Revenge "Victory.Intolerance.Mastery" CD

I've made it no secret that Revenge and Conqueror are both one of my all-time favorite bands in the bestial black/war metal genre. And yet, until now, I've only reviewed Revenge's debut album as well as the ABR EP from 2001. So I'm going to review some more Revenge albums as a way to show more love to this band, starting with their next album "Victory.Intolerance.Mastery". Even though it's their shortest release as the album only clocks in at around 28 minutes, it certainly does pack quite a punch.
Starting off with the instruments, we see that the band has shifted in a different direction sonically. One of the biggest misconceptions with Revenge is that all of their albums sound the same, and that if you listen to one album of theirs, then you've pretty much listened to them all. That is simply untrue, as while Triumph.Genocide.Antichrist is a raw record, VIM takes on more grindcore influences, and one of the best examples of such is in the track "Traitor Crucifixion". The guitars sound a bit more groovy, but still have an intense composition that play some fierce riffs. The drumming is somehow more weaker in sound than in the previous album, but James Read is still able to lead the track with his savage blastbeats that fit the chaotic atmosphere very well. The bass is also slightly more audible in this release, and does have a deep sound that follows along the guitars well. With all of that, plus the thin and fuzzy production, and the overall sound in this track is heavily influence from grindcore, which I find pretty neat. "Traitor Crucifixion" is an excellent track, but other highlights include "Blood Annihilation", "Atrocity March", 'Victory Revenge", and "Doom Order". VIM is unique in it being their most grindcore-influenced album, and the execution of it all is done excellently.
Then there's the vocals. James Read does the vocals here, and like in every other Revenge album, he does the same thing. He still does the usual high-pitched feral shrieks, and there's little to no variation from the previous album. While this might sound repetitive on paper, when combined with the grindy instrumentals, I'd say that it's done really well. A good example of this would be in the track "Hate Oath", where the instruments start off slow with a doom-like riff before James lets out a bestial scream that grabs the attention of the listener. The instruments then explode into a chaotic mess, and James reflects this well with his feral shrieking and insane personality. Pete Helmkamp's backing vocals are also just as strong, as his range of screaming speeches to deep growls only further enhance the maddening atmosphere of the track. James Read once again flows through the track well with his vigorous vocal performance, and Pete's backing vocals are just as crazy. Despite not even clocking in at 30 minutes, you still feel every single second of brutality in "Victory.Intolerance.Mastery". The grindcore-like instrumentals have a fantastic execution, the vocals are still as savage as ever, and while there doesn't seem to be any lyrics available in this album, I'm sure the speeches of war and antichrist supremacy are done just as well there as it does in every other album. I'd highly recommend this album to anyone looking for war metal with grindcore influences.

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