Review by Ian Savage
Release date: 12th April 2016
Over the eleven years or so that Coventry’s Beholder have been a going concern the quantity of their recorded output has been far outweighed by brutal live outings. Debut ‘The Awakening’ didn’t emerge until 2010 and lauded follow-up ‘The Order Of Chaos’ had its third birthday not long ago; the faithful have been waiting for ‘Reflections‘ for a while.
Don’t expect too many of the soaring major-key sing-along choruses favoured by some of Beholder’s UK metal contemporaries; this is unrelentingly, punishingly heavy stuff. Even when a melodic hookline breaks the tumultuous surface like a kraken (see: ‘I. Machine’, ‘Breathe In The Silence’) it’s punctuated by a roar of “eat, sleep, work, die!” or the intonation that “the sickness breathes”…this isn’t an easy ride by any stretch.
That’s not to say that Simon Hall’s vocals lack depth – in fact entirely the opposite. Over ‘Reflections”s 58-minute runtime he invites comparisons as disparate as Bruce Dickinson, M Shadows and Robb Flynn, and the musicianship is as flawless throughout as it has to be to hold such a behemoth together. Chris Bentley’s awesome drumming and Si Fielding’s low-end rumble prop up some inventively angular riffage from comparative new-boy Scott Taylor to construct the aural equivalent of a bulldozer with precision chainsaw-arms.
With the frontman listing among his dislikes ‘banks, government and the rule of law’ the lyrical content will surprise few, and it’s delivered with pinpoint snarling vitriol. There’s a lot to be angry about in the world of 2016; take a look at it through the eye of the Beholder.
8 out of 10
Track Listing:
- Frozen Steps Of Utøya
- I. Machine
- Heal The Wounds
- Host
- Dance Macabre
- Breathe In The Silence
- Killing Time
- Army Of One
- My Revolution
- Speak To Me
