Benevolent is an extreme/

experimental metal Avant-garde metal (also known as avant-metal, experimental metal, and experimental) is a subgenre of heavy metal music loosely defined by use of experimentation and innovative, avant-garde elements, including non-standard and unconventional soun ...

band formed in 2007 by Lebanese brothers Hadi and Fadi Sarieddine. Formerly based in

Kuwait Kuwait (; ar, الكويت ', or ), officially the State of Kuwait ( ar, دولة الكويت '), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated in the northern edge of Eastern Arabia at the tip of the Persian Gulf, bordering Iraq to the nort ...

, the band is now based in the

United Arab Emirates The United Arab Emirates (UAE; ar, اَلْإِمَارَات الْعَرَبِيَة الْمُتَحِدَة ), or simply the Emirates ( ar, الِْإمَارَات ), is a country in Western Asia (The Middle East). It is located at th ...

History

Formation & Lineup Changes (2007–2009)

Benevolent was founded by brothers Hadi Sarieddine and Fadi Sarieddine in May 2007 under the name Eminence. The band had initially started as a cover band. In 2008, the band released its first single titled "Solace". In mid-2009, the band was joined by Adel Al-Qattan on guitars, and Bader Nana on drums. The band soon began writing original material. Soon after the release of "Augmented" in early 2010, Adel Al-Qattan and Bader Nana had departed from the band.

Recording Divided EP (December 2009–August 2010)

Benevolent entered the studio to begin work on record material for what has become the band's debut EP, titled ''

Divided Division is one of the four basic operations of arithmetic, the ways that numbers are combined to make new numbers. The other operations are addition, subtraction, and multiplication. At an elementary level the division of two natural numb ...

''. "The Tyrant" was previously released as "Augmented" in late January, 2010. The second single off the EP was the song "Haunting Shores". which showcased a new and more focused direction in the band's sound. Involving elements of poly rhythmic beats, low tuned guitars, and a general move toward what is referred to as

djent Djent () is a subgenre of progressive metal characterised by its use of off-beat and complex rhythm patterns. Its distinctive sound is that of high-gain, distorted, palm-muted, down-tuned strings. The name "djent" is an onomatopoeia of this s ...

. The songs "Clairvoyant Transmission", "Purgatory", and "The Quantum Paradox" were all finalized toward the end of the recording process across the summer of 2010.

Divided EP

On November 5, 2010, the band released its debut EP titled ''

''. The EP featured five songs including "Haunting Shores" and "The Tyrant". ''

'' was released exclusively for free download on the band's Bandcamp page. On January 10, 2011, Benevolent announced through their Facebook page that the line up of the band has been completed with the addition of Mohammed Gad on

bass guitar The bass guitar, electric bass or simply bass (), is the lowest-pitched member of the string family. It is a plucked string instrument similar in appearance and construction to an electric or an acoustic guitar, but with a longer neck and ...

. The band also confirmed their appearance in shows promoting ''

'' in February 2011 in the Middle East. It was officially announced on the band's Official Facebook page that the band will return to the studio on May 27, 2011 to commence work on a single which will be released through the summer of 2011. On July 10, 2011, Benevolent debuted their first official music video which features a guitar play-through of the song Clairvoyant Transmission. Hadi Sarieddine worked with the designer of the artwork from ''

'' as a director and producer for the video.

'The Covenant' and Working With Andols Herrick

'The Covenant' is Benevolent's first full-length album, the record was released digitally on March 18, 2014 independently by the band. Andols Herrick (formerly of Chimaira) was announced as the guest drummer on the album.

Discography

Divided EP (2010)

Track list

#"Clairvoyant Transmission" #"Purgatory" #"The Tyrant" #"Haunting Shores" #"The Quantum Paradox" *Co-produced, mixed, and engineered by Sajid "Sarj" Masoud at Sarj's Studio, Kuwait. *Drums written by Hadi Sarieddine and Bader Nana, digitized by Sajid "Sarj" Masoud *Guitars recorded by Hadi Sarieddine (Adel Al-Qattan appears on "The Tyrant" and "The Quantum Paradox") *Bass recorded by Hadi Sarieddine *Vocals recorded by Fadi Sarieddine (growls, and cleans on "The Tyrant") and Hadi Sarieddine (cleans) *Keyboards and pianos digitized and engineered by Hadi Sarieddine

The Covenant (2014)

Track list

#"Void" #"Asphyxia" #"The Seeker" #"Radiate" #"Illusion" #"Heathen" #"The Collector" #"Dissipate" #"Metamorphosis" #"Ascension" #"Rebirth" *Produced, mixed, and engineered by Hadi Sarieddine at Haven Studio *Guitars recorded by Hadi Sarieddine and Mohammed Gad *Bass recorded by Mohammed Gad *Drums recorded by Andols Herrick at Studio D Productions *Keyboards and pianos digitized and engineered by Hadi Sarieddine *Mastered by Acle Kahney at 4D Sounds *Album artwork by Edidong Udo

Band members

Current members

* Hadi Sarieddine -

Guitar The guitar is a fretted musical instrument that typically has six strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming or plucking the strings with the dominant hand, while simultaneously pressing selected stri ...

clean vocals Singing is the act of creating musical sounds with the voice. A person who sings is called a singer, artist or vocalist (in jazz and/or popular music). Singers perform music (arias, recitatives, songs, etc.) that can be sung with or without ...

*Fadi Sarieddine -

growling Growling is a low, guttural vocalization produced by animals as an aggressive warning but can also be found in other contexts such as playful behaviors or mating. Different animals will use growling in specific contexts as a form of communicati ...

*Mohammed Gad -

, bass

Session members

*Prasad Jayaruwan - Drums

Past members

*Adel Al-Qattan - Guitars *Bader Nana - Drums *Khalid Al Mansour - Drums *Hisham Khalil - Guitars

References

External links

- Bandcamp Page

- Facebook Page
EP review on Lebmetal.com
{{DEFAULTSORT:Benevolent (Band) Kuwaiti musical groups Avant-garde metal musical groups Death metal musical groups Musical groups established in 2007