Review by Felix on February 19, 2022.

I am a lucky man, because I possess a vinyl copy of Dark Is The Season. Isn't it fantastic to see the birds flying out off the eye sockets? In my humble opinion, the EP is graced with a really brilliant artwork. It's surreal, ominous, highly atmospheric and it does not glorify violence. That's the way it should be. However, the 12" shares the problem of so many comparable outputs. It suffers from a slightly insubstantial structure. Only two new tracks are put together with two recycled songs and a cover version. It is thus good to know that the quartet of Benediction makes the best of a bad job.

In 1992, Nuclear Blast was a totally different company than it is today. Markus Staiger did not yet have the financial might to sign each and every band which was hanging around somewhere in the universe. Bands like Pungent Stench, Incubus or Benediction, that were slowly rising from the underground, represented the target group of the company. And the British formation left no doubt that it was among the newcomers with a great potential. The hellish adaption of Anvil's "Forged in Fire" made it obvious: Benediction were on a mission of terror. They ennobled the good song fundament with low tuned guitars and the demonic growling of Dave Ingram, who delivered some of the deepest tones that metal from the United Kingdom has ever brought forth. Slowness met brutality in order to generate a sonic apocalypse. The result was and still is absolutely amazing. Hard to imagine that it still can get heavier.

The two new songs reflected a very uncompromising approach as well. The riffs of 'Foetus Noose' cut with surgical precision while the double bass revealed its full force. The fast-paced opener came over the listener like an earthquake or a meteorite impact. Unbelievably heavy, absolutely radical and equipped with the power to fill the waiting room of the local neurologist. The ironclad and diabolic sound made clear that Benediction did not intend to tell jokes. The somewhat clumsy title track, the second new song of the 12", confirmed this statement. It did not reach the high velocity or the brilliance of 'Foetus Noose', but it deepened the profound heaviness of the EP and its lethal aggression.

The new recordings of two tracks - one from The Grand Leveller and one from the debut - filled the B side, and yes, it was a very typical, unspectacular B side. Decent songs, no doubt, but nobody needed these new versions. Nevertheless, for those who had not come in contact with these pieces so far, Benediction presented a strong product with two killer tracks and three solid numbers. All in all, the EP cemented the reputation of the hungry and currish band and it illustrated their further opportunities. Despite the rather useless re-recordings of the B side, Dark Is The Season deserves a good rating.

Rating: 8 out of 10