“Revocation” Interview by Santtu “Rebel” Kaskela

So honored to have this chance and opportunity to speak with you. How are you doing?

Doing great, thanks for asking!

Back in 2000 you guys were just about to start your career, while studying in high school… 3 young guys having something to say !!! Was the start a real struggle and did you all have the same vision? Are you going to blow people’s minds for several years to come ?

I think it’s always a struggle when you’re first starting out. You have to figure out so many different things all at once and you’re definitely going to make mistakes along the way but that’s how you learn. We all wanted to write our own music and play shows so we had a similar goal in mind but of course there were different ideas of how to execute that vision.

How was the reception by your soon to be fans and critics who (of course) know everything after you launched your first demos and later your debut album ?

Reception was good for us, we became known in our local scene and gathered a little bit of a following which helped motivate us to keep honing our craft.

Fortunately Cryptic Warnings music is available online… I’ve Listened to your debut album several times and to me it sounds like such an angry album… Tell us a bit about the process of making that album and where did you get your influences ?

Phil’s dad had a buddy with a home studio, he was more of a classic rock guy but we didn’t really have any other options and he was right down the street from where we practiced so we decided to go with him. He was a nice guy but it was clear from the first day that he didn’t know anything about metal, I think the heaviest thing he had in his collection was The Cult so it was a bit of a struggle getting the sound we wanted but he did the best he could all things considered. Our influences at the time were mainly thrash bands like Dark Angel, Exhorder, Pantera and Megadeth as well as a lot of death metal. We were all drawn to really aggressive and fast shit back in those days, everything was so new to us and we were all eating it up and finding ways to incorporate those influences into our sound.

You changed your band’s name in 2006… Any particular reason/reasons for that ?

We had outgrown the name and the new music we were writing was a big jump from the older material.

Revocations first EP “Summon the Spawn” came in 2006 and later your debut “Empire of the obscene” in 2008… Your musical direction changed from earlier releases, which I think were pretty straight forward thrash, towards more like death and even some interesting progressive metal… How did this happen ?

It was just a natural evolution for us as a band, we were all listening to heavier stuff and at the same time more progressive and technical bands so those influences kind of took over and really molded our sound. I was also getting into jazz more and more at that time so there was a little influence coming from outside the metal realm as well.

Listening to your songs, I’m trying to figure out how the hell is it even possible to combine all the different elements in your music to a tight, heavy, lightning fast package… Do you guys do anything else than kill your instruments all day long ? How do you relax and just take it easy ?

I teach when I’m home so I’m pretty much always involved in music. I’ll watch TV before bed or read, nothing out of the ordinary. Sometimes I’ll really get sucked into a particular series, like Game of Thrones for instance. If that is coming on I’ll have no trouble putting the guitar down haha.

Tell us a little about your songwriting process… Where do you get all the ideas, what inspires you ?

It all starts with the riff for me, I’ll write loads of riffs and catalogue everything on my computer so when I revisit stuff everything is in order. I’m inspired by bands that are nostalgic for me as well as newer bands and artists that I’m currently checking out. I’m always on the hunt for new music, lately it’s been a lot of weird and avant garde black and death metal bands. I really like the new Dodecahedron a lot, I’ve been eager to hear more from that band ever since I heard their first album a few years back. I listen to a lot of jazz and classical music too which both provide me with a ton of inspiration.

I’m terrible at putting bands in different genres… How would you describe your music and how has it changed during your journey so far ?

We’re a mixture of death and thrash metal at our core but we also have a strong progressive element to our style which encompasses a lot of different sounds. I think as time has gone on we’ve gotten heavier, darker and more focused.

During these years… What have been the most memorable, positive, rewarding moments ?

Every time we put out a new record it feels very rewarding, it’s a real creative milestone for the band. Touring around the world has been very memorable and rewarding as well. I love to travel so getting to see the world and play music at the same time has been a big win win for me.

What can we expect in the near future? What else does 2017 have in store for Revocation?

A lot more touring, we’ll be hitting the road with Morbid Angel, Suffocation and Withered in the U.S. this summer. We’ll also be headlining a festival in Canada and then hitting Europe to do a festival run with a bunch of killer bands.

Any last words to people who are reading this, the family of MHF, your fans and your soon to be fans ?