Benighted have been cranking out pummeling, pit-heaving death metal for over a decade now.  I am pretty selective when it comes to this type of modern death metal, but I have always liked these guys.  Unlike many of their peers, Benighted has always seemed to have a knack for song craft.   They do a good job of working memorable hooks into their music, and have mastered the art of properly setting up a breakdown.  Not only that, but from a technical stand point Benighted have always been a band that pushed beyond the norm, but avoided the unfettered self indulgence that keeps me from enjoying a lot of modern technical death metal.    

In a lot of ways Asylum Cave is exactly what we have come to expect from Benighted.  This is a blistering album, full of twists, turns and unexpected flourishes.  Not satisfied with the usual assortment of blastbeats and breakdowns, Benighted even manage to work a few melodic touches into songs like “Prey” and “Hostile.”  “Prey” is a particularly strong track, featuring some of the albums most devastating moments, one of which is a absolutely punishing breakdown.  Musically, everything executed with a great deal of precision, and treated to a clean, but still heavy sounding production.   For me, the most difficult aspect of Asylum Cave to digest is Truch’s performance on vocals.  On one hand, I really respect his diversity.  Just listen to “Let The Blood Spill Between My Broken Teeth,” and you will hear about four different vocals styles all effectively worked into one song.  Truch moves from a deep growl to a high pitched shriek seemly at will, and even uses some pig squeal type vocals.  Personally, I don’t like pig squeals though, I have just never heard them sound forceful or aggressive. Really, they are more likely to make me laugh than anything else.  Truch also seems to use his high vocals a lot more frequently on this album, and I have always preferred his deeper growl.  I don’t doubt that some people will love this, but I prefer the vocals on the last couple of albums.

From my perspective, Asylum Cave is not Benighted’s best work, but it is a good album that should satisfy your need for a quick dose of relentless, brutal death metal.  These guys were cranking out this kind of music before it became a popular trend in death metal, and they continue to wipe the floor with younger, but more well known acts like Job For a Cowboy and Beneath the Massacre.  It is also worth noting that Asylum Cave features several guest appearances, the most interesting being backing vocals on a song each from members of Devourment and Aborted.  When all is said and done, Asylum Cave isn’t exactly what I wanted from Benighted, but it is an interesting and diverse album that was a hell of a lot of fun to listen to the first few times.

TRACK LISTING

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*Comments:

1.  Asylum Cave
2.  Let the Blood Spill Between
     My Broken Teeth
3.  Prey
4.  Hostile
5.  Fritzl
6.  Unborn Infected Children
7.  The Cold Remains
8.  A Quiet Day
9.  Shadows Descend
10.  Swallow
11.  Lethal Merycism
12.  Drowning

Total playing time:  45:03

Release Date: March 29th, 2011
Label: Season of Mist Records

Benighted - Asylum Cave

Reviewer: Garett

June 20, 2011