Revelatio "Roaming The Wilderness"        
Written by Conrad Deschenes     
Wednesday, 10 May 2006  

Roaming The Wilderness“Welcome to Revelatio! Our genre is Poignant Introspective Pop. Revelatio’s goal is to emotionally move people and encourage them to look into their own mind and feelings.” After trying to find the right opening to this review, I decided to use their words. I received a CD from the band Revelatio and sat to have a listen to what I might say is a very interesting, conceptual collection of sight and sound. Yes, I said sight! 


Revelatio consists of four members, interestingly naming themselves as insects. Mr. Big Green Hopper provides guitar, keyboards and backing vocals. Ms. Small Bass Hopper is in charge of, of course, bass, keyboards and backing vocals. Drums and programming is in the capable hands of Ruth the Dragonfly. Jah Bee, who also plays guitar, performs the melodic and occasionally haunting lead vocals. Together, the ensemble creates the thought provoking music on the CD “Roaming The Wilderness”. 

I was very impressed with the intricate, but simple music I encountered. Dynamic is another word that comes to mind even though the music and lyrics not cluttered, as in trying to cram guitar riffs into a song when it just doesn’t belong there. Their music instead gives you a chance to close your eyes and visualize the feelings being conveyed (I did say ‘sight’ earlier).

The jacket has some great artwork, with photography by Stacy and Adria, and the CD design by Jess Whited. The disc itself was mixed and mastered superbly by Gerry Putnam. As for the studio, the jacket says it was “recorded over 18 month period on the location of a 1800s apple farm”. 

The disc starts out with “In the Back of a Car”, a song full of wonderful harmonies and ‘catchy’ drum beats. I loved the simple guitar notes over the constant bass notes, giving the song a contemplative feel. “Lost” is a step back in time, reminiscent of the ‘80s when the British gave us the onslaught of pop music and contagious chorus lines.

“Treetop Crew”, my favorite on the disc, has almost a reggae feel to it with a strong bass line I found myself humming to. Track 9, “Radio Clown”, starts as a slow simple song, which seems to draws you in as it ‘grows’ sonically to the finish.

I found all 10 tracks to have a wonderful contemporary flavor to them. Some are reminiscent of the 80s while others feel futuristic with the keyboard work. I would highly recommend “Roaming the Wilderness” as an ideal tool to relax to and to contemplate the world we live in.

The band’s freshman disc “Disclosure” is listed on the web site as being sold out, so I would recommend not hesitating getting the new release. Revelatio’s “Roaming the Wilderness” is currently available at Bull Moose Music, at www.CDbaby.com, or on their web site www.revelatio.org where you can also listen to music, check out artwork, and purchase other merchandise from the band. You can also visit the band's MySpace page at www.myspace.com/Revelatio.
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