Uncreation was a good album, to be more precise a great debut for California’s Benedictum; a debut that might not have given then a lot of press and front page magazines but within its sort of obscurity it did help the band build a good solid reputation. So now sticking to their guns this quintet launches their second full length and I for once was expecting this album for a long time after enjoying so much Uncreation, and my expectations were totally blown out of the water, AWASOME ALBUM!!!

Ms. Freeman sounds angrier, faster, heavier, the entire album is a step forward on the right heavier direction we all love so much.

Right from the beginning Benedictum lets you know just how committed they are with their heavy metal, “Shell Shock” might become one of their best songs ever written; even though I don’t agree with Ms. Freeman lyrics you have to hand it to the band, the song is incredibly catchy, heavy and has that perfect amount of hooks and chorus lines that keeps you singing for hours after first listening to it… something like and old Maiden classic (yes I’m comparing the ability of these guys to write catchy riffs with Iron Maiden, so watch out!). The following song “Burn it out” gives you a little more of a “classic” biker metal track, still maintaining the speed and “catchiness” imposed by the previous song; non the less and to change the pace in “Seasons of Tragedy” Bare Bones delivers a more melodic, sort of romantic heavy metal that exposes Freeman as more than just a powerful singer, again incredible catchy chorus lines, mouthwatering solos, and hooks everywhere!

Benedictum really came through with an amazing sophomore record, almost, just almost making us forget how good Uncreation was back in 2006.

Jus to complain, or to add a couple of words to this review, I’ll have to say that maybe the arrangement of the songs could have been done better; don’t get me wrong every song is nothing less than top grade heavy metal, is just that the first 5 songs are so powerful that for some reason obscure the rest of the tracks, maybe if they had placed then in between some other tracks the album will have sound a bit more balanced, but then again, this is just such a minor issue that I don’t even know why I’m bringing it up now!....just buy it!