CoC : Revelation - Frozen Masque : Review

Revelation - _Frozen Masque_
(Independent, 1997)
by: Drew Snow (8 out of 10)

Back with their fifth release in six years, Revelation take a turn towards the heavier, more condensed side and leave behind the plodding, lengthy compositions of 1994's _...Yet So Far_ album. Picking up on what hurt _YSF_, Revelation remain definitively in the slow doomy genre, but this time the production helps things quite a bit and the songs are noticeably more aggressive and heavy, while remaining melodic. Perhaps the only thing that can be held against this release is that the melodies and riffs could maybe be developed a bit more - they often just kind of hang around, without being fully taken advantage of. That said, however, there is plenty to be happy about with _Frozen Masque_. As mentioned, heaviness abounds, and the guitars have a solid "in your face" feel; in addition, the clean vocals are well-performed and fit this sort of music perfectly. It would be difficult to adequately follow-up the terrific _...Yet So Far_, but Revelation have done so, admirably.

(article published 4/2/1997)