Sybreed

It's Sybreed today, kids, a Swiss outfit that is on my short list of "Bands That Are Incredible" (or rather, were - more on that in a second.)  So, the bad news: Sybreed's singer left the band for family reasons about a year ago, and as you'll hear, he was kinda a thing they needed in order to still be Sybreed, so, if you love them for the first time today... sorry about that; HOWEVER, the good news: the remaining badasses are continuing as Obsidians in much the same style, so be on the lookout for the first release from them under that name.  But I digress - it's "Challenger" - CRANK IT!

Sybreed - "Challenger"

Revocation

New look - same awesome.  Today, kids, it's my new favorite thing: Revocation!  Five and a half albums?!  Where has this band been hiding?!  In the depths of the internet, I guess.  Doesn't matter - every day with Boston's Revocation makes up for two days without.  I hate/love people who can sing metal and play metal lead guitar at the same time (Devin Townsend and pre-1999 Dave Mustaine, I'm talkin' to you); Revocation lead vocalist and lead guitarist David Davidson (yeh, that's his actual name - why would you choose a stage name like that?) has a degree in music from Berklee focusing on polyrhythm jazz, so dig deeper  than the main riffs and you'll find an exciting soundscape born of knowledge that is uncommon even in heavy metal guitar composition.  Anyway, before we get to it, one more thing of great importance occurs to me: it's easy to focus on the lead players, especially ones like this, but it is nigh-impossible for these people to find a group of musicians that a) they can get along, travel, and write with, AND b) who can keep up with this kind of playing, so when you're listening to/watching Revocation play, be sure you're listening to the rhythm player, the bass player, and the completely-badass drummer as well - you'll thank yourself (and hopefully me.)  It's "Invidious" and the instrumental "Apex" - CRANK 'EM!

Revocation - "Invidious"

Revocation - "Apex"

Not sure why, but the official videos aren't accessible through Blogger - probably a licensing thing.