Band:	Benediction
Album:	Ravage Of Empires
Style:	Death metal
Release date:	April 04, 2025
A review by:	omne metallum

01. A Carrion Harvest
02. Beyond The Veil (Of The Grey Mare)
03. Genesis Chamber
04. Deviant Spine
05. Engines Of War
06. The Finality Of Perpetuation
07. Crawling Over Corpses
08. In The Dread Of The Night
09. Drought Of Mercy
10. Psychosister
11. Ravage Of Empires

The unnamed feeling.

They say time is relative, and in the case of Benediction, it definitely is; for many other bands, a five-year gap between albums is viewed as a lengthy wait for new material, whereas in this case, it represents the band's quickest turnaround since Grind Bastard into Organized Chaos, as subsequent release schedules have been best measured by Jupiter's calendar. So, does this comparative rushed churn of releases diminish Ravage Of Empires? Well, while I wouldn't turn down more material by Benediction, it just leaves something to be desired.

Far to say that Ravage Of Empires is a bad album, by most measures it is competent and entertaining; it's just listening to it, you have this unmistakable feeling that the album is missing something, and that missing component is what separates a good but middle-of-the-road album from a great album. Still, a fix of OSDM is always welcome, and it delivers on that.

There is pretty much a seal of quality attached to albums where Rewinsky and Brookes are teaming up on the guitars, a duo who are pretty much headmasters in the old school of death metal at this point. Couple this with Ingram being firmly back fronting the band, and Ravage Of Empires has some of the best vocalists and guitarists in the genre roaring out of speakers, one with razor sharp riffs, the other with a hoarse, powerful bark energising songs like "Beyond The Veil (Of The Grey Mare)", and taking to another level that other vocalists would struggle to. The talent is there, and it is brought down to bear throughout, from the powerful "Genesis Chamber", to the groove-infused "Engines Of War", but it doesn't quite stack up to the band's previous output.

This middling feeling is compounded by the characterless production, one that is competent to a fault. Tracks like "Drought Of Mercy" sound great, every element is audible and complements each other, but it feels sterile and overly refined, lacking grit. Scriptures showed that the band are capable of fusing old school with modern production, but that equilibrium doesn't seem to have been carried over on this album.

There is something missing here, and while it has led to (enjoyable) repeated listens, it is something I can't put my finger on. A good album, and one worth seeking out, but answers on a postcard if you can pinpoint the elusive missing element.