Progressive metalcore is a subgenre filled with hidden gems, many which sit at a couple of thousand monthly listeners despite being every bit as intricate, dreamlike, and tight as some of the forerunners. Revaira are one such entity, having released one of the best progressive albums of 2018 in the form of In Between. Since then, the German quintet have been quietly working on the band’s next evolution, bolstered by production from Australia’s Lance Prenc. Comprised of vocalist Patrik Finhagen, guitarists Silvan Iason and Berk Kocar, bassist Nico Santangelo, and percussionist Joris Rech, the band’s lineup remains unchanged since their inception yet their sound continues to mature and deepen. Nowhere is that more evident than Journey. “Everyone in the band said ‘yes, this is exactly what we are wanting to do,’” says Finhagen of the new direction. “Everyone was involved and everyone was happy with that, so the direction we are going to was born. We had thirty songs, and only put out the best ones that seemed to fit the most together.”
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After three standalone singles in 2021, Revaira returned with “Hearteater” to announce that Journey is less than a month away, a testament to the band’s eagerness to share their music with the world. “A lot of people are sharing their stories with us because they are feeling so connected with the song “Hearteater” and the lyrics. It shows that you are never alone with your own emotions and your own feelings.” Revaira’s specific blend of progressive riffs and ambience is emotionally charged even without the lyrics, and that is in large part due to their unique creative process; vocalist Patrik Finhagen composes the instrumentals and soundscapes while the rest of the band draws up the lyrics independently for him to deliver. The result is two halves that evoke feelings independently but when put together sound crushing. “Why I love metalcore so much is that you can deliver pretty much every emotion that is out there in this one genre,” comments Silvan.
Where melodic metalcore defined the 2000s, progressive metalcore has been the defining subgenre of the alternative and core scene in the 2010s, the preferred flavour of those seeking immersive ambience accompanied by either poetic or intensely personal lyricism. Constantly reinventing itself, constantly pushing the boundaries, with underappreciated bands like Revaira continuously springing up, the 2020s could very well be its decade, too. The German outfit wears their influences on their sleeve, derived from titans like Invent Animate and early Northlane. “Northlane and Invent Animate — both of these bands are the bands where everyone in our band is loving them one-hundred percent.” That said, Journey is the most ‘them’ that they have ever sounded, taking those inspirations, and running with them. Though the EP is only a fleeting taste of what they have to offer, it marks them as ones to watch, showing that In Between was not a one-off but just the beginning.
“Hearteater”, Silvan reveals, tells the conclusion to a continued narrative spread across three tracks: “Maze”, “Hearteater”, and Journey’s eponymous closer. “With the release of “Hearteater” last week, you got a bit of a spoiler,” the guitarist jokes. “For me it’s the most personal track I’ve ever written. I started to write the lyrics without knowing that it’s about me. After I started to write maybe the first half of the track, something very special in my life changed, and after that I realised, ‘okay, wait a minute. I wrote about myself.’ After that point it was quite easy to find the idea behind the song, but to find the perfect words for the song were pretty hard… The lyrics are evolving until the breakdown, and in the breakdown there’s more or less the statement of the track: there’s the person that has to leave another person. It’s told, ‘I leave you.’”
As with “Hearteater”, the EP sees the vocals and instrumentals pushed in both directions simultaneously: “The chill parts are more chill than before, but the heavy parts are like “Ornament” breakdown-style. When it has to be heavy, we are heavy, but I think it was a well-made decision to say, ‘we only want to get heavy when the song is need of it.’” It is an approach that similar bands such as fellow Lance Prenc alumni Thornhill and Northlane have taken with their most recent material, yet Revaira commit to it within the course of an individual song in a way that their contemporaries have not. Make no mistake, “Hearteater” is chunky. The dichotomous compositional arrangement allows the band to tell their story, rather than being the consequence of a sonic appeal to a wider audience. On working with Lance Prenc, Patrik and Silvan could not have been any more complimentary. “Lance’s productions are on a level by themselves. He was the first one who got this ultra-punchy, ultra-drums-up-front sound… It was quite an experience. We gave him the stems, everything; the instrumentals, the vocals, and he did what he can do the best, and made a beautiful sound of it.” Undoubtedly, the production on the band’s new material is crisper than ever, but praise must be heaped on the vocalist, who demos and mixes everything himself to great effect.
The new songs are sure to be hits in front of live audiences, which the band are eager to get back to after the disruption of the pandemic. “It’s very difficult as a small band to play shows now, at the moment. We have a couple of gigs on August 20th and in September we have one gig too. We’re getting back on track… Our expectations for playing live are very high.” With new gear, new tunes, and playing a new setlist of exclusively post-pandemic tracks, the band are ready to get back to playing shows, the nearest just days on from Journey’s release. It’s not the only way that the band has been affected by the pandemic; in response, they switched their focus to composing singles, which saw “Maze”, “Bloom”, and “Ornament” released in the first three months of 2021. The EP, as it so happened, was a happy accident. It makes sense when considering that In Between, their debut full-length, was fundamentally a compilation of singles collated to form one cohesive work by Finhagen’s signature instrumental style. Fans need not despair, for the group are evidently prolific, yet hold themselves to extremely high standards, and the short-but-dense expression of Journey is one of the many fruits Revaira’s process is yet to bear. The band themselves understand the value of a record. “If I discover a new band,” Patrik muses, “I go to Spotify or YouTube and check if they have an album or an EP.”
We can only hope for a sophomore full-length in the future, but for now it is just great to know that Revaira are still active and enjoying themselves, making songs that they are proud of and that connect with listeners across the world. With bands like Revaira, Invent Animate, Oceans Ate Alaska, and Veil of Maya seemingly set for releases later this year, it is an exciting time to be a fan of progressive metalcore, and the forthcoming tracks will hopefully see them receive the recognition they deserve.
Journey is set for independent release on August 18th, and you can support the band here.