Written by Zax
- Benighted
- Obscene Oppressed
- Death/Grind
- April 10th, 2020
- Season Of Mist (Benighted Merch)
- 9.2/10
Typically on this site I find myself digging into new material from bands I’m not that familiar with, and while that is fun and exciting, every now and again I get to delve into something I’ve been anticipating for months from a favorite artist of mine, and that is really special. It’s nice to take the time and really sink my teeth into something I’m so passionate about. On that note, today we’re talking about the new album from long running French deathgrind band Benighted.
I’ve been a big fan of Benighted for a very long time now, Benighted and Cattle Decapitation were actually the bands that got me into death metal, which is likely where my love for deathgrind stems from.
Obscene Oppressed is a concept record, and the concept is pretty fucked up. I won’t explain the whole thing, but basically it’s about a kid named Michael who has a cleft palate. His mother refuses to take him to a surgeon, instead ignoring it and having him wear bandages over his face so she doesn’t have to see it. As his life goes on he displays a lot of psychotic behavior which leads to a lot of the stories throughout the record.
Musically this album is top notch, as is commonplace for this band. The riffs are sharp, heavy, and furious. The drums on this record are great, fills everywhere and blast beats galore. The bass is grinding and snarled. It’s a very brutal experience that’s rooted in death metal, but has the intensity of your favorite grind record.
Benighted: Spotify / Bandcamp / Facebook / Instagram
The vocals are insanity as well. The high screams are insane and ear splitting. He’s got some great gutturals too. On top of that, we get their trademark mid screams that are made unique by his potent french accent, which has always made this band stand out to me. There’s also a feature from the vocalist of Hatebreed of all bands on the track “Implore The Negative.” Odd collaboration right? Yeah, but it works so well!
Catchy and death metal typically don’t go together, but that has never been the case for Benighted. They have a way of making the most catchy and memorable death metal imaginable, and I think it’s a combination of the unique vocals, the lyrics being easy to make out, and the repetition they use for certain phrases throughout the songs. For as dark and messed up as the concept is, it’s a really fun record to listen to!
With all that said, I’m gonna be bold and say this will be my death metal album of the year, and it’s going to take something amazing to beat it out. This is definitely worth your time.
9.2/10
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