BENIGHTED are at the same time devastated to announce the voluntary departure of co-founding member and friend Olivier Gabriel yet also officially welcoming CARNIVAL IN COAL guitarist Fack as their newest member to the band family. All three parties involved have given a statement.

Vocalist Julien Truchan comments: "I now have to face the most difficult episode of our BENIGHTED adventure as my brother Olivier decided to leave the band. He took his decision with all the love and respect that he is known for. I thank him for his limitless friendship and all the good times that we shared in BENIGHTED for 19 years. Olivier is and will continue to be my best friend and brother forever!

We are ready to welcome Fack (CARNIVAL IN COAL, INFECTED SOCIETY) with open arms as our new guitarist. He has already been involved with the band for a year and we cannot wait to present 'Necrobreed' on tour. See you all in the pit and share the sickness with us!"

Olivier Gabriel explains his decision: "Dear friends, I have made the hard decision to close my chapter of more than 18 years with BENIGHTED. Those were pure bliss. I have made friends for life, experienced unforgettable moments with past and present members of the BENIGHTED family, and last but never least with you, the fans, label teams, producers, promoters, bookers, reporters, photographers, and many more. Sadly, I can no longer muster the energy that it takes to keep up with the frantic rhythm of BENIGHTED. We have come a long way since our first rehearsals at the Chazelles sur Lyon youth cultural centre and the living room at the place of Julien's father. We have also come a long way since our corpse paint black metal days, Bontempi keyboards, and Cradle of Filth style female vocals. It has been such a long road since Julien and I rehearsed at my parents' home with copy/pasted Cannibal Corpse lyrics and recorded demos on cassette tapes. All those years on the road gave me so much hysterical laughter, friendship, and love. As of today, all of this is over for me, but I will never forget and always be grateful. I love you all. I want to thank my family and friends for their patience, while I was away so often. These last 30 years, I have shared everything with my brother Julien, whose positive energy I admire. I wish you all the best with the band and our kickass new album! Long live BENIGHTED! See you all somewhere soon!"

Fack comments on his joining of the band: "I am extremely glad and proud to have been asked to join the BENIGHTED family and thank all of them for their warm welcome. It was an honour to fill in for Gab on the 'Abysmal European Tour' last year and I feel lucky to keep walking in his footsteps. I have nothing but respect and true friendship for him as a person and musician. Gab, I wish you all the best in the world, bro! See you all on the 'Worship the Necrobreed Tour'!"

On previous news, BENIGHTED added a European headlining tour joined by label mates WORMED as well as UNFATHOMABLE RUINATION and OMOPHAGIA to their already released dates in France and at festivals. For a complete list of confirmed shows, please see below.

BENIGHTED:

21 Jan 17 Lisbon (PT) RCA Club (XXXapada Na Tromba)
10 Feb 17 Grenoble (FR) L'Ampérage
11 Feb 17 Puget-Sur-Argens (FR) Le Rat's
17 Feb 17 Saint Étienne (FR) Le FIL
18 Feb 17 Montbeliard (FR) L'atelier des miles
21 Feb 17 Nantes (FR) Le Ferailleur
22 Feb 17 Joue Les Tours (FR) Le Temps Machine
23 Feb 17 Paris (FR) Le Petit Bain
24 Feb 17 Bergen (NO) Blastfest
25 Feb 17 Rouen (FR) Le 106
03 Mar 17 Toulouse (FR) Le Metronum
18 Mar 17 Nancy (FR) Le Hublot
31 Mar 17 Dijon (FR) Le Consortium
01 Apr 17 Limours (FR) MJC

BENIGHTED +WORMED:

15 Apr 17 Essen (DE) Turock
16 Apr 17 Arnhem (NL) Willemeen
17 Apr 17 Arlon (BE) L'entrepot
18 Apr 17 Weinheim (DE) Cafe Central
19 Apr 17 Praha (CZ) Modrá Vopice
21 Apr 17 Zug (CH) Industrie 45
23 Apr 17 Vienna (AT) Viper Room
24 Apr 17 Budapest (HU) Dürer Kert
25 Apr 17 Bucharest (RO) Fabrica
26 Apr 17 Cluj-Napoca (RO) Flying Circus
27 Apr 17 Ljubljana (SI) Orto Bar
28 Apr 17 Brescia (IT) Circolo Colony
29 Apr 17 Innsbruck (AT) PMK

BENIGHTED:

11 May 17 Horní Libchava (CZ) Zámek Horní Libchava
13 May 17 Zamek (CZ) Nice To Eat You Fest 2017
20 May 17 Saint-Omer (FR) Dreamer Fest 2017
03 Jun 17 Saint-Riquier (FR) Abbaye Metal Fest 2017
06 Jul 17 Viveiro (ES) Resurrection Festival 2017 (Exact date TBA)
29 Jul 17 Steenwijk (NL) Stonehenge Festival 2017

BENIGHTED will be touring in support of their highly anticipated forthcoming album 'Necrobreed', which will hit the stores on February 17th. Artwork and track-list can be viewed below.
24 Aug 17 Spital Am Semmering (AT) Kaltenbach Open Air Festival 2017.

01. Hush Little Baby
02. Reptilian
03. Psychosilencer
04. Forgive Me Father
05. Leatherface
06. Der Doppelgaenger
07. Necrobreed
08. Monsters Make Monsters
09. Cum With Disgust
10. Versipellis
11. Reeks Of Darkened Zoopsia
12. Mass Grave

Madness reigns! BENIGHTED deliver the radical soundtrack to these savage times. With their new full-length 'Necrobreed', the French sidestep the steadily growing complexity of their previous albums 'Asylum Cave' (2011) and 'Carnivore Sublime' (2014) by recalibrating their sound along their roots.

'Necrobreed' is the result of modern violence combined with an undercurrent of old school feeling. BENIGHTED keep their grinding influences but classic death metal clearly shows through the fabric. Those insane pig squeals are backed-up by massive growling. Crushing riffing and nuclear drumming meet subtle melodies and hidden hooks are fuelling the fury.

BENIGHTED were spawned by members from French Death and Black metal bands DISHUMANIZED, DARKNESS FIRE, and OSGILIATH, who joined forces in 1998 for a more brutal, heavy and modern way of expression. When their first self-produced and self-titled full-length hit the streets in 2000, it immediately had a strong impact. This turned a side-project into a main act. A fast-growing fan base was built by a string of acclaimed albums: 'Psychose' (2002), 'Insane Cephalic Production' (2004), 'Identisick' (2006), and 'Icon' (2007) were all enthusiastically received.

On the live front, BENIGHTED quickly started to capture audiences with sweat driver performances that bulldozer any resistance mercilessly aside. This allowed the French to climb up the ladder fast and soon came invitations to all major European festivals including Neurotic Death Fest, Hellfest, Wacken, Brutal Assault, Summer Breeze, and Inferno Festival among many more.

BENIGHTED recorded 'Necrobreed' once again in Germany's Kohlekeller Studio in continuation of a very successful relationship. The other constant with these brutal death addicts is an album concept that comes based on a theme revolving around the abysmal potential of the human psyche. This time vocalist (and caretaker in a mental asylum) Julien Truchan penned lyrics dealing with a man, who is stitching dead animals to his abdomen. On feeling the warmth of his infected flesh, the schizophrenic "gives birth" to the carcass and places it in his house as the result of a severe childhood trauma involving a dead cat.

'Necrobreed' gives an extreme musical voice to the madness lurking within. Let your mind be shaken by BENIGHTED. In case of side effects, please see a doctor.

Recording line-up
Julien Truchan: vocals
Olivier Gabriel: guitars
Romain Goulon: drums
Pierre Arnoux: bass, backing vocals
Emmanuel Dalle: guitars

Current line-up:

Julien Truchan: vocals
Emmanuel Dalle: guitars
Romain Goulon: drums
Pierre Arnoux: bass, backing vocals
Fack: guitars

Guest appearances:

Asphodel (Chenille): vocals on "Hush Little Baby "
Trevor Strnad (The Black Dahlia Murder): vocals on"Forgive Me Father"
Arno (Black Bomb A): vocals on "Cum With Disgust"

https://www.facebook.com/brutalbenighted

Style: Brutal Death Metal