The Revelator Orchestra – The Brotherhood of the Flood

The Revelator Orchestra provide an intensely rewarding experience with their new album The Brotherhood of the Flood.

Coming into focus with the electric urgency ‘The Brotherhood of the Flood 1’ the pointed unease of the Revelator Orchestra’s haunting new album.

Propelled forward by the central narrative and lived-in landscape that the album occupies, the group keep the thematic feel of The Brotherhood of the Flood in tact through the textural density of ‘The Why’ and the softly swaying emotion of ‘Alice Stafford’.

What is most astounding about the album is the engrossing detail found in each song. Screeching and scratching with uneasy ambience, songs such as ‘Frank O’Reilly’s War’ and ‘Nicky Wickham’ perfectly capture the mood and otherworldly atmosphere that permeates throughout The Brotherhood of the Flood.

Coming to its mood-driven finale with ‘Kill The River’ the cohesive tone of the album is deftly realised. Side stepping the need to end the record with a bombastic crescendo, the Revelator Orchestra instead opt for a more reflective outro that conveys the helplessness felt by the characters at the centre of the story.

The Brotherhood of the Flood is an album in the truest sense of the term. Structured around a definite beginning, middle and end the record must be experience from start to finish to allow the immense scale of the piece truly take effect.

Drenched in theatrical interplay, the storytelling nature of The Brotherhood of the Flood captures moments in time, insular instances bathed in the reverberant harsh soundscape of the record’s large-scale, stylised production and bound to Peter Murphy’s intense, unforgiving performance.

Supporting Murphy’s expressionistic wordplay, this strong undercurrent of sound allows Murphy the room to tell each tale with intently held narrative.

With its weighty themes and large-scale sound, The Brotherhood of the Flood could very well have seen the Revelator Orchestra buckle under the sheer density of what they were trying to achieve. Indeed such conceptual approaches have seen many acts pulled down in a similar fashion. However the band find the right balance throughout and keep focus on the album’s overall picture while also ensuring each track can stand on its two feet.

Dramatic, epic and populated by tense atmosphere The Brotherhood of the Flood is simply stunning to behold in its individuality. Wrapped in intricate lyrical detail and undercut by turbulent musical potency the album is a truly unique beast in a music scene dominated by safety.

Rating: 10/10

The Brotherhood of the Flood by the Revelator Orchestra is due for release on October 23rd.