English Extreme Metal pioneers Benediction return with Ravage of Empires, out April 4, 2025, on Nuclear Blast Records. Five years from the comeback album, 2020’s Scriptures, released on April 4, 2025, through Nuclear Blast Records, Ravage of Empires is the ninth studio album overall for a band whose roots go back to 1989 in the Industrial Heavy Metal crucible known as Birmingham. Having etched their place in early ’90s Death Metal glory with gems like 1990’s Subconscious Terror and 1993’s Transcend the Rubicon, gravelly Vocalist Dave Ingram again leads the way.
Ingram’s signature vocals, as magnificently articulate as they are rough and raw, perfectly complement the guitar work of founding axe-men Peter Rew and Darren Brookes. A thrashy, chunky tone pervades the album opener “A Carrion Harvest.” The steady blast of Drummer Giovanni Durst is punchy, modern-sounding, but taken with Ingram’s gutturals and the twin-guitar mastery, makes for an atmosphere that calls back to all the great things about early ’90s Death Metal. Ingram has a distinctly similar voice to Mark “Barney” Greenway of compatriots Napalm Death (ironically, the man Ingram replaced after Benediction’s debut Subconscious Terror).
Lead single “Engines of War” has that instant beat perfect for the old circle pit, with great melody and twin-guitar rhythms on the chorus. When it returns to the mid-paced chug, and Ingram comes in on the verses, one is instantly transported back to those first few Benediction albums. Younger bands take heed; this is how it’s done.
Meanwhile, “Crawling Over Corpses” is another thrash banger, where once again Ingram sounds similar to early ’90s Greenway. This is a good thing, as Ingram sounds as furious and vital as he did in the early days. Benediction does not mince musical notes – the song is direct, with some good tension-building breaks that only add to the energy.
Slowing it down on “Psychosister,” Benediction here is reminiscent a bit of later ’90s Hypocrisy in the verses. The catchiness of the chorus is the hook here, even if it veers into the silly or cheesy territory. It is performed with such authenticity, and ‘psychosister shall begin, with the slow removal of your skin’ honestly harks back to the simplicity of their late ’80s roots.
The album clocks in at just under forty-eight minutes, but being that it is so dominant in the riffing and musicianship departments, by the time album-closer and eponymous song “Ravage of Empires” comes on, it’s hard to believe it all went by so fast. This one has a Slayer feel to some of the riffs,
Overall, Benediction has gone from strength to strength over the last two albums and approximately five years. Never ones to try and be something they are not, Benediction bring an honest, old-school feel to music that sounds polished without losing its bite. This is not an easy task, and often veteran bands like this lose their verve and their underground motivation. Not so with Benediction, who ply their trade the classic way, and do not compromise for the latest trends. Equal parts Death Metal, equal parts Thrash, however they did it, they did a great job. For this reason, Cryptic Rock gives Ravage of Empires 4 out of 5 stars.
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