Death-bliss: An Easter spent with Revocation, Black Crown Initiate and Sexcrement.
Boston thrash lords Revocation are playing a handful of dates following their tour with The Contortionist and Fallujah. Fortunately for yours truly, they happened to be spending Easter casually dining on roasted lamb with cherished loved ones (OK, maybe that’s what I was doing)… before heading to Middle East in Cambridge with Black Crown Initiate and Sexcrement to whip a small army of New Englanders into a frothing fucking frenzy.
Having never seen any of the bands on the bill, I was particularly excited for this rager and the bands involved did not disappoint. Thanks to their generous and congenial willingness to sit down with the Toilet’s own Stockhausen I was at least somewhat familiar with BCI, though I hadn’t explored their material thoroughly. I had absolutely no familiarity at all with Boston’s Sexcrement. The big draw for this fan was Revocation- one of my favorite acts of the last several years.
Sexcrement got the party jumping early on with an incredibly entertaining set. While their band name and album art certainly imply that they’re a porno-grind outfit, their sound is a bit more… death-y. “You guys ready to have some fun tonight? We’ve got a hell of a show planned for you!” bellowed their front man to begin their set. They weren’t lying- a male slave and two gothic dom queens headed to the stage in corsets and garters that left just the right amount to the imagination, and so the show was rolling!
Immediately our two fem-doms led a dude in some skimpy boxers all around the stage by his hair and generally beat the holy hell out of him as Sexcrement bellowed to the crowd’s delight. Skinny-britches tapped out early (I imagine the studded belt that repeatedly crashed across his bare back was most responsible) and fled from the stage through the crowd, so for the rest of the set an assortment of scantily-clad attractive women performed pseudo-stripteases that had a few struck slack-jawed. Sexcrement’s punishing riffs had the crowd moving a little bit and certainly made a fan out of yours truly- I highly recommend seeing them if they ever make their way through your neck of the woods. Their stage show carries with it an incredibly high entertainment value that’s worth the price of admission by itself!
Toilet friends Black Crown Initiate hit the stage next and immediately made me regret not exploring their material more thoroughly! My fellow authors preached and regaled me with tales of their prowess and woe is unto me, for I did not take heed. Mixing their brutal growls and melodic clean vocals, BCI seemed to ebb and flow with waves of sound throughout the Gyro-scented establishment. The vast majority of the material played was from the recently released ‘The Wreckage of Stars’ with tracks like The Malignant, The Fractured One and A Great Mistake all receiving playing time among others. There was nothing particularly noteworthy about their stage show (which stood out after Sexcrement’s offering!) but their playing was incredibly tight and sounded great; they certainly brought the mosh.
You still got the feeling, though, that the crowd was holding some energy in reserve… and Revocation showed this to be accurate. This being a hometown show for them, a handful of folks who appeared to be friends with the band peppered the crowd. By this point I’d worked my way up to the stage where I would try (and fail) to stay once Revocation got to playing. Right from the outset, a guy to my left flagged down David Davidson and yelled ‘I made it buddy, how have you been!” to which Davidson responded by grinning like a maniac and taking the gentleman’s hat.
Revocation was INCREDIBLE.
Right away they took the stage and broke into ‘A Debt Owed to the Grave.’ The venue was set up in such a way that the stage is right on top of the crowd, so I started head banging and mixing sweat/hair with bassist Brett Bamberger. On at least two occasions, Bamberger, rocking out incredibly hard, simply bashed me on top of the head with his bass. I replied with a hearty ‘THANK YOU SIR CAN I HAVE ANOTHER?!”
The set featured tracks from all over Revocation’s discography; as you’d expect, there was solid representation from the most recent release, Deathless, but there were bits and pieces of every album sprinkled in. The setlist from that night can be found here. Songs that stood out to your author included: Leviathan Awaits, Labyrinth of Eyes, Madness Opus and Witch Trials.
When their set wrapped up, I came to find I’d been moved some 75-100 feet in the course of the moshing and madness; dazed, I made my way over to the merchandise table to buy BCI’s ‘A Wreckage of Stars.’ and make fun of Stockhausen together, an activity in which they happily obliged me. A faint smile playing across my lips, I made my way back outside with a fresh driving soundtrack to accompany me on my drive home!
Revocation are currently wrapping up a tour with Veil of Maya and assorted others (dates here!). Black Crown Initiate are out with Deicide, Entombed and Hate Eternal (dates here!) and Sexcrement are out defiling your sons and daughters in some Boston alley (You can find their bandcamp here, though!)
