I think that the UK Death Metal scene is oddly underrated, yeah sure we’ve got Napalm Death and Bolt Thrower but behind all that there is so much more. What about Gorerotted, Cancer, and Desecrator. More recently we’ve seen bands like Party Cannon, Ingested, Colpocleisis, Cryptic Shift and so much more. Another such band whom whilst successful I feel are often a bit forgotten are the mighty Benediction. I think in the UK they have a lot of prowess but not nearly enough worldwide, now with their mighty return will new fame and fortunate befall Benediction!
Formed back in 1989 (that’s some old school right there) Benediction made waves with their Barney Greenway fronted debut Subconscious Terror. Then in 1991 came the bands second record The Grand Leveller which saw Dave Ingram take the vocal helm. Following this in 1993 came the greatly praised Transcend The Rubicon, a Death Metal classic if ever there was one. Ingram would stay in the vocal seat until 2001’s Organised Chaos. Now he returns to front the first new Benediction album in 12 years! Scriptures the bands eighth full length comes to us through Nuclear Blast, have they still got it?
A triumphant Death Metal cascade crashes in at the introduction of Iterations Of I. This coupled with some massive OSDM riffs full of ferocious memorability makes for something truly epic. Then in come the much awaited vocals of Dave Ingram and with great effect. Brutal yet in the most purest and oldest sense of the word. Following up with Thrash focused fury comes Scriptures In Scarlet, one for all the circle pit fanatics out there. Next to make an impact is Stormcrow an all out Death Metal assault full of classic riffs that whilst not complex still resonate. Couple this with some catchy lyrical portions and you’ve got a real crusher of a song. In a similar tale is Progenitors Of A New Paradigm, catchy classic and standard Benediction, nothing special as such but good well rounded Death Metal.
Into the second half of the record In Our Hands, The Scars gives us more standard yet well constructed Death Metal fair, I particularly enjoy the guitars in this track, lots of nice sluggish moments that are a bit different to the rest of the album. Neverwhen injects some Obituary styled riffs into the mix, reminiscent of Cause Of Death era, yet the track as a whole still has a Benediction edge to it to set it apart. Final track We Are Legion’s opening kind of reminds me of the albums opening track, a nice call back that I feel pays off. It’s also a powerful and devastating Death Metal banger full of vocal and instrumental hooks to keep the listener interested right through to the end.
When reviewing these kinds of records I often ask myself the question, ‘if this band wasn’t classic would it still be good?’ The answer in this case is certainly a yes. This is well written punchy Death Metal for the masses. Sure it really isn’t all that different or particularly interesting from a musical stand point, but is it solid? Absolutely! This album kind of has a ‘my first Death Metal record’ feel about it, but one that is as good for newbies as it is for the initiated. Benediction should be very proud to pull an album like this out of the bag so deep into their career.
(8/10 George Caley)
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