Benediction – Ravage Of Empires

Written by on 03-04-2025 at 19:00.

When, in 2020, Benediction released an album with singer and class act Dave Ingram for the first time in over twenty years, colleague Remco was moderately enthusiastic. Quite understandable because Scriptures was full of familiar mid-tempo death that the British institution has become know for and therefore not very spectacular. The level of my favorite release of the band, the Dark Is The Season EP, and the albums around it was (indeed) left untouched. That does not alter the fact that over the years the album has continued to find its way to my eardrums regularly. Time does not make Scriptures lose its charms at all, perhaps the album even gets a little stronger. No wonder that I was eagerly awaiting album number two in the new Ingram-era. It is here now and bears the name Ravage Of Empires.

Once again, our jaws do not drop to the floor in surprise at inimitable, finger-breaking antics on the bass or drums that sound like they were played by someone with four legs. The strength of Ravage Of Empires lies in the quality of the songs that are brought to us by capable, experienced musicians. The album is full of tracks that – all in their own time – worm themselves into your brain and never leave.

I immediately have a smile on my face when Ingram thunders darkly right at the start of the album (after a maniacal laugh): “Brace for impact, go!” Wonderful, like Barney who encourages his band by shouting “faster” over and over. The smile remains intact throughout the opening track, not least because of the repeated Hell Awaits. That reference fits the fierce way in which A Carrion Harvest is performed and especially the swinging (yes!) Slayer riff that makes its entrance after about two and a half minutes. The long guitar line that follows shortly (could have been a bit longer guys!) briefly reminds us of the atmosphere on Dark Is The Season before we are rudely reminded that it really is hell that awaits us. Oh well, we shouldn’t have listened to metal then, right?

Beyond The Veil (Of Grey Mare) has a galloping rhythm and therefore stands out a little less. That is, until some abrasive double guitar work grabs your attention and later a pile of groove is laid in another somewhat Slayer-esque riff that does sound great in a death metal jacket. In the meantime, we start to notice that although not everything Ingram touches may turn to gold, but he sure does make it sound damn good. Heavy, intelligible and familiar he vocally works his way through the material. It is as if the band was created especially for him to excel (which of course is not the case, right Barney?).

In Genesis Chamber he casually tells us that he has become death, like Oppenheimer did before. Where you might then expect a lead-pipe bombtrack, we get faster floating guitar lines that meander around each other. The expected drop comes in the chorus, in which Ingram urgently and repeatedly calls – or demands? – “Do I Have The Right?!” over a slow rhythm. That will make you sing along live as if you were with a bunch of (rather angry) folk-singers! Deviant Spine then continues mainly in mid-tempo for four and a half minutes. Here it is the creeping, sneaky guitar lines that keep the song, which may be a bit simple in its main theme (but hey, this is old school death), afloat. The swinging main riff of Engines Of War is more appealing, as are Ingram’s commanding vocals in this song. I can only add one thing to this: Wààààrrrrr!!!

The Finality Of Perpetuation shows more than a hint of Slayer in the intro. But then Ingram orders: “Crank it up!” (look, there’s that smile again) and a dive into the death metal depths is taken. With Crawling Over Corpses (nice little title) we come to a remarkable love/hate/torture declaration: “I’m crawling over corpses for you!” The riff is a bit jumpy. As a result, the track, despite the macabre theme, removes itself a bit from the old school death the band is known for. For me, it doesn’t sound as convincing as the rest of the album, but I’m sure it will be the hightlight for others. Only when things start to drag a bit more towards the end, I’m back on track. Just in time for the faster In The Dread Of The Night that is convincing across the board. Brutal, dogged and boisterous, the band rams everything out of its way like the singer of The Verve in that one video. All this is served in a nice heavy guitar sound, which by the way is more than fine throughout the entire album. After a brief nod to the horror theme in Left Hand Path, the band steps it up a notch – in tempo and anger. Just because they can. The slower passages in Drought Of Mercy are mainly a basis for Ingram to once again show what a really good death metal singer can do. Precisely because he doesn’t exert himself excessively and articulates well, he leaves a large part of his competitors/colleagues far behind.

With the “ooh” at the beginning of Psychosister, the smile suddenly reappears. However, don’t expect any abrasive Celtic Frost-riffs here. The leads flow like a charm and sound quite melodic. The Wolverine Blues-like aggression comes from the drums in the run-up to yet another memorable (and perhaps even somewhat funny) chorus: “Psychosister, you can’t resist her!” And do I hear an “I bow to none?”. The title track maintains the high level with perhaps the catchiest drag riff on the entire album. You have to try hard not to hum along to it, but maybe you’re already too busy singing the title.

Another great old school death metal album, this Ravage Of Empires. Straightforward too! Don’t make things difficult for the sake of just that, but write catchy songs. That’s all it needs to be. While the differences with its predecessor may not be all that great musically, the cover (especially in terms of color scheme) is refers to the artwork of Scriptures. Good for continuity and recognisability, but it also means that it doesn’t jump out as new. In other words: you don’t have to buy it for the cover (or leave it for that matter), but you do it for the music. Also nice: a decent death metal release from a band of name on Nuclear Blast Records, which seemed to happen a lot more often in the past than in these days. And more good news: Ravage Of Empires is of course a great vehicle to go on tour again. Maybe I can finally see (and especially hear) the band live with Ingram!

Score:

85/100

Label:

Nuclear Blast Records, 2025

Tracklisting:

  1. A Carrion Harvest
  2. Beyond the Veil of the Grey Mare
  3. Genesis Chamber
  4. Deviant Spine
  5. Engines of War
  6. The Finality of Perpetuation
  7. Crawling over Corpses
  8. In the Dread of the Night
  9. Drought of Mercy
  10. Psychosister
  11. Ravage of Empires

Line-up:

  • Darren Brookes – Guitar
  • Peter Rew – Guitar
  • Dave Ingram – Vocals
  • Nik Sampson – Bass guitar
  • Giovanni Durst – Drums

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