Warning: This blurb is ninety percent Alleviat. It's also my most review-like. Don't worry, I'm clamoring for air as well.
A friend on Last.FM avidly recommended Benea Reach to me right around the time Alleviat came out. I gave both that album and Monument Bioneothan a spin, and afterwards very nearly forget about the band entirely. Since then, I've had them at the edge of my tongue, sub-consciously knowing that something special could, if dug deep enough, be found in their music. Now, having my memory jogged only this week, I've once again set out to hear what all the fuss was, and still is, about.
. . . and here I am, making a point of writing this while I listen, being utterly annihilated. Never in my life have I ever heard anything as completely sonically crushing as the entirety of Alleviat. I'm so taciturn that I can't even begin to imagine what I was thinking when I first heard it, or how this band slipped right through my mind without an ounce of protest. Benea work their magic by lulling you to repose and keeping you there with near-despondent brutality woven with haunting leisure; and though each song may seem thick at first, they quickly form a more whole identity with every subsequent listen.
Though both albums are cuts from the same species, Monument Bineothan is, however, a slightly different beast. It was before Benea perfected their atmosphere and Ilkka, their frontman, discovered what a god as a vocalist would sound like, though he was well on his way; the riffs weren't as full-sounding and uproariously uplifting as they are on the newer Alleviat, nor as catchy.--But to assert Monument's not being a major stepping stone in this band's career, or one of 2007's gems, would be a mistake--their acute originality can be seen in either era.
For fans of Meshuggah, Swallow the Sun, or anything that sounds like it was specifically recorded to bring about the apocalypse.
Note: My setups are usually somewhat EQ'd, but no one could or would deny Alleviat's absolutely immaculate production. The sound of it alone can get you pumped like no "FUCKING DEATHCORE" ultimate workout playlist could ever dream of doing. I'm out of breath just listening.
2007 - Monument Bineothan @V0: Part 1 & Part 2
2008 - Alleviat @V0: Part 1 & Part 2
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