Revelation 100

A Fifteen Year Retrospective of Rare Recordings (Revelation)
By Tim Den

I think all punk rock/hardcore kids hold a special place for Revelation Records somewhere deep in their bosoms. One kid I know even went as far as collecting Rev:01 to Rev:30 (the first 30 releases by the label, duh), including the weird-ass “Ray/Porcell” EP. Justification? How ’bout skimming through the artist names on the back of Revelation 100: Gorilla Biscuits, Sick Of It All, Youth Of Today, Side By Side, Judge, Quicksand, Shades Apart, Sense Field, Farside, Shai Hulud… need I go on? Face it: Revelation had a big hand in the development of late-’80s/early-’90s hardcore and post-hardcore. They deserve recognition. And what better way to give credit where credit’s due than bowing down to Revelation 100?

Collecting unreleased and out-of-print material from the label’s roster, past and present, Revelation 100 serves both as a timeline for hardcore as well as a testament to the label’s achievements. Without Quicksand’s “Dine Alone” (the demo version of which is included here), do you think there’d be the Deftones? Without Shades Apart (whose “Under the Sun” – a Seeing Things outtake – obliterates their newest material), do you think the East Coast stood a chance against the West Coast punk invasion? I think not! And while the newer acts haven’t had the same impact upon musical history, most of ’em still do the label proud by playing their respective games well: Garrison‘s jangly explosions, By A Thread‘s (heavy) emo gushing, The Judas Factor‘s apocalyptic insanity, etc. So come one, come all: Take a time-traveling ride with Revelation 100. More: Burn, Fastbreak, Will Haven, Ignite, Himsa, The Movielife, Slipknot (no, a different Slipknot).
(PO Box 5232 Huntington Beach, CA 92615)