Man, what a ride! Showcasing the fastest and most violent songs in brutal death metal, Benighted are one of the genre's leading entities.Benighted's "Identisick" from 2006 (now getting this killer 2024 vinyl reissue) is straight up one of those albums that'll rearrange your face and leave you begging for more.Each song is chaotically heavy, featuring plenty of well done mood changes, plenty of riffs, and unpredictable song structures.The French quintet absolutely nailed it with this one -Identisick improves on that effort resulting in a pretty much perfect death metal album.The sound of Benighted can be described as a high technique death metal that bets a lot on creating situations of absolute brutality, with little room left to some more melodic moody breaks.The opener "Nemesis" hits like a freight train with insane sweep picking that'll make your head spin, while tracks like "The Twins" and "Ransack The Soul" showcase their ability to blend technical prowess with pure groove.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'll think there's multiple vocalists going completely mental.In other words, Identisick is already a strong contender for best death metal album of the year.

 

Side A :

Nemesis / Collapse / Identisick / Sex Addicted / Mourning Affliction

 

Side B :

The Twins / Ransack The Soul / Blind To The World / Spiritual Manslaughter / Iscarioth / Suffer The Children (Napalm Death Cover)