Label : Savage Prod/Season of Mist
Review by Tony Cannella
France’s Benighted Soul began their career in 2003. After the bands inception, they released two Demos, a DVD and an EP. Now Benighted Soul has released their debut full-length album, “Start From Scratch”. Their style a bit Symphonic mixed with elements of Progressive and even some slower doomy stuff. Some great crunchy riffs and technical, intricate musicianship are the order of the day for this bunch. The band is fronted by the powerful vocals of Géraldine Gadaut. Bassist Jean-Gabriel Bocciarelli also supplied some male vocals throughout this 11-song 70-minute disc. “Start from Scratch” is a concept album centered around the little doll Anesidora and features a 20-person choir. Benighted Soul is able to switch from a heavy approach to a more melodic style throughout the CD, with Geraldine Gadaut providing some impactful vocals. “Broken Icons” gets things off to a bombastic start and the duel male/female vocals are put on full display on this very strong opener. The male vocals are full-on aggressive in style and create a big contrast with the sweet, semi-operatic tone brought forth by Geraldine. The 8-minute “Edge of Insanity” is next. Throughout the course of “Start from Scratch”, Benighted Soul offers up several songs in the 7-8 minute range. By changing tempos and speeds, Benighted Soul are able to insure that “Start from Scratch” rarely gets boring, to the contrary, despite its length there is plenty here that kept me interested for the duration. Highlights include: “Ticking Time Bomb” (my favorite track), “Wrong Reflection”, “Stranger Me”, “My So Called Friend” and the album closer “No Warning Signs”. “Start from Scratch” is a strong debut and an album that should resonate with fans of Power and Prog metal. I am almost positive that we will be hearing much more from this talented French band in the future.
Rating – 90/100
Tracklist
- Broken Icons
- Edge of Insanity
- Wrong Reflection
- Falling in the Sin
- Ticking Time Bomb
- Stranger Me
- The Seventh Cage
- Evergreen
- Start from Scratch
- My So Called Friend
- No Warning Signs
Line Up
- Géraldine Gadaut – Vocals
- Jérémie Heyms – Guitars
- Jean-Gabriel Bocciarelli – Bass & Vocals
- Flavien Morel – Keyboards & Orchestration
- Nicolas Adam – Drums
Links
MySpace * ReverbNation * Facebook * Twitter * Site