Despite the 'catchy' opener, I was moderately disappointed with Revenge at first listen. It seemed Alastis had suffered from regression instead of progression from when their last release, The Other Side. Still, I gave it further listens and with each listen heard something more that I liked, eventually, Revenge unknowingly made its way into consistent rotation in my CD player, and I grew to like it more then The Other Side.

The keyboards play a more prominent part in the music this time around, perhaps Alastis liked the performance on The Other Side and decided to try it full force this time, although, even after having said this, don't get the idea that this is a keyboard led symphonic black metal album, for it is not, Alastis have kept their own unique atmospheric sound and heightened it with intelligently placed keyboards (translation: not over-used or performed just for the Hell of it). How I disliked this the first time around is beyond me, what they accomplished on The Other Side they have now brought to a higher level, the music has a harder edge now, even with the keyboards, War D.'s vocals remain basically similar to the past work, although there is more variation (like on Burnt Alive) in his approach and the vocals have a larger part in the music as a whole.

If you enjoyed The Other Side, you should love this, if you like atmospheric metal, then again, Alastis are your band, a great progression and another step in the right direction.

© 2000 alasdor