Benediction - Organized Chaos

Nuclear Blast and Benediction go almost back to the beginning of the whole death metal movement, and Benediction could be considered of the elder statesmen of the scene. I think I was one of only ten people worldwide that actually liked ';Grind Bastard';, and I anxiously awaiting Organized Chaos to see if a change in the mic position would have affected the band. The short answer is no, because if you didn';t know original vocalist (well, Barney Greenway was actually the original vocalist) Dave Ingram was replaced by Dave Hunt, you would have never been able to tell. Hunt's voice so accurately mimics Ingram';s vocal styling and tone, it's downright scary. Too bad Ingram doesn';t so seamlessly fit into Bolt Thrower, but ah, that';s another story. ';Organized-'; picks up nicely where ';Grind'; left off, and offers a solid, albeit predictable slab of death metal, British style. The band does sound what revitalized, with ';Organized-'; displaying a slightly faster tempo in most songs. Standout tracks include ';This Graveyard Earth'; and the moody ';Easy Way to Die';. Song writing is top notch, as always (for Benediction anyway). Benediction was never the fastest nor the most brutal of the death metal bunch, and nothings changed here. At the end of the day, if you weren';t a fan before, ';Organized Chaos'; sure isn';t going to convert the masses, but if you dug their albums before, especially ';Transcend the Rubicon';, ';Grind Bastard';, and ';Dark is the Season';, you';ll not be disappointed one iota. Benediction have shown that they play what they know best, and in today';s world of metal bands getting to far away from their roots for the sake of ';experimentation';, that';s a satisfying good thing to hear.