US band BENEDICTUM was formed back in 2005, and appears to revolve around the talents of Veronica Freeman and Pete Wells, who makes out the stable core of this band. “Obey” is their fourth studio production, and was released through Italian label Frontiers Music towards the end of 2013.
It’s been a long time since I’ve listened to ordinary metal on a regular basis, and some 20 odd years have gone by since the music I listened to primarily was in this style. I had an extensive knowledge about what bands sounded like who back then, knowledge that would have come in handy when trying to describe this production by Benedictum. Because this is an album that revolves heavily around heavy metal as it was explored back in the days when I could still describe myself as young, and I’d pinpoint the late 1980’s and early 1990’s as the main point of impact here. Not that this is a poor album for exploring this older breed of heavy metal mind you, it’s more a case of familiar sounding material as it directly or indirectly points back towards older metal history.
I experience this CD as some kind of tour de force through the different varieties of metal explored back then. With more careful excursions bordering the in metal circles sometime controversial hair metal style on one extreme and landing in a field not too far away from Ministry Psalm 69 era on the other, passionately covering the ground in between them in gleeful aggression.
Dark toned, grimy but often tight and firm guitar riff constructions and powerful reverberating drawn out riffs are the main providers of aggression, from tight and vibrant displays of those in more of a power metal mode, complete with galloping bass and drums, to monumental, majestic guitar riffs pointing back towards Dio and late 80’s Black Sabbath on a song like Retrograde. Vocalist Freeman comes across as a versatile singer in the aggressive mold, emphasizing the aggressive tendencies with rough snarls of a gender defying quality but also capable of powerful melodic oriented deliveries, a singer that reminds me of Leather Leone from good, old Chastain (the band, not the man).
Personally I was most taken by the first song proper, Fractured, it’s dark blend of vibrant power metal blended with certain elements giving me associations to aforementioned Ministry a vital, high energy and suitably dystopian sounding affair to kick off this production in a dark, unnervingly vibrant manner.
All in all I find “Obey” to be a good quality run through some of the many shades of heavy metal, and a few lackluster creations aside (Die to Love You, Apex Nation) a thoroughly enjoyable one as well. I’d guess that fans of Chastain’s various escapades in the 1980’s and 90’s would make up a key audience for this album for multiple reasons, and I wouldn’t be all that surprised if this is a production that would appeal strongly to fans of bands like Manowar either. In addition I’d suggest that those with a soft spot for Dio and Tony Martin era Black Sabbath should lend an ear to concluding track Retrograde, as that one should be right up their alley.
My rating: 78/100
