Customer Reviews

Organized Chaos

5 star:		(0)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

I had to give this album 4 stars only because this album was missing Dave Ingram. But the new vocalist is still great. I recommend this album along with Grind Bastard and Transend the Rubion.

After front man Dave Ingram jumped ship in late 1998, Benediction got Dave Hunt to take over vocal duties. Dave Hunt is not a bad vocalist, he is more of the hardcore sounding variety than Ingram (think of it as sounding like the cro-mags merging with David Vincent). What a difference three years makes. Benediction here sounds most uninspired which is suprising because "Grind Bastard" was one of the strongest, most well written death metal albums....well, ever.

Other than the standout track "Stigmata", most of the songs are driven by mediocre to just plain awful riffs, proficient but boring mid-tempo drumming and a bass that doesn't do anything but hold down the line. The punk rock influence shines through a little bit more than on previous albums which in theory doesn't sound bad but it seems like they just used that as a crutch to make up for lame song writing. Sometimes they even come off sounding like later Pantera (ughnn, shock!)

If you love Benediction you'll end up buying this anyone but this can safely be left to be purchased last. If new to the band check out their prior efforts and whatever you do, don't start here. The only reason I didn't give this one star is because there are far worse products by far more popular bands and "Stigmata" alone saves this album from being one star. You can see even Nuclear Blast got tired of this one fast since I think this one was out of print before a year was up. Approach with caution.

For the past decade, Benediction has been a reliable source of premium Euro-thrash. Even their early pre-"Transcend the Rubicon" material was noteworthy, but with the new vocalist they seem to have passed the event horizon.

"Organized Chaos" suffers from the loss of Dave Ingram's trademark vocals, and the songwriting has the feeling of "contractual obligation" about it. This album is a serious letdown from the good old days of "The Dreams You Dread" and "Grind Bastard." Those discs still get a lot of play in my house, but "Organised Chaos" flickered and died a mercifully quick demise.