UMUR "Dark Is the Season" is an EP release by UK death metal act Benediction. The EP was released in October 1992 by Nuclear Blast Records to fill out the time gap between the the band´s 2nd and 3rd full-length studio albums "The Grand Leveller (1991)" and "Transcend the Rubicon (1993)". Benediction didn´t lie low in the early nineties but rather stroke while the iron was hot and with great success. Because of extensive touring with the likes of Dismember, Asphyx and Bolt Thrower, Benediction didn´t have time to complete a full-length release but between touring activities they did find time in December 1991 to record 4 out of the 5 tracks on "Dark Is the Season".

The music on the EP is old school death metal. Deep intelligeble growling vocals, simple, catchy and brutal riffing and some decent musicianship. The tracks "Foetus Noose" (the band made a video for this track) and "Dark Is the Season" are new original compositions. Especially the morbid doomy nature of the latter is something that I greatly enjoy. The sound production and the compositional style of the two new tracks are very similar to the production and the compositional style on "The Grand Leveller" and could easily have fit on that album. "Forged in Fire" is a cover of the Anvil classic and seldom has a death metal cover sounded this great. I´m sure good old Steve "Lips" Kudlow would be proud if he heard the result. The EP also includes "Jumping at Shadows" from "The Grand Leveller" but while the track is arguably one of the highlights of that album, it´s inclusion on this EP doesn´t add much value unless you don´t own "The Grand Leveller". The last track on the album is a re-recorded version of "Experimental Stage" from "Subconscious Terror (1990)". The original version of course featured original Benediction frontman Mark "Barney" Greenway (Napalm Death) on vocals while this re-recorded version features Dave Ingram. Besides the fact that it´s a great death metal track and that there is a better sound quality than on the original version, it´s not one of the highlights on the EP.

"Dark Is the Season" is a pretty good EP release by Benediction and definitely a worthy purchase to fans of the band. 24:57 minutes of playing time ensures that there is not only quality here but also quantity (even though "Jumping at Shadows" takes up 6:04 of those minutes) to those who crave that before they will spend money on an EP. A 3.5 - 4 star rating is well deserved.

UMUR "The Grand Leveller" is the 2nd full-length studio album by UK death metal act Benediction. The album was released in October 1991 by Nuclear Blast Records. There´s been a lineup change since the release of "Subconscious Terror (1990)" as lead vocalist Mark "Barney" Greenway left Benediction to join Napalm Death as a replacement for Lee Dorian shortly after the release of the debut album. Mark "Barney" Greenway was quickly replaced by Dave Ingram who also toured with Benediction in support of "Subconscious Terror".

"The Grand Leveller" features what I think of as the epitome of old school death metal. The vocals are one-dimensionally growling but not in an unintelligible way, the guitars are downtuned, gritty and pretty simple, the drummer only occasionally use double bass pedals and instead play mid-paced punked D-beat type beats or slower doomy beats, the lyrics and the general atmosphere are dark and morbid and the sound production has that analog/ organic and slightly muddy quality to it, that fans of the genre usually desire.

While the lyrics on "The Grand Leveller" are both morbid and circles around the darker sides of life as is the case on most old school death metal albums, they are actually quite clever for the genre. The inclusion of excerpts from letters sent by David Berkowitz ("The Son Of Sam") in "Jumping at Shadows" and excerpts from letters sent by "Jack the Ripper" in "Born in a Fever" suit the lyrics of those tracks brilliantly and further enhances the already morbid atmosphere of the album.

Both "Jumping at Shadows" and "Born in a Fever" are definitely among the highlights of the album. Other standout tracks include "Graveworm" and "Child of Sin" but there´s nothing sub par on the album which is amazingly consistent in quality. The original vinyl version only featured 8 tracks while the CD version included the "Senile Dementia" and the Celtic Frost cover "Return to the Eve" as bonus tracks.

The musicianship is solid but nothing out of the ordinary. Drummer Ian Treacy still sounds a bit clumsy and occasionally plays some awkward things, but thankfully he has improved since "Subconscious Terror" and his style of playing suits the rest of the music fine.

"The Grand Leveller" is yet another great death metal album from the golden year of 1991. Personally I think the quality of the band´s output throughout the years has been inconsistent and I somewhat agree with those who claim that Benediction shouldn´t be counted among the greatest UK death metal acts. But if you ask me "The Grand Leveller" stands as something speciel in the band´s discography and deserves recognition as one of the greatest old school UK death metal albums from those days. A 4 star rating is fully deserved.

UMUR "Subconscious Terror" is the debut full-length studio album by UK death metal act Benediction. The album was released in September 1990 by Nuclear Blast Records. "Subconscious Terror" was recorded and mixed by Mick Harris (at the time drummer in Napalm Death) and Benediction between September 1989 and January 1990. It´s interesting to note how fast things were going for the young band who had been formed in February 1989. In the time between February 1989 and September 1989 when they started recording "Subconscious Terror", Benediction had drawn the interest of Nuclear Blast Records because of their "The Dreams You Dread" demo tape and inked a deal with the label. All in the course of 8 months. It would take one year further before "Subconscious Terror" was released.

"Subconscious Terror" turned out to be a very succesful release for Benediction, who really put themselves on the UK death metal map with the album. In those days they were ranked among the elite of UK death metal along side acts like Carcass, Napalm Death, Cancer and Bolt Thrower. One of those acts, namely Napalm Death would have a great influence on the future of Benediction though as lead vocalist Mark "Barney" Greenway left Benediction to join Napalm Death as a replacement for Lee Dorian shortly after the release of "Subconscious Terror". Mark "Barney" Greenway was quickly replaced by Dave Ingram who also toured with Benediction in support of the album.

The music on "Subconscious Terror" is raw and simple death metal. This album is as old school as they get. Mark "Barney" Greenway´s growls are deep, brutal and distinct. His performance here is one of the assets of the album. One other great asset on the album is how well the tracks are written. These tracks are memorable and contain tempo changes and brutal hooks. The tempo is mostly kepts mid- to fast paced, so don´t expect this to be an album full of blast beats. The downsides to the album are the relatively weak musicianship (especially the sloppy, awkward and untight drumming by Ian Treacy drags my rating down) and the quite lo-fi, raw and noisy sound production. It sounds like the album was recorded in someone´s garage and the bad sound quality doesn´t always do the tracks justice.

I didn´t use to enjoy "Subconscious Terror" much and while I´ve owned the album around 20 years now my vinyl copy isn´t exactly worn. Lately I´ve been giving the album a chance again though and I´ve found that I enjoy "Subconscious Terror" more now than I did back when I initially purchased the album. I´d say a 3 - 3.5 star rating is warranted.