Customer Reviews

Subconsious Terror-Rel

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This is a great album to get for any Benediction fan. If you haven't heard their music yet then let's just say this. If you like Slayer, classic Sepultura (i.e. with Max), and like any of the following bands: Cannibal Corpse, Malevolent Creation, Hypocrisy, Morbid Angel. Then you should definitely like Benediction. If you haven't picked up any of their releases, then I would start with any of the following three first: Grind Bastard, Dreams You Dread and Transcend The Rubicon. Subconscious Terror and Grand Leveller is their first 2 studio albums, they had some great riffs but their music got a lot better after these two. This reissue of benediction's first two releases is actually 4 releases in one package. Not only you're getting their first two full-length albums, you're also getting their 2 EP releases 'Dark Is The Season' and 'The Grotesque/Ashen Epitaph' as extra tracks. You can't beat that!! By the way, picking up these Reloaded releases of Benediction by Nuclear Blast is a great way to get all their material pretty quickly. There is two other Reloaded releases which includes their other albums except for Killing Music.

Yes.. another unknown, long out of print, DEATH FUKKING METAL album!! from the vault's of 1990!!

This is so OLD SCHOOL!!!!! were gonna see if your a poser or not..the poser will turn this off in two sec's due to ''crappy production'' but boy does it work well on this album's atmosphere!! never really heard any other production quite like this..sound's like it was made a semi electronic CAVE!!

The intro is pretty cool..but not mandatory for everey listen!

As soon as the song's hit you though.. your NECK WILL SNAP!!! headbanging to this album is too easy!! I think this is one the best album's to ''THRASH'' around to!

There ya have it..more buried DEATH METAL..find it..but only for the TRUE!!! NOT for you triggered bass drum Jag off's!!

BENEDICTION's DEBUT..A MOMENT IN TIME!!!!

''THRASH YA MOTHER FU*CKER's''

Spooky introductions are [bad]. Unfortunately, lots of metal bands have tried them over the years, like Benediction did here. It seems like back-masked vocals over atmospheric noises are supposed to be scary. The noises weren't very effective, even in 1990.

Luckily, things improve. Kicking off the title track with a rumbling bass drone, Benediction prove very quickly they do things a little differently to the average Death Metal band. For one thing, they show an excellent understanding of dynamics. While most bands were trying to go faster/heavier/more brutal, Benediction were one of the first to reign in the speed and add thunderous mid-paced passages to songs. Slowing down the tempo ups the effectiveness of the drumming on this album in particular. Ian Treacy is of the Mike Sus school of "who cares if it's out of time, as long as it's heavy" drumming, but he really grabs your attention here, with the drums well up in the mix. The bass drum is particularly solid, like dropping bricks on your head.

There's a kind of famous guy doing vocals on this album. Barney Greenway growls his way through the album, in a-typical Death Metal style. It is easy to see why Napalm Death grabbed him permanently after this album. His Hardcore approach to Death Metal vocals made the lyrics easily decipherable, where most death grunts would have rendered them unlistenable. Barney's political awareness surfaced on the track "Divine Ultimatum", making a refreshing break from the satanic and/or gore riddled fare most bands peddled. Elsewhere on the album, there are good doses of blood and guts and Beelzebub, but there are also tales of psychosis and nightmare induced insanity.

To be brutally honest, this album does sound dated, but as a period piece, it is an excellent example of a band already looking to the future of Death Metal while it was still on the rise. This is also on blood and gore splattered vinyl, which is a nice visual touch.

This Album is a classic metal album. From the first beat to the last, you will love this album. The guitars while not the loudest certainly add to the prue brutallity of this band. The vocals of Barney Greenway do wonders for the band even though he left shotly after this recording for Napalm Death. If you love Benediction then buy this album.

Benediction burst forth in 1989 from the hot bed center of music in the UK, Birmingham. (Home also to other great Death Metal acts like Bolt Thrower.) The band huriedly recorded "Subconscious Terror". This comes across quite clearly in the record as is exampled by the album's horrible production.



Benediction doesn't really sound like any other Death Metal band. Death Metal probably never had a band with heavier drinkers either. You listen to these guys and they sound like big drinkers. They also stand out by their mid tempo songs that always seem to have dramatic introductions. Another way they stand out by incorporating a little bit of hardcore into their music (it is something that is only hinted at and never overbearing.) This is seen best by Benediction's choice in a singer, Mark "Barney" Greenway. You can understand what he's saying but his voice is still brutal. The guitars are marked by simple but catchy riffs with plenty of space as opposed to the machine gun riffing most death metal bands were beginning to be known for. The drumming is mostly simple but remains pretty busy in the fills. All of this incorporates a great degree of melody.



Since this early work of Benediction shows the band as something of a fragment, it isn't the most representative example of their work. This is even furthered by the fact that "Barney" left shortly after this album to reform Napalm Death for the "Harmony Corruption" second generation of Napalm Death. Benediction would then have to reform and find another front man which gave them the brilliant front man Dave Ingram.



Recommended if you are a completist and have all of Benediction's other work (Transcend the Rubicon, Dreams you Dread, Dark is the Season, Grotesque Ashen Epitaph, the Grand Leveller, and Grind Bastard.) If you're new to the group check out 'Transcend' or 'Leveller' or 'Grind Bastard' first.