together into something cohesive is very remarkable. To simply refer to this as Gothic Metal wouldn't do it justice. If that were the case then ...and Oceans would be "Gothic" too. This is highly recommended for those who like to dance and headbang at the same time and/or for those who crave something different.

This new Crematory release was very expected, not only because this is the come back album since they've disbanded, but also because this album directly follows one of the ultimate masterpieces of goth/ atmospheric metal, that "Believe" album is.

What to say about "Revolution"? Well, first what I can say is "no worry, this album is really a good Crematory album". Gorgeous intro, a bunch of strong songs such as "Angel of Fate", "Open your eyes", "Tick Tack"," Revolution" and all the specific Crematory know-how.

All the elements that make Crematory famous in the recent years are there:
Heavy powerful riffs, melancholic melodies, mystic atmospheres, electro touch, the dynamic contrast between Felix powerful grunting cold voice and Matthias clean warm voice. Yes, everything is there.

Of course, if you're first a fan of the dark romanticism of the Lötte period, and haven't been satisfied very much with their specific artistic direction since "Act Seven", then, you'll not be particularly enthusiastic with this new album for its aesthetic is in the strict continuation/ evolution of what has been developed for the last two albums. Nevertheless the dark song "Angel of fate" is quite close to what they used to play in the early years.

However let's notice that the electro/new age influence which has got more and more present
since A7 is here put more forward again in this album. So obviously this album doesn't aims at all the close minded and conservative defenders of a strict traditional approach of metal where introduction of "extra-metal" elements such as electro, is regarded as an heresy.- notice I'm not saying here I have something against traditional metal though. On the contrary-

On the other hand, people who consider that Crematory has reached their artistic maturity since Act seven -with their electro/new age influences and all their subtle elaborate arrangements for keyboards and guitar, notably- should be quite glad of this new album.

Matt definitely brought a new breath to Crematory when he joined the band a couple of years ago.

As a conclusion what I can say is "Revolution" is a really good album, featuring all the maturity the band has gained throughout their history. However I can't say this album is better than "Believe" or "Act 7". I would rate it 90/100. whereas I rate 100/100 for believe and 95/100 for Act 7.

In any case, I have a special admiration for the musical sensivity of Katrin with her deep melancholic melodies and atmospheres. The contrast she creates with the brutal and powerful side of the band, is really unique and wonderful. Crematory totally deserves their reputation of leader of the German gothic scene. Man, they just rule.

Please excuse my English misspelling and my syntax errors, this is not my mother tongue.

FRENCHFRED