Revenant Cult - Spectral Heresy

Okay, let's get things kicking off by introducing the whole web (at least the portion of the web that so happens to stumble upon this article) to Revenant Cult, a brother-sister duo from Australia focusing on dark electronic music. So far, they released a single titled 'Spectral Heresy' this year in March, and I must apologize to the band for not reviewing them earlier. Because they are fucking great and need to be heard of a lot more.

The EP consists of the title song, "Spectral Heresy", and four other remixes of the same song from Blast Radius, Assemblage 23, Studio-X, and another separate remix. Now, before I get into the positive, let me just quickly get into the negative. The only thing that I found problematic with this release is that there wasn't much variety at all. It was one song remixed four different times. In order to get this album a little more moving and friendlier with audiences, there should've been more meat to it. No one wants to bite into a burger only to find out the patty isn't there.

Now, however, let me start off with the positive. Revenant Cult definitely fucking slaughtered the single, but I mean slaughter in a great and amazing way. I know that slaughter usually holds a negative connotation, but, fuck you, I'm Steve, and I do what I want. I don't know whether I should begin off by talking about the actual music or the vocals first, because both are so fucking stellar, but, I guess I'll start off with the vocals.

The vocals are headed by Jessica Nichols, the sister of the duo (in case I needed to spell that out for you). And, holy shit, if it isn't a Goddess singing straight into my ears. They are so...I don't necessarily know how to describe it. Like, picture if Mary just came down from Heaven riding a golden dragon, and she just came up to you, personally, in all her spiritual might, and just started singing into your ear. That's what this would sound like. I really can't describe how much I honestly enjoyed the vocals.

Then again, I still haven't gotten into the instrumental part of the song, which is headed by Julian Nichols. It's here that so much is going on and that so much is fused together that it all just works in such peace and bliss. There is a synth constantly going in the background followed by what I believe to be very high pitched electric guitar notes (Don't take my word for it, I'm horrible when it comes to instruments. I just know what sounds good and what fucking doesn't.). There's also this chime that's present throughout the song, and it compliments the female vocals very well.

Now, the other thing that I enjoyed about this single immensely was the fact that it wasn't just a fucking rip off. A lot of singles that I see put out maybe last four or five minutes, but this one lasts about seven, and that's no easy feat. It makes me feel as if the artist put a lot of thought and work into the song just so the listener would actually sit through seven minutes of pure awesomeness.

And, just to cover the remixes real quick, they were all nice, but none of them really came close to the original at all. They all had something going on with them, something different, but none could quite catch up to the matriarch from whence they were born. My favorite, by far, would be the Blast Radius remix, but that's just because I'm a fan of Blast Radius' work; it always amazes me how they're able to go in one direction, karate chop you in the face, and judo flip you into a completely new direction.

So, all in all, we have a stellar single. It's a perfect song, it really is. The vocals are spot on, and whether the instruments are going along with the vocals, or the female voice cuts out and an awesome solo just blasts through my headphones, I enjoyed the song every bit. However, I was still disappointed at the lack of content this release offered. If there was just more than one song and four remixes of it, I would've been a much happier man, like a fat kid who gets handed a triple cheeseburger with extra grease on top. But, for now, I can end this review by stating that this is a duo that you definitely want to keep your fucking eyes on; they're fantastic. May 14 2013