Band:	Benighted
Album:	Identisick
Style:	Brutal death metal, Grindcore
Release date:	January 13, 2006
A review by:	Deadsoulman

01. Nemesis
02. Collapse
03. Identisick
04. Sex-Addicted
05. Mourning Affliction
06. The Twins
07. Ransack The Soul
08. Blind To The World
09. Spiritual Manslaughter
10. Iscarioth
11. Suffer The Children [Napalm Death cover]

When Benighted released Insane Cephalic Production in 2004, there was a real buzz around this band and the album was hailed as one of the most innovative things French death metal had spawned in years. I for one liked the album (still do) but didn't find it too impressive on the long term, due to a certain messiness in the songwriting. The band actually seemed to try to go in a dozen different directions at the same time, with the consequence that they touched a lot of ideas without developing any of them. Let me kill the suspense, they've killed all the little things that went wrong on ICP and the result is Identisick. One of the most impressive works French death metal has spawned in years.

Benighted's music is extremely violent since the basis is full-on brutal death metal sometimes bordering on grind, but this time they injected a lot of groove and melodic riffs in their songs. They managed to do so without watering down their music. Oddly enough, Identisick is their most melodic but also their most brutal effort to date. So ok it is still not accessible to anyone - we're talking extremely extreme stuff here - but unlike too many brutal death bands it never gets boring. The reason is that when you think that you've heard it all, that the same pattern is going to be repeated over and over again, Benighted surprise you with a samba jazz break ("Sex-Addicted"), a speed metal solo ("Identisick"), a pure melodeath song (the killer "Iscarioth") or an unrecognizable cover of Napalm Death's standard "Suffer The Children".

One last word about the music, just to point out that the drumming is absolutely insane. Just listen to the shotgun-like double bass on "Mourning Affliction" and you'll realize that Fred Fayolle is fast, brutal and technical as hell. The rest of the band is on par with him.

Now to the distinctive feature of Benighted. Their concept has always been based upon mental disorders and as usual each song tells the story of a patient affected by one particular disease. These stories are told from the patient's point of view to add a bit more truthfulness. The amazing thing is that the vocals emphasize the lyrics: what I mean is that Julien Truchan is an amazing extreme singer and has worked his ass off on the vocal work in order to translate mental disorders through his voice. The vocals are so varied (I counted at least 6 different singing styles - all extreme, ranging from the most guttural vocals to the most high-pitched screams) - that you hardly believe at first that this is only one guy doing them all, although he's helped on two songs by Leif of Dew-Scented and Kris of Kronos. He adds a lot to the impression of madness, of schizophrenia, of sickness this album reeks. Actually he's becoming one of my fav extreme singers.

Altogether this album is one of a kind. It is catchy, complex, with a serious sense of groove, almost flawless (I had to refrain not to give it the maximum rating). In other words, Identisick is already a strong contender for best death metal album of the year. This is not for all ears but if you want to travel through sick landscapes and lunatic realms, enter the magic kingdom of Benighted and let these crazy vocals carry you to your last asylum.

Highlights: Nemesis, Identisick, Sex-Addicted, Iscarioth