Benediction // Review
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CD: Killing Music Released: 25 August 2008 |
Despite a number of line-up changes and periods of inactivity, Birmingham's Benediction are one of the UK's last bastions of old school death metal, and this year sees their first release since 2001's Organised Chaos, and something of a killer it is too, offering something for every true death head.
Killing Music kicks off with a slow burning, sinister intro which soon gives way to the hulking great riffs of The Grey Man and so the onslaught begins, as returning vocalist Dave Hunt takes us on a journey full of the kind of grisly imagery fans of the genre will lap up in droves. Serial killers are a heavily featured theme, as tracks such as They Must Die Screaming, and Immaculate Facade revel in the tales of Adolfo de Constanzo, Fritz Haarmann and the like, while other tracks explore the literary themes of writers such as the Marquis de Sade and Hubert Selby Jnr.
Musically the sound is as firmly rooted in the early 1990s as a band can be, with little evidence to be found of the cleanly produced technicality and reliance on blastbeats that bands use today. Groove and a low bottom end are the order of the day with plenty of driving rhythms and aggresive vocals, reminiscent of a more brutal Obituary to this reviewer. The groove is still present in even the faster numbers on the album, meaning that the listener never becomes lost in the flow of the songs. Faster tracks like the aforementioned They Must Die Screaming are full of memorable, massive riffs that provide plenty of highlights throughout.
If any criticism can be thrown at the album, it would be to say that Benediction have shown little variation throughout their career and have produced yet another album of the fairly mid-tempo death groove they are now known for. But anyone lucky enough to catch the band at Damnation Festival 08 or last year's Bloodstock Open Air will understand just how fun this band can be . Anyone who is tired of the current slew of overly technical scene bands will find Killing Music to be a welcome return to the glory days of old, when riff was king and a good headbang was all that mattered.
Review by Peter Thompson
Track Listing
| Killing Music |
[01] Intro [11] Burying the Hatchet [13] Betrayer (Bonus Track) |
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