Carnivore Sublime

Benighted is a good litmus test for those annoying old-school guys who claim to "like bands that actually have riffs". Benighted does, in fact, have riffs. However, if you don't listen attentively, you're probably not going to hear them, because you'll hear the modern death metal sheen and the pig squeals and then somehow justify that THOSE are what make Benighted sound like shit. Keep in mind you listen to an entire genre of sounds designed to be abrasive and uncomfortable...I'm sorry that not every single one of those albums was produced by Scott Burns.

I should probably get off the high horse a little bit - in all fairness, it took me a bit to really "get" Benighted. I liked Asylum Cave right away, but that was mostly because I'll listen to anything that's like 75-80% blastbeats. Not much else appealed to me initially - it wasn't super unique as I had heard deathcore and deathgrind before, and because Benighted can have straightforward songwriting, it basically amounts to a more tastefully French version of Cattle Decapitation. The vocalist was getting a shitload of praise for his versatility, and as someone who highly touts the vocal styles of Matt Chalk and Kvarforth for the same reasons, Julien Truchan seemed like child's play compared to that. Okay, dude has a pig squeal, a mid-range yell and a high rasp and rotates through the three like most modern death metal vocalists do, what exactly is making this stand out to so many people?

I did get it eventually. Funny enough, what got the ball rolling was hearing Truchan's performance side-by-side next to a vocalist I mentioned earlier (Kvarforth). It's easy for me to say that Kvarforth is a better vocalist with a wider range of motion when I have no real way of verifying that, but for whatever reason he did a guest vocal spot on this album (Maybe he's buddies with Julien?). Now my hands are kind of tied, because on that song ("Spit"), Truchan sounds WAY better. Could just be that it's his band and he's gonna know what works, but Kvarforth's snarling, off-the-rails delivery does not work in that same context, and hearing his breathy sputtering makes you realize how much power Truchan is actually putting behind his voice. Truchan doesn't have the same "X factor" that Kvarforth has that makes you want to hear him, but otherwise he's got a bit of everything - speed with precision, consistency with variety, insanity mixed with careful composition - and all those tools in his toolbox may not make him the best growler you've ever heard, but objectively this guy is the jack of all vocal trades. At first, he sounds like your stock deathcore vocalist, but careful examination shows a lot more going on.

Once the vocals clicked, everything else fell into place naturally. The music is kind of guided by them, and they are by far the most showy and technical element present (very uncommon with death metal). At this point, Truchan is the only founding member remaining, but Carnivore Sublime has a fairly stable lineup situation with most members having around a decade's worth of tenure in the band at the time of its release. I noticed that most people on this album also left the band within three years after - was this a death knell of sorts? I haven't kept up with the band's history much. It seems like a lot of people think Asylum Cave was their best, and Carnivore Sublime just goes deeper into the same sound and doesn't add a lot extra, so maybe this got underrated when it came out. It's a shame, because this is all meat and potatoes. Though focused listening reveals a lot of cool little songwriting tricks and clinically tight drumming and rhythm changes, it's not immediately present - at first it sounds like a stock Whitechapel clone with a drum machine, and it sounds like that for just long enough to scare off the pretentious nerds, but then about three tracks in you realize they don't do that thing Whitechapel does where one riff out of every four or five absolutely blows donkey ass. This is definitely worth picking up for anyone who's already a fan, or if you wanna hear blasty death metal with some fuckin' riffs.

Benighted are one of those bands who I had heard of before, yet due to being obsessed with other bands and albums, never really gave them much of a chance. I remember hearing a song or two a few years ago and just shrugging it off, deciding that whatever I was listening to at the time was better or more suitable for my mood. Thus, Benighted got shelved.

Fast forward a few years and I am now obsessed with this band, kicking myself for not being more attentive earlier. Benighted is special because they don't really fall into any sub genre. They have elements of death metal, hardcore, progressive and just about anything you can think of - even electronic - and they blend it all together expertly. The first time I sat down and listened to this album from start to finish I was blown away - and it's hard to blow away someone who's been listening to metal for 25 years.

A few things I love about this band. First off, the vocals. Benighted aren't shy to use a wide variety of vocal styles in their onslaught. From the deep growls, screams and pig squeals, they pretty much have it all. And they are all done incredibly well and tastefully. Second, the drumming. Imagine my surprise when I learned that Kevin Paradis was the drummer on this album. A wonderful surprise, because I have been following him on YouTube for years.

Lastly, and this is very important - the riffs. A lot of bands these days forget that the most important part in metal is having great riffs that you can remember and bang your head to. Thunderous motherfuckers, riffs that can move mountains. And Benighted has that, which is one of the reasons I've been so drawn to them.

Another aspect is the excellent arranging on this album. The drum parts are fantastic and arranged near perfectly. It's not all blast beats and double bass laid underneath everything, which is just a lazy way of writing drum parts. They are expertly crafted and arranged, and compliment the riffs perfectly.

I don't think I need to go over individual tracks, though I will say that "Experience Your Flesh" is probably my favorite offering on this album. The whole disc is just beast.

Hard, brutal, fast, experimental, these guys really have it all. They are like the perfect metal band for me, and I will be watching them like a hawk from now on. Can't wait for the new one which should be coming out in a few weeks. This stuff is fantastic.

Although they started back in 2000 as a black/death act with nods to early Opeth (hence the band name), now France’s Benighted is a filthy, ultra-groovy and much different beast altogether. Most of their albums, including 2011’s excellent (and, for me, list-topping) Asylum Cave, are like being flung around inside a brutal death/grind bounce house packed with churning guitars, jackhammer ratatat percussion, an asylum’s worth of demented vocals and perforated with throat-shredding BREEEEEs. That BREEEE-BREEEEE sound may be reviled by many metalheads, but Benighted owns and wears it like a badge of crispy, blood-smeared bacon. These guys know who they are, they know what they like, and lucky for me, I like it too.

Other death metal acts may be all about the slaughter, but these guys are professional butchers. They take the best elements of their chosen genres and slice them down to their bloody essences: the speedy insanity of grindcore, the murderous lurch and bestial roar of brutal death, and grooves so deep they cut to the bone. Carnivore Sublime is one hugely entertaining track after another, each one expertly carved and served up like a juicy slab of meat. No gristle, no fat, just barely seared muscle all juicy and delicious. “Noise,” “Defiled Purity,” and “Collection of Dead Portraits” are some of my immediate favorites, but the entire album is fantastic from start to finish.

Julian “Truch” Truchan uses deep growls, guttural mutters, grindy shrieks and plenty of Deliverance pig squeals, and his restless approach keeps things varied and entertaining. Same goes for the songwriting – pacing and structure are expertly varied and arranged, with a careful balance between addictive groove and entertaining change-ups. It’s complex without being showy, and viscerally satisfying without being overly simple. There’s also just the right amount of melody to keep the blood flowing. It’s definitely not melodic death, but it’s also far from monolithic. Listen below the thunder in tracks like “Experience Your Flesh,” “Slaughter/Suicide,” and “Les Morsures du Cerbure,” and you’ll hear hints of creeping dread and cataclysmic terror. (There’s also a nifty long pig nightmare of tribal cannibal percussion halfway through the title track which put a smile on my face.) These melodic strains elevate the songs above your average relentless beatdowns, and at times, reminded me of moments from the band’s one-time namesake.

Ever since I heard Asylum Cave a few years ago, Benighted has become one of my favorite death metal acts in any sub-genre. Other similar albums have also satisfied that brutal death/grind bloodlust since then (Cattle Decapitation’s Monolith of Inhumanity and Aborted’s Global Flatline, to name a couple), but I have mostly been salivating for Carnivore Sublime. It was a meal worth waiting for, and one I will be regurgitating onto my year-end list come December.

Originally published on teethofthedivine.com