There’s a reason I’ve had this release since February and am only getting around to it now. No it’s not my lack of productivity. In truth, after listening to Benighted’s Carnivore Sublime (Season of Mist) once, I really had no desire to ever listen to it again. Other reviewers have been talking up its catchiness and how they’re forerunners in this era of new death metal, so maybe I’ve been missed something but isn’t the definition of catchy ‘instantly appealing and memorable?’ Let me repeat my previous statement “I really had no desire to ever listen to it again.”
If I could relate them to any good bands, maybe Job For a Cowboy, though Job For a Cowboy’s drumming, bass and mastery of various vocal styles is far superior. Julien Truchan of Benighted is a pretty versatile vocalist to be fair but in the context of Benighted, his potential is lost amidst mundane, predictable deathcore. The experimental introduction of industrial metal was not a wise direction either in my opinion. The most brutal track is ‘Les Morsures du Cerbère;’ the only track on the album with French lyrics, acting as a sad reminder of this bands origins, France. An association I’d like to forget, since I like to think of the French metal scene as towering above this standard.
The title track, generally, should be the pinnacle of an album. One the entire band can back, that will sell them albums and shake the earth so to speak. ‘Carnivore Sublime’ probably does have the most mainstream composition on the album, which without the vocals, at times, could easily be a tribal influenced club hit. However, it is no where near the best (if I can even use that word in this review without gagging) track on the “Carnivore Sublime.”
I relinquish the efforts of waisting my breath on this album any further and my guess is, if you liked it, you’ve abandoned this review for a more favourable one long ago. Somehow Benighted have 7 albums under their belts so there must be fans out there somewhere. I just can’t call myself one of them.
2/10
CHRISTINE HAGER