Benediction – Ravage Of Empires – Album Review

Clutch your vintage Hermès scarves because I simply MUST tell you about “Ravage of Empires,” the latest sonic assault from those deliciously brutal death metal divas, Benediction. This is quite the departure from Barbara Streisand and ABBA. But this album, this magnificent catastrophe, has carved out a special little corner in my heart right next to where my dignity used to be!

“Ravage of Empires” has all the subtlety of a drag queen making an entrance at a Mormon funeral!. Vocalist Dave Ingram sounds like he’s simultaneously divorcing both heaven and hell; you’d think he’s trying to regurgitate his soul through his navel!

Track after punishing track, Benediction serves up relentless musical brutality that makes you feel like you’re being crushed under a mountain of vintage sequined gowns. It’s the musical equivalent of watching RuPaul’s Drag Race, but if all the contestants were actively on fire and living for it!

And even though you may think it is just noise—which it is—all of this chaos has a beautiful beauty. The fleeting instances of order glimmer like forbidden jewels embedded in darkness. The breakdowns hit harder than realising that you might be completely lost, but you’re having a fabulous time getting there!

My favourite track?” Beyond the Veil (of the Grey Mare). For those days when life feels like a poorly written soap opera and the only logical response is to collapse theatrically onto soft furnishings, this track supplies the unnecessarily grand score to match your emotional overreaction.

Benediction has crafted something so savage, so dramatically unhinged, that it’ll make you question every playlist you’ve ever curated (and possibly your will to live). I now have a very concerned therapist who I’m now on a first-name basis with, thanks to this album.

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

Label – Nuclear Blast
Release – 4th April 2025

For all things Benediction, click HERE and to purchase the album, click HERE

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