Benediction return to the fold with a crushing new album and an equally impressive line up. When vocalist of over 20 years Dave Hunt announced that he needed time away from the band to finish his PhD, the lads decided not to sit back and wait. With Dave’s blessing, they decided to push on without him. The band were to make only one phone call. “When Daz called me it was totally out of the blue. We chatted for a little while and then he asked me if I’d be interested in a return. As soon as he said it there was NO hesitation, I was in,” recalls Dave Ingram. “It just felt so comfortable, so effortless, so right.”

Since they announced the reappointment of Ingram, vocalist on some of Benediction’s classic early releases such as The Grand Leveller, Grind Bastard and the groundbreaking opus that is Transcend the Rubicon, often classed as one of the most influential as important death metal releases to date, attention on this cult band has gone ballistic. All the raw power you expect from this colossal metal machine is on show. Crushing guitars from messers Rew and Brookes, vocals from Dave that sound even more powerful than back in the day, all backed up by a solid platform of concrete bass lines from Daniel Bate and a monster behind the kit in Gio Durst, surely soon to be recognized as one of the best drummers in this league. Production was handled by Scott Atkins at Grindstone studio in England.

Scriptures has that typical Benediction death metal core, fused with the punk rock anger and attitude, the heavy metal powertrain riffing that’s become a staple for the band, aggressive monster vocal delivering meaningful lyrics to entice you in, and that groove that only Benediction seem to possess that sets them out amongst the others in their field and has become a trademark of their material over the years. As usual, tracks vary from slow and heavy to fast and intense, from shorter, in your face numbers to epic masterpieces. Benediction don’t follow blueprints when it comes to the parameters of writing these great tunes but you will be in no doubt who you are listening to. It is clearly and intentionally Benediction. That will never change.