Benea Reach

Monument Bineothean

Written by: TL on 17/08/2006 23:57:17

Better late than never - will be my headline for tonights review of Benea Reach. I've had this review due for quite some time already, and I'd like to extend my apologies for not getting it up earlier. In my defense, this record is quite the mouthful.

In order to attempt a classification of this album, I have to make use of my beloved post-hardcore term. That term alone comes nowhere close to justifying the kind of music at play here though, as the songs on this baby are as much prog- and death metal, as they are any kind of core.

Here’s what to expect: "Monument Bineothean" is an album filled with mostly long songs (half the songs are plus five minutes, and none are shorter than three), and on all but one song, the vocals are limited to core-ish screaming and coarse shouting. Dissonance is as good as omnipresent, and in the arrangements that bring different prog stuff into mind, the evil riffs add to a mood that can only be described as truly sinister. The soundscapes are gigantic without seeming pompous, and this serves the band very well indeed. From what little I’ve been able to make out of the lyrics, they do nothing to lighten up the already threatening atmosphere, and listening to this album will likely make you think of spending time in purgatory.

The exception to the aforementioned, is the track "Conflux", that seems like sort of an interlude, where half the song contains a female voiceover speaking of deeply philosophical concepts, after which the rest is a much more quiet instrumental part than the rest of the songs.

To sum this album up, I’d like to say, that Benea Reach definitely have a lot of things going for them. Making an attempt at such a grand sound as the one present here without failing miserably is in itself an achievement, and one would be hard pressed to deny the obvious talent on display here. With that being said, I think that what separates the good from the great in this genre of music is the ability to create a sound, that is both complex, but also inviting in a certain way that draws the listener into the complex structures (see Tool). In this area, I still think Benea could do some work. I might be wrong, and maybe it’s hard to ask this of a band with a sound as dark as this. This album is definitely a grower, and even though I’ve heard it much, there’s still plenty of stuff for me to discover. So maybe you’ll be able to make me eat my words later, but for now though, this is a

Download: Inheritor, Purge, Pandemonium
For the fans of: Zao, Apiary
Listen: Benea Reach@MySpace

Release date 31.07.2006
Tabu
Provided by Target ApS

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