Deathcore stalwarts, Ingested, once again release into the world their own blend of pig squeals, breakdowns, and hypnotizing guitar leads. This collection of slamming tracks makes up their eighth full-length album called The Tide Of Death And Fractured Dreams (Metal Blade Records). While the subgenre has fallen far from its once prominent standing in the heavy music world, the UK natives put together quality deathcore without trying anything too experimental. Ten tracks hit you right in the face for forty-five minutes before finally letting go.
“Expect To Fail” was the first track to jump out at me the first time through, which was due in part to Josh Middleton of Sylosis sneaking into the track. The verse riff on this one is pretty thrashy for a deathcore band too that was also immediately captivating for me. Plenty of chug later on in the song to round out the near-formulaic approach on this album.
“Starve The Fire” is, pun intended, a real burner with the thunderous drums and guitar adding some bounce with the distressing nature of the pinch harmonics to break up the monotony. This song is certainly closer to the Djent side of deathcore with further riffs popping in towards the middle of the track. The breakdown at two and a half minutes in is one of those “when they bring the riff back but slower” meme moments, which is always appreciated!
“In Nothingness” was another eye-catcher thanks to more fun riffs and another guest vocalist in Mark Hunter from Chimaira. The opening riff immediately spells danger as they open with effectively a breakdown before hitting a slam death metal riff that will make even the biggest of doubters bob their heads. Mark’s clean vocals are also welcome as the rest of the vocals are pretty straightforward on the rest of The Tide Of Death And Fractured Dreams.
Overall, well executed, great production, and a safe approach to going back to all of the things that made Deathcore great back in the beginning. The moments of slam death score big points too as they always seem to fit the moment of the song they appear in without completely turning Ingested into a slam band. At the end of the day, some genres work well under a formula and this group has stood the test of time to prove that.
Buy the album here:
https://www.metalblade.com/ingested/
7 / 10
TIM LEDIN