BENIGHTED - Icon · ORANGE LP

Orange vinyl LP in heavy cover with insert. Limited to 100 hand-numbered copies.

More about 'Icon'

When Benighted unleashed "Icon" in 2007, they weren't just delivering another brutal death metal assault – they were crafting what many consider their masterpiece.Icon is the fifth studio album by French death metal band Benighted, and man, what a beast it is!Title "Icon" stands for "Infinite Conscience of Nothingness", which perfectly captures the existential brutality that courses through every track.After a lackluster follow-up to ICP, Icon really steps things up. Great brutal DM with a few grind moments here and there. The French deathgrind masters found their sweet spot here, balancing technical prowess with raw, unfiltered aggression.The first thing that makes this album different is the vocals are a lot more creative, there are "less brutal" parts here and there and even a little bit experimenting on the track "Grind Wit" (I want to call it emceeing, but it doesn't really seem like it). The guitar work continues to be the highlight for me, there are way more memorable riffs on this album and the leads seem to have more prominence on this album.What makes Benighted so good, above and beyond their superb grasp of all things death metal (blasts, growls, grooves, feral complexity, tight musicianship) is their ability to be just cutting edge enough and possess adventurous elements to make them stand out. Admittedly, Icon isn't quite as technical as Identisick was, with its almost Decapitated like prose at times, and seems far heavier on the grindcore element and straight up furor. This thing wasrecorded, mixed and mastered at Kohlekeller Studios, Seeheim-Jugenheim, Germany, giving it that crushing European production quality that makes every blast beat hit like a sledgehammer.

For fans of:
Cryptopsy, Dying Fetus, Decapitated, Gorguts, and Immolation

Track listing

A1. Complete Exsanguination
A2. Slut
A3. Grind Wit
A4. Saw It All
A5. Forsaken
A6. Smile Then Bleed
A7. Pledge Of Retaliation
B8. Icon
B9. Human Circles
B10. Invoxhate
B11. The Underneath
B12. Blindfolded Centuries

Manufacturer: Four Flames GmbH & Co. KG, In der Garte 38, 49479 Ibbenbüren, Germany, Contact: supremechaos.com