Album Review: "The Reign of the Unblinking Eye" by The Bendal Interlude

The Reign of the Unblinking Eye

Do you know what a Loony Bin is?

Insane Asylum?

Well, these are called metal health hospitals now and they leave out anything derogatory because they should. How would you like it if you stayed at the hospital for the tragically weak of knee?

Yeah, well, I used to pass the one in St. Louis everyday. There was a smiling man who always waved to every car as they passed while he smoked a cigarette and waited for the bus.

We called him our buddy friend.

I can't tell you if he was a patient at the hospital or he was just a jolly fellow, but we always waved. It made him and my daughter smile. Just a simple thing...let's say he was a patient.

Everyday he did something to make someone smile. My daughter, though I don't pick her up anymore, still asks me about our buddy friend when we drive down the street.

The Bendal Interlude

 After four EPs of music, The Bendal Interlude has decided that a full length record is the way to go.

It's insane.

Utterly insane. So what do you do if you're a patient? Try to make someone's day a little brighter.

This album sounds like the benign ravings of the criminally insane.

Between vocals that wouldn't sound out of place on a Napalm Death album and sweet melodic guitar solos that wouldn't sound out of place on a Robin Trower record, The Bendal Interlude crams in so much quality.

It's kind of like a Reese's Peanut Butter Cup, but instead of peanut butter, it's mint chocolate.

The songs feel like a trip through an album of photos, but no Family Memories 1998 or Christmas 2002. These are the pictures that were saved from the fire.

There's a gargantuan variety to this album, but the music is always top notch. Be it the bluegrass interlude, the death metal stomps, or the arena rock rock double stop riffing.

This album sent chills down my spine.

Release: 4/1/16
Genre: Metal
Label: Black Bow Records
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