Various Revelation 100: A 15 Year Retrospective (2002) Revelation

To celebrate their 100th release Revelation has issued a comp that is comprised of unreleased, out of print, rare, live, and remixed songs by bands that have been on their label at one time or another. According to the liner notes, they really scrapped the bottom of the vaults trying to get the rarest and most interesting tracks for this comp, and I think they have accomplished it. Its sad that a comp made of B-sides and unreleased tracks can turn out to be one of the most interesting and diverse comps that I have heard in a long time. After hearing some of these songs that were left on the cutting room floor, I have to wonder what the A-side material must be like. I also was impressed that while most of the bands were hardcore bands, they all didn't sound alike and play Agnostic Front and Cro-Mag style music. Many of these bands had a style all their own, and made the disc much easier and more interesting to listen to.

The bands that I knew on here included Ignite, Sick Of It All, Shai Hulud and they deliver as always on here. Ignite does a new version of "You", which was much more mellow than I remember them being. SOIA deliver a song off of a out of print comp, which sounds like the typical SOIA. Shai Hulud provide a brand new song "He Who Says Farewell When the Road Darkens" good stuff as always, and quotes a line from J.R.R. Tolkien too. Other songs I liked included Quicksand's "Dine Alone" and I think this is now the next band I'm going to be getting into, Burn's "New Morality" Judas Factor "Song 22", and Farside " Dark". These were the songs that I found skipping to more often and looking for in record stores.

Not only was the music great, but the artwork was very cool as well. The cover and band names in the liner notes were written in flame, and accompanied each band are lyrics, pictures, and for some a quick bio or reason song was never used. Over all this comp was excellent, and did what a comp should, provided new material for the old fans, and introduce other bands to them. This comp is also cool in that it is all stuff that many people probably haven't heard before and give something to everyone. If you're a fan of hardcore you should pick this one up, especially if you like any of the bands on the comp, which I will list below for you.

Burn "New Morality" Unreleased song recorded in 1992
Sense Field "Shady Day" Rare B-side recorded during the "Building" sessions
Shai Hulud "He Who Says Farewell When the Road Darkens" New exclusive track
Fastbreak "Behind" Unreleased version. Recorded same time as "Where It Lies" 7'
Quicksand "Dine Alone" Unreleased demo from 1992
Garrison "New Habits for Old Friends" New exclusive track
Will Haven "Best One" New exclusive track
Gorilla Biscuits "Do It Yourself" Rare song taken from band's first demo in 1987
Shades Apart "Under the Sun" Unreleased from "Seeing Things"
Ignite "You" New version
Himsa "Tempest in Seconds" New exclusive track
By A Thread "Tainted" New exclusive track
Youth of Today "One Night Stand" Unreleased song from final recording session
The Movielife "Fake Blood" Rare song from first demo
Side by Side "Guilty" Unreleased song recorded at their last show
Slipknot "Some Friend" Unreleased song from "S/T"
Sick Of It All "My Life" Rare song from out-of-print Together Comp
Judas Factor "Catch 22" Unreleased song from final session
Farside "Dark" Unreleased song from "S/T" 7'
Judge "Holding On" Rare song from "Chung King Can Suck It" LP

(Moldy)