Benediction
Grind Bastard

Only a single negative episode was the album "The Dreams You Dread": a mediocre work I never would have expected from a band like Benediction, real hounds and absolute protagonists of the first wave of Death Metal that emerged from the darkness in England at the end of the eighties.

It took them very little time to get back on track and after a contemplative break of three years, they emerged from exile with a lethal album: overflowing with executive violence, excellent production, a perfect symbiosis between all the instruments. An album completely immersed in Death-Thrash sounds that brings them closer to the early part of their career, though not actually reaching the stormy and dark peaks.

This is "Grind Bastard" released in 1998 by the German label Nuclear Blast; a work that surpasses the hour mark in duration, without ever showing signs of exhaustion or boredom in its listening. My opinion this time is not even up for much debate.

A leaden and reverberated guitar sound that then comes to life accompanied by Dave's cavernous growl: it's the opener "Deadfall". Suddenly the tone changes, rises, and the track explodes in a very fast gallop that immediately highlights the imperious drumming of a still very young Neil Hutton (it's no coincidence that one of his idols is a certain Dave "triple bass drum" Lombardo).

They don't want to experiment as in the previous album, so here are the solid and heavy blows of "Agonised" and "Neverbomb". A sure example of how they knew how to "push" with a sound so aggressive as to instill true terror in the listener!

"Electric Eye" a cover by the masters Judas Priest seems positioned mid-set to provide a breather; but the respite lasts little because the endless seven minutes of the title track follow, with its crushing slow pace. A mid-tempo that near the end of its monumental course experiences an increase in speed, only to circularly return to more controlled yet no less incisive times.

The very brief napalm burst (death added just to savor) of "We The Freed" with its Punk-Hardcore charge is a punch in the stomach without the possibility of defense...and thus we reach the end.

A solid, well-focused work; their last one worthy of note.

Ad Maiora.