Benedictum
Obey

With their fourth album american metallers Benedictum wants us to obey, an album that follows Dominion which I really liked. Now though when I read up on reviews of this album it seems as though that album that I liked was quite hated by many so-called fans. This is said to be much better, but then again the same reviewers say that singer Veronica Freeman is super sexy which is a load of bullshit if I am to judge by the pictures I have seen of her. She doesn’t sing sexy either. The cover art looks better at least so something is better, maybe the two new members are better as well.

On the face of it, not much seem to have changed since last time around. It is heavier now, and more straightforward. Also, the novelty and freshness of the last album is quite gone for this one, it sounds more like an album dedicated to sound like the old classics, like Sabbath, Dio, Accept and so on and so forth. This I think is a step backwards considering that it sounded like they had some great ideas and they did cover an excellent Rush piece as well. The production is quite acceptable but the sound was much better last time around, it sounds rougher this time around. It is also more straightforward, the variation is quite good but also quite ordinary. I actually think these guys have gone from good to ordinary in quite many regards, but they do have Tony Martin doing some guest vocals which is nice. Strangely enough it feels as though this album is longer than its predecessor despite the fact that it is more than ten minutes shorter.

I think Obey is more boring and ordinary than its predecessor and it is also a bit disappointing to me, I was expecting something much more exciting and fresh. But of course there are people who suggest otherwise and says the previous album is what this is to me. But those are reviewers on the web who wants everything to be stagnant in the metal world and if you are looking for music that is as everything else then it is better than its predecessor. It is an okay album all in all, well it is actually quite good. The thing is though, that it is an album that is very suitable for background music while doing something else but it isn’t very gripping and the songs, though good, are quite anonymous.

In the end I guess that if you agree with the reviewers that music was better in the past and that it shall not change, then you’ll most likely adore this album. I on the other hand had the first taste of the band in Dominion and I think that album was a lot better than this one is, disappointing I would call this. But of course emulating the past is popular these days so why not? guess I will not obey.

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