The Dutch black metal band Unbenign is a relatively new formation but it includes seasoned musicians who have performed with such bands as Prostitute Disfigurement, Centurian, and Nox, and their line-up was rounded out by Michiel van der Plicht (Carach Angren, Pestilence, ex-God Dethroned), who played session drums on their debut album and also handled the recording, mixing, and mastering. That album is self-titled and is now set for co-release by Satanath Records and Asgard Hass Productions on April 16th.
Unbenign have proclaimed that both lyrically and musically they drew their inspiration from second-wave black metal from the early ’90s, with a mission to create ferocious, in-your-face assaults as a means of channeling their frustrations with modern-day society. Their music is indeed ferocious, but it’s a lot more than that as well, as you’ll discover by listening to the song from the album that we’re premiering today. Its name is “The Untenanted Epoch“.
What comes through in this new song is not merely teeth-bared aggression but ranging melodies of emotionally evocative power. Relying more on rocking rhythms than blasting tirades, the song is also propulsive in viscerally captivating ways. The music of decades past may have inspired Unbenign, but their music doesn’t sound like a re-tread.
A swath of electronics opens the song, creating an atmosphere of grim tension, a fittingly dark and dire prelude to the dismal and pernicious tones of the corrosive slashing riff that follows. The momentum of the song drives through increasingly vivid rocking beats, and its intensity swells through furious screams and bright, flaring guitars that cascade high above.
Undeniably bleak, the music is nevertheless fiery. The rising and falling leads sound defiant. The drums blast and the chords become feverish, seemingly blending moods of defiance and defeat in sweeping fashion. Feral and ferocious, those raking guitars and turbulent rocking drums reappear and will keep your head moving, even as the whirring leads continue to radiate beleaguered and downcast refrains.
Satanath Records recommends the album for fans of Marduk, Gorgoroth, Dissection, Mayhem, Bathory, Burzum, and Darkthrone. The cover artwork is by Bram Bruyneel, and the logo was created by Christophe Szpajdel.
We’ve also included a stream of the gripping first-released song from the album, “Inhabit My Flesh“, which is free to download at Satanath‘s Bandcamp.
PRE-ORDER:
https://satanath.bandcamp.com/album/sat340-unbenign-unbenign-2022
http://www.asgard-hass.ch/
FOLLOW UNBENIGN:
http://www.facebook.com/unbenign