INGESTED

What is obvious here is that the first four songs have been designed for the mosh pit. They all have ferocious riffs, hardcore mob vocals, death metal grunts that rake the gutter for every ounce of inhumanity, and a killer breakdown stomp coda. Many a nose will be broken to the sadistic soundtrack. But only four tracks in and the structures are way too similar. For one thing, each track has a breakdown coda signposted by a sole guitar playing a chunky riff, meaning that what could’ve been sheer brutal bliss very soon begins to expire. Thankfully, ‘This Disgusting Revelation’ makes a significant break away from what’s been done so far and provides something more challenging for both band and listener. Coming as a surprise, the complex structure threatens to make this the best track, but that’s only because it’s a refreshing change from what’s been heard so far. The change in approach is a wise move. Had Ingested stuck with what they’d been doing, this album would’ve remained a mediocre and generic album. Like Sisyphus, ‘Castigation and Rebirth’ is a determined track, defiantly dragging itself momentously onward in feel, groove, and urgency, the structure again providing something very different. The chunky riffs of ‘Manifesting Obscenity’ is saturated in death metal might, cookie-crunching vocals, and machine-gun double kick drum poundings but its half-time coda signify a return to the tried-and-trusted structures of the first four tracks. In playing with the breakdown and half-time grooves, ‘22’ brings another refreshing change to the album, shifting it back out of the tried-and-tested tropes. But for ‘Kingmaker’ and ‘The Alpha’, déjà vu takes over. Little, if anything is different from the previous tracks. The tracks are good, yes, but that’s about it. Good. No more, no less. And then the closing track, the instrumental ‘Omega’ appears. This is a remarkable track, the band treading into musical territories that the previous four or five tracks, maybe the whole album, would’ve benefitted from. Melodies, harmonies, rhythms, layers of guitars and keyboards, and dynamics appear as if from nowhere. Had they explored these areas further instead of sticking to the notion of creating a “crushing” or “brutal” album, 'The Surreption' would’ve been a great instead of a good album. Ingested are doing what a lot of bands are doing, always well, sometimes generic, sometimes pushing it, but sadly not enough of the latter.

LABEL:

FORMAT:

Siege of Amida Records

Album

THE SURREPTION

Review by Jason Guest

RUNNING TIME:

44:00

RELEASE DATE:

6th June 2011

TRACK LISTING

1) Crowning The Abomination
2) Decline
3) The Consequence
4) A Coming Unperceived
5)This Disgusting Revelation
6) Castigation and Rebirth
7) Manifesting Obscenity
8) 22
9) Kingmaker
10) The Alpha
11) Omega

COUNTRY OF ORIGIN:

UK

"Ingested are doing what a lot of bands are doing, always well, sometimes generic, sometimes pushing it, but sadly not enough of the latter."