Review: Ingested Still Manage to Surprise with The Tide Of Death And Fractured Dreams
After nearly two decades of putting out pummeling deathcore from their Manchester, U.K. confines, you’d think it would be pretty easy to suss out exactly what Ingested‘s upcoming album The Tide Of Death And Fractured Dreams was going to bring to the table. Of course, it’s easy to expect the sort of technical and visceral fury they’ve had on display this whole time, but it was the surprises and unexpected moments in this record that really stood out.
Available to everyone on April 5 via Metal Blade Records, The Tide Of Death And Fractured Dreams is an excellent embodiment of exactly what Ingested is in 2024 — blast beats, stop-start guitar riffs, odd time are expected, but there’s so much more between the hallmarks of the genre that the band slip in that make the album’s 45 minute run time so exciting.
The record kicks off with “Paragon of Purity,” which is the perfect way to beat listeners over the head right from the get-go with some super heavy guitar and blasting rhythms. While it’s still heavier and more frantic than most old-school worship, there’s definitely a vibe of classic death metal on there as well. It leads perfectly into “Where No light Shines” which is a little slower and more intentional, but still extremely heavy and brutal.
As the album moves forward, it’s clear that its mission isn’t just to be as heavy or destructive as possible, but rather to create something new with common deathcore genre tools and tropes. “Expect to Fail” is a perfect example of this, featuring a guest spot from Josh Middleton of Sylosis and leaning hard on the groove and tempo changes in a way that helped define the genre. The dual vocal screams really seal the deal on this one.
“In Nothingness,” my favorite song on the album, is a great example of that experimental fury. It features Chimaira‘s Mark Hunter as a guest vocalist and manages to perfectly crystalize their evolving sound into something new and unique.
Throughout the entirety of the album, Ingested prove over and over again that they can still surprise us. When they stared out in 2006, they surprised everyone with their ability to hang with more established U.S. deathcore bands and even outdo them. Now they prove that they can take that sound and be more than heavy, loud, and shocking as they dig deep and get artistic.
Ingested’s The Tide Of Death And Fractured Dreams will be available Friday, April 5 via Prosthetic. Preorder your copy today.
