Search - Premonitions of War, Benumb :: Premonitions of War / Benumb

Where's The Production?

Chris Conlan (BreakingCustom.com) | Iowa | 07/14/2005

(2 out of 5 stars)

"Reivew by Tyler Wagnon:



When word got out that two of today's best heavy bands would be pairing up for a split, excitement was imminent. The potentially lethal combination of Premonitions of War's modern sludge/grind and Benumb's politically charged, Napalm Death-style grindcore was simply mind-boggling. The result, however, leaves quite a bit to be desired.



First off, the production on this split is terrible. Both bands sound like complete garbage. The guitars are a muddy wall of noise drowning out the bass completely and it doesn't help that the drums are totally flimsy and weak.



Premonitions of War start things off with two new tracks and two covers. Interestingly enough they opted to cover Mountain's "Mississippi Queen" and Cream's "Born Under a Bad Sign". The covers basically sound like detuned versions of the originals, with terrible throaty singing. The new tracks might be good, but I can't really hear much due to the shoddy recording.



After PoW's 4 tracks, Benumb comes in with 9 of their own. You know what to expect out of Benumb; hyper-speed punk rock with metal overtones. Again, the production makes it hard to tell what's going on, but otherwise Benumb's half furthers the band's delve into old school grind.



Bad cover songs and crappy production aside, this split could actually be good, but who knows, you can't hear a damn thing. A fine example of why a good production job is essential, this split is basically unlistenable."