ALBUM REVIEW: Benediction – Scriptures

English Death Metal titans BENEDICTION need no introduction, a classic band who recently re-introduced their legendary frontman David Ingram to the lineup. This is their 8th full length, out now via Nuclear Blast Records. Let’s dive right into this monolith.

Wasting no time on introduction, a storm of guitar and drums pummel into fruition and then dissipate into creepy guitars before returning to a pulverising array of hammered beats, asphyxiating riffs and Mr Ingram’s signature snarled vocals, let us rejoice, Benediction are back with a formidable rejuvenation of their old school tyranny. Grooving hooks concoct a deadly and meaty soundscape with a monstrous production that truly captures the essence of these morbid maniacs whose importance to the UK Extreme Metal world cannot be overstated. With as much brutality as on their classics, it does not take long for the record to sink its teeth into your skull as the rampage through ravenous pieces of total ferocity. Hopefully they keep up this crushing assault as consistently as they have before.

Invocations of demonic riffing and drumming continue to spew forth with such barbaric aggression that it is undeniably some of their strongest material to date. There seems to be a fantastic energy on this album, perhaps due to the recent rejoining of their classic vocalist that really ties all of the devastating Death Metal fury together. Thrashing forth, a lot of the mid-tempo crawls keep a huge amount of atmospherics in the heart of the sound but we get plenty of dynamic shifts into bone-splintering onslaughts of total obliteration or eerie breaks, each accentuating the overall heaviness of the record gorgeously. A band as legendary as Benediction will naturally have a unique identity and this has not been lost, while there is certainly plentiful new ideas from these seasoned blasphemers, the classic feel of the band is tangibly potent, something we are all going to be glad of.

Volatile and relentless, each track is an absolute banger of epic proportions that barrels into the next destructive piece without remorse, taking all listeners into the tornado of viscera that is left in the wake of such decimating musicianship. The tightness of the band has grown considerably with a punchy and clean-cut edge to the tempests of evil that doesn’t feel overly produced but definitely has a sonic punch of momentous production value. Perhaps there is a few ideas that are used a touch to much for some who prefer constantly evolving songs but I find this also aids the catchiness and groove of the tracks, so that can really go either way. What cannot be argued is how fearsome and heavy the album is with some killer songwriting and musical execution that will shake the angels from the heavens and show them the abyss. This beast has been unshackled and will not be tamed, this is for the best. See for yourself, lest you be left behind this new piece of self-defining savagery.

So Benediction are back and with one of the best releases of their catalogue so far. Taking the classic morbid energy of “Transcend The Rubicon” and “The Grand Leveller” into the 21st century with such a firestorm of brutality that none can deny this is a crushing return to form from a legendary titan of Death Metal mastery. An unmissable record for any Death Metal fan. -8.5/10