REVIEW: INGESTED – “Ashes Lie Still”

Ladies and Gents, and all ears attuned to the filthiest breakdowns – ready the first line of defense against the wall of death. The leviathan has awakened, again!

The world of metal has experienced numerous events for which it is indebted to the United Kingdom. For from a decision to take the sound of distorted guitar riffage to the masses, came a long list of albums that have rumbled the very core of the earth in a myriad of unimaginable ways. That list just became longer, because Ingested claws its way into it with every single release.

The (currently) three-piece death metal outfit is geared for its latest album which will be unleashed in early November 2022. ‘Ashes Lie Still’ is a ten-track record that is recklessly loud and checks all the boxes that make it an unmerciful extreme-metal monstrosity. The latest album releases in a short two years after ‘Where Only Gods May Tread’; and follows similar suit. With Jason Evans’ demonic shrieks from the depths of hell, Sean Hynes’ murderous riffage on the guitars and bass, and Lyn Jeffs’ thunderous drumming, the album easily establishes itself as a modern deathcore staple.

Right off the bat, a dreadful, guitar-induced stillness washes over the listener as the title track introduces the album. This track also features singer Julia Frau, who delivers soaring clean vocals over the stillness, just before the track proceeds to absolute devastation. “Shadows In Time” ushers in quickly after the title track and delivers soul-splitting blast beats sans the slightest hesitation (followed with breakdowns, as all riffage-craving connoisseurs will anticipate correctly).

The album does not stop with its features right there. “From Hollow Words” features the legendary Sven de Caluwé, frontman, and vocalist of the notoriously acclaimed Aborted. The track, with its face-melting vocals and rhythm sections, is best compared to a volcanic eruption; a furious onset followed by deadly, oozing lava.

Shadows in Time, From Hollow Words, and the title track are some of the tracks that the band has teased ahead of the album release. Other tracks follow similar structures (“Echoes of Hate”, “Sea of Stone” and “With Broken Wings”, to name a few) and harbor the same relentless energy – the kind that could make you face up to Cthulhu and suffocate it with nothing but a licorice candy stick. “All I’ve Lost” deviates slightly from the album’s atmosphere with its eerie melodic ambience over what is gut-churning chugging nonetheless.

Overall, ‘Ashes Lie Still’ is yet another statement from Ingested that it is still ever ready to deliver some serious blows that can result in ghastly consequences – the kind that could (hypothetically) require a personal injury lawyer. Ready thy ears, don your battle vests, and do not be a squatter, Ingested is out for blood, and you were warned of slaughter.

Ashes Lie Still is out via Metal Blade Records on 4 November 2022!