Review of the Album "Revolution Dna" by Greek Death Metal Band Septicflesh

Greek atmospheric death metal band Septicflesh finished off the decade of the 1990s in somewhat solid fashion. After basically starting out their career as a very heavy death metal band, they have since fused a series of different kinds of musical things into their songs which include choir style vocals and operatic musical scenes to female operatic vocals and now they are incorporating melodic death metal into this mix as well. So in a sense, listening to Septicflesh is like drinking a wonderful blend of healthy juices that will keep you alive, healthy, and active for a long time. The album being reviewed and analyzed is the 1999 studio album called Revolution DNA.

Most people know what DNA is from a scientific point of view but is this album revolutionary? If you are asking that question that is a legitimate question because these Greek guys have established themselves as one of Greece's premier death metal bands other than Rotting Christ and Nightrage both of which I would highly recommend if you love Greek metal as I do.

There is also a Gothic metal feel and a sort of modern Dark Tranquillity feel similar to what would come up in 2007 with the album Fiction. Back in 1999 Septicflesh was constantly expanding as a band and upon hearing this album, this one may be their best one before they broke up in 2003. That was a temporary break up for this band and it is great that they came back. “Little Music Box” is a solid mix of Lacuna Coil and Swedish melodic death metal as there are sounds of a music box in this song. The opening song called Science is a sort of Paradise Lost combined with Dark Tranquillity influence and those of us that have listened to enough death metal will notice this trait in the song. Mystic Places of Dawn was a good album but Revolution DNA is a better album because of the varied approach that these Greek guys take and it works out very well. Science is everlasting and it always changes and it is a result of science that the world has advanced so much over the centuries.

Chaostar stylistically is once again like something we would hear in 2007 with the mentioned album Fiction however this song is nowhere near as good as some of the songs in that album. If only the lyrics were a little easier to try and interpret, it would be possible to really experience the beauty of the musical construction. The song Revolution lyrically is trying to tell us that the times have changed and it is necessary to use biotechnology in order to be ready for the changing future. These guys somehow knew back in 1999 that society would change so drastically. We are now dealing with one of the most challenging situations of our lifetimes as I write this. It is not necessary to reveal what this issue is because we pretty much know what it is. So far, the two strongest songs in this album are Little Music Box and Revolution.

“DNA” is a song that lyrically tells the situation of the codes being broken and that we can reprogram ourselves for the future. That's an interesting concept and I wonder if the members of Septicflesh are tech savvy. They could be. For the purposes of this album review the song DNA actually stands for Dawn of a New Age. “Telescope” is a song in which the riffs remind me of mod 2000's Noumena. Noumena is a Finnish melodic death metal band with vocals so rough that they are not easy to interpret for the majority of us music listeners. Last Stop to Nowhere is an atmospheric metal song about a passenger that is waiting at a train station that is dirty and deserted as he is waiting for the moment that he can board the train. However the bridge is not yet completed so it would be like he is going to go nowhere, hence, the title of the song makes sense. In life, sometimes we are waiting for certain things that may not come because the Universe has something better for us. This is not a bad song but it is something drastically different than what we have heard from these guys.

Dictatorship of the Mediocre is a song that sounds like more like heavy thrash metal than symphonic death metal. Lyrically the song is trying to bring across the message that people can be replaced at any moment because they are just a number. I get the sense that the song is about the fact that corporate jobs are no longer and that employees are treated as just a number in the minds of corporate bosses. Then you have another atmospheric heavy song Android which is a technology related song with raspy vocals and the song describes a situation where android phones would be very addictive. Technology does have its benefits but it can also be a very addictive thing as well. The strongest songs on Revolution DNA are plenty including DNA as well as Dictatorship of the Mediocre. This release represents perhaps the most mature moment musically for a band that would break up in 2003 and then return in 2007.