Sodality hail from
Poland and have carved a narrow, hostile path through modern black metal since
their early days. Rooted in decay, faith abuse, and spiritual violence, the
band surfaced with “Gothic” in 2020 and tightened their grip with “Benediction,
Part 1”. Their alliance with NoEvDia places them
in a lineage where ideology, obsession, and rot matter more than polish or
comfort. This is a band that treats belief as a wound, not a refuge.
“Benediction,
Part 2” continues that cycle with five tracks that spit bile at sanctity and
kneel only to ruin. The album sounds diseased, clogged, and oppressive, riffs
dragging themselves forward like wounded animals through a collapsed nave.
There is a heavy Catholic stench here, not romantic, not symbolic, but rancid
and bodily. The music crawls and surges in uneven waves, guided by impulse and
fixation instead of careful planning, which gives the album a raw nerve quality
that keeps it dangerous.
There are
moments where the ideas stretch a little longer than necessary, and the impact
dulls slightly through familiarity. Some passages could cut deeper with sharper
editing, and the album occasionally circles itself too closely. Still, the
material has its claws in the skin through sheer ugliness and sincerity. The
intent is clear, the execution grim, and the hostility honest enough to hold
attention.
“Benediction,
Part 2” sits comfortably in the upper middle of Sodality’s
output, vicious, focused, and spiritually corrosive, even if not every passage
hits with equal force. It rewards listeners who appreciate black metal as a
vehicle for fixation and decay, not spectacle or refinement. This is rotten
faith put to sound, offensive in the old sense of the word, and stubbornly
devoted to its own sickness.
Score: 7.5
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