BENEDICTION · The Grand Leveller | CD

Super jewel case CD with 8-page booklet. Artwork restored from the original first press. Limited to 500 copies.

Background information about 'The Grand Leveller'

There is a moment about forty seconds into "Vision In The Shroud" where Benediction simply stop being polite. The riffs lock in, Barney Greenway's replacement Dave Ingram starts barking like a man who has seen things, and "The Grand Leveller" announces itself as one of the great British death metal records of its era. Originally released in 1991 on Nuclear Blast, this is the sound of a band from Birmingham refusing to be boxed in by the grindcore tag that followed them around — slower, heavier, and far more interested in groove than in sheer velocity.

What makes the album hold up is its swing. "Graveworm" lurches with a filthy, almost punk swagger, "Jumping At Shadows" builds its tension through restraint before the payoff, and "Opulence Of The Absolute" shows the band had a genuine feel for dynamics rather than just a wall of distortion. The rhythm section of Frank Healy and Neil Hutton is an absolute machine here, and the production keeps everything rough enough to feel dangerous while still letting the individual instruments breathe.

This 2026 edition from Cosmic Key Creations is a proper labour of love: an updated vinyl master, and artwork recreated from the original first press, restoring pictures and details that had quietly vanished from later reissues. For anyone who wore out a tape copy back in the day, hearing this with fresh clarity is a genuine thrill. Death metal with grit, groove and history baked in.

For fans of: Bolt Thrower, Napalm Death, Asphyx, Cancer, Autopsy

Other Versions

LTD.RED VINYL LP · Sold out CD · Sold out RED/YELLOW SPLATTER LP · Sold out BLACK LP · 27,99 €

Track listing

1. Vision In The Shroud
2. Graveworm
3. Jumping At Shadows
4. Opulence Of The Absolute
5. Child Of Sin
6. Undirected Aggression
7. Born In A Fever
8. The Grand Leveller
9. Senile Dementia
10. Return To The Eve

Placer on the market according to GPSR: Four Flames GmbH & Co. KG, In der Garte 38, 49479 Ibbenbueren, Germany, Contact: fourflames.com