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Killing Music

United Kingdom Country of Origin: United Kingdom

Killing Music
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Type: Full-Length
Release Date: 2008
Genre: Death
1. Intro
2. The Grey Man
3. Controlopolis (Rats In The Mask)
4. Killing Music
5. They Must Die Screaming
6. Dripping With Disgust
7. Wrath And Regret
8. As Her Skin Weeps
9. Cold, Deathless, Unrepentant
10. Immaculate Facade
11. Burying The Hatchet
12. Beg, You Dogs
13. Betrayer
14. They Bleed
15. Seeing Through My Eyes (Broken Bones Cover)
16. Largactyl (Amebix Cover)


Review by Alexi on January 28, 2005.

From their inception through their last record, Damage Done, Dark Tranquillity has proven throughout their entire career that not all melodic death metal from Sweden has to sound the same. Dark Tranquillity has blazed a path untouched by the melodic death metal movement. If this band were scaling a mountain, Everest would pose no threat.

Although Character is fundamentally a melodic death metal album, it does have elements of power metal and European speed metal. Essentially, Character is a continuation of Damage Done. Both albums convey dark images painted by lyrical mastermind Mikael Stanne. Stanne’s harsh raspy vocals give set him apart from most melodic singers today and his lyrical creativity and vocal approach sound the best they have ever sounded.

Character can be described in three words: melodic, epic, and fast. What sets it apart from Damage Done is the speed. Character is a very fast album. Anders Jivarp does a superb job of speeding the album up with effective use of double time drums and double bass. Jivarp’s performance on Character is probably the best I have ever heard from him. Bassist Michael Nicklasson does an outstanding job of backing the guitars and playing along with the bass drum, making each kick of the bass drum sound impaling. Guitar virtuosos Niklas Sundin and Martin Henriksson prove that they are not only able to lay down amazing guitar melodies, but also that they can thrash and pound just as hard as they did on Skydancer. The role of keyboardist Martin Brändström is elevated; each track features a great amount of synthesizers and keyboards. We're not talking about what you would expect in a Children of Bodom song, but rather the keyboards provide ambiance and mood to each track and fill up any empty space. The track “Lost To Apathy” is a perfect example of this.

The composition of this album is nearly flawless. Each song has a build up and a moody chorus (whether it be heavy or not) and an extremely well thought out instrumental. Each instrument is recorded in purity and the potential of each musician is highly eveident. Additionally, unlike the production on Damage Done, the production on Character is less clean, but in no way dirty. Gothenburg’s legendary Studio Fredman has once again worked its magic as the production enhances the band’s vision of making a heavy record.

Character is the sum of all the best pieces of Dark Tranquillity’s past albums. Each track shines with elements from every Dark Tranquillity release: the speed from the band’s roots in European thrash, the melodic and epic feel from Haven and other mid-career releases, and the keyboards of Projector, Haven, and Damage Done. Character is the ultimate and definitive melodic death metal album for the new millennium.

Musicianship: 10
Atmosphere: 10
Production: 9
Originality: 9
Overall: 10

Rating: 9.6 out of 10

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Review by Felix on February 19, 2022.

Benediction are as cool as a cucumber. It took them seven years to create and release this album. This was irritating, because its inconspicuous predecessor did not have a long-term effect. Honestly said, I thought that they had split up. I was fortunately wrong. They came back with a bang. This album sounds raw, angry and purulent, it is a statement against high-gloss polished metal. The brilliant production is a pretty decent slap in the face and highlights the songs due to the hammering drums, the deeply-resonating guitars and the menacing voice. Singer Dave Hunt has most likely animalistic tendencies and he knows well how to express them. Frank Healy who seems to manage the bass guitar on almost every British extreme metal album is very active, too, while the guitarists create tons of threatening melody lines. Do not misunderstand me, this album is definitely not characterized by its melodic harmonies. Benediction just have a knack for integrating the necessary amount of melodies so that their punk influenced death metal gets the right balance between murderous violence and ugly musicality. Therefore, it seems fair to assume that they are men of conviction. They only do what they like without taking care about other people´s opinions.

Benediction's stubborn aggressiveness impresses more and more the longer the album runs. Nevertheless, the best tracks are placed in the first half of the album. 'Dripping With Disgust' is a brute rabbit punch while offering a very tough beginning and high velocity after a succeeded break. The title track presents the strongest guitar line while the fast 'Controlopolis' blows you away due to its mechanized and misanthropic aura which is combined with nightmarish lyrics. Sinister science fiction metal at its best, of course without spherical sounds! There are also two very strong cover songs at the end of the album. 'Seeing Through My Eyes' with its explosive chorus, originally written by Broken Bones, and the thick 'Largactyl' (Amebix) are Benediction's final offensive. Without being a friend of cover versions in general, these tunes can really be termed a bonus. It also has to be said that the entire album does not include any boring songs. Consequently, this full-length offers a very coherent flow and only evil tongues would claim that the pieces seem to be interchangeable.

The cover motif has not been chosen carefully. If I am not mistaken, I have seen one or two skulls on metal album covers before. Maybe even more. However, as long as metal musicians act in a musically creative manner we do not need to complain about the fairly unimaginative look of the package. Just listen to the disc and put the package on the shelf. Finally, let me peer into the future. Of course, I do not know where Benediction are currently hanging around. But 2015 will be a good year, if these British troublemaker release a worthy successor again after a wait of seven years. I am actually very hopeful, because as I have already mentioned, Benediction are as cool as a cucumber.

Rating: 8.2 out of 10

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