Revelation 23’s new release presents two rather different sides of the project: Still Sick, a more rock-inclined and immediate track, and Contagious, a slower, more contemplative song. Taken together, they feel like an interesting snapshot of a project that is still developing, but which is increasingly beginning to find its own voice.
Hailing from Edinburgh, Revelation 23 offer their own spin on the classic sound of early 2000s alt-metal. They are no strangers to experimentation, previously having incorporated synthesized sounds and string arrangements in their compositions. Furthermore, while they perform live as a three piece, all music and studio recordings are created by maestro and multi-instrumentalist Claudia (pronounced like cloud), which naturally lends a deeply personal touch to both their music and their pursuit of success. Reaching the 3 year mark since their first release, they gig frequently around Scotland's central belt, often alongside other great upcoming bands in the scene. Should you wish to listen to their music and keep up to date with them, by all means check out their socials!
Still Sick is the stronger of the two tracks for me. The chorus is catchy, particularly the bassline, which gives the song a surprisingly symphonic and moving quality. The mix itself is the best I have heard from the band. That said, I don't think it quite squeezes all the impact it could out of the music. There are moments where the song builds a sense of tension, only for the payoff to fall slightly short of the power and excitement that I think it deserves. For most listeners, this is not a problem; while my closed-back Sonys were very forgiving, the open-backed HD600s told all.
I do miss some of the more electronic elements that featured in Revelation 23’s previous releases, but I think the band now sound more like themselves than ever. The sound on this release feels like a leap in the right direction, even if it means leaving behind some of their earlier ambitions.
A large part of that identity comes from the visceral, almost medical character running through both the projects's stylisation and their lyrics. As a sociology student, I found both songs interesting from a medical perspective: as an immersive account of the embodied experience of sickness, but also as a critique of the inadequacies of the medical model. The lyrics approach illness, whether mental, physical, or metaphorical, not as some distant concept, but as something experienced through the body and imposed upon it.
There is something here that reminds me of bands like Carcass and the wider goregrind and grindcore tradition. Now, bear with me here: those bands often evoke discomfort through the grotesque, whereas Revelation 23 manage to evoke a kind of bodily discomfort without a hint of the grotesque. Instead, the listener is thrust into the emotionally real landscape of that discomfort. Rather than taking the all-too-common third person perspective, the listener is made to inhabit the deeply personal realities of the subject matter.
I think this is one of the project's strengths. Revelation 23 wear their heart on their sleeves, and I hope they lean further into this aspect of their identity in the future. There is a lot of interesting territory here, and I would love to see these themes explored further through the lens of Revelation 23's unique musical sensibilities.
In music, there is always a struggle to find one's voice. Many great bands change direction every album, never really finding themselves. To see the project converging on what seems to be a clear and unique identity is inspiring to me on a personal level. I hope Revelation 23 continue on this path.
Contagious takes a very different approach. It is the slower song, and I will admit that I am probably a somewhat biased reviewer here. I gravitate to music that is fast, complex and exciting, so a slow and contemplative song is probably fighting an uphill battle with me from the beginning.
Even so, I can recognise Contagious as a strong effort. The lyrics are poetic, and the overall vibe suits the project nicely. A more relaxed song slots in well with the rest of their catalogue, and could add a delicate flourish to their live shows. I particularly liked the drum beat, which has a nice Chad Smith feel to it. The track also includes a violin, played by Claudia herself, which adds an air of sophistication to the track. Musically, it is a solid piece with a lot of inspiration and creativity on display, made all the more impressive by the fact that, behind the scenes, the project is a purely solo effort.
Unfortunately, the song feels as though it is lacking some of the sophisticated studio polish that has become the norm in contemporary pop music. The drums and bass could, I think, have been made considerably punchier, giving the arrangement a little more sparkle. The slightly dull quality of the mix may actually be an appropriate reflection of the song's subject matter, but it does mean that some of the more interesting musical ideas don't quite land with the impact they deserve.
Of course, being a solo effort, I can hardly mark them down for not having the resources of a full studio production. Actually, that is maybe what makes this release, and their previous work, most interesting to me: the scaffolding is there for Revelation 23 to grow into a sophisticated and multifaceted sound. The ideas are present; they just aren't always being transmitted with quite the clarity or force they could have with better production resources.
It's a shame that the secret sauce, the studio engineer, is prohibitively expensive for smaller bands, because it inevitably limits the scope of the music they can effectively transmit to their audiences. Nevertheless, Still Sick / Contagious feels like another piece of evidence that Revelation 23 are building towards something considerably more developed.
Neither track is perfect, but perfection is perhaps less interesting here than direction. What excites me most about this release is that Revelation 23 seem to be moving towards a recognisable identity of its own. Still Sick in particular suggests a project beginning to understand what makes its music distinctive: specifically their deeply personal, instinctive, and slightly disquieting aura, built on the concrete foundations of 2000s alt-metal. If they continue to develop that identity — and find increasingly sophisticated ways to realise it musically — I think there is plenty here worth paying attention to.