Review Summary: A marvelous debut that will become a treasure to anyone who newly discovers it.
I love discovering new music that's been buried by the years past.
Places For Breathing is one of those rare rock albums that actually delivers. Sounding like a fresh mix between Seven Mary Three and Breaking Benjamin, Revis makes the very best of what both of those bands have to offer and doubles it in this one album alone. With all that both bands can deliver in single songs, Seven Mary Three with "Cumbersome" and Benjamin with "So Cold", they often can't balance a well-constructed album. Revis is the kind of band that
can make an album which is both consistent and constantly engaging. This is the kind of rare rock album that delivers in simply being so damned good that it's impossible to ignore once you've discovered it.
This is the bands only album and it shows the kind of power that Pearl Jam found in their debut. What works as intimate and atmospheric in this record is all thanks to wonderfully well-written lyrics and the wholly realized musicianship. "Seven" was the song that disarmed me immediately. What starts with a light acoustic guitar intro, guided by some foggy echoes in the background throughout, builds to an intense blast of the lead vocalist calling
"It's all over / It's all over now!" in time for the climax. The lyrics to the track are the most bleak on the album; speaking of how it's the end of the world and
"I hope you come up to Heaven right now" is borderline Nine Inch Nails territory. Thankfully the band doesn't pointlessly scramble around the depressing nature of the lyrics and they make strong use of both their guitarists by the second appearance of the chorus.
That's what makes this album standout: it always finds equilibrium. It deals with some of the darkest of themes, yet it allows itself to be entertaining by not doing what seems "normal" with these kind of lyrics. Look at a song like Seether's "Rise Above This". The song is a classic example of what could have been a beautiful ballad about fallen loved ones, similar to Alter Bridge's "Blackbird", but it instead decides to be a meandering and overly-sentimental mess where the message is all around sidestepped thanks to some pouty vocals and over-dramatic guitar riffs. Revis, on the other hand, does the exact opposite. They feel relaxed with what they're doing and never do they aim to "milk it for all it's worth" by being overly-sentimental. Remember the 90s with Nirvana's "In Bloom" or Soundgarden's "Black Hole Sun"? These were classic songs because they didn't exaggerate anything. To quote the great Bill Hicks:
"I want someone who plays from his ***ing heart!"
Places For Breathing feels like an album that belongs in the 90s alongside bands as Bush, Nirvana and Pearl Jam in that it actually tries in not trying to be the next
big thing and just plays it from the heart the entire way through. It is an album that is a constant pleasure to listen to with not a single complaint to be brought up without pure nitpicking. Although a song like "City Beneath" could have been a missed mark on an album like this, it actually ends up being one of the highlights because it sounds like the cooks in the kitchen were having fun while making it. The song benefits from the catchiest lyrics on the album,
"The city underneath that passes by / The city on top of the world / Is a victim to / Whatever we do", and frontman Justin Holman's outstanding vocal presence throughout.
Overall, this is a wonderful album that is easily one of the best albums I have heard since Sevendust's
Animosity. Full of constant replay-value and spectacular musicianship, Revis have crafted a marvelous debut that will become a treasure to anyone who newly discovers it.
