Click for "Timeline"

Highlights:

1986: Revelation forms

1987: Revelation records its first demo, "Face Reality."

1988: Bert Hall joins Revelation

1989: Revelation records its first demo with Bert Hall, "The Illusion of Progress."

1990: Revelation appears on the compliation "Dark Passages"

1991: "Salvation's Answer" is released on Rise Above Records.

1992: Josh Hart joins Revelation

1992: "Never Comes Silence" is released on Hellhound Records.

1993: John Brenner and Josh Hart leave Revelation.

1994: Dennis Cornelius and Jim Hunter join Revelation.

1995: "...Yet So Far" is released on Hellhound Records.

2003: "Frozen Masque" is released by The Miskatonic Foundation.

2007. Revelation plays two sets at the "Doom or Be Doomed" festival in Baltimore, MD.

2007: Revelation reforms with members Bert Hall, John Brenner, and Steve Branagan.

2008: "Release" is released on Leaf Hound Records.

2008: Revelation tours in Japan with Church of Misery and Eternal Elysium.

2009: Revelation's self-titled record from 1988 is released on The Church Within Records.

2009: Revelation plays the Doom Shall Rise VI festival.

2010: Revelation headlines a day at the Dutch Doom Days IX festival in Rotterdam, Holland.

 

History

Here is a brief history of Revelation and Against Nature. For more detail, please see the "Timeline" feature.

Revelation

Friends since childhood, the members of Against Nature were once known as the Baltimore, MD doom metal band Revelation. As Revelation, the group began exploring their vision in May of 1986. Originally comprised of John Brenner (guitar and vocals), Andy Kremer (bass), and Steve Branagan (drums), they released the demo "Face Reality" in January, 1987. Shortly afterward, Andy left the band and John began recording and playing bass guitar temporarily. Revelation's doom metal sound and style became more defined and the demos "Terminal Destiny" and "Images of Darkness" were released, in the summer and winter, respectively, of 1987.

In February of 1988, Bert Hall Jr., who had played with John in bands since the early 80s, joined as bassist and made the line-up complete. After recording and scrapping a self-financed record (because of their dissatisfaction with the recording and performance), Revelation then recorded their fourth demo, "The Illusion of Progress." This new music with Bert saw them adding a progressive, Rush-influenced aspect to their style and gaining them label interest.

Revelation appeared on the Doom Metal sampler "Dark Passages" in 1990 with the song "Blessed Realm," which led to a recording deal with Rise Above Records (owned by Lee Dorrian, of Cathedral and Napalm Death). "Salvations Answer," their first full-length recording, was recorded in June of 1990 and released on Rise Above Records in early 1991. Shortly after their first release, and without a recording contract, instead of sitting idle, the band decided to record their fifth demo, "The Unbearable Vision." Bert Hall left Revelation shortly afterward to pursue his personal music vision.

Josh Hart joined the band on bass in late 1991, and soon afterward, Revelation signed a recording contract with Germany's Rise Above Records. The band recorded "Never Comes Silence," which was released in 1992. In early 1993, John left Revelation and retired from music, and Josh left shortly afterward to join Unorthodox. Revelation continued with more releases and shows with the line-up of Branagan, Cornelius, and Hunter. This line-up released "...Yet So Far" on Hellhound Records in 1995 and "Frozen Masque" on The Miskatonic Foundation in 2003.

In 2007, Revelation decided to reform as a band and write new material, with the line-up of John Brenner, Bert Hall, and Steve Branagan, the same line-up that recorded "Salvation's Answer." The newest recording, titled "Release," is available from Leaf Hound Records. In July, 2008, Revelation completed a short headlining tour in Japan with Church of Misery and Eternal Elysium. 2009's Doom Shall Rise VI festival in Goppingen, Germany featured the dual headliners Revelation and Pagan Altar on April 17th. Appearances at the Templars of Doom III and Born Too Late II festivals followed in 2009. 2010 was another busy year for Revelation, with festival appearances in Holland and Canada.

 

Against Nature

In July 2004, returning after a 13 year absence, the Salvation's Answer-era line-up of Revelation re-formed as Against Nature and began writing and rehearsing new music, just for fun. The fun quickly turned into a serious artistic commitment, and the band recorded two discs' worth of music, "Appease" and "Panoply," at one studio session in May 2005. On a creative drive that has not subsided to this day, the band recorded their next three discs in quick succession: "Safe Dissonance," "Ghosting," and "Leer," all released in 2006. The Church Within Records also released a 7-inch vinyl single, "Pluperfect," in the same year.

2007 saw the release of the Manilla Road song "Crystal Logic" with Butch Balich (Argus, ex-Penance) on vocals on a Solemnity Records tribute double-CD, "The Riddle Masters";  the band's sixth full-length release "The Anxiety of Influence"; and their seventh full-length, "Unfolded." Two shorter releases, "Descend" and "Much in Little," were released in early 2008, and "Natural Blue" and "Accumulus" were released in September and October of 2008. "Action at a Distance" and "The First Rain" were release in March and April of 2009.

Against Nature has played the Templars of Doom II festival in Indianapolis, the Doom Shall Rise IV festival in Germany, the Stoner Hands of Doom VII festival in Mesa, AZ, the Doomed to Fall festival in San Antonio, TX in 2006, the Doom or Be Doomed festival (hosted and organized by John Brenner and Josh Hart) in Baltimore, MD in 2007, the Declaration of Doom festival in Baltimore, MD in 2008, and the 20 Buck Spin III festival in Washington, DC in November, 2008. Against Nature also toured in the U.K. in October, 2007 with Warning and The River, followed by a US tour with Toronto's Electric Magma, which culminated in the Stoner Hands of Doom VIII festival in Arizona in November, 2007.

In 2009, Against Nature played at the Stoner Hands of Doom X festival in Frederick, MD. The band released three full albums in 2010: "Drawing Arrows," "Chasing Eagles," and "Cross Street."