“You wither in the soil and stone.”
When one thinks of slamming deathcore, innovation and evolution are rarely among the first things to come to mind. Instead, it is much more immediate to think of the stupidly heavy grooves and earth-shattering drops which define the base sound of the genre. However, there are some bands who have a tendency to play with the boundaries and sound of the style. Particularly in the last few years, UK-based trio Ingested have shown a sufficient amount of ambition with their songwriting. 2019’s Call of the Void EP and 2020’s Where Only Gods May Tread LP demonstrated the group getting more and more ambitious with their songs, implementing more tasteful melodies and getting more structurally adventurous to create a more atmospheric sound while not ditching the tropes of slamming deathcore. Now in 2022, Ingested give us their Metal Blade debut, Ashes Lie Still, and continue to play with melody and atmosphere, but give a vastly more accessible package than Where Only Gods May Tread.
Ashes Lie Still is undoubtedly at its strongest when Ingested lean into their more atmospheric and melodic side, and there is no better example of this than in the titular opening track. Boasting a surplus of haunting melodies and beautiful clean vocals provided by Julia Frau, the track has an overall doom-y atmosphere which gives a great amount of character and memorability. When Ingested want to create this haunting atmosphere, they absolutely nail it so long as they show an obvious focus on this aspect of their sound. The chunky riffs and decimating breakdowns are not lost in the cut either, as it fuses these more traditional aspects with a surprising level of elegance to an impressive degree. This is also exhibited by “All I’ve Lost”, which boasts particularly emotive lead work and a vocal feature from Trivium frontman Matt Heafy in a gloriously emotional cut. Both of these tracks are standouts in the tracklist, and fully show what Ingested are capable of.
Despite the satisfaction provided by the more melodic tracks, Ashes Lie Still somewhat lags when it takes its more traditional slamming deathcore approach. There is no doubt that Ingested are experts at creating wildly catchy grooves and mosh-inducing breakdowns, particularly driven by the infectious drumwork of Lyn Jeffs, as this is something they have been doing their entire careers. However, while tracks like “Shadows In Time”, “You’ll Never Learn”, and “With Broken Wings” are certain to please longtime fans and slamming deathcore purists, they do not particularly stand out. They are in no way bad tracks, and will obviously hit hard in a live environment, but they tend to fade into the background. That is not to say all the more straightforward tracks are forgettable; “From Hollow Words” for example is able to separate itself with a quicker tempo and especially catchy grooves. It also features a fun vocal performance, with a dual onslaught from Jason Evans and Aborted vocalist Sven De Caluwé to create an especially vicious cut. Penultimate track “Echoes of Hate” also deserves a bit of a nod for its full commitment to its outrageously brutal breakdowns. While the inclusion of breakdowns such as this, where they are obviously the focus of the song, can often result in a track sounding cliche and boring, Ingested pull it off by writing them in with much more cohesion.
There is also a lingering feeling of monotony throughout a majority of the tracklist which does some damage to the overall package. There is a higher abundance of melodic guitar leads which do provide a bit of contrast within tracks such as “Sea of Stone” and “Tides of Glass”, but these tracks tend to blend together when going through the album as a whole. However, it is worth noting that this is the group’s first release as a trio, and Sean Hynes is alone on guitar duties. This brings a bit more clarity to this monotony, and it is much more understandable why this would be present. Hynes still does a commendable job, and there is no reason to believe the guitarwork won’t improve from here on out. However, on Ashes Lie Still it feels as though the guitarwork leaves a bit to be desired as a whole, and it would be great for Hynes to get more creative and lean more into his melodic side with a bit more variation.
This provides a perfect segway to the last thing I’d like to touch on: closing track “Scratch The Vein”. I previously mentioned that I’d like to see Hynes get a bit more creative with his guitarwork, and this track is a perfect indicator as to why. Filled with infectious riffs which have an almost old school heavy metal feel to them at times, the guitars on this song just feel as though they are filled with soul. Couple this with the vile vocals of Evans and the tasteful drumming of Jeffs and you have a truly outstanding track which makes for a perfect closer. Throughout the preceding tracks, the standout guitar moments were by-and-large the more atmospheric, melodic sections, and even these began to blend together. With its more riff-focused approach, “Scratch the Vein” puts itself at a level above and exudes a level of desperation far more prominent than any other tracks. It would be great to see the group expand on this sound further, and may be a wonderful indicator of things to come.
As a whole, Ashes Lie Still is a solid effort which shows that Ingested are still willing to experiment at least more than the average band in this style. They demonstrate a commendable level of ambition on multiple tracks, and do so without fully betraying the sound that built their fanbase. However, despite being sure to please the long-time fans, the majority of the more outright brutal cuts tend to fade into the background when looking at the album as a whole. Considering this, Ashes Lie Still more than anything can serve as an exciting precursor for the future as the group moves forward as a trio.
6.5/10
Ashes Lie Still is out this Friday, November via Metal Blade Records. You can pre-order the record here.