UMUR
"Ravage of Empires" is the ninth full-length studio album by UK death metal act Benediction. The album was released through Nuclear Blast in April 2025. It´s the successor to "Scriptures" from 2020, which was a comeback album for Benediction after a 12 years recording break. "Scriptures" also saw the return of lead vocalist Dave Ingram, who previously fronted Benediction in the 1990-1998 period and who appeared on some of the group´s most well known releases like "The Grand Leveller" (1991), the "Dark Is the Season" (1992) EP, and "Transcend the Rubicon" (1993). There has been one lineup change since "Scriptures" as bassist Dan Bate has been replaced by Nik Sampson.
Other than the lineup change, very little has happened since the release of "Scriptures", as "Ravage of Empires" is very much formed from the blueprint of the preceding album. Everything from the cover artwork, the powerful and punchy sound production, to the songwriting are all almost copies of what Benediction presented to us on "Scriptures". It´s usually not an issue when an old school death metal act releases similar sounding albums, but in this case I would have preferred that Benediction at least had chosen another cover artists (or at least some other colours), and especially that they had chosen a new studio and a different producer.
I understand that when you feel safe and comfortable recording at a specific studio with a particular producer (in this case Grindstone Studio, Suffolk, England and producer Scott Atkins) that you instinctively want to go back there, but there is a danger in stagnation, and although "Ravage of Empires" in itself is a good quality old school death metal release (there is a good energy and plenty of aggression and brutality here), and Benediction as always deliver the goods with an intelligible growling vocalist like Dave Ingram in front, "Ravage of Empires" just doesn´t move them forward one bit.
So, if you enjoyed "Scriptures", this sister album release will undoubtedly be right down you alley (as it is down mine), but viewed upon in a broader perspective, I hope Benediction opt to change things up for their next release (a bit more filth and grit wouldn´t be bad choices). Just because you´re an established and by now legendary death metal act it doesn´t mean that you can just lean back and expect your fans to praise every decision you make. A 3.5 star (70%) rating is deserved.
