Genre: Black metal
Origin: Sweden
Released: 2009
Website: Rev 16:8
Label: Temple of Darkness Records
Uploaded: 21.06.09

This is some form of supergroup with some talented musicians from bands such as IXXI, Decadence and whatnot, yet I hadn’t heard of them previous to this. And originally ex-Dark Funeral man Themgoroth was supposed to do the vocals, but left during recording. Rev 16:8 were previously known as Bloodshed, but I can’t say I’ve heard of them either. Considering the label behind the release I figured it to be either typically old school Scandinavian death metal or typically Scandinavian black metal, and it didn’t take long before I realized it was the latter one.
Names such as Marduk, Dark Funeral, Sorhin and Thy Primordial goes through my mind. This is without a doubt Swedish black metal anno mid to late 90ies, but presented in a modern manner. The sound is hefty, and I mean chunky-as-hell. A thick wall of sound comes roaming at you as soon as the first riff sets in, and you’ll have to strap yourself in to not get blown out your chair. And I guess that’s partly where the modernity comes in, as an older black metal recording never would’ve sounded like this. I know a lot of people will whine, just like they did about Dark Funeral’s Diabolis interium, but I like it!
Grand tidal rave not only sounds brutal, but it’s also some fast, unrelenting shit, I tell you. Most of the material is set at a blasting tempo, with slick, melodic guitar work keeping the brutality at a medium level. And there are a lot of great guitar lines, just reeking of melody and catchiness, and yet it never gets over-the-top. While they certainly know how to blast they offer some space to slower tunes, where the heaviness of the sound seizes control. So there’s enough variety in the mix to not get repetitive at mindnumbing blazing speed, which is the case for a lot of the faster black metal acts.
But despite all the good qualities I’ve just mentioned, the album does have its downers. For instance I think it’s a bit too long, at least ten minutes too long. 51 minutes of the same thing does still get a bit too rich for my blood, and 35-40 minutes would’ve been a lot more pleasing. And there’s also something about the vocals that just doesn’t seem right, it doesn’t fit 100% with the music. Not that it’s in any way bad black metal screams, most definitely not. But vocal-wise it doesn’t have that same harsh, aggressive attitude that the music carries. And eventhough there’s some killer material on here, it still seems to lack those extreme hooks that makes you keep coming back. Sure, when I put the record on I certainly dig along, but when it’s over nothing forces me to press play once more. Maybe that has to do with the lengthy album, I don’t know. But I’d recommend the album any day.

Tracklist:
01. Placid in pale
02. Flame salvation
03. Red serpent coil
04. Tempestfed
05. Sole crow’s carrier
06. Crowning the nameless heir
07. Beggars’ haven
08. Grand tidal rave
09. Born from the womb of chaos
10. In wait
11. Locust fields forever