Ingested – The Tide of Death and Fractured Dreams (Album Review)

Ingested – The Tide of Death and Fractured Dreams
Released: April 5th, 2024

Line Up:

Jay Evans // Vocals
Sean Hynes // Guitars/Vocals
Lyn Jeffs // Drums

Ingested online:

Official
Facebook
Instagram
Twitter

Evolving out of the mid-00s slam/brutal death metal scene, Manchester’s Ingested have become one of the most prolific and hardest-working units in the entire extreme music scene. About to unleash their seventh LP – and second with Metal Blade Records – Ingested could now be considered veterans at this point in their careers. Marking their third full length in four years – an impressive feat for such a heavily touring entity – The Tide of Death and Fractured Dreams sees the UK trio continue their march into death metal infamy. This new release is both an evolution in sound featured on the previous effort Ashes Lie Still, while also keeping a foot firmly planted in the world of brutality.

A band that has evolved from a savage slam entity into a monstrous death metal machine, Ingested have amalgamated various elements of their old brutal death metal selves with deathcore, tech-death and international death metal. The Tides… opener ‘Paragon of Purity‘, and it’s fellow single ‘Pantheon‘, are archetypal modern-day Ingested cuts; layers of chugging guitars, furious vocals and meaty beatdowns, but with even more grabbing earworms and hooks. Special shout out to the lyrics too; with the bulk of the content about real-life issues and insecurities – it’s a nice change from the usual BDM fare, and furthers Ingested’s path away from their gore-fixated early days.

The Tide… sees Ingested trying out a few new elements – the melodic and Meshuggah-meets-industrial edge of ‘Starve The Fire‘ is unexpected but ends up being one of the most immediate tracks on the release. The lurching piece is their biggest step away from their slam years, but it’s a risk that pays off. As per their previous albums, the mix for The Tide… is absolutely huge – Lyn Jeffs’ kit in particular sounds massive, with the drummer as usual playing out of his skin; the aforementioned ‘Pantheon’ leaves plenty of room for some blistering fills and skin shredding.

The already strong ‘Expect To Fail‘ gets taken to the next level with some prominent, monstrous vocals from Sylosis/Ex-Architects member Josh Middleton, while Chimaira frontman Mark Hunter brings a dark, almost-mournful edge to the fantastic ‘In Nothingness‘. The melodic ‘A Path Once Lost‘ is a great way to end The Tides…, and a continuation of Ingested’s track record of great LP closers. An even wider detour than ‘Starve The Fire‘, laser-focused slam fans may turn their nose up, but the inclusion of clean vocals works great and is perhaps a sign of different things to come in the band’s future. With such a volume of new music being dropped in their recent history, detractors could accuse Ingested for being on autopilot. Admittedly, there are a couple of selections that don’t quite stand out – ‘Endless Machine‘ and ‘Kingdoms of Sand‘ are guilty parties – but the undeniable increased focus on atmosphere, mood, and songwriting shows the group’s growth.