BENIGHTED – Fransk brutalitet med kvalitet

Benighted har gitt meg noen fantastisk fine opplevelser med den kaotiske, brutale og groovy skiva Insane Cephalic Production, så da de slapp nytt album tidligere i år var jeg kjapt frempå for å få promo med medfølgende intervju. Dessverre har dette intervjuet bare ligget i innboksen min i laaange stunder, grunnet en delvis distré og delvis tiltaksløs skribent… Men, tater under ze bridge, her kommer det endelig. Stig spør, Benighteds hyggelige vokalist Julien Truchan svarer.

 

ET – First, could you introduce our readers to Benighted?

J – Benighted is a French brutal death band and we have existed since 1998 and was at the beginning the gathering of members of several extreme bands as Dishumanized, Osgiliath and Darkness Fire. We have recorded 4 albums; the last one is called “Identisick” and has been available since February 2006 on Adipocere Records. For each of our albums we made a tour in our country and played with very cool bands like Impaled Nazarene, Dying Fetus, Morbid Angel, Dew-scented, Slipknot, … and now, we are on tour for the promotion of “Identisick”.

 

ET – Congratulations on making another great album! How has the feedback on Identisick been so far? (Also, could you tell us a bit about this album?)

J – In my opinion, it’s the best one we’ve ever recorded. The tracks are very brutal and effective, and each of them has its own identity and atmospheres. We’ve tried to make an album which should be original and interesting from the first riff to the last blast! We’ve recorded it in the Kohlekeller Studio in Germany, the same place than the precedent opus “Insane Cephalic Production”. We were sure to have a very powerful and heavy production in this studio because we know all the possibilities Kohle has to work on a metal band. We are very satisfied with the production which is massive and clear at the same time. The returns we have for this album are very positives, in terms of reviews, propositions for interviews, gigs, distribution… We hope this album will help us to open up lots of doors!

 

ET – Your previous album (ICP) received a lot of positive feedback. Was it hard – and did you feel you had a lot of pressure on you – writing a follow up that held the same high quality?

J – In fact, we knew that we had to push all our limits for this new album and we worked a lot in order to have an album superior to “ICP” for tracks and production.

 

ET – And do you feel you've accomplished that with Identisick?

J – Yes, I think so. For the tracks, it depends from each who listen, but the production is more warm and heavy than “ICP” which sounded more “machine”.

 

ET – I absolutely loved Insane Cephalic Production (if I were to review it, I would without hesitating give it a full score, 6/6). It is one of my favourite extreme metal albums, much because of the brutality, the complexity and the chaotic songs which contained music inspired by many different genres. On Identisick the songs seem a bit more focused and more structured. Was this intentional, or did it just turn out that way?

J – Thanks a lot!! I think the things have been made naturally, without intention. We compose as we feel music at the time we are. Maybe the next album will be crazier than anything we’ve done before!

 

ET – How do you guys write your music?

J – We always have the same method, a member comes with the spine of a song and riffs for this song, and we work all together for the structure of the track, the arrangements, until we are satisfied with the efficiency of this. We’ve got different tastes and influences in the band, and the mix of it gives the feeling to our music.

 

ET – What is Benighted doing these days?

J – We play since last February for the promotion of “Identisick”, we made some dates with Nile, Aborted, Sup, Dew-scented… and we intent to make a pause in summer, and start touring again in September, with a European tour in 2007.

 

ET – Plans for the future?

J – We’ll try to compose some new song at the end of august, and work between the dates in order to create the little brother of “Identisick”. We also like to make a video-clip during this time.

 

ET – Adipocere Records decided to stop production activities. How do you feel about this?

J – We always had really good relations with Adipocere and they helped us since the beginning. Today, things seem to be difficult for them, so we are searching for a new label. We even received very interesting propositions, and we’ll know more after this summer, I think.

 

ET – Have you been contacted by any other labels yet?

J – Yes, but I can’t talk about it before anything is signed.

 

ET – Do you tour much between albums? It would be great to see you in Norway some time!

J – We always try to play at the maximum, and it’s not easy because we all have works next to the band… but as we have lots of propositions for gigs, that’s cool for us! I hope we’ll come to Norway soon, it would be fantastic to make a tour with bands like Dying Fetus or Cryptopsy and play in your country!

 

ET – To finish off – anything else you'd like to add?

J – Thank you very much for this interview!! I would say to all the metalfans from Norway to listen to “Identisick”, hoping to be able to make you discover soon our music live!!! Stay brutal!!!