Alright, quick question for all my fellow metal album reviewers out there who just so happen to be reading this: Ever listen to an album and get the tempting urge to simply copy and paste a previously written review, knowing it fully applies to said album? That’s exactly how I felt when listening to Ravage of Empires: The latest album from English death metal veterans, Benediction. However, my integrity simply prevents me from resorting to such outright laziness, so for the sake of you, the reader, here is a brand spanking new review for your reading pleasure. And if you want to check out my review on their last album, Scriptures (2020), click here.
So what has changed for Benediction in the half decade that has passed between Scriptures and Ravage of Empires? Well, not very much at all. They’ve gained a new bassist along the way in Nik Sampson. Besides that, the personnel remains the same, spearheaded by founding guitarists Peter Rew and Darren Brookes, as well as long time vocalist Dave Ingram. Oh yeah, they’ve also got a brief American trek planned for next month, which includes a date at my beloved hometown haunt, Reggies, so to say I’m stoked for that would be an understatement. Anyways, enough about Benediction’s lineup and touring itinerary. Let’s get onto the music, shall we?
Like Scriptures before it, Ravage of Empires is yet another no frills offering of pure British death metal, midtempo aggression and all, with no shortage of thrashing violence and punky attitude scattered abound. It’s a formula that becomes detectable rather fast, with cuts like “A Carrion Harvest”, “Engines of War”, and “In the Dread of the Night” sounding tailormade for the circle pit. Meanwhile, d-beat driven ragers like “Beyond the Veil (Of the Grey Mare)”, “Crawling Over Corpses”, and the title track serve as fitting nods to the band’s crusty roots (No way they weren’t raising hell to the likes of Discharge and Extreme Noise Terror as youngsters).
Also like Scriptures, this is all fine and good, guaranteed to satisfy the souls of death metallists and crusties alike. That said, by the latter half of the album, the songs grow tedious and formulaic, lacking the extra punch that made those ’90s Benediction albums so memorable. Also holding this affair back? Its production. I swear, would it kill Nuclear Blast to let their roster explore more options than their “one size fits all” extreme metal production job? Something tells me I’d dig these songs even more if they didn’t come off as so safe and sterile. Where’s the reverb-drenched guitars and atmospheric darkness of Transcend the Rubicon? Will somebody ring up Paul Johnston?!
If you can get past the pedestrian production, predictable songwriting, and the occasional ill-placed death/groove metal hybrid (which I guess just comes with the territory of an English death metal album), you’ll find Ravage of Empires to be yet another perfectly good affair from Benediction. Like Scriptures before it, better than the last three albums that proceeded Scriptures, yet still a far cry from their early ’90s heyday. Then again, they can’t all be Autopsy.
6 out of 10
Label: Nuclear Blast Records
Genre: Death Metal
For fans of: Napalm Death, Bolt Thrower, Dismember
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