Benea Reach – Monument Bineothan

Benea Reach – Monument Bineothan / 2007 Candlelight / 12 Tracks / http://www.beneareach.com / http://www.candlelightrecordsusa.com / Reviewed 03 June 2007

Benea Reach starts off their “Monument Bineothan” in a pretty normal, middle of the road way. There might be a tremendous amount of “heaviness” present, but the first track “Ground Slayer” does little to really compel listeners to focus in. The band is able to make their compositions fit together nicely, and make a play for the Headbanger’s Ball group, but the only thing interesting during the disc’s first track has to come during the breakdown, which reminds me of a 1993-era Type O Negative blended with 1996-era Manson. The second track provides a stronger effort by Benea Reach, but there seems to be a little bit of tension present between the guitars and drums.

While I can appreciate the break-down of the idea of “proper” time signatures, it just seems that the drums start off on the wrong foot more than anything. The band is able to succeed after this minor gaffe, but the inclusion of a more radio-friendly rock sound to “Inheritor” is perhaps the most fertile ground for the band during the second track. The band moves into a harder, Korn meets Coal Chamber type of metal for “Transmitter”. There is already a large fanbase built into this style. I can see that Benea Reach can easily climb up the charts with these tracks, but for individuals that are trying to really be challenged for their music, there are not nearly the chances present on “Monument Bineothan” that would be present on a Three One G disc.

The extended length of the tracks on “Monument Bineothan” is another minor fault of the band, as there is just not enough in the way of differentiation to make things interesting. It seems as if the disc’s first impressive track comes in “Purge”. With “Purge”, Benea Reach seems to position themselves as a harder version of Disturbed. During this song, there are not quite as easily of influences present. Using such an interesting drum track during this song is another reason why the band’s fortunes increase after this song ends. The fortunes only increase for a short time, as “Pandemonium” does not do anything to capitalize on the momentum that the band achieved or uses the different sound to catapult themselves into a different direction. For sure, Benea Reach is a talented act, but there are not many reasons to favor this album over any of the other metal albums out currently.

Top Tracks: Emperor, River

Rating: 4.0/10

[JMcQ]