ProStudioMasters.com

UK death metal titans Ingested have been churning out bilious anti-anthems for more than a decade and a half, dropping a string of releases that have helped shape the genre. In 2022, they return with Ashes Lie Still, their most dynamic, inventive and daring release to date, holding nothing back, the band describing it as "A modern essential. If you like heavy music, it will be nigh on impossible for you to not find something you like about this record. It still has the core Ingested elements of groovy slamming riffs, quick drumming, and guttural vocals but there's also atmosphere, ethereal moments and some raw old school aggression." Over the course of ten tracks they hack, slash and steamroll through everything in their path, and it easily stands as the highpoint of an already impressive career. Slimmed down to a three piece - comprising of drummer Lyn Jeffs, guitarist/backing vocalist Sean Hynes and vocalist Jason Evans - the band feel they are in the best place that they have ever been, enabling them to work at the top of their game. "All negativity has now been erased, we are all on the same page musically and we three share the same vision for Ingested. We know who and what we are and where we want to go. Sean always wrote 90% of our music so becoming a three-piece didn't actually affect the way we approach writing albums. We've just streamlined our process and are now more productive. We are now able to add new elements, ideas and sounds in ways that would have faced internal resistance before." With Hynes always having a backlog of songs, he essentially started working on Ashes Lie Still as soon as 2020's Where Only Gods May Tread was finished in demo form. Due to the pandemic and all touring activities being suspended, he had more writing time than usual, meaning the band had more than the ten songs they needed for the album, allowing them to choose the ones that best fit what they were trying to achieve. Always feeling that they have something to prove and wanting to demonstrate they deserve to be where they are - they pulled out all the stops. "Being signed to Metal Blade Records is an important moment for the band so we've made sure that this is the most complete album we've ever produced. We've grown exponentially as songwriters and people, this album has a darker, more mature feel to it that we think any fan of death metal or metal in general will love. It's got an energy to it that's hard to describe, you can just feel it when you hear it."