Benediction will turn us upside down.
After a career spanning over thirty-five years, the band led by Darren Brookes (guitar), Peter Rew (guitar), Dave Ingram (vocals, Down Among the Dead Men, ex-Bolt Thrower, ex-Hail of Bullets…), Giovanni Durst (drums, Hiss of Atrocities, Omicida, Monument) and their new bassist Nik Sampson (Prolapse A.D., Devilment, Omicida) unveil their ninth album, Ravage Of Empires, released by Nuclear Blast.
If you thought you’d get off to a gentle start, you didn’t: from its very first seconds, A Carrion Harvest reminds us that Benediction is an Old School Death Metal band, and that every second will be dedicated to pure violence. The choruses are unifying and the sardonic laughter sets the tone, but the band takes a darker direction with Beyond the Veil of the Grey Mare, tinting its riffs with very ominous tones. The vocals remain as raw as we like them, and some passages take us back to the 90s, whether with the jerky approach or the furious segues, but we stay in the mysterious tones with Genesis Chamber, which begins like a horror film before revealing its true nature. Blast and uncompromising rhythm complement each other perfectly, alternating between more and less virulent passages before giving way to Deviant Spine, which speeds up but remains fairly constant, leaving us to break our necks with its refrains. The tenebrous break barely lets us breathe before picking up again, then we’re off again at full speed with Engines of War, which places its explosive riffs and short, softer parts to keep us on the edge of our seats. The Finality of Perpetuation doesn’t give us time to recover from our run, and continues with an increasingly catchy rhythmic pattern (special mention to that little countdown), but Crawling over Corpses won’t hesitate to offer a different approach and chaotic yet extremely lively patterns. In the Dread of the Night follows more or less the same pattern, offering an abrasive sound that’s hardly adaptable to newcomers to the genre, but which will appeal to 90s fans with a chorus suited to live performances, then Drought of Mercy takes us on a journey of alternating virulence and heavy sweetness. The track has no downtime, just like Psychosister, which takes over with its own weapons and strikes without any notion of mercy, but we’re already nearing the end of the album with the eponymous Ravage of Empires, which once again reminds us of the band’s early albums and makes us want to punch our fists in the air, closing the album with the same aggression as this moment began.
If you’re looking for Old School Death Metal in 2025, Benediction is the band for you. Over thirty years in the business, and a single premise: to make Ravage Of Empires sound as raw and aggressive as it could have been in the band’s early days.
95/100
A few questions to Darren “Daz” Brookes, founding member and guitarist for the British Old School Death Metal band Benediction.
Hello and first of all, thank you very much for your time! How would you introduce the band Benediction without using the words “Death Metal”?
Darren “Daz” Brookes (guitar): I would introduce us simply as Benediction. I think after 36 years we have created our own distinctive sound. I don’t really know of any other band that sounds like us. We’ve managed to fuse our Punk and Metal roots and create music with hard fast paced riffs alongside those that get you outta ya seats and make you wanna bang your head. We combine catchy/hard/fast/big riffs into songs that we as a band love to hear and play. We ain’t out to be the fastest or the most extreme. More to create songs that people feel!
The band reaches a milestone we can call “35 years old”, do you remember how the name Benediction came in, and how do you link it to the music you play now?
Daz: It’s crazy but the name wasn’t so important to us. We kinda liked the “-tion” thing, ya know like Repulsion, or Suffocation. We kinda liked that sounding name and Barney (Mark “Barney” Greenway, former vocalist and no vocalist for Napalm Death, ed.) came up with Benediction. In no time Skinny had drawn the logo and that was it really, simple as that.
In a few months, Benediction will release its ninth album, called Ravage Of Empires. How do you feel about it? Do you already have any feedback?
Daz: Firstly we love it. Every day each of us has a different favourite from the album. Secondly the guys at Nuclear Blast tell us that they love it and that means a lot to us. And now we seem to be getting nothing but praise from the press. Hopefully the fans will like it now coz to be honest, that’s the most important thing for us.
How would you sum Ravage Of Empires’ identity up in only three words?
Daz: Old School Rules!
How did the creation process happen for Ravage Of Empires? Were there any differences compared to the previous releases?
Daz: Not really. Very similar to Scriptures actually. As you know Gio (Giovanni Durst, the drummer, ed.) lives in Italy, Dave (Ingram, vocalist, ed.) lives in Denmark and myself, Rewy (Peter Rew, guitarist, ed.) and Nik (Nik Sampson, bass player, ed.) live a distance apart in the uk so writing and rehearsal is difficult. Rewy sends me a bunch of ideas. I mix those with ideas I have and songs grow from there. I spend hours rearranging and composing arrangements until the songs take shape. I then send them to Dave and the final chops and extensions of various riffs form. Can be a long process coz we all after be happy before we agree a song is done.
The band’s sound is of course anchored in Old School Death Metal, but how do you create your own touch? Are there any new influences with time?
Daz: I think with time our main influences has become us, our history, our experiences. We’re kinda happy with what we do and we ain’t looking for any new influences. I think trying to bring new elements into Benediction would spoil it. We just wanna be the best Benediction that we can be.
Do you have a favorite song on this album? Or maybe the hardest one to achieve for the album.
Daz: As I said earlier, one of the more positive things about this album is that we each have different favourites, and they frequently change. That tells me we have a great album.
Where do you find your inspiration to create music? Is there a concept on the album Ravage Of Empires?
Daz: Not really mate no. We just try to write a collection of the best songs and ideas we can come up with. Songs we’d like to hear. Metal but with a bit of groove. Hard fast bits, powerful slower bits. Structure our songs so that they are not just Run of the mill typical Death Metal cuz I don’t think we are, or ever were typical. We’ve always been different. Never just wanted to follow a set method. We are Benediction. That’s it!
Do you think you improved yourself as a musician/songwriter with this new record?
Daz: I would hope over time that this has happened. I’ve always been quite confident in my songwriting while never professing to be a great guitar player. I’m an adequate guitar player and I’m ok with that. There are some amazing players that I don’t think write such good tunes. I wanna get lost in the song, not in the individual instruments.
The band of course played a lot of concerts all around the world, so how do you get prepared for a concert? Do you have some kind of pre-show routine?
Daz: If you’ve ever seen us play live, you will see that we don’t take ourselves too seriously. Our music? Yes, for sure but ourselves? Not so much. We are lucky people to do what we do and we are grateful on a daily basis. We put everything into our live shows because we enjoy it. So there’s no pressure on us and I think we can go out on stage full of confidence without need for routines. We are just regular people before, during and after our shows.
How do you guys get prepared for the upcoming European tour which will happen with Jungle Rot and Master, next April?
Daz: We are sooo looking forward to this tour. We haven’t really done too much “touring” on a bus for many years. American and South American tours are via airports and most of our recent European stints have been weekend festivals. It’ll be good to live on a bus with some cool guys in great bands and wake up in a different city and new surroundings every day.
What is coming next for the Benediction camp? Do you plan some new videos, concerts after the release of Ravage Of Empires?
Daz: Engines Of War video is out and getting some great responses. We have a couple more to release in the coming months. I’m really interested to see what people think.
Are there any musicians or artists you would like to collaborate with? Whether it is for one song, or maybe more.
Daz: I’m not really sure to be honest. We chatted lightly with Tim Ripper Owens, a really old friend, about maybe doing something like a crossover project. His vocals on top of our heavy tunes would be awesome but we are just so busy doing our own thing it would be difficult to get done.
What do you know about the French Metal scene? Are there any bands you know and like?
Daz: I don’t really have my ear to the ground to be honest, I’m quite lazy with new music. Happy to get some suggestions tho.
As a veteran Death Metal band, you of course saw many things happening or evolving for the scene. What do you think about nowadays’ Death Metal? Whether it is in England or around the world.
Daz: Mate I’m a bit disillusioned with the way the scene has evolved. Death Metal nowadays seems to be about speed, about technical fast tunes, blast beats and super extreme. That’s more Grindcore for me. I see Death Metal more mid paced. Massacre, Master, Entombed, us. I don’t think you have to be fast to be Death Metal. You have to be powerful. You don’t have to be technical. You have to produce good songs.
I’m not asking for a political statement here, but I know Brexit happened five years ago, how do you deal with it as a band?
Daz: It’s a pain in the ass mate. Passport queues and tons of paperwork.
I remember seeing Benediction crushing Hellfest in 2023, do you have special memories of this show? Would you want to play in France again?
Daz: We did Hellfest a few times mate, it’s a great festival. We did try to get some French shows on the upcoming tour but for whatever reason that hasn’t happened yet. We did Muscadeath a couple of times too and that is a cool gig to do too. Probably time we got back to Motocultor too. Hopefully with the new album we’ll get some offers to come play for ya.
If I ask you to create a poster with Benediction as headliner and three other bands for a special Ravage Of Empires release show, which bands you would like to play with? Even unrealistic answers are accepted.
Daz: I’d just look back at our history and say a supershow with Bolt Thrower, Death (with Chuck, god rest his soul – I miss that guy) and Autopsy. What a bill that would be. As an old Heavy Metal fan I played the dream gig in Poland a few years ago. We played directly as support for Saxon and Judas Priest! I was in dream land. I even took a picture of the backstage running order and forgot to sit on Rob’s bike. What a day!
That was the last question for me, so thank you very much for your time and your music, last words are yours!
Daz: I’d firstly like to thank you for your time. And on behalf of the band I would like to thank our French fans. Your support keeps us going. I hope you all like the album and I hope we get to play in France soon. Thank you.