Written by Zax
Ingested – Where Only Gods May Tread
Brutal Death Metal from Manchester, England
Released August 14th, 2020
Via Unique Leader Records
8/10
Ingested are a band I’ve been following for a couple of years now, I’ve seen them grow from a grotesque little slam band to a more matured brutal death metal band. This transition was set in stone with their solid as hell 2018 record The Level Above Human. Last year they released a dark, cryptic little EP titled Call Of The Void, which even further perplexed me as to what their next move would be. I can confidently say this new album solidifies their place in the death metal scene and makes it abundantly clear why they’ve become so popular in recent years.
They’ve grown into this sound quite well, whilst also maintaining their roots to the slam/deathcore scene, so they’re getting attention from both deathcore and death metal fans. They’ve made their bed and it seems to be a comfy one. It’s also worth noting that these guys are one of the hardest working bands in metal, not only have they been consistently releasing great material, but before COVID they were constantly touring, it seemed like every other week they were announcing a new tour! Needless to say, not only am I a fan, but I have mad respect for this band.
The production on this album is just exquisite, everything is mixed perfectly and every single element hits so hard. The riffs on this album absolutely stomp, the bass doesn’t do much of its own flexing, but it does anchor down that rhythm section masterfully and help those riffs hit as hard as possible, although the epic 9 minute long closing track “Leap Of The Faithless” does see the bass shining a bit on its own. The lead work, while nothing too flashy, is sharp and menacing, it sets the tone for the whole record. On some tracks they throw some ominous symphonic elements in there to spice things up, on the track “Impending Dominance” they even use some choral vocals. Instrumentally this album is immersive and impressive beyond words.
The vocals on this album are just phenomenal, vocalist Jay Evans lays down some punishing guttural growls and some blood curdling high screams. They’re delivered with great technique too, as you can actually make out a good amount of the lyrics. The track “Another Breath” also introduces these clean-ish vocals. They’re still screams… but like not really. If you’ve been keeping up with bands like Cattle Decapitation and Shadow Of Intent you know what I’m talking about. I’m not sure they pull it off quite as well as those bands though if I’m honest, but they are only there for a couple lines. It’ll be interesting to see if and how they develop those in the future.
Not only are our main vocals here badass, but we also get some sweet guest features here, 2 of them being from bands I’ve actually reviewed on the site before. Vincent Bennett of The Acacia Strain features on “The Burden Of Our Failures” and Matt Honeycutt of Kublai Khan TX features on “Black Pill.” Most vocal features don’t do much for me, cause most times folks will show up for a few lines just to get more hype via name association, but this feels very different from that, each vocalist adds a lot to the tracks they’re on and the chemistry between the vocalists is easy to see.
I was hyped as hell for this record and it definitely didn’t disappoint. A lot of people are going to love this record, and honestly I’m very excited for these guys, they deserve it.
8/10
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