Ingested – The Tide of Death and Fractured Dreams
Release Date: 5th April 2024
Label: Metal Blade Records
Bandcamp
Genre: Death Metal, Brutal Death Metal, Deathcore, Slam.
FFO: Aborted, Vulvodynia, Aversions Crown, Analepsy, Suffocation, Carnifex.
Review By: Rick Farley
At a pace of nearly one record per year since the release of 2020s Where Only Gods May Tread, Manchester England’s concrete crushing, brutal death metal band Ingested are releasing their newest offering, The Tide of Death and Fractured Dreams on Metal Blade Records, set to destroy everything April 5th, 2024. Album number seven highlights the bands songwriting maturity while still bringing the unrelenting savagery. A little less dark than 2022’s Ashes Lie Still, The Tide of Death and Fractured Dreams marks a little return to the band’s roots of brutal death metal attitude and slam style riffs with a sledgehammering fist still firmly planted in the modern incarnation of Ingested, which gives the record a pummelling blast of dark melody, destructive mood, and spine-tingling atmosphere. Fully showing its gnarly fucking teeth, The Tide of death and Fractured Dreams is a vicious contrast for the ears, which is somehow still remarkably accessible. Ingested is preparing to take over the metal world.
Right from the start of the record, it is pretty clear what fresh hell you are about to experience. An absolute onslaught of sharp, energetic bursts of intensity, Paragon of Purity is a monstrous dose of lethal death metal. Heavyweight grooves, unnerving melodies, bone crushing percussion, and inhuman gutturals from Jason Evans, who in my opinion is easily one of the best vocalists in any genre of extreme metal. His voice is gritty, charismatic, memorable, and disgustingly brutish with pig squeals, snarls and growls that are nothing short of deadly potency. The cliché of sounding demon like is utterly true in this case. If this song doesn’t move you with its expert riff craft and wicked dynamics, there is something considerably wrong with you.
Endless Machine continues the nerve-shredding with a plethora of meaty riffs and a surging thrashy pace. Drummer Lyn Jeffs mercilessly sets a purposeful, relentless pounding tempo. The constant beating of artillery double bass and heavy drums hammering down on your body is enough to cave in your chest and crack your fucking skull. The rhythms are kinetic, tight, and streamlined, this track really does feel like a heartless, punishing machine.
Guitarist Sean Hynes has a soul-stirring clean guitar pattern with gorgeous melodies overtop on the refreshing instrumental Numinous. The painstaking melodies lead to a devilishly heavy chug with emotional guitar leads and atmospheric synths in the background. Ethereal and entrancing, it is a welcome reprieve from the unrelenting bashing of the rest of the record. The track is fleshed out at nearly four minutes, never once feeling like the vocals are missing. It is a beautiful yet hefty piece of intriguing music that shows the bands maturity and Sean’s skills as a guitarist.
Overall, this album which also features a couple enjoyable vocal guest spots from Josh Middleton (Sylosis) on Expect to Fail and Mark Hunter (Chimaira) on In Nothingness is a powerful addition to Ingested’s already legendary catalogue of brutality.
The Tide of Death and Fractured Dreams is an entirely developed, well written, well executed album, from a band at the top of their game. The production is top-notch, the brutality is devastating, and the songs are infectious, often showing the bands musical influences, embracing of their past, and ever evolving spirit, Ingested is the quintessential modern death metal band. Fully shedding the stylistic burdens of genre and transcending their genre tags, I expect Ingested to finally take their rightful throne.
(4.5 / 5)
