Live Review: Ingested w/Malice, Pintglass and Vulvodynia at Camden Underworld!

After witnessing them live on several occasions over the years, the announcement of a pair of shows celebrating the fifteenth anniversary of Ingested album “Surpassing The Boundaries Of Human Suffering” is music to our ears. Dubbed “Seasons Beatings 2024” they were announced before the surprise departure of vocalist Jason Evans, leaving everyone wondering if they would take place and what the future would hold, despite guitarist Sean Hynes and drummer Lyn Jeffs statement that they would maintain perpetual forward motion. After seven studio albums, the past two including last year’s “The Tide of Death and Fractured Dreams” arriving via Metal Blade Records and seeing the band tour America, the band are at the height of their powers and so one departure shouldn’t see them fold. As it happens, the answer to the vocalist mystery was hidden in plain sight with former Monasteries and current Malice vocalist Josh Davies pictured wearing the bands merch seemingly in advertisment on social media in mid November. On the eve of the shows, his unmistakable tattooed hand appearing holding a microphone on the bands social media and while his name wasn’t officially mentioned, the fans know who he is. Evans shoes are big ones to fill but if anyone is capable its Davies, his performances with Monasteries getting them signed to Seek & Strike Records before they imploded…

It comes as no surprise that Josh Davies isn’t holding the microphone for Malice [8/10] tonight. The four piece have a replacement and burn through a set of material that combines Death Metal vocals and percussion with Nu-Metalcore guitars, so if you can imagine Ten56 or Dealer playing Bolt Thrower covers you get the picture. It makes for an interesting combination which bears fruit as each barbed cut hits a little differently. “The Art Of Letting Go“, “Underneath” and “Flayed Lord” all stand out as guitars chug and glitch with a menacing undertone. The bass drops make the ground shake beneath our feet and the blast beat moments nothing short of glorious, the levels of aggression reaching critical mass well before the end. It maybe a short, sharp set but the two steppers come out in force to redecorate the venue with sweat.

You know Geezercore grifters Pintglass [10/10] are in town when the sheer number of high vis vests with their logo on them is causing you to question why you didn’t bring sun glasses to the show. Stage diving might be banned in the venue but that doesn’t stop their steady flow from the first second, the Beatdown Deathcore six piece are as much fun as you can have without losing a limb in a chainsaw accident. They bring out the moshers, two steppers and headbangers with their blend of brutality and building site violence fueled lyrics with Ben Mason of Bound In Fear and Angus Roberton of Break Fifty going toe to toe as co-vocalists. The others wear balaclavas because no face, no case, keeping it real with their Stella and Charlie jokes as cuts like “Tarzan Of The Boozer“, “Beer, Gear & Fear” and “Site Mentality” burst our ear defenders. Their high energy set is so damn infectious, Mason and Roberton moving from Grime to Hardcore and Death growls in their vocals. Between songs they shout Geezer and crowd chant it back which adds to th hilarious good fun. Members of Arcaeon and Karybidis in the crowd…

South African heavy hitters Vulvodynia [10/10] have their work cut out to follow Pintglass but they’re used to bigger stages than this and decimate the weak with their Slamming Deathcore shenanigans. Guitarist turned frontman Lwandile Prusent is full of spitting, snarling Slam vocals that sound like a crocodile fighting to escape a cage and when you’re faced by a six string bass on the stage you know it’s going to be heavy. “Mob Justice“, “Entabeni” and “King Emesis” are all brutal, the only surprise being the absence of “The Randlord” after the band dropped a music video for it back in July. Lead guitarist Kris Xenopoulos delivers a mesmerising solo mid set Prusent disappears from the stage momentarily before two stepping as if in victory dance as he returns to the rhythms.

Taking the stage as a five piece with six guitars on a rack beside the stage ready to switch over for alternative tuning, Ingested [10/10] waste no time on sentiment. Instead they chew their way through “Surpassing The Boundaries Of Human Suffering” plus a few other songs in near hour long set of Brutal Death Metal, the razor sharp riffs cutting through the crowd like a wire though Swiss cheese. Josh Davies demonstrates his full vocal range as the neck snapping rhythms from the valley of death pummel is into submission the gore stained lyrics of those early days something easy to forget given the bands evolution over the past twenty years. The Manchester natives have been welcomed to London tonight like returning conquerors and they return that love tenfold. Watching the quintet play this set tonight actually feels eerily reminiscent of seeing Frozen Soul at the same venue at the other end of 2024, such is the nature of their restless, relentless and punishing old school sounds. The album is performed in a different order with “Contorted Perception“, “Skinned and Fucked” and “Anal Evisceration” all nightmarish visions straight out of the pages of something Stephen King might write while sipping a glass of red wine. Circle pits and even a wall of death take place as an almost sell out crowd get their fill of chills and spills. New year, new album?