Reviews list for Benediction - Dark Is the Season (1992)

Following on from this week's reassessment of Benediction's highly regarded 1993 third album "Transcend the Rubicon", I thought I'd better round out my coverage of the English death metallers' peak period by exploring their 1992 "Dark is the Season" E.P. as well, a release that I've always regarded as Benediction's finest work. It's perhaps not as widely recognized as the first three full-lengths but Benediction have never managed to convince me that they are anything more than a third-tier death metal act & "Dark is the Season" has traditionally been the record that saw me coming the closest to overcoming that issue, mainly due to the added level of consistency in its relatively short five-song tracklisting. I think it's fair to say that "Transcend the Rubicon" didn't exactly impress me like it has many of my peers this week. Let's see how time has treated this stop-gap E.P. that gave fans something to tide them over between Benediction's best two albums then.

"Dark is the Season" plays the classic role of the E.P. in many ways as it serves as a compilation of material that might not work all that well in an album format. There are two brand new songs in "Foetus Noose" & the title track, both which are mildly enjoyable but neither manage to maintain the quality of their best parts for the entire duration of the songs. Then we have an excellent cover version of Anvil's "Forged in Fire", a song that I'm very familiar with as it's one of the best tracks from a Canadian heavy metal band that I've always struggled with. Benediction give "Forged in Fire" more of a doom/death feel & the song-writing works very well in this context, not only doing justice to the 1983 original but also giving it a slightly different feel which sees it becoming one of the highlights of the release. Then we get a re-recording of a track from Benediction's 1990 debut album "Subconscious Terror" with original front man Mark "Barney" Greenway (Napalm Death) returning to the fold temporarily to perform the vocals. I don't mind "Experimental Stage" but the song-writing does sound a touch less mature than the other material which makes it the least enjoyable of the five songs on offer. And finally, we receive my favourite track from 1991's "The Grand Leveller" sophomore album in "Jumping at Shadows", this time the exact same version that was included on the album. So, as you can see, it's not hard to determine the label's intent with "Dark is the Season". It was clearly meant to keep Benediction's fanbase interested while they waited for the release of a new full-length.

Why do I consider "Dark is the Season" to be a touch more interesting than "The Grand Leveller" & "Transcend the Rubicon" & Benediction's finest work then? I think it comes down to the subtle differences in direction the band take with each release with "Transcend the Rubicon" showcasing a little bit more of a thrashy sound than the graveyard atmosphere I enjoyed on "The Grand Leveller". "Dark is the Season" sounds doomier than either of those releases & I think this is where Benediction are at their best because they were never going to impress me with their technical prowess or brutality. They're actually very good at slowing things down with their sound working brilliantly in that context. Dave Ingram's death growls are very powerful but also highly intelligible which sees them maximizing their impact over the more crushing slow sections. He does sound almost exactly like Barney though & you'll have that fact rammed down your throat once you discover that it's Barney performing on "Experimental Stage" as it's almost impossible to tell the difference. That song is the only one that keeps the tempo high for the duration & I don't think it's a coincidence that it results in the least impressive outcome.

The problem here is that Benediction never come close to executing a classic track, an obstacle they struggled to overcome throughout the peak period of their career & one that will see them forever remaining in the third tier for me personally. I don't enjoy the bouncier, thrashier or punkier beats they employ at times & they often have a tendency to see some of Benediction's best tracks being returned to also-rans. There were no duds included on "The Grand Leveller" but there were none that I regard as being exceptional either & I'm gonna have to say the same for "Dark is the Season" although it does contain as many of the band's more solid inclusions as that release, only across a shorter duration which gives it a slight edge. At the end of the day, "Dark is the Season" is another enjoyable yet inessential death metal record that may well be Benediction's best yet doesn't stand up to the better examples of the genre that were coming out of England at the time.

For fans of Bolt Thrower, Cancer & 1990's Napalm Death.

Hidden in the functional yet largely predictable Benediction discography is this EP from 1992.  Coming after their sophomore full length and ahead of the much lauded Transcending the Rubicon which was to drop a year later, Dark Is the Season is perhaps the most impressive thing I have heard in the Benediction back-catalogue to date.   It suffers from a slightly stifling production job, which is the first thing you notice as the drums to the opening track, Foetus Noose start to kick in.  However, the band somehow perseveres through this sock over the microphones sound and manage to deliver some of the best Bolt Thrower-esque death metal with the intensity of Napalm Death thrown in for good measure.

Things really kick off though with track two, Forged In Fire which deploys a slower tempo to get things going and maintains this solid and patient structure throughout.  Peter Rew and Darren Brookes are on fine form here, creating menace and threat with their lead/melodies work that loom over the track, complimented perfectly by Dave Ingram's familiar vocals.  The production denies this track of coming across as being perfect overall but the band still give it a bloody good go along the way.  This oppressive atmosphere continues through the title track with its spoken word passages adding to the tension brilliantly.  Treacy's drums carry a real power behind them, albeit they are diluted somewhat by the production job, but you can still sense his large presence on every track.

In terms of straight up old-school British death metal, you will struggle to find much of a better example in all honesty.  The compositions are a little clunky here and there, as are the transitions in some tracks but what is apparent the whole time is that the band are trying at least.  There is a death/doom vibe to Jumping at Shadows with its horrific melodies and there is only really the closing track that is actually a bit mediocre by way of comparison to everything else.  This little EP is hitting some serious rotation right now here at Vinny Mansions, let me tell you.