What a week to drop a new single. Especially if you’re a politically-charged British band. And particularly if you’re Benefits. Their meteoric ascendancy continues unabated: still without label, management, or PR, they’ve had the video for their new single premiered on none other than Rolling Stone Magazine’s website. They are most certainly not your typical Rolling Stone act. Yes, the magazine may historically have been an outlet for Hunter S. Thomson’s writing and been both political and cutting edge, more recently, it’s been very much more establishment. But it’s reach is huge, and if this suggests by any means that Benefits have gone establishment, you’re either nuts, or you’ve not heard of Benefits before.
For a band like this to be given such a platform isn’t simply a big deal – it’s practically the sounding horn of revolution. And as the British government collapses around our ears faster than 24/7 scrolling news can update their marquees, the timing could not be better.
Against a grinding, undulating, distorted mechanical throb, Kingsley Hall delivers another lacerating dissection of Real Life, carving his way through anxiety and dayjob drudgery, corporate and political doublespeak, endless bullshit filtered and amplified through the echo chambers of social media, ‘failure masked as victory’.
Two-thirds in, a hefty industrial beat kicks in and gives a solidity to the squalling blast of thick, thick noise, and the roaring rage yields to a crisp, clinical spoken word monologue that in many ways hits even harder than that savage raw-throated primal scream, and there’s glimmer of home as he intimates ‘we can win this’… and then, abruptly, nothing. It’s the most unexpected ending to a sing since Dinosaur Jr’s cover of The Cure’s ‘Just Like Heaven’.
It’s also Benefits’ most uncompromisingly brutal and heavyweight release yet, as well as their most fully realised.
The world is changing fast. We may be quite literally drowning in shit on the coasts of this brown and deeply unpleasant pleasant land, but Benefits are doing their bit to make it a better place, not by bringing sunshine, but telling it like it is.
Shit happens: some good, some bad. Feather Trade, who grabbed our attention when supporting Benefits in York back in February, were scheduled to support The Mission on May 26th. As fate would have it, the night’s scheduling with an early curfew meant they got dropped from the lineup, although their regular drummer is now occupying the stool for Hussey and co. How does stuff like that even happen? But when life gives you lemons, Feather Trade book a run of shows instead.
If you’re in the vicinity of any of these places, we’d very much recommend going.
London/Brighton heavy contingent Grave Lines who released latest album ‘Fed Into The Nihilist Engine’ in the first half of 2018 have announced UK tour dates for February 2019 with Dystopian Future Movies. Vocalist Jake Harding comments,
‘We always enjoy working with bands that fit in with our ethos and aesthetic without necessarily having the same kind of sound and Dystopian Future Movies intense atmosphere is a perfect fit for that so we couldnt resist teaming up with them for a short run of dates. To make it a bit special we are also collaborating on some music with them which will be available on the tour in a limited number of copies. We’ll be bringing the gloom two fold in February!"
Released via London label New Heavy Sounds, ‘Fed Into The Nihilist Engine’ is a must listen for fans of all things heavy, however anybody seeking music that delves into the darker and more introspective aspects of the human condition, will find much to love within its expansive tracks. At times quiet and melancholy. At times an oppressive and miserable onslaught of crushing riffs and filth-laden grooves. Fans of Yob to Neurosis, even Bauhaus or Dead Can Dance, take heed, FITNE reaches out to encompass elements of them all.
Ahead of the two sell out dates at The Black Heart in March, Raging Speedhorn are set to join ragga metallers Skindred on their upcoming February tour, following on from the success of their earlier tour in late 2016.
Guitarist Jim Palmer had this to say of the upcoming tour: “After the fun we had last year, it’s a huge honour to hit the road once again with Skindred and finish what we started! Skindred have grown into such an
incredible band so it’s an honour. It’ll be like stepping right back to those days in the early 2000’s when we last shared a stage. Bring on the party!"
Raging Speedhorn will appear on the following dates with Skindred:
Aural Aggravation 
Benefits – Thump
Posted: 20 October 2022 in Singles and EPsTags: anger, Benefits, Heavy, Industrial, Noise, Political, Rage, revolution, Rolling Stone Magazine, social commentarry, Thump, UK Tour Dates
21st October 2022
Christopher Nosnibor
What a week to drop a new single. Especially if you’re a politically-charged British band. And particularly if you’re Benefits. Their meteoric ascendancy continues unabated: still without label, management, or PR, they’ve had the video for their new single premiered on none other than Rolling Stone Magazine’s website. They are most certainly not your typical Rolling Stone act. Yes, the magazine may historically have been an outlet for Hunter S. Thomson’s writing and been both political and cutting edge, more recently, it’s been very much more establishment. But it’s reach is huge, and if this suggests by any means that Benefits have gone establishment, you’re either nuts, or you’ve not heard of Benefits before.
For a band like this to be given such a platform isn’t simply a big deal – it’s practically the sounding horn of revolution. And as the British government collapses around our ears faster than 24/7 scrolling news can update their marquees, the timing could not be better.
Against a grinding, undulating, distorted mechanical throb, Kingsley Hall delivers another lacerating dissection of Real Life, carving his way through anxiety and dayjob drudgery, corporate and political doublespeak, endless bullshit filtered and amplified through the echo chambers of social media, ‘failure masked as victory’.
Two-thirds in, a hefty industrial beat kicks in and gives a solidity to the squalling blast of thick, thick noise, and the roaring rage yields to a crisp, clinical spoken word monologue that in many ways hits even harder than that savage raw-throated primal scream, and there’s glimmer of home as he intimates ‘we can win this’… and then, abruptly, nothing. It’s the most unexpected ending to a sing since Dinosaur Jr’s cover of The Cure’s ‘Just Like Heaven’.
It’s also Benefits’ most uncompromisingly brutal and heavyweight release yet, as well as their most fully realised.
The world is changing fast. We may be quite literally drowning in shit on the coasts of this brown and deeply unpleasant pleasant land, but Benefits are doing their bit to make it a better place, not by bringing sunshine, but telling it like it is.
AA
Benefits are on your in November: