Revocation is out on their first ever headlining tour with Rivers of Nihil and Exhumed. The band just released their newest album The Outer Ones which dropped on September 28th. The album which has grown their sound on Great is Our Sin, to a true melodically masterpiece on The Outer Ones. I first saw this band three years ago on Summer Slaughter, and got to speak with bassist Brett Bamberger, as a twist of fate I got to speak with him again about touring for the new album.

GA: Last time I saw Revocation was 2 years ago on Summer Slaughter where I got to speak with you briefly about your last album’s debut, Great is Our Sin. Since that time the band has toured and worked on writing a new album, The Outer Oneswhich dropped on September 28th. What can you tell me about the new record?

BB: The new record we are really excited about. It has gotten a warm response, for which we are grateful. That first week of sales determines what the band will be doing for the next two years, which we had a good first week out of the gate. As soon as we come out with a record Dave (Davidson) is starting already on a new one. Last night we played at Reggies, and the last time we were there we were with Cattle Decapitation, and that was when Dave wanted to call the album The Outer Ones. I was like I don’t know man it sounds like a belly button concept album or some shit. He was like, no, no, no I want to more of a Lovecraft thing with this album, and he described the whole vibe to me. The new album is more of a sci-fi themes album. We got Tom Strong to do the artwork. The playing is some of the more berserk playing that we have done.

GA: What can you tell more about the musical vision of the album as it compares to Great is Our Sin? In my opinion, I think this album is a bit more on the melodic side as opposed to the in your face death metal vibe from the previous album.

BB: Well there is no clean singing on this record, which we all decided on. I also think this is one of the first times where we all sat down and were eye to eye on everything. Just the four of us, like the no clean singing we are done with that, lets just do a straight up death metal record. As the songs were coming in everyone was hyped up.

GA: What’s it like for you guys to freshly debut a new album to your fans? Any type of anticipation or reaction that the band looks for?

BB: It’s always weird, you never know if people are going to understand it, or have they listened yet to the singles. It turned out that the fans did listen and were somewhat familiarized. We have been playing the songs for a while now live. It is exciting for us to play new material, but sometimes it is discouraging when you are looking at a crowd that is not familiar with the songs, or a little confused.

GA: The band also released the single for Of Unworldly Origin, can you tell me what was your inspiration behind the song, and the music video?

BB: That is more of a Dave question. I have heard him explain it to me, but I wasn’t listening as much as I should have been.

GA: The shoot for the music video looks like it must have been a fun time? Who did you work with to shoot the video and what was that process like putting it all together?

BB: It was David Brodsky again, we always like working with My Good Eye visual team. They are awesome people and I think they have done all our videos. The video was a rad experience, Dave came up with the concept. The video is loosely based around that song. It was fun we haven’t done a more over the top video since The Grip Tightens back in 2012 when I first joined the band. We were all like, “Ok we put out this serious record let’s put out this video that is a little more fun.”

GA: I want to touch on your beginnings as a musician, what got you into playing and what were some of your first influences?

BB: Oh man, I think Nirvana when I was thirteen, I’m thirty-seven now. It started with Nirvana and skate boarding in general has a big influence on me as an artist, I still skateboard. Musically I just always played in bands and did our own original tunes. I listened to Primus a lot since I am a bass player. When I was a kid I learned some of their tunes, but I don’t know how to play many songs other than the ones I have recorded or worked in a band I had recorded with. I know its weird but it’s just my style.

GA: What gear are you currently using for a live set up rig?

BB: I play a Zon Sonus 5 string bass classic, it is awesome, and has a graphite neck. I am using a Dark Glass Electronics amplifier. Its like 900 watts and 7 pounds. It is super sick because I can take it to Europe and it has a 240-volt switch on it. It saves me a ton of money and stress, because I will always have my sound no matter where I go. I can take it anywhere, which is cool. I also run Aguilar effects, an Agro OD pedal, and a Strymon reverb.

GA: I know you touched on first week sales briefly. I know the big push of first week sales helps in placement for touring packages, but where else does an artist see the reward of having a great first week?

BB: Hmm… You see it in your travel for the album cycle. It does determine your heat, which is why we wanted to come out of the gate headlining on this tour. We took a gamble, and this tour has been selling out, and the response has been great, and we are really grateful for it. It seems like people are going to support us again through another record cycle. The first week is always stressful, you wonder are we shot, or is this record hot or not. We like it, but we can’t tell if the masses are going to like it as well.

GA: What is next for Revocation after this tour?

BB: We finish on the 20th in Boston, then I am going to Richmond where I live for 2 days. After that the band is going to Columbia to do Knotfest in Bolivia. I think Judas Priest is playing so that is a big one to knock off of my list. Then we go to Europe to do our first European headlining tour, with Archspire, Soreption, and Rivers of Nihil. I’ve been looking at the presales for that tour and it looks pretty good.

GA: Where can people keep up to date with the band, and if they wanted to purchase merch from you online where can they go?

BB: We have a MerchNow store, we have been working with them the past 4 years.  You can also follow us on Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook, we are easy to find. This day and age we are really easy to find, we are also on Spotify and ITunes.

Be sure to check out The Outer Ones out now in music stores and on online streaming sites!

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Revocation

Instagram: @revocation

Twitter: @revocation

MerchNow: https://revocation.merchnow.com/

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George Archibald

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