UK’s most hardworking Brutal Death Metal and Deathcore entity is back with their eight studio album, showcasing a band willing to expand its creativity without sacrificing the ferocity that made it one of the most impressively destructive names of the current scene.
Not many top-tier Death Metal bands can record and release an album a year and follow it with an extensive tour. That’s hardly ever been the case for Manchester, England’s crushing, visceral Brutal Death Metal/Deathcore entity Ingested. Since the release of their fifth album Where Only God May Tread, in 2020, the band has been on a creative tear that has produced almost a full record every year – even through the COVID pandemic – but has resulted in the kind of musical growth that only comes from constantly practicing, playing, and writing. Now in 2024 the band formed of frontman Jason Evans, guitarist Sean Hynes, and drummer Lyn Jeffs returns with their eight studio effort, titled The Tide of Death and Fractured Dreams, sounding as innovative and brutal as their latest opus, the bleak, firestorm Ashes Lie Still, released in 2022. Displaying a stunning artwork by David Seidman, the album showcases a band willing to expand its creativity without sacrificing the ferocity that made it one of the most impressively destructive and technical Death Metal bands on the scene.
The opener Paragon of Purity is insanely slamming and brutal from the very first second, with Jason already sounding inhumane on vocals while Lyn hammers his drums without a single drop of mercy, whereas he keeps smashing our skulls in Endless Machine, another perfect depiction of modern-day Brutal Death Metal highly recommended for some mosh pit action; and an eerie start gradually evolves into another demented display of the band’s trademark sound in the form of Where No Light Shines, this time sounding more Deathcore than ever, with Sean kicking some ass with his devilish riffs. Then featuring guest vocals by Josh Middleton (Sylosis), it’s pedal to the metal in Expect to Fail, with Lyn taking the lead with his fast-paced beats while Jason and Josh make an infernal vocal duet sounding like two demons roaring to each other. After that, their fusion of Death Metal with Deathcore brings to our avid ears another bestial creation titled Starve the Fire, where Jason’s vocals reach a new level of insanity (similar to the latest creations by Ov Sulfur, by the way).
After an overdose of pure hatred and heaviness, the band brings forward an ethereal, enfolding (and a bit too long) interlude titled Numinous, soothing our melancholic souls before all hell breaks loose in In Nothingness, featuring guest vocals by Mark Hunter (Chimaira), with Mark adding his share of dementia to the overall result supported by the massive drums by Lyn, while Sean’s riffs are tailored for some brutal slamming. Pantheon is simply an ode to violence, blood and insanity by Ingested, with Jason proving why he’s one of the top voices of the current Brutal Death Metal and Deathcore scenes worldwide, and I can’t wait to witness the band delivering this wicked tune live; and Jason and the boys continue to deliver first-class aggression in Kingdoms of Sand, where Lyn’s drums sound insanely heavy and groovy. Put differently, this awesome song couldn’t have sounded catchier and more devilish. Finally, the last song of the album, A Path Once Lost, is also the longest and most intricate one, a sinister musical journey spearheaded by Jason’s introspective vocals while still presenting Ingested’s trademark violence, also showcasing a more melodic side of the band.
The Tide of Death and Fractured Dreams is proof that once Ingested sniff out a trail of musical blood, they ravenously follow it until they’ve uncovered a festering feast. Hence, if you want to show your support to one of the most hardworking bands of the current extreme music scene, you can check what they’re up to on Facebook, and on Instagram, subscribe to their YouTube channel and also check them out on Spotify for more of their savage music, and above all that, purchase the venomous The Tide of Death and Fractured Dreams from the Metal Blade Records webstore or by clicking HERE. I bet it won’t take long for Ingested to deliver another blast of their first-class fusion of Brutal Death Metal and Deathcore in the next couple of years, but it will certainly be really hard for them to beat the quality found in their newborn beast. I said hard, not impossible, because Jason, Sean and Lyn seem to be on an absolute roll in the past few years, and we can always expect the utmost excellence from those amazing musicians.
Best moments of the album: Paragon of Purity, Expect to Fail, Pantheon and Kingdoms of Sand.
Worst moments of the album: Numinous.
Released in 2024 Metal Blade Records
Track listing
1. Paragon of Purity 4:22
2. Endless Machine 3:37
3. Where No Light Shines 4:31
4. Expect to Fail 4:17
5. Starve the Fire 4:06
6. Numinous 3:50
7. In Nothingness 4:39
8. Pantheon 3:30
9. Kingdoms of Sand 5:23
10. A Path Once Lost 6:51
Band members
Jason Evans – vocals
Sean Hynes – guitars, backing vocals
Lyn Jeffs – drums
Guest musicians
Josh Middleton – vocals on “Expect to Fail”
Mark Hunter – vocals on “In Nothingness”
Thomas O’Malley – bass (live)
THE HEADBANGING MOOSE 