ALBUM REVIEW: Where Only Gods May Tread – Ingested

If your first experience with INGESTED was either of their first two records and you haven’t given them the time of day since, Where Only Gods May Tread will be a mind-boggling experience. Evolution is key to every successful band, but the metamorphosis the self-styled UK slam kings have undergone is incredible. Much of their output following 2011’s The Surreption saw the band bring a more unique slant to their brutality, but it was with last year’s incredible Call of the Void EP we got a taste of the direction the Mancunians wanted to take – atmospheric, slightly blackened, slightly melodic, and a great deal more thoughtful. But can Where Only Gods May Tread match the potential Call of the Void offered, or is this evolution too ambitious for INGESTED?

Too ambitious? Is it buggery. Right from the opening bombardment of Follow the Deceiver it is crystal clear that the Mancunians have already mastered their new sound – atmosphere, melody and undercurrents of black metal abrasion all running through the sound, but at no point overpowering the ten-ton-heavy slamming death metal salvo they have built their career on. These new elements serve to enhance the INGESTED the death metal scene knows and loves, rather than being a pure sonic 180. This blend, remaining true to their classic sound continues with the utterly crushing No Half Measures – a real album highlight and a guaranteed live favourite, when live music resumes post-COVID – which seamlessly moves into the brutal one-two punch of Impending Dominance and The List. However, its with The Burden of Our Failures things really start to get interesting.

The opening salvo of Where Only Gods May Tread offered a lovely taste of the sonic evolution and experimentation INGESTED have been playing with. But with The Burden of Our Failures, and what follows, the Mancunians throw you head first into the darkness they have mastered. Ominous and unsettling at every turn, The Burden of Our Failures brings a tangible atmosphere while layering the music in a thick murk, before unleashing a classic beatdown that could make even the most devout pacifistic spin-kick their gran. From here, Dead Seraphic Forms is classic brutal death metal at its core – no frills, no punches pulled, just pure sonic annihilation. ‘Nuff said. Meanwhile, penultimate double whammy of Black Pill and Forsaken in Desolation offer up blackened atmosphere and bludgeoning hammer smashed riffing in spades.

However, there’s two tracks on Where Only Gods May Tread that really deserve a note of special interest. First, coming well into Side B, Another Breath offers perhaps the biggest departure for INGESTED in a gamble that pays off incredibly well. The most melodic song of their career to date, Another Breath could have been a hamfisted affair, but with the help of CROWBAR/DOWN riffmaster Kirk Windstein offering his signature clean vocals they pull it off excellently. Lastly, there is closing number Leap of the Faithless. A nine minute – plus change – opus, Where Only Gods May Tread‘s final offering perfectly shows the evolution of INGESTED. Full of progressive twists and turns, making incredible use of every second of its extended run time and wonderfully bridging the gap between the beatdown heavy band of the past, and the more thoughtful, melodic and atmospheric band of the future, Leap of the Faithless closes out INGESTED‘s strongest album to date with the strongest individual song of their career.

In 2020, INGESTED a very different entity from the somewhat immature band that rose to prominence around a decade ago. Where Only Gods May Tread shows a band at their apex, lyrically fully evolved from the sexually deviant and gore obsessed writings of yesteryear while musically at their creative zenith. Make no mistake, there is plenty of brutality to get stuck into across Where Only Gods May Tread, but it’s more thoughtfully put together than we’ve ever seen the band write before. Atmospheric, dark, and utterly brutalising at every turn, INGESTED have unleashed their magnum opus – never mind the UK, never mind slam, the Mancunians are on track to be kings of the global death metal scene at this rate.

Rating: 9/10

Where Only Gods May Tread is set for release August 14th via Unique Leader Records. 

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