Revelator Light The Devil's Fire Review
Revelator
Light The Devil’s Fire
Nameless Grave Records
2025
Typically, I don’t wander too deep into the forests of Black Metal or Death Metal anymore, those days of corpse paint and blast beat obsession are mostly in my rearview. But every now and then, an album slips through the cracks and sucker punches me in the face, reminding me why I ever loved the stuff in the first place. That’s exactly what happened a few weeks back with the Canadian Black/Death blasphemers, Revelator.
The usual PR email landed in my inbox and I didn’t even bother with reading who or what it was, I went straight to the video. No preconceived notions, no inflated expectations, just blind listening the way it should be. And holy hell, the band hit me like a bloody hammer to the temple. Heavy as sin, sure, but not just heavy. Revelator fell directly into that sweet spot between chaos and craftsmanship; the kind of violence I didn’t know I needed. From that moment on, I was jonesing for the full promo like a rabid dog waiting to get its ass kicked again. Hell, I might’ve asked for it twice before the full album landed.
For almost a month now I’ve been getting stomped daily by Revelator’s debut full-length “Light the Devil’s Fire”, dropping via Nameless Grave Records in September. The band has two demos on cassette under their belt, but this is their first major offering, and it is a glorious bloodletting. It’s technically Black/Death, but the way the riffs are carved out leans toward a Blackened Thrash frenzy that speaks directly to my reptilian brain. No overcooked blast beat overload. No tired, knuckle-dragging chugs. This record is packed with riffs, actual riffs, the kind you can latch onto, hum under your breath, and air-guitar until your wrists ache.
Now, the vocals, forget understanding them. These aren’t lyrics so much as they are guttural death rattles, vomited curses, sounds of someone purging demons through a microphone. Pain as performance. And somehow, it works. The unintelligible sickness only adds to the aura of desecration.
Musically, “Light the Devil’s Fire” delivers everything you’d want from modern Black Metal without retreating to the tired “recorded-in-a-cave” gimmick or symphonic string excess. It’s raw, sharp, searing, but balanced with just enough melody to make the brutality stick. Think early Celtic Frost or Satyricon colliding with the grime of Venom. If you need a modern comparison, imagine Goatwhore, but nastier, filthier, and possessed by demons who haven’t slept in centuries.
My only gripe is the mix. Everything’s smashed together into a wall of hellfire, leaving the vocals buried and clawing for air. Not that I’d understand them anyway, but some separation would’ve given the record that extra sting. Still, this debut is a triumph of riffcraft and chaos. A record that proves you don’t need a fog machine and church-burning aesthetics to conjure evil, just a direct line to Satan’s riff factory.
Standout tracks: “Light the Devil’s Fire”, “Death Serenade”, “By the Whip”, “We Who Reign with the Devil”.