Band:	Benighted
Album:	Icon
Style:	Brutal death metal, Grindcore
Release date:	October 26, 2007
A review by:	Baz Anderson

01. Complete Exsanguination
02. Slut
03. Grind Wit
04. Saw It All
05. Forsaken
06. Smile Then Bleed
07. Pledge Of Retaliation
08. Icon
09. Human Circles [feat. Karsten "Jagger" Jäger]
10. Invoxhate
11. The Underneath
12. Blindfolded Centuries

Benighted have magnificently developed over the last few years and have carved a niche of ultra brutal death metal mixed with solid slabs of groove and a tang of grindcore. Indeed when "Insane Cephalic Production" started to raise eyebrows, no one could have expected to have had them slapped off their faces with such extremity as "Identisick" provided and now just one year later the ambitious "Icon" does not see these French maniacs let up one bit.

Given the reputation of concept albums in extreme metal grounds, "Icon", standing for "Infinite Conscience Of Nothingness" is a courageous story of an individual's slippery slope into torment and madness, each song on the album as a flashback to a point in the character's life.

Being as brutal as musically possible is the theory behind Benighted's madness. Not only are Benighted one of the most brutal and complete death metal bands around today, but also they have a unique quality of making this soundtrack to armageddon catchy and very memorable. Oodles of groove finds its way into the chaos, as does flashes of melody and unrelenting passages of violent grindcore. "Icon" is a blastbeating and double bass clinic with super heavy guitars over the top of it all. Benighted would not be Benighted without the psychiatric hospital working schizophrenic vocal talents of Julien Truchan; one minute an enraged farmyard animal and the next a psychopathic murderer. A clean production accentuates the brutality of all the album's components in a marvellous way.

From the first moment "Icon" will press you back into your seat and from "Slut" to "Grind Wit" to "Saw It All" the album picks up intensity and does not yield until the bloody end. Song structures are not straightforward or predictable; the brutality is ever changing and keeping you guessing with a colossal punch around every corner. Originality and a slight quirk does not escape the album with a short passage of funky French rapping included to remind the listener they cannot predict what this pandemonium has next in store.

"Icon" contains one of the most extreme experiences of the year; intensity is not substituted for catchiness or a touch of melody while still including all of these. If you prefer your death metal the more brutal the better, then Benighted will be right up your darkened, mentally unstable alley. Pull out your straight jackets and brace yourself for an utterly crazy ride.