Blood Revolt
Indoctrine

September 2010
Released: 2010, Metal Blade Records
Rating: 2.5/5
Reviewer: Demonator

If the name Alan Averill (here credited as A Nemtheanga) fails to ring a bell, you've likely not yet experienced the searing doom serenading of Primordial. Undoubtedly the best thing to be spawned by the Irish metal scene, in - let's be frank - forever, their growing fanbase treats every one of their releases like a visit from the Pope and rightly so. It goes without saying then that when Averill chooses to flex his considerably talented pipes elsewhere, the benefactors of his contributions enjoy instant and immediate cache.



Sadly such attention is largely wasted on Blood Revolt. Far from the majestically depressive soundscapes of TO THE NAMELESS DEAD, INDOCTRINE sounds instead like Nasum contemplating suicide while listening to Candlemass. This is certainly a fitting musical backdrop to the album's fatalistic and alarmingly socially relevant concept, but in practice it’s too scattered and sporadic to truly succeed. Almost as standard, death metal riffing will abruptly give way to a shoegazing plod with little or no thought given to structure or dynamics. When mundane is replaced with slightly less mundane, it makes no difference, but on tracks like "Dead City Stare" Blood Revolt genuinely manage to hook the listener before fucking up spectacularly. As for Averill; his delivery is too knowingly dramatic to carry any real weight. I've had my eggs thoroughly scrambled by him on not only Primordial but on several of his stellar guest turns. Here I just find him annoying.



Of course, some will be crying blasphemy right about now and the fact is that an Averill nut-hugger could probably unearth plenty on INDOCTRINE to excite them. Whether they could honestly claim that this band would be signed to Metal Blade had it not been for their frontman's elitist pedigree however, is something I seriously doubt.