A Little Background
I confess this was a new band to me despite the fact they have been going about 13/14 years and have 3 previous albums (2017 was their first full length) along with 2 EPs and a split single/EP with another band.
Worm are from the USA and it seems are really the brainchild of one man called Phantom Slaughter (I guess not his real name) who seems to do just about everything other than drums in the early days but now concentrates on vocals and keys.
The guitarist who deserves plaudits for his performance on this is called Wroth Septentrion (according to research his real name is Phillipe Tougas although he is also known as Phillipe Davis, a man of mystery it seems) and his work is sublime. The drummer I believe is called Morbid Chaos (real name Guyot Begin-Benoit) who does an absolutely sterling job. The band are a mix of doom, black metal, symphonic and 80s heavy metal including shredding guitars at points.
Real Tension
The album has 7 tracks, most of which are of decent length; apart from the opener, which is an intro of about 2 minutes, the shortest track is 7 minutes, and the longest is 14. I tend to get annoyed with the short opening tracks on albums as most seem quite throwaway and not worth including, but not so here. It (“Gates To The Shadowzone“) actually creates tension and gets you in the mood for what is to follow, from the slow symphonic keys, death marching drum and the neo-classical guitar work, you get a taste of the drama to come!
The title track follows along, all 10 minutes of it. The good thing is the band understands pacing and know how to keep things interesting and varied. It is theatrical black metal ala symphonic style Dimmu Borgir, but that is possibly due to the keys. The drop downs, whether going slightly quieter or slowing the pace down but then interspersing those moments with blastbeat drumming, those short blasts and drum fills works beautifully. It builds up nearer the end, allowing a blistering guitar solo to take over like it was the 1980s again. Very impressive.
Subtlety
“Halls Of Weeping” has sort of an electronic opening (probably via the keys) which is overtaken by a guitar solo, short and snappy before going into chanting and what sounds like cries or wailing. The hypnotic effect of this is played to perfection. I felt like I was there, in a religious-style institution and people were pouring out emotions to their god or just in despair. Of course, it becomes much heavier as it progresses but what also grabbed me hard was the way they play with the listener in the quieter passages with little touches of say cymbal or a guitar note adding so much subtlety and giving the listener things to notice on repeated listens.
That subtlety is shown again in “The Night Has Fangs” when there is just one guitar chord strummed before the song takes off the second time around. It is so small but so effective. This is more doomy, slower-paced for the most part but still allows variety with a shredding guitar solo that Malmsteen would approve of (one would think). Once again, the drummer knows when to pull back, when to add texture and when to batter the living shit out of the kit.
Horror And Gothic Vibes
“Dragon Dreams” allows some motifs to linger a little longer whilst making sure they do not outstay their welcome. The track again allows all the different styles of the band to come through with different instruments being used to change the vibe of what you are listening to.
Guitars that go from very melodic to neo-classical, keys giving us the horror and gothic vibes, the drums pounding in a black metal dance and the vocals growling. There are moments of uplift musically, especially on the guitar solo to counterbalance the doom/horror of the keys. Around the 9 minute mark between the musical choices and the almost spoken word vocal adds to the drama and theatre of the whole thing. Seriously this is so well constructed, allowing for all sorts of moods.
“Blackheart” opens (as a couple of others do) with acoustic guitar, but this is slowly overtaken by electric which on this occasion is either doubled up by a second playing harmony or via effects pedal. Either way it works. Whilst that is happening the keys are doing their thing in the background, trying to creep folks out. This has a very tasty melodic guitar solo on it.
All That Is Good
The album finishes with “Witchmoon – The Infernal Masquerade” which features an extra guitarist, namely Marty Friedman ex of Megadeth. This is just the most wonderful overblown and dramatic piece of theatre featuring all that makes this album so damned good. Doom vibes, black metal intensity, keys adding gothic horror, and guitar solos to die for.
The soloing on this is a masterclass in shredding, yet still finds time to be mellow and melodic at points. If you can imagine early Dio with Vivian Campbell, along with the guitar mixing of Maiden you can get a good understanding of how excellent it all is. There is twice on the album (I can’t remember which other track as I type) where there is also a hint of Rush, if you listen around the 6 minute mark there is definitely the tone and vibe of part of “Cygnus X-1” in there. No idea if they meant it or if it is just pure accident but man it definitely makes me sit up every time I hear it.
Things To Enjoy On Repeated Listens
Simply a great album. For anyone who loves bands like Dimmu and Immortal but is open to 80s style guitar work (and metal in general) this is an absolute classic. I have listened to it so many times since I received it and I still notice new things and still enjoy listening to it all. It might be very early yet but expect this one to be mentioned in my top 10 albums when that comes around at the end of the year. I love everything about this. Blown away. Just go get it folks!
Out NOW on Century Media.
Purchase Album HERE
Official Bandcamp // Official Facebook
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