By DJ Monk
Manchester slammers Ingested must surely be severe contenders for the title of one of the hardest working bands in modern metal. Not only content with trekking their way around these here islands with The Black Dahlia Murder back in April – a jaunt which saw them also squeeze in their own headline shows in between their allotted support slots – but they then headed off around Europe first with Cryptopsy and then with more of their own headline shows. And the festival season is keeping them just as busy before they head Stateside in September… As if all of that is not enough, they’ve also found time to release this new EP, the follow-up to last year’s annihilistic ‘The Level Above Human’, in order to satiate their fans’ craving for new music.
Said fans will know exactly what to expect: brutal blastbeats, pummelling riffs that hit harder than one of Roman Reign’s spears, vocals that sound like they have been dragged from the darkest recesses of hell… and they won’t be disappointed, as they’re all here in plenitude, and delivered with Ingested’s usual fiery intensity. ‘Call Of The Void’ may well be seen as a “stop-gap” release, but it is also a clear demonstration of the band’s thirst to remain at the top of their game, by constantly raising the bar in terms of just how much brutality they can deliver in as short a timeframe as possible. And these four tracks (five if you count the “bonus”, ‘Erotic Depravity’ – which certainly lives up its title in the level of sickness which it delivers) succeed on every level.
Surprisingly, for a relatively short release, it also is quite ambitious, when you consider that it’s middle section is a two-part concept piece, ‘Eternal Kingdoms’, which actually sees the band ease right off the pedal and deliver some of the most melodic interjections they have laid down to date: if fact, this “bridge”, for want of a better description, sees the band veer more towards the melodeath end of the spectrum than the grinding slam upon which they have built their reputation.
As I mentioned, ‘Call Of The Void’ will satiate the hunger of Ingested fans for new material while they wait for the next full-lengther. It also is a great introduction to the band for those whom they might previously have passed by.
- ‘Call of The Void’ is out now. You can get your copy HERE.
- Ingested play Rabidfest in Oxford on Friday 16 August and Summerslam in Huddersfield on Saturday 17 August.
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