Obey

Greetings! Another March return, it seems. Let's call it tradition by now, eh? A lot's been going on in the metal world since I last reviewed. Longer than that, this band's been off my radar. Apparently, Benedictum had to replace their rhythm section in 2012. Okay, fair enough. Still having the guitarist, vocalist and keyboard player (who's also since quit - goodness, what's the deal?) is the main thing, right? Well, not always. It comes down to skill and chemistry. Frankly, I'm not feeling much of either here. Or maybe there's some other trouble. Maybe they just don't have anything new to say. In any case, let's get into why this album disappoints me quite a bit.

Right off the bat, I'm noticing Veronica's vocals. Well, naturally - they're a huge selling point for this band. But the vocals on here don't make me jump outta my seat the way previous entries in this band's catalogue did. To me, she's sounding kind of strained. This is especially noticeable, I guess ironically, on the track "Scream", but it's ever-present, really. The lack of backing vocals - the occasional contribution here and there from Pete Wells - is also an issue. Usually, any "backing" vocals are recordings of Veronica backing her own leads, or multi-tracking for a layered 'group' effect. This works for some bands, but the effect is mostly lost here. "Evil That We Do" is a notable culprit of this.

I mentioned that Diaz was still on board for this. Well, apparently. Keyboard lines are so sparse on Obey, I have to wonder why he was kept around at all - when it's there, it's almost always just a thin synth layer, practically imperceptible without good speakers. The new rhythm section - well, they're there. That's about it. The drummer - hey, I'm no expert, but he really does NOTHING for me. Dull, keeping-the-beat-and-that's-it kinda drumming. Occasionally, outright poor to my ears - on "Cry" and "Obey", I keep imagining things he COULD be doing, SHOULD be even, but the effort is never made. The bassist is actually decent, come to think. Rarely adventurous or distinct - but then again, would you really want it to be overly up-front in this band? Actually, that question would only have the "no" response on the older material. This album really could use some extra punch, some kind of fire under its ass. That "Cry" song I mentioned has a guest male vocal part, it's a duet of sorts, but I'll be fucked if I could care who it is or what they're singing. Everything's just kind of happening, going through the motions.

I don't even know much to say that's positive about this album - there's music on it, it's produced fairly well, Pete Wells is pretty good (if less imaginative / more chuggy this time around), Veronica's got a cool voice but again - kinda strained a lot of the time, to my ears. By the time "Die to Love You" rolls around. you'll either be asleep, fast-forwarding or playing something better. Maybe one of their old albums, come to think.

So, yeah. A pretty stagnant, by-the-books release here. I didn't ever expect that a Benedictum album could just make me so indifferent. There's nothing to latch onto here. I don't give a shit about a single song on it - every track just rolls by. How can choruses be this ... uncatchy? Decent solo on "Apex Nation", I suppose. The end track would be okay, if it weren't 7 minutes long. That is to say, 7 minutes of nothing new, just well-produced re-tread. If you've heard Dominion, you've already heard this album - it was just better the first time around. Better choruses, better vocals, better line-up, cool bonus tracks. Even the album cover sucks.

This shit is basically Benedictum covering Benedictum. I say pick any previous effort over this one, folks. Veronica may well be She-Dio, but this one is definitely the last in line.