Over the last few weeks, we’ve been slowly entering a new reality. One we never thought could happen to us, and its overall outcome feels unknown. During such uncertainty, we have Calgary gothic rockers Benevolent Like Quietus say precisely how it is with their new album Kill The Bliss, which will be released tomorrow (13th). For fans of Type O Negative, Moonspell, and The 69 Eyes, you will want to listen to this record filled with sorrow, strife, touching subjects of love and death. Today (12th), the group has teamed up with Metal Insider for an exclusive stream of their new album.
In full detail, the band provided a track by track guide:
Overall, the album has a tortured feel for sure. It’s brooding, depressive, dark, uneasy and often aggressive. Listening to it you can understand why we named it “Kill the Bliss”. It’s not all doom and gloom though. There are some positive moments as well. As a whole the album encompasses everything from heartbreak, death, depression, to religious criticism. Pluses and minus’.
The Beginning of an End
How could this not be the first song on the album by the title alone? The song really fits as the opener. It starts with a great melody on synth that is soon stolen by a soaring lead guitar and a heavy rhythm. From the deep bassy verses to catchy melodic chorus and crushing breakdown, it’s a testament of our writing style and something to look forward to throughout the album. Lyrically, this song started out somewhat hypothetical but began to blend into reality while writing and recording the demo years ago. It’s about the breakdown of a romantic relationship with all the emotional push and pull that goes with it. The messy breakups and makeups. Love, lust, hate, shame and blame. The early demo of this song was actually super synth-heavy but we don’t do much with synth anymore so it was kind of interesting to take some of those parts out and replace others with guitar to suit the bands current sound. Begin the end.
My Favourite Enemy
My Favourite Enemy is an interesting one. It starts with a very 90’s era Scandanavian goth rock vibe that makes you want to get up, move and dance. The layered lead and rhythm have a bit of an upbeat feel with underlying tone of despair and longing. Sexy, deep verses and chorus’ that vocally soar and draw out with despair riddled emotion. Lyrically, it is reflective of longing, need or addiction to a tortured state. Trapped craving despair and conflict. Something toxic and seemingly undesirable but that many of us have been trapped in a vicious cycle embracing. Whether it’s a by-product of a relationship, substance or vice. There’s a great build to the solo and with a couple of snaps of the snare you’re into a melodic guitar solo reminiscent of the intro that closes with an interesting harmonic minor part.
The Great Divide
The Great Divide immediately strikes with a much heavier, faster riff then heard on the first 2 songs. It’s one of, if not the heaviest track on the album. The verses pound with hard-hitting double bass kicks, deep, aggressive vocals and some heavy-as-hell riffage. Moving fast into a chorus that just opens up and soars. The first and second chorus’ are short and vary slightly leading to a final full chorus at the end that pulls it all together. The bridge after the second chorus has a slow build with a rhythmically patterned snare, melodic lead guitar and vocals all intensifying and eventually breaking back into the main riff. The song literally just punishes aggressively right to the end finishing with an intense scream and the main heavy riff breaking down and pounding out with some swift snaps of the snare.
Soil of the Grave
Soil of the Grave sits very personally with the band. Lyrically, it’s about the inevitability of death and coping with the loss of loved ones. During the writing and recording of our album there was a lot of family loss throughout the band and it is something we have all had to deal with at some point. So, the song sits deep in our hearts. Ultimately, the song does have a positive message to remember that you couldn’t feel this sorrow and pain without great peace and love that preceded it. Musically, the song has a very melancholic and tranquillizing tone. The bass is a key factor for building the long drawn out ambience in this song. The verses slowly build with steady muted rhythm guitars, deep sombre vocals and melodic leads. The chorus’ opens up with a strong messaged vocal melody, layered with the opening guitar melody. The solo is a true stand out on the album. It’s just a great soaring melodic solo filled with emotion and brilliant flow. The song ends with a great, sad but hopeful sounding harmonized lead melody as everything tapers off.
The Rise and The Fall
The Rise and the Fall burst with a great modern goth rock feel right out of the gates. With a hooky opening riff, lead and steady drum pattern it will grab your attention right away. The verses are very steady and straight forward instrumentally. Layered with a dynamic vocal melody and captivating, poetically descriptive lyrics describing a battle of mortal love and immortal life. The chorus is probably the catchiest on the album. It’s the perfect blend of rhythm, beat, vocal melody and a lead picking arpeggiated chords that give the chorus a lot of dynamic and depth. For such a catchy, melodic song it falls into a brutal breakdown with some absolutely vicious screams, chugging guitars and tension building chimes of the china cymbal before building back to the chorus and outro to close the song.
Mad World
Everyone’s heard it. But you haven’t heard it like this before. Our take is somewhere between the awkwardly upbeat Tears For Fears original and Michael Andrews/Gary Gules version but with a whole lot of heavy. The song builds piece-by-piece starting with a very cool synth-like pulsing guitar rhythm leading into the songs classic key melody on guitar. Bass thumping like a prolonged gap in a heartbeat bringing a tribal drum rhythm and raw vocals with just enough rasp. Building a really sombre atmosphere before bursting with energy and really picking up on the first chorus. That energy carries through into the hard-hitting second verse and chorus before abruptly dropping into a brutal heavy breakdown. Overall the song has great tone, a dynamic structure, unique spin and is definitely a fan favourite, live.
Where Dead Hearts Reside
Dead Hearts is a hit right from the start. Ringing in the first few bars with an ultra-catchy guitar-only harmony before the bass and full drum beat thunder in. The song has a very modern goth rock sound reminiscent of acts like The 69 Eyes and HIM but with a lot more aggression. The verses start with some heavy palm-muted guitar, accented by a background lead and bassy vocals before bursting into the fast, energetic and aggressive second half of the verse that plays well with the turbulent, romantic demise drawn from the lyrics. The chorus brings back that intro riff with a soaring melodic vocals and chiming background synth before falling into a thundering breakdown. The final chorus has a fresh feel with the lead guitar following the vocal melody before closing the song with some of that breakdown riffage.
Love’s Inferno
This song is actually the first song we completed for BLQ. It’s been a fan and friend favourite since the beginning and definitely earned its place on our debut album. Ultimately, it is a very interesting and dynamic song that definitely shows a bit of experimenting in writing. Starting with the dual guitar melody played in separate octaves and sombre, harmonized vocal for the intro that is also placed a few times throughout the song. The verses feel very rich with dual guitar parts, pulsing bass, a steady beat with moments of thundering double kicks and dynamic vocal melodies. The pre-chorus parts have a great vocal melody and guitar rhythm that build into the chorus which pulls on vocal melodies from the verses has a steady guitar rhythm and a great beat full of tom rolls. After the second chorus, the song has a fantastic melodic solo with thundering double bass and tom rolls, over the chorus guitar rhythm that leads into the third and final verse which quickly closes with an intense outro.
Dawn of Rust
Dawn of Rust is a lament to the daily grind of life, societal pressure and overall decay of joy. Basically, if you can’t relate, you may not be human. The songs main riff is probably the catchiest on the album and don’t worry, you get a lot of it. Overall, the song has a mellow, cold feel while still encompassing a lot of energy. The verses are very bass-heavy and steady but build with intensifying vocals and underlying guitar harmony. The chorus charges ahead with that catchy main riff, a strong beat and a vocal melody that sits perfectly within. After the second chorus, you are treated to an instrumental interlude with a chromatic motif that seems to harmonize with the underlying chords before falling into a frantic, fast-paced guitar melody layered with cold, sparse, set back vocals. The song closes after the third chorus with the same guitar melody played at a slower pace over the steady rhythm and thundering double kicks.
Darkness Collides
Energy, this song contains it. Darkness immediately bursts with a super energetic and catchy opening riff of power chord stabs and octave chord runs. We break into the verse with a fast rhythm and deep dry vocals building to the pre-chorus. The pre-chorus absolutely soars with energy and a great contrast from the verses with the vocals jumping to a higher register. The chorus attacks with the catchy opening riff, a pummeling heavy vocal melody and an almost tribal drum beat. Overall, this song just hits hard relentlessly from start to finish.
A Voluntary Disease
Heavy, groovy, fast and violent. A Voluntary Disease is as punishing as it is critical. Lyrically, the song is critical of religion. Musically, it is heavy, punishing and catchy as hell. The song opens with just the bass guitar pounding undeniably the heaviest riff on the album soon joined by guitar and accented an octave higher. The verses get your heart pounding with quick riffs, an aggressive beat and eerie tremolo picking in the harmonic minor. The chorus’ strike with a heavy but smooth guitar rhythm and soaring vocals. After the second chorus, the song collapses into a menacing breakdown with a borderline demonic sounding vocal chant before bursting back into the chorus. The song closes after the third chorus with the heavy main riff and pounding drums while the breakdown chant repeats one last time.
Stream the Kill The Bliss below:
